An international fast food giant will be opening in the former Burger King opposite the Victoria Centre in Nottingham. The building has been on the market for a year following the closure of the burger joint during the pandemic.
The new operator will be Popeyes, a US fried chicken chain which is expanding across the UK. The company, which has more than 3,400 restaurants, opened its first British site in London last November and has as many as 350 locations across the country in the pipeline over the next 10 years.
Popeyes, which originated in New Orleans, says its chicken is freshly prepared daily and never frozen. "We believe the best food takes time, all our chicken is marinated for 12 hours in our signature blend of Louisiana herbs and spices and then hand-breaded and hand-battered to create that famous Popeyes Shatter-Crunch," says the website.
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As well as its signature chicken on the bone, which comes classic or spicy, the menu features tenders, chicken burgers and hot wings. Sides include mash and Cajun gravy, buttermilk biscuits and mac 'n' cheese. Hand spun milkshakes are another speciality and ice cream sundaes for dessert.
The chain's late founder Al Copeland didn't name Popeyes after the spinach-eating cartoon sailor man but took inspiration from the hard-nosed film detective Popeye Doyle in The French Connection. He always said he was too poor to afford an apostrophe.
The property has only just been let by Box Property on a 15-year lease so there's no opening date yet. With its prominent location near the shopping centre and Clumber Street, the empty restaurant was marketed as "the busiest spot in the city centre".
Director Frankie Labbate said: "It's an absolute pleasure for us to complete the letting on yet another prime and very important Nottingham city centre site, bringing another massive international brand to Nottingham, who were previously not represented. This will be the first Popeyes store in the East Midlands and brings something fresh and different to our leisure offer in the city.
"Naturally competition was very high for what is one of the most important and prominent retail/leisure units in the East Midlands. We were not short of strong offers from national and international brands proving both the strength of the location but also the strength of our city of Nottingham and Box Property's expertise in this sector and national network."
The latest letting comes on top of the new 200 Degrees coffee shop opening in Milton Street this week and Wingstop, which will soon be opening at the Cornerhouse.
Fast food fans didn't miss Burger King when it appeared to have closed in October 2020 without warning, looking a sorry sight with half the sign missing and debris on the floor inside. The permanent closure wasn't confirmed until May 2021 when four-storey building went on the market.
The number of negative reviews, going back years on TripAdvisor, far outweighed the good ones, resulting in a 1.5 rating. "I hate to leave bad reviews but this place has been consistently awful every time I have the misfortune to think it's better than waiting out in the cold for my next bus," said one.
