Eureka residents who “love that chicken from Popeyes” will soon no longer have to venture outside the city to satisfy their craving.
A Popeyes restaurant is scheduled to be built on a vacant lot at 80 Hilltop Village Center Drive.
The Eureka Board of Aldermen on June 1 unanimously approved a special use permit from Zubha Pop Foods LLC to build the restaurant, which will feature a drive-thru.
Phone calls to Zubha Pop Foods were not returned to the Leader.
Edin Coralic of Coralic Architecture, who is the architect on the project, represented Zubha Pop Foods during the board meeting and said the restaurant’s building in Eureka will not look familiar to most customers.
“The building will feature (Popeyes’) new design, their new 2020 image,” he said. “If you have driven around the area and seen a Popeyes, it’s going to be completely different, unless you went to O’Fallon, Ill., or O’Fallon, Mo.”
Coralic said the restaurant will be 2,297 square feet and have 31 parking spaces. He said construction is expected to take about 110 days to complete.
“If we can start before Aug. 1, it will be open this year,” he said. “I am going to push for us to get started early.”
Coralic said Zubha Pop Foods owns most of the Popeyes in the St. Louis region.
“Super excited about this Eureka site,” he said. “I felt like we don’t develop enough Popeyes in this area.”
The lot was a location for a Bonanza and Ponderosa but has been vacant for some time, said Julie Wood, Eureka’s city clerk and director of economic development.
Mayor Sean Flower said he is excited to see the national chain come to town.
“I think it leads to more, whether it’s restaurants or retail in the area,” he said.
McDonald’s
While Eureka residents await the new chicken-chain location, they can get a “fast” meal at the city’s new McDonald’s, 120 E. Fourth St.
The restaurant chain is scheduled to hold a grand opening at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, June 17. According to McDonald’s advertisement, the first 50 drive-thru customers at 5 a.m. June 17 will win Big Macs for a year.
The new location is opening after McDonald’s shut down its location at 12 Hilltop Village Center Drive.