A Popeyes customer couldn’t help but laugh after they visited one of the brand’s restaurants and were told that the only offerings available for customers to purchase were bread, wings, and sides.
Kayree Ali (@kayree_ali) recorded his interaction with the Popeyes worker who alerted him to the lack of food on-site, leaving the TikToker wondering why the store was even open. He ultimately didn’t order anything and exited the drive-thru in the viral clip that’s garnered over 256,000 views as of Friday.
@kayree_ali #popeyes #foryou ♬ original sound – Kayree Ali
A text overlay in the video indicates that the Popeyes restaurant in question is located in East Chase Montgomery, Alabama. Ali records himself pulling up into the drive-thru order loudspeaker and waits patiently until an employee welcomes him over the intercom.
“How you doing, all we have is bread, wings, and sides, we have no sweet and spicy, or no ghost wings, we only taking card and no add-ons at the window,” they say.
The TikToker asks for the number one meal, which is the Popeye’s Chicken Sandwich meal.
“Oh, I’m sorry we out of sandwiches, too,” the worker tells Ali over the loudspeaker as the TikToker just laughs with the worker joining in too.
“D*mn all right thank you bro,” Ali tells the worker as he begins to drive off, the employee still chuckling.
“Bruh just close the store,” Ali writes in another overly of the video.
Commenters offered up a variety of speculations as to why the location was out of stock when it came to so many of its items. One person thought it was a case of Chick-fil-A doing a number on them, writing, “Lavelle Crawford was right when he said Chick fil A killing Popeyes!” citing this bit from one of the comic’s specials.
It seems like other folks had similar issues with Popeyes too, with a user stating, “This EXACTLY HOW I FEEL bout one on northern Blvd too!!!”
“Went to the Popeyes by work . they were out of chicken . all of it tenders legs sandwiches,” another added.
Other customers say they simply had issues giving Popeyes their money.
“Popeyes gets pissed off if I try n order more than 2 things,” a user wrote.
TikTok’s not the only place where folks have been complaining about Popeyes never having the items that they want to order. This Reddit post uploaded to the site’s r/nostupidquestions sub asked the same question.
One user chalked up all of the issues to supply chain issues and unmotivated workers who weren’t interested in slaving away for a fast-food restaurant for not-so-great pay.
“Global supply chain issues + just in time ordering + underpaying their workers + not preparing for the influx of drive-thru customers over the last year plus despite knowing damn well it would happen = no chicken or straws,” they wrote.
However, if this were the case, one would think that other fast-food businesses are facing similar criticisms, but another Reddit post on the r/doordash sub showed the perspective of a delivery driver who also slammed the Louisiana Style Kitchen chain. In their tirade, the Dasher claimed that the restaurant was one of, if not the worst place, to pick deliveries up from, citing excessively long wait times to pick up food and rude employees.
For critics who voiced their opinions on Ali’s TikTok video, however, and others on the web, the slowdown could be from frustrated customers who don’t want to wait for their food or are tired of being told that the grub they really wanted is currently unavailable.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Popeyes via email and Ali via TikTok comment.