A pair of married off-duty police officers on a date night foiled an armed robbery at a fried chicken restaurant.

Dramatic CCTV footage shows Detective Chase McKeown and Officer Nicole McKeown draw their weapons and confront the masked gunman in the Raising Cane's branch in Louisville, Kentucky.

The pair gave chase as the robber fled through the town and arrested him nearby with the help of local officers.

The couple, who are officers with the Elizabethtown Police Department about 50 miles south of Louisville, were enjoying their weekly date night on Saturday when the suspect entered the restaurant wearing a surgical face mask.

Detective Chase McKeown and Officer Nicole McKeown foiled a robbery on their date night

The officers pull their weapons and move towards the robber as he tried to rob the restaurant

The off duty cops were enjoying a date at Raising Cane's restaurant in Louisville, Kentucky

Justin Carter, 30, who appeared in court Monday charged with first-degree robbery, receiving a stolen firearm and possessing a handgun as a convicted felon

Nicole said at first she assumed he was wearing the mask because it's flu season.

She said: 'I think we kind of both saw him at the same time. I looked at him and said, "That's kind of odd.'"

When they realized it was a robbery, Chase handed his cell phone to his wife and told her to call 911 while he confronted the robber.

But Nicole pulled out her gun as well saying she thought: 'No - I'm gonna help my husband!'

Detective Chase McKeown and Officer Nicole McKeown were on a date night in Raising Cane's

CCTV footage shows the masked robber enter the restaurant and threaten staff with a gun

'That's where that repetitiveness and that training kicks in,' Nicole told NBC.

The suspect was identified as 30-year-old Justin Carter who appeared in court Monday charged with first-degree robbery, receiving a stolen firearm and possessing a handgun as a convicted felon.

The pair have been hailed as heroes but Chase said they were just doing their jobs.

'Maybe it's the term hero,' he said. 'We don't feel that way. We just feel like our training kicked in.'

He added: 'In marriage we've got each other. We're going to talk things out, we're going to deal with whatever comes at us.'

Asked if they'll ever go back to Raising Cane's again, Nicole said: 'Oh absolutely. I love Raising Cane's.'

A representative of Raising Cane's said: 'We are extremely blessed that they chose to dine with us.

'It's because of good people like Chase and Nicole who give us good hope for tomorrow. We'll never be able to thank them enough.'g.

Elizabethtown PD praised the officers' 'courageous and selfless' actions in a proud post on the force's Instagram, adding the hashtag '#couplegoals.'