It seems like everybody’s talking about Popeyes in Jakarta these days, after the American fast food chain made its long-awaited Indonesia return with a zeal matched by its signature Louisiana chicken’s spicy goodness.
After our last report, Popeyes opened restaurants in Depok’s Margo City mall on Dec. 29, Tangerang Regency’s Supermal Karawaci on Dec. 30, and Central Jakarta’s Skyline Building on Dec. 31.
To mark the start of 2023, Popeyes opened its fourth store in North Jakarta’s Kelapa Gading to massive fanfare and long lines on Jan. 2. Of the four restaurants, the Kelapa Gading chain is the first to serve drive-thru orders.
Expect more Popeyes restaurants to pop up throughout the Greater Jakarta Area and beyond in the near future. The chain has reportedly set sights on aggressively expanding in Indonesia by opening 300 restaurants in the country.
In Indonesia, Popeyes is serving its signature Louisiana crispy chicken and grilled chicken (with a side of rice, naturally) as well as their famed chicken sandwich. One notable dish that is conspicuously missing from Popeyes Indonesia’s menu is the famous biscuit, which we hope will one day make an appearance.
Popeyes first landed in Indonesia in 2000 as “Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits” and had restaurants in several major cities in the country. We still fondly recall munching on drumsticks and cajun fries at Taman Anggrek Mall in West Jakarta and even next to Bandung Indah Plaza (BIP) in the West Java capital.
Popeyes quietly quit Indonesia and closed its last restaurant in West Jakarta’s Puri Indah Mall in 2011. It had a brief and unsuccessful return in 2015 at Surabaya’s Juanda International Airport, but that restaurant closed in 2016.
