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cross-posted from: https://lemmit.online/post/4802929

TIL A restaurant in Long Beach, CA, was found to be serving Popeye's chicken and passing it off as their own. They would buy the chicken at Popeyes and upcharge for their own chicken and waffles d...

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Bluest_waters on 2024-12-31 23:25:54+00:00.

Original Title: TIL A restaurant in Long Beach, CA, was found to be serving Popeye's chicken and passing it off as their own. They would buy the chicken at Popeyes and upcharge for their own chicken and waffles dish. Once found out the owner refused to apologize.

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[–] [email protected] 159 points 1 month ago (3 children)

99% of restaurants are just reselling Sysco food anyway

[–] Waldowal 45 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Exactly. The headline could just as easily read "Customers discover their $30 meal is made with the same prepackaged food they serve down the street at a school cafeteria."

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

...last week i learned that the cafeteria food i grew up with was scratch-made; the reason it tasted the same everywhere wasn't because they all bought prepared foods from the same distributors, but because they all used the same USDA-provided recipes...

[–] [email protected] 28 points 1 month ago

Many, many people need to realize that there are like 3 companies that own all food distribution in the US. People aren't talking out the ass when they say "late-stage capitalism"

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 month ago

After working in enough sysco-based restaurants I fucking hate eating out because that's all I can taste is sysco products. I only eat at places that make their stuff from scratch and that's hard to find, and spendy. But worth it.

[–] [email protected] 61 points 1 month ago
[–] x00z 50 points 1 month ago

I don't actually have a proper kitchen back there

Great thing to say as a restaurant owner.

[–] [email protected] 47 points 1 month ago

Delightfully devilish, Seymour!

[–] [email protected] 38 points 1 month ago (1 children)

At a certain level every restaurant is up selling something from someone, if not Popeye, then the local supermarket, local wholesaler, butcher, farmer, family member ...

[–] [email protected] 62 points 1 month ago

Everyone knows what Sysco products taste like, whether they realize it or not.

[–] errer 31 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Honestly pretty good ad for Popeye’s…

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I love fried chicken and I'm sure I'd be satisfied if I was unknowing served Popeye's at a nice restaurant.

[–] MutilationWave 5 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Would you be satisfied that you paid $15 for half of a $10 Popeye's meal and some frozen waffles?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago

If I didn't notice then it worked.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

My point is that Popeye's is good enough that I wouldn't notice.

[–] MutilationWave 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

You ever get their red beans and rice? That stuff has no business being that good for fast food. It tastes just like what you'd get in New Orleans.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

I mean, technically it is from New Orleans.

[–] [email protected] 29 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I heard they also secretly replaced their coffee with Folger's Crystals.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago

An upcharged from the store price

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 month ago (4 children)

I worked at a restaurant that didn't stock all fruit/veg. When somebody ordered something they'd send me across the street to the grocery store, and then I'd bring the stuff through the back entrance. Seems similar here

[–] MutilationWave 17 points 1 month ago

Sometimes at the pizza joint we would get bad mushrooms from the truck. They were presliced and maybe someone let them set out at the factory? But sometimes they'd be slimy right off the truck. I'd toss them out, place a refund request, and then go to Kroger at 2-3AM after we closed to buy all their button mushrooms and slice them up.

Even more rare that we'd be so low I would go buy out two Kroger's. They aren't even 24 hour anymore. It's a shame, grocery shopping in the middle of the night after work was pretty nice.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I'm fine with getting ingredients needed to actually make the food, but if I go to your restaurant and order what is, supposedly, your food and you're just going to the place across the street and serving me that for more money I'd be pretty pissed.

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[–] aido 13 points 1 month ago

They're still open as catering with the same name lol

[–] cheese_greater 11 points 1 month ago (2 children)

How the hell did they discover this lmao

[–] [email protected] 34 points 1 month ago (1 children)

From the article:

The restaurant's troubles started after a customer allegedly saw Sweet Dixie employees carrying Popeyes boxes into the kitchen.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Maybe they were just having a party lol

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago

That would be maybe even more damning. The employees of a fried chicken place getting their own food from across the street would send me running from that place.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I mean if they keep getting from the same place, or even area, people are going to catch on. They'd presumably be getting a lot of chicken weekly, if not daily and probably sent the same person to pick it up every time.

[–] MutilationWave 6 points 1 month ago

From the article she had a deal with Popeyes and got a bunch of chicken twice a day. It's capitalism baby. I don't think she did anything more wrong than Panera bread microwaving soup from a bag.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I bet it was the Popeyes staff.. see the same people all day... Lol... You have to tip out the back of the house or they are going to rat you out!!!!

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Yeap. It do be like that. I once worked for an "ISP" computer shop that re-sold NetZero dialup and de-badged eMachines. (No surprise the owner was an ex-con who has since done time again.)

What if I told you most retail businesses - including restaurants - are just middlemen marking things up that you could buy cheaper elsewhere?

Restaurants, in particular, are famously difficult to operate at a profit. So if your local chicken place isn't way more expensive, and slower, and/or poor quality it's probably because they take shortcuts. Very very few places are making things from scratch.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

You got me there, burgers from scratch, but I have to tell people I haven't seen before that this isn't fast food, it's gonna be a half hour. I premake and freeze the patties, but it takes nearly ten minutes ( in this old ass radiation king dial microwave from the 80s i found new in a box, that thaws meat without cooking it) to thaw just one patty, although I make 3/4 pounders

[–] brlemworld 9 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Doesnt every restaurant do this with Sisco?

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

No. I run a bar and don't deal with Sysco whatsoever. Fucking garbage is what they bring. For example, the boxes of wings i get cost 80 dollars more than sysco wings, but they're old breed chickens with thick skins and strong bones, non rubbery meat, they don't grow to market weight in anywhere near the time the modern NA meat breeds do, these chickens taste like 1985. I don't have to batter them, they don't taste like shit. The extra money is worth it in customers actually wanting to eat the food here.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Where is this bar that offers these succulent wings?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago

this is how to find them

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Tompkins, Saskatchewan. The wings are imported from Brazil.

[–] Psythik 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Exactly. This is why every Americanized Chinese buffet tastes the same. Same for sports bars and so many other restaurants. They all get their food from either Sysco or Shamrock.

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