All You Can Eat Popeyes Fried Chicken??

NEWSFLASH: Next time you are hungry and in Lafayette, Louisiana area, I have the spot for you!

Popeyes located at 1300 West Pinhook Road, Lafayette, LA 70503 near the hospital is an all you can eat Popeyes. That's right! Their phone number is (337) 235-1587. The price with drink for the buffet is $9.70 per person. Yes, it is served buffet style, but the recipe and food is actually cooked by Popeyes.

I can not wait to try this out on my next trip to Lafayette.

The Offshore Tiki Pop Up @ The Company Burger

Oh, what a night! The Offshore popup dinner hosted by Adam Biderman and The Company Burger was a huge success. The line was out the door from opening til close. I arrived at 7 pm and here is what the line looked like.

The menu was limited but efficient: 3 appetizers and 3 "small plate" entrees which included crab rangoon (pictured below), fried sweetbreads, fried calamari, fried pork belly, and sautéed chicken thighs. Needless to say, I barely fit into my pants this morning.

All the food was spot on! The various sauces Adam Biderman and Ryan Prewitt put together for this Polynesian adventure were quite impressive. Even more impressive were the tropical drinks Cure's Neil Dietrich served on side of the ordering counter. So refreshing and different from the usual drinks we get with our dinners.

These are the nights where you really feel proud to be a part of the NEW New Orleans. There were 22 year olds & 65 year olds both standing in the same line waiting for this epicurean adventure. Some attendees were even dressed up in their favorite Hawaiian shirts. I am so glad i attended and can only hope we see more polynesian food & drinks from these three in the future.

Popeyes Fried Chicken Turns 40

If you have ever tuned into ValueNola, you know my weak spot in life: Popeyes Fried Chicken. Love that chicken from Popeyes!

Today, Popeyes celebrates 40 years of their famous fried chicken. And to celebrate, they are offering an 8 piece chicken box for $5.99. Now that is good value and fun to eat.

Ever wonder what you can cook using Popeyes as one of the ingredients? Check this recipe out.


Story goes that Al Copeland, the founder of Popeyes, was working at a Church's in New Orleans messing around in the kitchen when he discovered what would become Popeyes secret recipe and spice combination.

Popeyes is publicly traded under the ticker AFCE (America's Favorite Chicken, Enterprises) and is worth about 400 million dollars. AFCE is headquartered in Atlanta and is stronger than ever!


My guess is that one day, Popeyes starts serving chicken biscuits and becomes a dominant player in the QSR (Quick Service Restaurant) breakfast business.

Go get yourself some Popeyes and celebrate 40 great years!

Make Your Own Pizza: Whole Foods Style

Did you know the Whole Foods sells their pizza dough? Yes, they do. The cost is $2.99 which provides enough dough to make a 6-8 slice pizza which would be the equivalent of a Domino's medium pizza. Special note, this is a wheat crust which is healthier than all our favorite delivery stores. You can also use the Whole Foods salad bar to economically pick up a diverse selection of toppings! I have included a small instructional video with some healthy tips from the Whole Foods in New Orleans.



Making your own pizzas is a great activity! A Pizza stone is definitely recommended but not mandatory. This will help keep the dough soft. If you buy the 365 brand Marinera sauce and cheese, you can make your own pizza for less than $10. Very rewarding.

Weekend Recap from NOLA

This weekend was a classic in New Orleans! St. Patrick's Day really is one of the best days of the year. Always good to talk about the blog while dancing in the street:



But the real question remains: What can you do with all the cabbage you catch?

One other recipe I tried out this weekend which turned out fabulous:

Ultimate Value for Sunday Night Dinner

Just a reminder: If you live in New Orleans & have not figured out dinner for tonight (SUNDAY), i have the greatest idea:

Nirvana located at 4308 Magazine has Sunday night buffet. That's right, all you can eat tandoori, naan, rice pudding, buttered chicken, and much much more.

For a real bargain, get the buffet to go and fill it to the brim. The take out box is gigantic with multiple compartments! Ask for a to go container for soup and condiments/sauces as well.

To maximize square footage in your to go box, make your own rice beforehand.

1 buffet to go comes out to be about $10.50 & can feed 3 hungry indian lovers!

What do you have to lose: cheap, delicious, different, and quick.

Eggplant Banh Mi, Rouses Specials = Dinner Idea, Splurge of the Week

A three part installment for the Valuenola crew on this 3rd day of the week aka Hump Day:

1. Splurge of the Week: Poulet Grand-Mere (Herb Roasted Chicken) from Luke is unbelievable. At $19, this entree is on the expensive side for lunch, but great value for dinner.

2. Discovery of the week: Eggplant Banh Mi from Magasin was surprisingly off the hook. I am such a meat lover, but this sandwich was as good as it gets. There was a sweet twist in every bite. Not sure if the eggplant was deep fried, but I would like to tell myself NO.

3. Cooking in? Here is a way to prepare a delicious meal on a budget using the Rouses weekly specials that started today and run through next Tuesday:

- Corn beef Brisket Flats for $2.99 (per pound) are easy to cook in a crockpot & St. Patricks day is right around the corner.

- Green cabbage is $0.37 per pound this week

- Red Potatoes are $0.79 per pound this week

This has all the makings of a hearty and delicious Irish meal.

Have a good Hump Day!

Johnny V's enters the Uptown Mix!

Adding to the "golden rectangles" mix of upscale neighborhood bistro's is Johnny V's on Magazine Street. This newly opened restaurant is directly next to Monkey Hill and Southern Runner.

The interior is like nothing I have ever seen uptown. Some may call it interesting while others may say it is a little tacky. Johnny's V's looks to be going for a french quarter courtyard setting which should be romantic and different. The space is definitely unique.

As stated in previous posts, I am not a fan of bistro's. The price to food ratio is no good. Johnny V's is no exception to the bistro theory as you can see from the attached menu photos. I would much rather spend this sort of entree money at Clancy's, Lilette, or Patois.

I was at a table of four and I cant say anyone at my table was overwhelmed with their food. Everything was very salty. This can happen with restaurants in their opening 3-6 months, so I will give Johnny's V's the benefit of the doubt. The menu seems innovative, but the execution was clearly off.

I dont know if I will be back to Johnny V's after my first go around. One thing is for sure, I wont go back on my own nickel & this is not the Splurge of the Week (SOTW).

New to the CBD: Ruby Red's Opens!!!

Real Quick: Ruby Red's opened their second location today the heart of the CBD. The other store is in Belle Chasse. The new store is located at 301 Baronne Street which is a corner location formerly operated by O'Henrys. Ruby Red's is basically a burger joint that does a pretty good bar business. Early reports give the burgers good reviews. The service & steak fries also received positive feedback from the first few customers. God I love steak fries! Burger + Fries = $8
Ruby Red's is definitely filling a void in the downtown market as their is only one other sit down burger spot in the CBD.

Tulane Food: What is wrong with you??

It has come to my attention that the food on Tulane's campus has gone downhill very quickly in the last few years. After speaking with a few current Tulane students, i have made it my personal mission to overhaul the system & players currently in place. The first big evil that must be addressed is Sodexo.

Sodexo is the provider, staffer, and manager of the vendors currently in place within the UC. From what i gather, the employees Sodexo hires are not the best and clearly the vendors are not either.

The sushi has all frozen ingredients which is the opposite of fresh. The late night spot is Wow Wingery which is closing stores by the handful due to a bad product. No TCBY, Pinkberry, etc...The list goes on...

When i was at the University of Texas, we had: Jamba Juice, Chipotle, Chick Fil-A, Mellow Mushroom, Potbelly's, Wendy's, and much much more in our UC or right across from campus. Isn't this how it is supposed to be?

Instead Tulane is working with:
Byblos
Panda Express
Quiz no's
Einstein Bagel
Baja fresh
Freshens

Is this a joke?

Tulane students deserve better ! Strong retailers would make for a environment to everyone involved: the students, the school, and the vendors.

Something has got to give. I want to make it my mission to get to the bottom of the situation & figure out how to make a change.

Why New Orleans does NOT Embrace BBQ?

This is one of the classic riddles of the Big Easy. We love to eat, but do we love BBQ? BBQ is a southern thing & we are southern!

There are two good BBQ spots in New Orleans: The Joint & Hillbilly. Neither are exactly convenient for the everyday New Orleanien, but good nevertheless. My question is if a BBQ restaurant can be successful on Veterans or Uptown?

I know, I know:

What about Luthers? What about Voodoo? What about Squeal? In my opinion, none of these restaurants are that good? I still cant understand who would pay money for the rights to franchise Voodoo BBQ?

Do note, i want to try the pop up lunch spot: McClure's Barbecue located at/in Dante's Kitchen

For the record, if i were going to franchise a BBQ spot in New Orleans, i would go with either Rudy's or Salt Lick out of Texas. But that's just me.

Please email your thoughts on why BBQ has not taking the 504 by storm - cburka@gmail.com