LONG BEACH, Calif. – Fans of Popeye's Chicken will probably enjoy a California restaurant's recipe.
Sweet Dixie Kitchen in Long Beach is facing backlash after a negative review on Yelp.
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The reviewer, Tyler H., said he saw Sweet Dixie employees carrying Popeye's boxes into the kitchen.
"The chicken they use is from Popeye's! Before my friends and I got seated we saw them quickly bring in two large boxes of Popeye's to the kitchen. I wanted to believe that this was just a snack for the workers, but alas it was not. I ordered the Chicken and Waffles to see whether or not they were serving Popeye's to their customers. I thought the chicken tasted suspiciously like Popeye's and was also rather stale. I kindly asked our waiter how they cooked their fried chicken. After checking he admitted that they do in fact use Popeye's. The Waffles were also hard as rocks. The manager compensated us for the entire meal. Three out of the five (of) us either thought their food was okay or enjoyed it. If you're considering having any chicken dish here then just go to Popeye's."
Owner Kimberly Sanchez wrote a reply to Tyler H's review and said she never made it a secret that Popeye's Chicken was used in two of her chicken plates. "My kitchen is not set up for frying," she said. "We're an old building. I actually don't have a proper kitchen back there.”
Sanchez said that her restaurant “proudly serves” Popeye's spicy tenders.
"We proudly serve Popeye's spicy tenders- the best fried chicken anywhere and from New Orleans- which are delivered twice a day. We also, in case you need to know, buy our gumbo from a friend who sells it at a local farmers market. And our jam- which we used to make here- we were introduced to a woman from Alabama who now sells the most wonderful jams and as it has always been our goal to feature local food and guest chefs here. We promote usually small batch local producers in our menu. The exception is Popeye's. We can't fry at this location and it the fried chicken I love so much and I ate a ton of it in the ATL. So I serve it. We also don't grow our own veggies- we purchase those- and if we run out of our own slow cooked pork, in order to keep our menu intact. I will order a batch of carnitas from the best place in Long Beach. We don't mill our own flour as we don't own a mill or wheat farm and our coconut cake is made by our prep cook who makes cakes for private clients. Just FYI. So whatever to you and your little review, like it was some great exposure- and whatever to you dude.We do what we do and bring Long Beach the best food - mostly made here but we always get by with a little help from our friends- and we don't want it any other way."
Read Tyler H.'s review of Sweet Dixie Kitchen on Yelp
The chicken dishes cost around $13.
“We didn’t do anything wrong. I did something I thought was the best product I could bring in anywhere.”
She said she has reached out to Popeye’s for approval to officially add the tenders to her menu.
The chain has not responded to her inquiry.