Popeyes Gizzards Totally Exist (But Not Every Location Has Them)
If you find yourself at Popeyes, it's probably because you're craving fried chicken, or at the very least something fried. Though the chain is most known for its fried chicken offerings, it also has other menu items like fried shrimp, french fries, and even fried apple pie. As for fried gizzards, however, most people would be surprised to know that Popeyes actually does offer them — but only at select locations.
Considering fried gizzards are a popular Southern staple, you might assume that the select locations that had them would be in the South, but in reality that's not the case. The Popeyes website, unfortunately, doesn't disclose which locations fried gizzards are available, but several Trip Advisor reviews have offered some clues. There are at least three Popeyes restaurants in Kansas that have them on the menu, one being in Olathe, and there's another in Honolulu that is said to have them as well.
Why doesn't every Popeyes have gizzards?
While Popeyes does prepare its fried chicken from scratch, employees don't appear to do any of the actual butchering. Judging by one employee's TikTok, the raw chicken already comes sectioned, which of course means there are no gizzards to deal with, let alone fry up and sell to customers.
@dustintoddholloway chicken how to cook Popeyes Chicken and what the difference is in the poultry easy peasyPopeye's Chicken#love that chicken love that chicken Popeyes
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But like any fast food chain, there's a market for everything, and Kansas may just be a big market for fried gizzards. It's possible that Popeyes decided against putting fried gizzards on the menu at all of its locations because it wouldn't have been profitable.
Let's not forget that Popeyes also franchises its restaurants, and that means some locations aren't run by corporate, but by independent business owners, also known as franchisees. This could easily mean that certain restaurants just decided to sell gizzards, similar to how one McDonald's franchise in Missouri famously offers french fry refills, while no others do.
Every Popeyes used to have gizzards — sort of
The thought of all Popeyes locations selling gizzards probably sounds exciting to anyone who finds them as tasty as fried chicken, and at one point it was somewhat true. Until 2021, as most Popeyes fans already know, Popeyes had Cajun rice on the menu. Though Cajun rice is often made with ground pork or ground beef, traditionally it's made with chicken livers or gizzards. Popeyes, as it turns out, made its Cajun rice the traditional way, including gizzards as a main ingredient. As a Popeyes worker revealed on TikTok, these gizzards came chopped up and bagged, and unsurprisingly, they were only added to the rice, not deep fried.
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The last time every Popeyes kitchen was stocked with gizzards was in 2022, when the Cajun rice was temporarily brought back, but currently, it doesn't seem like gizzards of any form will become a standard menu item. If you're in the mood for some fried gizzards, you'll have to seek out one of the Popeyes locations that have them, or make your own.