Popeyes' Chicken Sandwich Will Sell Out by the End of This Week

Was it all a dream? On Tuesday afternoon, Popeyes announced that their brand-new, frenzy-inducing chicken sandwich—which they introduced on August 12—is sold out "for now," due to wildly high demand that exceeded anything the company could have predicted. Supposedly, the sandwich will return to restaurants once everything is sorted out with suppliers.

"The demand for the new Chicken Sandwich in the first few weeks following launch far exceeded our very optimistic expectations," said a Popeyes spokesperson. "As a result, Popeyes restaurants across the country are expected to sell out of the Chicken Sandwich by the end of this week. We, along with our suppliers, are working tirelessly to bring the new sandwich back to guests as soon as possible."

If you still wanted to get your hands on the chain's first-ever fried chicken sandwich, which inspired rave reviews and several high-profile social media wars, you probably could, but it would require visiting several crowded locations, where many have already sold out of the item. In fact, this week, reports of Popeyes chicken sandwich scarcity flooded social media, with some people venturing to several locations in search of the sandwich, only to come up short (or to wait in hours-long lines). Gayle King visited 15 (!) Popeyes locations before finding one—she ultimately had to call ahead.

So we're not completely surprised that Popeyes is owning up to the shortage, though we're relieved there are plans to revive the item and, we hope, make it a permanent fixture on the menu.

To be the first to know when the sandwich is for sale again, the company recommends downloading the Popeyes app in the App Store or Google Play and signing up for push notifications. That may seem extreme, but after tasting the crispy, flavorful, ideally sauced sandwich, we can confirm that it is completely reasonable. It's a sandwich worthy of push notifications.