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A photo of Sweet Dixie Kitchen’s Biscuit and Chicken BiscuitWitch ($12.95), with the hashtag #scratch, which the owner says refers to the biscuit and cole slaw, not the Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen spicy tenders ($7.79 for 5). Screenshot from Facebook.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Two months ago restaurant owner Kimberly Sanchez decided that what was missing from Sweet Dixie Kitchen\u2019s southern comfort-food inspired menu was some fried chicken.<\/p>\n The brunch-forward eatery, lacking a fryer, has never had fried chicken as an option, and had touted their oven-cooked meats as a very intentional and health-conscious decision, in line with their \u201cEat Well\u201d mantra. However Sanchez, who was born and raised in the south and was previously a baker at San Francisco\u2019s famous Mama\u2019s, ultimately decided that adding the bread-encrusted bird to the menu in the form of chicken and waffles plate and a chicken sandwich on a biscuit was a no-brainer. .<\/p>\n She\u2019s facing a growing backlash now, however, after a one-star Yelp review<\/a> calling the restaurant out for using crispy strips courtesy of the national fast-food chain Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen in her chicken dishes became the subject of an article on Longbeachize<\/em> on Monday<\/a>.<\/p>\n That article caught the attention of popular food blog Foodbeast<\/a>, and from there, the story went viral, popping up in publications across the country\u2014including the Popeyes franchise\u2019s home city<\/a> of New Orleans<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201c[I] called up my distributor, bought a couple things from Smart & Final, a couple frozen chicken pieces from Restaurant Depot, we tried them all,\u201d Sanchez explained when contacted by the Post. \u201cI wasn\u2019t even thinking of using Popeyes, but went to Popeyes to grab some stuff because we were watching a football game at my house.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m like \u2018oh my god, why don\u2019t I use Popeyes, this is the best chicken I\u2019ve ever had\u2019,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd so we do.\u201d<\/p>\n File photo<\/em><\/p>\n Sanchez says she\u2019s never made it a secret that Popeyes Louisiana Fried Chicken is an ingredient in both the $12.95 Chicken and Biscuits \u201cBiscuitWitch\u201d and the Chicken and Waffles.<\/p>\n Responding to the initial Yelp review that launched what is now being referred to (with tongue firmly in cheek, we hope) as \u201c#Popeyesgate,\u201d Sanchez wrote that they \u201cPROUDLY SERVE Popeyes spicy tenders,\u201d calling it the \u201cbest fried chicken anywhere.\u201d She also threw a jab at the reviewer, saying “whatever to you and your little review like it was some great exposure- and whatever to you dude.”<\/p>\n Tyler H.’s original and updated Yelp review (left); Kim Sanchez’s response (right). Screenshot from Yelp.<\/em><\/p>\n This attitude and type of response seems pervasive in Sanchez and the restaurant’s social media interactions, when responding to critics; several posters on social media were told to “get over themselves.” Sanchez chalked this up to being defensive of her business. A bizarre (and since-deleted) post that appeared on Sweet Dixie Kitchen’s Instagram page after the controversy gained steam sarcastically asked “Did you know we don’t get anything here?”\u00a0<\/p>\n Screenshot from Instagram.<\/em><\/p>\n Sanchez told the Post<\/em>\u00a0that in actuality, she purchases what she predicts will be enough for the day from the Popeyes on 10th Street and Long Beach Boulevard, carries it in through the front door, and lays it out to cool \u201clike we do all of our other meats.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe lay it out so that it cools to temp, because it\u2019s supposed to reach 40 degrees within two hours, so we put it in the refrigerator, let it cool, and then we re-heat it in the oven,\u201d Sanchez said.<\/p>\n \u201cIf a restaurant is serving pie and they happen to get it from Marie Callender’s or is serving muffins and they are getting it from Costco, we would consider that a licensed source because that source is approved and it’s basically sanctioned by some government entity,\u201d Nelson Kerr, environmental health bureau manager, told the Post.<\/em> \u201cIn this case, if you’re getting chicken from Popeyes\u2014and just from what I read from the owner it looks like she is handling it appropriately, that we’re not going for hours and hours letting it sit out\u2014[…] Popeyes is an approved source and as long as they are handling that in a sanitary manner and in a timely manner and observing proper temperature protocol and cooking and reheating properly, there’s nothing in the health and safety code that would prohibit that process or their actions there. So on faith, we don’t really have an issue with that.\u201d<\/p>\n She is not required to declare the brand on her menu, however, said Kerr. It\u2019s completely up to the discretion of the owner.<\/p>\n \u201cThey could claim and say ‘proudly serving Popeyes Chicken’ and if they said that and they end up serving another generic chicken then you would have a truth in menu issue but if they don’t say anything then that’s just another approved source where they are getting their food from and there’s probably multiple approved sources that all restaurants do and food is transported every day,\u201d Kerr said.<\/p>\n But if you weren\u2019t the Yelper who saw Sanchez carrying boxes of the southern delight through her restaurant\u2019s front doors, how would any customer have known to ask? Sanchez admits that she omits from the menu that it’s Popeyes chicken that\u2019s on your plate.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve never made it a secret that we sell it,\u201d Sanchez said. \u201cI can\u2019t put it on the menu because that would infringe Popeyes\u2019 trademark, but we\u2019re more than happy to tell you that we have it. I don\u2019t think I can legally put it on the menu. I think Popeyes would sue me if I put it on the menu.\u201d<\/p>\n The Post<\/em> reached out to Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen as well as its owner, Restaurant Brands International, for comment on the issue but had not received a response at the time of publication.<\/p>\n And responding to critics of the double-digit price for what many view as a cheaper fast-food option, Sanchez says the Popeyes \u201cingredient\u201d is only one part of the full meal.<\/p>\n \u201cOnce you add the biscuit and the homemade coleslaw and the labor it took to make both of those things and all the other stuff. People make it sound like I\u2019m taking just a chicken from Popeyes which you can buy for $7\u2014which actually I\u2019m having for lunch right now\u2014and then mark it up to $14 and that\u2019s not the case.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe biscuit is homemade, the coleslaw was homemade. We did make that from scratch,\u201d she continued. \u201cThe chicken just happens to be an extra ingredient that went into a scratch-made product.\u201d<\/p>\n The rub, however, for many of her critics on Yelp and Facebook, is that much of the restaurant\u2019s image and branding revolve around an \u201ceat local\u201d ethos, with posts to Sweet Dixie\u2019s social media accounts frequently feature hashtags like #scratch and #homemade. The \u201cAbout Me\u201d section on the restaurant\u2019s Facebook page claimed, before being edited, that \u201cEverything is made here\u2014right down to our bacon jam and siracha [sic<\/em>] sour cream sauce.\u201d<\/p>\n Sweet Dixie Kitchen’s original “About Me” section on their Facebook page (left); as of this morning, the section has been edited (right). Screenshots from Facebook.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Sanchez said she was unaware of the \u201cAbout Me\u201d section on Facebook until a user called her out for the it. The section has since been edited.<\/p>\n \u201cI immediately changed that, I changed that yesterday, as soon as I found it and could access it,\u201d she said. \u201cWell honestly I didn’t even know, somebody else set up the Facebook account for me. I didn\u2019t even know in the About section there was any words, I thought it was the hours[…] I didn\u2019t know that at the bottom of the About there was that little blurb about the restaurant. I didn\u2019t even know it was there. Our menus were all updated, Yelp was updated, nothing anywhere else says we do everything from scratch.\u201d<\/p>\n When asked if she would do anything differently following the fried-chicken fueled rage that has spread like wildfire across the interwebs, Sanchez\u00a0pondered exactly what restaurants are required to divulge.<\/p>\n \u201cFor example, we make our quiches, but I don\u2019t make the pie shell,\u201d Sanchez said. \u201cI buy an already-made pie shell. Now sometimes, I\u2019ll take a piece of puff pastry and I\u2019ll make my own pie shell, and sometimes we run out of time and we don\u2019t, but I still call the quiche homemade. It\u2019s made from scratch. It\u2019s a fine line, but where do you cross the line? I think as long as I\u2019m using an item as an ingredient in a larger thing, then you don\u2019t really need to call that out every time. And maybe I\u2019m wrong about that, but then if I say Popeyes, do I say it\u2019s a Marie Callender’s pie crust?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhere do I stop putting all that stuff on the menu,\u201d she continued. \u201cDo I say when I bring baguettes in for po\u2019 boy, \u2018proudly serving baguettes from Babette\u2019s Bakery,\u2019 nobody else does that. I don\u2019t know if people would be happier if I don\u2019t use Popeyes and I bring in a frozen chicken. I don\u2019t know if that would have solved it, I don\u2019t know if it’s just [about] Popeyes I don\u2019t know what it is. But I mean, I\u2019m loyal to Popeyes because I\u2019m from the South and Popeyes is king of the south. I wouldn\u2019t serve another chicken, that\u2019s why I didn\u2019t go to KFC.\u201d<\/p>\n Aside from the issue of whether Sanchez fries her own chicken or not\u2014and the name “Sweet Dixie” itself, and the images of the antebellum south it evokes\u2014some critics are more concerned about the sources Popeyes uses. One Yelp<\/a> user, Joshua F. linked to an article on Case Farms<\/a>\u00a0writing, \u201cIt’s always good to know the path your food took en route to your plate. Shame on Popeyes and, perhaps, even more so, shame on you Sweet Dixie, which prides itself on local, fresh food, and should be held to a much higher standard.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo one believes in the integrity of food more than I,\u201d Sanchez said. \u201cI chose Popeyes because I believe in the integrity of the chicken. I read the article about the inhumane treatment and I don\u2019t know how to respond to that, but I believe in the product. And I believe in my own product and I believe if we were to make every single thing every single day we would be there 24\/7, not that that\u2019s a bad thing. I guess I could work that much.\u201d<\/p>\n Stephanie Rivera contributed to this story.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sweet Dixie Kitchen is facing backlash after a one-star Yelp review calling the restaurant out for using crispy chicken strips courtesy of the national fast-food chain Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen became the subject of an article on\u00a0Longbeachize<\/em>\u00a0on Monday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":66604,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[622],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-1141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food","tag-popeyesgate","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/136"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1141\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1141"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=1141"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"6](\"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/6_SDK_corner.jpg\")
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