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Thursday, January 7, 2016

Sunnyside Road Popeyes set to open Monday

Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen in Ammon is scheduled to open Monday.
Here we go, the first big restaurant news of the year: Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen in Ammon's Sandcreek Commons Shopping Center is scheduled to open Monday, Jan. 11.

This is the fourth in Idaho, but part of a six-restaurant expansion into the state. Norcal Cajun Foods, a company in Concord, Calif., has the rights to franchise Popeyes in Idaho.

Norcal has opened Popeyes in Nampa, Caldwell and Boise. In addition to Ammon, it also has plans for Pocatello and Twin Falls. The company has 17 Popeyes in Northern California.

Popeyes dates back to 1972, when Alvin C. Copeland, Sr. opened a restaurant called Chicken on the Run in the New Orleans suburb of Arabi, serving traditional Southern fried chicken. After several months of mediocre sales, he changed the menu to spicy, New Orleans-style chicken and renamed the restaurant Popeyes, after the character Popeye Doyle in the movie “The French Connection.”

The menu features Cajun-style fried chicken and seafood that is typically served with buttermilk biscuits and a variety of sides, including Cajun rice, coleslaw, mashed potatoes, or french fries.

Today, there are more than 2,000 Popeyes in the United States and 25 foreign countries. Only 40 Popeyes locations are company-owned, according to the business profile on Hoovers.com.