Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen 2 with Andrew Ti

"Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen 2 with Andrew Ti" is Episode 218 of *Doughboys*, hosted by Mike Mitchell and Nick Wiger. "Popeyes Lousiana Kitchen 2 with Andrew Ti" was released on August 29, 2019.

## Synopsis

In the midst of a nationwide craze for its new chicken sandwich, we return to Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen with writer and podcaster Andrew Ti (*Mixed-ish*, *Yo, Is This Racist?*) to determine if the sandwich lives up to the commotion. Plus, the debut of an all new segment, Snack to the Future.

## Nick's intro

"*Tom Cruise is no more my vampire Lestat than Edward G. Robinson is Rhett Butler.*"

This was author Anne Rice in 1993 after Cruise was cast in the film adaptation of her breakout novel, *Interview with a Vampire*.

A native of New Orleans who'd recovered from a life filled with personal tragedy to become a bestselling author of genre fiction, Rice has a reputation for being outspoken to a fault, and prior to the film's release, she repeatedly displayed open contempt for the casting of diminutive brunette Cruise as her tall, blonde Lestat. But after the film's release, perhaps partly due to its box-office success, Rice's opinion flipped a full 180. She even took out an 8-page ad in Hollywood trade publication, *Variety,* at a reported cost of $6,000 per page to heap praise on the movie and, specifically, Cruise's performance.

Then, in 1997, a very different Lestat-related controversy inspired Rice to make another full-page ad buy, this time in the *New Orleans Times-Picayune*. The issue: a newly-opened eatery from restaurateur Al Copeland, himself a local Big Easy celebrity.

In 1997, Copeland opened sit-down restaurant, Straya, in the shell of an historic building on New Orleans' St. Charles Avenue, a structure that was coincidentally a key setting in Rice's 1995 Lestat novel, *Memnoch the Devil*. A year-long war of words ensued between the two titans that led to Copeland suing Rice for libel - a suit Rice won with aid from the ACLU. Though, in a way, they both won, as the restaurant space remained, managed by his son after Copeland's death in 2008.

Copeland's original claim to fame, his "*Interview with a Vampire*," if you will, was a Cajun fried-chicken joint he founded in 1972 and grew into the second largest chicken chain in the country.

And in 2019, his company took aim at the third largest, Southern institution and purported inventor of the fried-chicken sandwich, Chick-fil-A, with a launch of their own version of a breaded-bird handheld. The response was overwhelming, both online and IRL, making the sando into fast-food's biggest must-have item in years. According to Apex Marketing Group, the social-media bonanza, driven largely by Black Twitter, was worth $23 million in free advertising. The demand was so unprecedented, the chain announced that it was temporarily discontinuing the sandwich on Tuesday, August 27th.

So is the sandwich worthy of the hour-long queues and rapturous reaction videos?

Or is it as disappointing as the 2002 film adaptation of Anne Rice's *Queen of the Damned*?

This week on *Doughboys*, we return to Popeyes for their new chicken sandwich.

## Fork rating

The Doughboys first visited Popeyes in episode 54; Nick rated it 4.5 forks and Mitch gave it 3.5.

The main purpose of the revisit is Popeyes' new Chicken Sandwich, which at the time was getting a lot of attention and popularity.

	+ Cole Slaw
	+ Red Beans and Rice
 Mike Mitchell
* Spicy Chicken Sandwich
* Chicken Sandwich
	+ Mashed Potatoes w/ Gravy
 Andrew Ti
	+ Cole Slaw
	+ Green Beans

Even though they focused on the sandwich, the rating is for the whole chain.

With these scores, Popeyes makes the Golden Plate Club!

## Snack to the Future

In Snack to the Future, The Doughboys offer their modern take on a classic snack.

For this episode, they have a can of Planters Cheez Balls.

If they're bad, Biff Stomps Them Out; or if they're good, they Fuel The Delorean; for a more middle-of-the-road rating, they are sent to the Wild West Times of *Back to the Future 3*.

 Mike Mitchell
 Andrew Ti

## Quotes

**Nick**: That's beautiful.

## #hashtags

* #NumberOne vs. #NumberTwo
* #AHardSeltzerToSwallow

## Related Episodes

* 93. Chicken Fight: Full Bird Region
* 95. Chicken Fight: Semisoft Finals
* 97. Chicken Fight: Finals
* 218. **Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen 2**
* 284. Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen 3
* 346. Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen 4

## Photos

Chicken SandwichChicken SandwichRed Beans and Rice