Popeyes Opening Another Astoria Fried Chicken Shop

ASTORIA, QUEENS — Fried-chicken lovers will soon have a new destination in Astoria, as Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen plots a third location in the neighborhood — the latest national chain to arrive on the Steinway Street corridor.

Signage appeared in recent days advertising a new Popeyes restaurant at 31-74 Steinway St., just north of Broadway. The storefront had previously been home to a waxing center, and a dental clinic before it.

Popeyes will open in the third quarter of 2023, a company spokesperson told Patch in an email. The company signed a 15-year lease for the Steinway Street space, according to Tom Caliendo, a realtor who brokered the deal.

Once it opens, it will join an existing Popeyes location near Ditmars Boulevard and another on 21st Street, south of Broadway. Popeyes also had a previous Steinway Street location until around 2014, in the storefront just south of Broadway now home to Que Rico.

The 2,125-square-foot storefront had been marketed as a generic retail space that could be "easily vented for restaurant use." Indeed, owners filed permits in May to renovate the commercial space for an "eating and drinking establishment," city records show.

Popeyes will be the most recent in a number of national chain stores that have established a presence on Steinway Street in recent years — including Chipotle, its neighbor across the street, which opened up in 2019.

"Steinway at one point wasn't the best place to be and now it has changed and it’s back to being a desirable area to be," Caliendo told Patch. "McDonald’s, Chipotle, all these places have opened up in that immediate area so it's all good signs."

Founded in Louisiana in 1972, Popeyes now reportedly has more than 3,700 locations worldwide. Long known for its fried chicken pieces, Popeyes achieved a more viral fame in 2019 through its acclaimed chicken sandwich.