Popeyes in Roanoke? It appears so
Photo by Amanda Codispoti
UPDATE (posted June 28): The Storefront has more information on the opening in this post. END UPDATE.
Fried chicken fans, it’s true. Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen is coming to Roanoke.
The popular fried chicken fast food restaurant is going in the former Paradise Grill location at 3938 Melrose Avenue in Northwest Roanoke.
I swung by the location this morning to snap a few pictures and heard workers pounding away inside. Another crew was outside doing electrical work.
A spokeswoman for the Louisiana-based company is checking with the franchise owner to get us an opening date.
I’m not sure when Paradise Grill closed. My colleague Mike Gangloff reported in April that the owner of the Caribbean and soul food restaurant, Joseph J. Mayo, was in federal court to face charges of filing a false tax return and receiving Social Security benefits to which he was not entitled.
While I was driving on Melrose Avenue, I also spotted another fried chicken restaurant that’s recently opened. It’s Crown Fried Chicken at 4101 Melrose Avenue. I’m working on getting more information on this restaurant as well.
I’ll update the blog when I have more information.
June 14, 2011 - 9:53 AM
Don’t forget to ask for Cajun Sparkle. It makes the chicken amazing.
Wow, Now this is really important.Another fried chicken joint in a bad part of town…makes sense,Is it near some hole in the wall liquor store??And popeye’s chicken is so greasey you will glide out of the store…straight to the bathroom.
my husband will be ecstatic. its a must stop for him when he is traveling. the food is not as greasy as KFC, and has a kick to it – lots of spices and peppers. Even the mashed potatoes have red peppers in it. its more of a soul food chicken and not as much breading as others and their prices are more reasonable and have a larger assortment of personal entree’s instead of focusing on huge family packs. its a nice change of pace from the normal, and packs more of a southern flavor.
OMG its the best chicken ever. When ever we travel it is our mission to find a Popeyes Chicken. My daughter found out about this a couple months ago and called me sooo excited. We had it on our calendar but the opening was delayed so now we are awaiting the opening. We will be there!! I hope it is as good as all of the others we have been too, and there are alot. Never been disappointed.
@P.Jenkins. I’ve eaten at a lot of Popeyes and the chicken has never been greasy.
I’m assuming P. jenkins is trying to make some kind of trivial relation between fried chicken, liquor stores, rough part of town and play some race card. There is absolutely no room for that kind of bigotry in this world. Take your cynicism and place it on a board where someone may care. I personally think it’s great to see another major chain coming to the Roanoke area, stimulating our economy and bringing in more employment especially to an area that is not necessarily thriving with new blood.
WHHHHHHYYYY??? More torture to me after I started counting calories!
I have had Crowns before, it’s that little candy cane stripped building next the the fire department on Orange Avenue( Java the hut used to be there, I think). It’s actually really good! I knew it had to be because you can drive by at about 10 or 11pm and the parking lot is packed. It’s only about $5 for a 2 piece with fries, a biscuit and a can of soda.. Plus they give you lots of hot sauce
Yum! I love Popeyes!
I don’t eat fast food of any kind any longer, but when I did I liked Popeye’s much better than KFC or Bojangles. The food had more flavor, a better kick, and less grease. And the sides were a whole lot better.
GREAT CHICKEN………..Welcome to Roanoke…..it’s about time
Thank you Chris. My sentiments exactly. To P Jenkins: I happen to live not far from that “rough part of town” and personally, I am delighted to see this fine fried chicken chain come to my neighborhood. Yippee.
Poeyes was already here once before years ago and I was there every week. It was on Melrose then as well. It didn’t last long. et’s hope it makes it this time because the food is great.
There is also another new restaurant on Melrose, J.J. Chicken, close to the corner of Melrose and Lafayette Blvd. I have not checked it out yet, but I’m planning to soon.
@Howard, thanks for the tip!
I ate at Popeye’s Chicken when in Oregon last year, and it tasted terrible. It was greasy and just plain out nasty. The sides were even gross tasting. KFC is much better.
Popeyes really originated the whole “chicken and biscuits” thing that swept the country.Their product is great when fresh..so get it during lunchtime hrs for best results.Hopefully they will have the same menu as Nawlins including the best “beans and rice” anywhere.
BTW the original owner,Al Copeland used to have a huge Christmas set up in Metairie La.People came from miles around to see it.
Who Dat!
@Linda, our news researcher, Belinda Harris, just pulled out a 1987-88 phone book and found that Popeyes had two locations in our area. One in Roanoke at 4815 Williamson Road, and another in Salem at 816 W. Main Street.
Cajun fried chicken in Oregon. I can’t help but think geography was a part of the problem there. Like getting good biscuits in Michigan…just ain’t gonna happen, unless there’s a transplant from the south who moved there, but why?
Just seems kinda strange that Crown Fried chicken and Popeye’s chicken are basically going in across the street from each other after a KFC closed down in the same block…unless the KFC just wasn’t run very well.
It would be great if you could focus more on local shops and restaurants than on chains. You’ve only had a few blog posts so far and in two of them where you report on a chain coming to town, a reader pointed out that there is *also* a related business opening that’s locally owned (see howard’s comment here and your response). Please, please, please remember that all the money made by locally owned businesses *stays here*! The money made by big chains goes to their headquarters. People, please support J.J. Chicken, don’t just go to Popeyes.
Yes, Popye’s was at the current Tokyo Express location in Salem on W. Main, across from Wal-Mart.
@Tass, thanks for your feedback. I’m not intentionally focusing on the chains, it’s just that’s what’s popped up lately. You’ll find plenty of local retail news in this weekend’s Retail Roundup column, and I’ll be blogging about local businesses as well. (P.S. I did call J.J. Chicken today to get some information and left a message for a manager).
if you are in South FL… it is properly pronounced Poe-Pay-Yays.
No, Popeyes was not at the Tokyo Express site. It was at the old Fast Freddies location, which is now a Mexican Restaurant. It was actually Popeye’s that put those large black stones on the facade of the building.
Perhaps you were thinking of Bojangles, I believe they were the first occupants of the Tokyo Express site, back when they came to town the first time around the late ’70s-early ’80s.
Good call Tom, I still miss that Popeye’s even though I was in elementary school when it was open, and it’s been almost 25 years since they closed. I’m glad they’re coming back to the area.
Tom Davids is right about the Popeye’s in Salem; they built that bldg. then it became Fast Freddy’s then the Mexican place. Won’t swear to it, but I thought Fazoli’s built the bldg they were in, where Tokyo Express is now. Then when Fazoli’s went out Tokyo moved in.
While I am definitely happy to see Popeye’s come to Roanoke, and WILL eat there, the Melrose location IS a concern. Certain, erm, “cultural realities” exist that I don’t think we should gloss over. If you asked the franchisee, you’d be able to confirm that the location was chosen solely on the basis of where the franchise would be most welcomed and would generate the most revenue. I was recently in that area and lived to tell the tale — this isn’t NYC after all. Still, I can’t say I felt at all comfortable or safe.
Personally, the “more kick” comments definitely make me think I would really like the food at Popeye’s, and variety is always a good thing. I remember eating at Church’s Fried Chicken in Lynchburg nigh on 30 years ago, and I really enjoyed it (although back then fried chicken of any description was a treat). If the Melrose store is successful, it would be nice to see another one that would be more, um, centrally located.
One more thing… I really like the new masthead, byline, whatever you call it, but PLEASE tell the graphic designer that the Impact font is waaay overused.
some pink please, WTF is “erm, cultural realities”? And what’s more “um, centrally located” than the middle of the city? Why didn’t you feel comfortable or safe at the Melrose location? Be honest.
Readers, I am expecting to hear from the Roanoke Popeyes franchise owner soon. I’ve been unable yesterday and today to reach managers/owners at JJ Chicken and Crown Fried Chicken, but I’ll keep trying. These three fried chicken restaurants are all within a mile of each other. How well do you think they’ll fare?
As a Louisiana native I am more than excited to see a Popeye’s coming to Roanoke. No matter the location I will be there. So glad I don’t have to wait for my yearly trips to Louisiana before I get good friend chicken (sorry but KFC and Bojangles just don’t cut it).
@Jack Who Dat!
In reference to Melrose being in a bad part of town you are probably one the people who talked about Krispy Kreme and how Dunkin Doughnuts were better. Maybe they need to add an ABC store on 419 because that plaza is not filling up so fast. And personally, DD don’t hold a candle to KK.
The ABC store is farther down the street too and if you choose to drink then I guess that makes you happy, I remember when it was part of Roanoke Salem Plaza in its bustling days. There is a liquor store in all areas even the County.
It’s wonderful that another eatery is opening and creating jobs and more tax revenue for the City of Roanoke.
As far as KFC their other restaurants are not suffering.
Crowns eatery may do better with this added store since the parking situation will be better and the site is larger than the other one.
Not sure what is going in the old Pizza Hut site but I see work being done there also, with the amount of travel on Melrose new businesses are a welcome site.
I am not surprised that the Paradise Grill closed and the owner in Federal Court. I went there once and the food was lousy and overpriced, and the menu was hard to determine what was in that stuff. I was also turned off by the jumbo bus outside with the owners faces on it touting their Paradise Ministry.
Don’t everybody get all worked up over the “location” comments. Whenever there is a shooting in Roanoke, its in that part of town, not in Hunting Hills so realities are realities. These companies are very selective about locations and this decision was on purpose. I hope they have a drive-thru….
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It seems those who take issue with any reference to the Melrose area as being a less desirable part of town are the same who would feign insult to any reference to vagrants loitering at the city’s main library, though they themselves prefer to do their reading at Barnes & Noble while enjoying a nice latte.
It is a SLOP JAR!
I would like to know why the prices at this popeyes are a lot higher than that of other popeyes. One of the managers told me that it was the quality of chicken that they are using. Does this mean that other popeyes are using bad chicken?
@pai: I’ve sent the franchise owner, Keith Solomon, an email with your questions. I’ve invited him to respond to me via email, and I’ll post his response here, or to reply directly to this thread.