The State With The Most Popeyes Actually Isn't Louisiana
Popeyes, also referred to by its full moniker of Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, was launched in New Orleans in 1972 and has just shy of 3,000 locations. You might expect that the state that started this fast food chicken franchise which is included right there in the name would feature the most Popeyes, but that distinction actually belongs to its much larger neighbor.
The saying goes that "everything is bigger in Texas," and apparently that includes the percentage of Popeyes' restaurants found in America. Texas takes the crown for having the greatest number of Popeyes locations with a whopping 404 or 14% of all Popeyes nationwide, dwarfing the competition. The next closest state is California, which is home to 258, proving that people out west love their southern fried chicken too. Florida earns the bronze chicken medal with 215 Popeyes stores. Louisiana does at least crack the top ten with a respectable 150 Popeyes, coming in at sixth behind fellow deep South state Georgia. And if you live in Vermont or Wyoming, sorry, but you're going to have to plan a trek to a neighboring state to satisfy your Popeyes craving.
Houston, we don't have a chicken problem
So, what about the city where all that crispy, Cajun-inspired flavor originated, New Orleans? Surely, the Big Easy must have the most Popeyes of any U.S. city, right? Nope, that title belongs to chicken-crazy Houston, which boasts 69 Popeyes locations, 18 more than the runner-up, Brooklyn, N.Y., and over 30 ahead of the third-place city, Chicago, known more for its pizza and sausages than its poultry offerings. Houston also happens to have more KFC stores than any other city in America. Basically, if you have a hankering for fast-food fried chicken, Houston is your mecca.
New Orleans, on the other hand, doesn't even make the top ten of cities with the most Popeyes restaurants. Unsurprisingly, there are three cities from Texas in the top ten, including Dallas and San Antonio. But perhaps a little surprising is that California, despite having the second most stores of any state, has no cities in the top ten, and Jacksonville is the only Florida city to crack the list. While New Orleans may not have the highest number of Popeyes, it did open the first one, and there's something to be said for an original.