French Fry Diary 439: Popeyes, Delaware House

It's been quite a while since I've been to Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen (or as they are colloquially known, Popeyes Chicken), not since they started to replace local area KFCs at least, and I've never been to the Delaware House rest stop on I-95 despite passing it perhaps hundreds of times, so why not kill two birds (or chickens) with one stone?

Delaware House, recently renovated a few years back, is a more likely stop on I-95 now that personal favorite Maryland House is now itself being renovated. Oddly enough, the first time I had ever been to a Popeyes was also at a rest stop, this one somewhere between Chicago and Milwaukee back in 1992. I remember two things about the visit - the biscuits were good, and there was a 'gentleman' giving out business cards at the rest stop declaring himself a 'procurer of companionship.' Uh huh.

That didn't happen this time. Delaware House is actually rather nice, and has a loungey food court vibe. Originally The Bride was going to get pizza at Famous Farmiglia, but once she smelled what Popeyes was cooking, to paraphrase The Rock, she joined me in line there. Despite what seemed a long line on a busy Friday night, we were quickly taken care of with a friendly smile. A-plusses for customer service and appreciation.

The Bride and I shared some spicy chicken tenders, and I got a biscuit and some fries of course. The biscuits are still just as good as I remembered. The Cajun Fries were crispy and battered natural cut shoestrings, as opposed to the regular cuts I had gotten the last few times I'd been to Popeyes. I wonder if that's a franchise-wide change or unique to this location.

The fries came in an old style fast food paper pocket, but overflowed into their own mini-box, which was a nice touch. Some of the fries were stuck together in batches due to the batter in the deep frying - nothing wrong with that, just interesting. The Cajun spices and cracked black pepper gives the fries a good zing, not unlike those at Checkers. Good stuff.

Good relaxing stop and dinner break, and best of all, no pimps. ;-)