Popeyes Chicken Sandwich Crisis Hits the SouthCoast

Popeyes Chicken broke my heart today. In a world where we're worrying about EEE, great white sharks, and a poisonous political climate, the news about Popeyes new chicken sandwich was uplifting.

Our Digital Managing Editor Tim Weisberg tried the sandwich yesterday and described the spicy version of the Popeyes chicken sandwich as "better than Chick-Fil-A."

I mean, STOP THE PRESSES. Better than Chick-Fil-A? How can this be? That HAS to be hype. I'd have dismissed it as nonsense, but I kept hearing and seeing other people's rave reviews online.

So, Gazelle and I did what anyone else would do: we left our content meeting while it was still in progress to drive to the New Bedford Popeyes and try the chicken sandwich.

We were so excited on the way. It felt like the beginning of a bromance movie where two guys head out on the open road to find a secret treasure, but they learn just a little about themselves along the way.

Our bromance movie quickly turned into a horror movie. We saw a sign that took our breath away. The New Bedford Popeyes was SOLD OUT of chicken sandwiches.

That's not the worst part of it. I asked the drive-thru employee what time I'd need to get here tomorrow to get a sandwich. He told me they wouldn't have them for two weeks! TWO WEEKS!

We called the Popeyes in Fall River. They were also sold out, but the person that answered the phone told us that they expected more tomorrow, but that we'd need to get there early if we wanted to try one before they sold out again.

The hype is real, people. I can't tell you about the sandwich, but the hype is real.