‘If they give you this box, they trying to finesse you’: Popeyes worker shares the truth about the fries, says this is how they should really come

This 10-year veteran of Popeyes has five tips to share with customers. Her tip about Popeyes fries might surprise you.

A Popeyes throwback

Popeyes is known for its delicious chicken, seasoned fries, and inconsistent customer service. It cemented itself in the mainstream with the “Popeyes Lady.” “Popeyes Lady” was in a number of commercials back in the day.

Popeyes even entered meme notoriety with the Popeyes kid and tired Popeyes worker memes.

And here’s a throwback memory for ya: Remember the chicken sandwich wars of 2019?

For many years, a la KFC, Popeyes sold white and dark meat chicken and offered a variety of sides.

When it introduced its highly anticipated chicken sandwich in 2019, it led to a chicken frenzy. There were lines out of the door of people hoping to get their hands on the salty concoction. Locations kept selling out of the sandwich, and it had an impressive 38% jump in sales, Restaurant Business reported.

Chick-fil-A came to Popeyes, saying it had the original chicken sandwich. And several other brands (including KFC, Wendy’s, Sonic, and McDonald’s) reinvented or introduced their own chicken sandwiches to be part of the hype.

Popeyes tips and tricks

In a viral TikTok, former Popeyes worker Shay (@hername__long) gives insight only an employee would know. Her video has nearly a quarter million views.

1. Expiration time: Shay claims that the bottom of each of the cups your sides come in (or the apple pie sleeve) has a time written on it. When a side is freshly packed, it won’t have a number written on it, she continues. Shay explains that when it’s pre-packed, it’ll have a time on it that’s two hours from when it was originally packaged. In Shay’s case, she got a side that technically expired by about 20 minutes.
2. Do the survey: Shay says there’s a survey on the bottom of your receipt that gets you free food if you fill it out.
3. Beware of pork: While Shay claims there’s pork in the gravy, Popeyes allergen list states the gravy is vegan (aka it doesn’t have pork or other animal by-products).
4. Don’t sleep on the coleslaw: Shay says that when it’s made right, the coleslaw hits.
5. Check the box size: When you order large fries, it’s supposed to come in a big box to accommodate the extra potatoes, Shay says. If they give you the regular box “they tryna finesse you,” Shay continues.

@hername__long Five facts about popeyes chicken ex employee #fyp #explore ♬ original sound – Shay C 💕

Commenters react

“I’m just so grateful that you didn’t say anything bad, because I love me some Popeyes!!!!” a top comment read.

“Popeyes better count they days finessing me on the fries thank you for that information,” a person said.

“I would’ve been ate and threw away the trash before I remember to check times and dates,” another joked.

The Daily Dot reached out to Shay for comment via Instagram and TikTok direct message and to Popeyes via email.

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