Applegreen will open its first Popeyes® restaurant at Midway, Junction 17 on the M7 at Portlaoise at 11am this Friday, June 26, with the official queue starting at 10am.
To celebrate the opening of Popeyes® Midway, the first three customers will receive free Chicken Sandwiches for a year*. The first 50 customers get free Popeyes® merchandise, and the first 100 customers will get a free Chicken Sandwich.
Popeyes® recently opened its first restaurant in Blanchardstown at the start of the month, with fried chicken fans queuing for over 24 hours to be the first to sample the world-famous Shatter Crunch chicken.
The opening marks Popeyes® second restaurant in the Republic of Ireland, extending its bold New Orleans flavours, warm Southern hospitality and world-famous ‘Shatter Crunch’ chicken to Midway. Known globally for its viral Chicken Sandwich. Popeyes® will bring favourites including Hot Wings, Tenders, Signature Chicken Wraps, classic Biscuits with Cajun Gravy, hand-spun Shakes and a 100% plant-based vegan sandwich to Midway. All Popeyes® chicken is marinated for 12 hours in its signature blend of bold Louisiana seasoning before being hand-battered and hand-breaded on site to create the unmistakable Popeyes® Shatter Crunch.
The Midway opening follows Applegreen’s recent announcement that it intends to create 450 new jobs over the next four years, as it rolls out Popeyes chicken restaurants in a €6 million expansion programme.
“We’re delighted to be bringing Popeyes to our customers at Midway in Portlaoise, and we look forward to welcoming customers from this Friday,” said Seamus Stapleton, Managing Director of Applegreen’s Republic of Ireland business.
“We’re continuing to grow and expand the Applegreen business in Ireland, and our new partnership with Popeyes means we can offer another high-quality restaurant brand to customers on the move.”
Applegreen has created forty new jobs at Midway and has been training staff at Popeyes locations in Northern Ireland and Britain in advance of this week’s opening. Popeyes Midway will be open seven days a week from 10 am until 11pm.
Popeyes UK and Ireland Chief Development Officer, Tom Byng, said the company was excited to see Applegreen open its first Popeyes outlet later this week.
“The opening of our new Midway restaurant marks the start of our new partnership with Applegreen, and we look forward to working closely with them to deliver new restaurants in roadside locations across the Republic of Ireland,” Mr Byng added.
Popeyes is one of the world’s fastest-growing chicken quick service restaurant brands, operating from with around 5,400 restaurants in 50 countries worldwide, with annual sales of $8 billion. It plans to open an additional site in the Republic at Liffey Valley in the coming months.
Applegreen has been working with Popeyes in the United States since 2021 and currently operates 24 of its chicken restaurants at travel plaza locations in Delaware, Indiana, Ohio, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.
The new restaurant will be situated in the Midway service area, which is located at Junction 17 on the M7, near Portlaoise, and is also accessible from the N77 and the R423.
Applegreen is one of Ireland’s leading retail brands. It opened its first service station in Ballyfermot in Dublin in 1992 and now operates almost 200 locations in the Irish market. Applegreen typically invests more than €30 million every year in the Irish market on new store openings, upgrades, and improvements.
Applegreen recently signed a partnership agreement with Popeyes UK and Ireland, which operates the brand in those markets. Popeyes entered the UK in 2021 and has already grown to over 110 restaurants there, with 3,500 employees, and generating sales of over £118 million (€136 million) in 2024, up from £15 million (€17.3 million) in 2022. Popeyes UK was named Europe’s No.1 fastest growing company in the food and beverage industry, according to the Financial Times latest FT1000 ranking.
Applegreen also has a significant business overseas, with operations in Britain and the United States, and a total of more than 435 locations and more than 700 branded food offers across its global network.
The Applegreen business currently employs about 16,900 people and it has further plans for growth in all of its major markets, as it is currently engaged in a €1 billion expansion programme. It had a turnover of almost €4 billion last year and serves about 180 million customers annually.
Applegreen’s expansion plans are focused on acquiring and developing new sites in the three markets in which it already operates, as well as upgrading and rebranding its existing locations.
In the UK, Applegreen’s Welcome Break business operates 60 sites, including 36 motorway service areas, and 31 hotels. In the US, Applegreen has 181 sites, and more than 300 branded food outlets. It is also planning a major investment to further expand its EV charging networks.
To stay updated on Popeyes®, visit the Popeyes.ie or follow the brand on Instagram at @Popeyesire or TikTok at @Popeyesireland.
