Popeyes New Seafood Menu Features 4 Bold Shrimp Items

Popeyes is a common favorite among fast food chicken aficionados, but it's not just the chicken that earns high praise. Although the chain usually has a popcorn shrimp combo available, its fuller seafood menu comes and goes as a seasonal offering. And as carnival season in New Orleans comes to an end, seafood season at Popeyes is back again.

The company revealed in an email that participating restaurants are now serving the butterfly shrimp tackle box, eight fried shrimp with a regular side and biscuit for $5.99. There's also a surf & turf meal featuring four shrimp and two chicken tenders, plus a side and biscuit for $5.99. The shrimp in each can be upgraded with four dry rubs (also available à la carte for $5.99): garlic parmesan, lemon pepper, buffalo, and ghost pepper. But that's not all.

Fans of Popeyes' flounder fish sandwich can rejoice, for this limited-time item is also coming back with the seafood menu, again at $5.99. Popeyes' flounder fish sandwich debuted with a bang in the middle of the chicken sandwich wars, at a time when fast casual seafood was increasingly popular. But there was another big reason for the sandwich's debut and for the timing of the seafood menu's return.

Popeyes' hometown of New Orleans has significant Catholic influences. And it's no coincidence that the chain is relaunching the seafood menu right as Mardi Gras concludes in southern Louisiana. Fat Tuesday is always the end of carnival season, and it's always the day before Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of Lent.

Observant Catholics traditionally abstain from eating meat on Fridays between (and including) Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, though some worshippers abstain on Fridays year-round. One of the many facts about McDonald's Filet-o-Fish is that the sandwich was created for precisely this market. And it's the same market that Popeyes hopes to please by bringing seafood back just before Lent.

Luckily for these customers, or anyone who just likes fried fish, the landscape has gotten much bigger and better than just McDonald's iconic sandwich. Popeyes' flounder sandwich has its own strong fandom, and the butterfly shrimp tackle box is one of the best fast food fried shrimp menu items to try during Lent. The shrimp are just as crispy, juicy, and flavorful as the chicken, but at a price that can't be beat.