Popeyes wants to open Springboro location

The Springboro Planning Commission on Wednesday is scheduled to review plans for the proposed Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen restaurant at 829 W. Central Ave. (Ohio 73 in Springboro).

The proposed restaurant site is to be located southeast of the traffic signal serving Taco Bell, KFC, Applebee’s and Midway Plaza Shopping Center.

The proposed restaurant is to be physically separated from the Applebee’s property by the Midway Plaza access drive. A non-signalized access point is also available to the east of the restaurant between a stand-alone ATM and Long John Silver’s restaurant.

The quick-serve restaurant chain Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen is gearing up to more than double its footprint in the Dayton area, starting with the new restaurant in Springboro, its local franchisee has told the Dayton Daily News.

Popeyes — once a Dayton-area mainstay known for its fried chicken and Cajun-style side dishes — operates two restaurants in the Dayton-Springfield region, at 3796 Salem Ave. in Harrison Twp. and at 2134 S. Limestone St. in Springfield. A Sugarcreek Twp. location at 5800 Wilmington Pike near I-675 shut its doors in 2010.

Now, Popeyes is poised for a comeback. The new Springboro Popeyes is scheduled to be built in the 800 block of West Central Avenue (Ohio 73) just east of I-75, according to

“I’m looking to develop three or four more locations over the next 18 months,” said Pat Gilligan, Popeye Louisiana Kitchen’s area franchisee for southwest Ohio and who also is the Dayton-area franchisee for Dunkin’ Donuts.

The Springboro location will be built in a tract of vacant land on the south side of West Central Avenue, adjacent to an Applebee’s restaurant and across the street from Taco Bell, Gilligan said. The 2,800-square-foot restaurant with a drive-through will seat about 46 and will create 30 to 40 jobs, the franchise owner said.

Gilligan purchased the Springfield and Harrison Twp. Popeyes locations, along with five Cincinnati-area restaurants, in January.

“Popeyes is expanding all over the country, and demand for Popeyes chicken has been growing,” Gilligan said previously.

Popeyes had multiple locations in the Dayton area in the early 1980s, but those closed, and the region went without the Cajun-themed chicken for several years. When the Salem Avenue Popeyes opened in 2001, devotees flocked to the restaurant for several days, causing waits of up to an hour.

Popeyes’ menu includes several fried-chicken options and sides such as Red Beans and Rice, Cajun Fries and Biscuits.

Mark Fisher contributed to this story.

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