Popeyes, home to the politically correct fast food fried chicken sandwich, is a staple of Southern fast food. Despite this, I have only gone twice in Mississippi, once in high school, and once on a recent trip home to eat the infamous sandwich. I was curious to try Popeyes here in Vietnam, because I wanted to see if they kept the ties of Louisiana or if they localized the food. Vietnam has had Popeyes since 2013. They aren’t on any corner by any means, but I see them pretty regularly when riding through the city.

I visited two Popeyes locations here in Ho Chi Minh City. I almost didn’t go to the one on Dien Bien Phu after reading local guide Phong Nguyen’s Google review saying that “My friend and I both had explosive diarrhea the next day every time we eat here.” I braved the traffic and potential for explosive diarrhea to eat there. You’re welcome.

On my first trip, I ordered the gravy rice with 2 piece tender + cheese tart + soup + coke for a mere 65,000 VND (2.79 USD). I decided to order a rice dish because it seemed different than what Popeyes in America had. I wanted to try a dish obviously crafted for the Vietnamese audience.

I was first struck by the fact that my drink was in a glass cup and my food was served on plates with real silverware. I love how fancy fast food gets in Asia. The way it’s been explained to me is that in most of Asia, street food is “fast food.” In the US, we have three clear levels of restaurants: fast food-normal restaurants-fancy restaurants. Food trucks fall somewhere out of that spectrum, but they aren’t common enough to include.

In Asia, the spectrum is a little different. It’s street food-normal restaurants-fast food-fancy restaurants. Here in Vietnam, where you can drive up to a banh mi stand and have an amazing sandwich ready in five minutes for under one dollar, the concept of American-style fast food falls flat. It isn’t fast. It isn’t cheap. Therefore, it is elevated to a higher status by virtue of being imported and new. For anyone interested in this topic, CNBC has a great video on Why McDonald’s Flopped in Vietnam.

My first Vietnamese Popeyes meal was excellent overall. The fried chicken oozed oil, which is exactly what I wanted. It was served on a bed of lettuce and tomatoes. Vietnamese food always has vegetables, and I appreciated this little nod to the local cuisine. The soup was fairly bland, but it had bits of cilantro. Cilantro is also very evocative of Vietnamese food, and it did serve to brighten an otherwise boring soup.





The stars of the plate were the gravy and the tart. The gravy was distinctly Cajun, and I was shocked at just how good it was over rice. The tart was creamy goodness, perfectly cooked, and what I think will bring me back to Popeyes again in the future.

The second time, I went to a Popeyes in Binh Thanh district near one of my favorite coffee shops. I splurged on the garlic chili fish sauce chicken combo (95,000 VND, 4.09 USD). It came with an option of fries or mashed potatoes (I chose mashed potatoes), a drink, two pieces of chicken and a biscuit.

The mashed potatoes were disappointing. I was really hoping they would be just as good as those at US Popeyes, but they were mediocre. The chicken, on the other hand, was again a showstopper. I was hesitant at first to order chicken with fish sauce, but it was fantastic. It was slightly spicy, like Korean fried chicken but funkier.

The biscuit was everything. Buttery exterior, crispy outside, pillow inside. Eating it was a transportive experience. Suddenly I wasn’t in Vietnam. I was in Mississippi, eating perfection, an experience cut too short by the biscuit’s size.

The restaurant environment seems to be hit or miss. The first Popeyes I went to was spacious and relatively clean. The second one, on the other hand, was pretty dirty and crowded with little kids. I might have just gone at the wrong time, but I would be more inclined to do take-out to avoid the crowds. The restaurants also take the orange theme seriously. Every surface is covered in that tacky Popeyes orange. I love it.

Popeyes is excellent here. I really appreciate that it still holds onto Louisiana. This is something I like about Popeyes in the US as well. McDonald’s and Dairy Queen, while excellent, are not in any way regional. Popeyes is proudly Southern. Vietnamese Popeyes serves quality chicken, though sometimes the sides leave something to be desired. I’ll be back again, and I’ll definitely be ordering a tart or two.