Popeyes to give away free fried chicken sandwiches - and there’s a chance to win free food for a year

Fried chicken restaurant Popeyes will be celebrating the opening of its first ever drive-thru store in Greater Manchester next week with a huge giveaway.

Marking the 11th Popeyes opening in the UK this year alone, the American chain will open its second location in Greater Manchester on Friday (April 26). The Salford restaurant, on Bury New Road, follows in the footsteps of Popeyes Manchester Piccadilly Gardens store which opened to huge fanfare last year.

As with the Piccadilly Gardens restaurant, the Bury New Road store is expected to draw in big queues of fans wanting to get their hands on the Louisiana-style fried chicken. And, yet again, the chain is set to offer up free meals to the first in line.

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To celebrate the opening of the new store and, in a nod to the hospitable nature of people in New Orleans, the first three people queuing both on-foot and in cars will win free chicken sandwiches for a whole year (the equivalent of three classic sandwiches a week for 12 months).

The first 25 customers in both queues will also get a free Chicken Sandwich alongside some 'very exclusive Popeyes UK merchandise that you won’t be able to find anywhere else'.

Ahead of the opening day of the Piccadilly Gardens store in October last year, some fans queued up for as long as 16 hours to be one of the first in line. The fried chicken has become popular thanks to social media, and with the long-awaited arrival of the chain here in the UK. Its smash-hit chicken sandwich - consisting of a brioche bun, mayo, pickles and fried chicken - was among the items to go viral.

Hashim Akhtar, who was one of the first in line at the Piccadilly Gardens store last year, had queued up since 7pm the night before with his friend Farhan Munir. Speaking at the time, Hashim said: "Americans are raving about it nonstop - I thought it’s finally in my city, let's try it.”

Not long after the opening of the second store in Greater Manchester, Popeyes will add to its already popular menu with a full roll out of its breakfast offering from April 27. Previously launched earlier this year in select restaurants, the breakfast menu will include cajun hash browns, Nutella-topped buttermilk breakfasts and bacon rolls until 11am every day.

Since landing in the UK in November 2021, Popeyes now has 47 stores across the country. Not content with that, the brand already has plans in motion for 30 new stores to open in the UK by the end of the year.

The Popeyes UK Drive-Thru will open on 288-292 Bury New Road (M7 2YJ) at 11am on Friday 26th April. Full T&Cs of the giveaway can be found here.