Popeyes Just Dropped A Sweet New Pastry, But Only In Three States
While famous for their southern fried chicken, Popeyes is looking to lean more on the specifically Louisianan roots of their brand with a new potential offering.
The Fast Food Post reports that they are conducting trial runs for a Wild Berry Beignet. Like the French Quarter dessert, they're filled with a sauce — no points for guessing what kind — and come with a heavy dusting of sugar. The beignets come in orders of three, six, and twelve with respective prices of $1.99, $3.99, and $7.49.
However, as the Wild Berry Beignet is still an experiment, Popeyes is only offering it in New York, Illinois, and California. That said, one redditor — an obviously sound source — claimed in the Fast Food subreddit that they had seen the dessert offered in Colorado. In all likelihood, they are probably remembering the chocolate beignet that Popeyes brought out in December of 2020.
Will a fast food beignet ever work?
You might notice that the three states in which Popeyes will test their new beignets do not include Louisiana. A cynical person might conclude that perhaps Popeyes does not feel confident enough to compete. Or, they might remember that the response to the chocolate beignet was mixed.
When Popeyes introduced their Hershey-filled dessert, they described it as "a classic New Orleans-style pastry." The Washington Post was not impressed, saying it is either the classic New Orleans beignet or isn't. Deeming it a disappointment, the review concludes that the two good things of the dessert are the merch and that "They give you an excuse to order a crispy chicken sandwich, which is as good as ever."
Other reviews weren't as harsh. Uproxx and Brand Eating both acknowledged that they were drive-thru pastries filled with chocolate and accepted them as such. If you want the actual classic pastry, you will have to look elsewhere. This time, though, Popeyes is playing on expectations they set, so they can probably look forward to a welcome test market and hopefully a national rollout.