Anthony Bourdain Had An Unexpected Love For This Fast Food Fried Chicken Chain

Anthony Bourdain's favorite fast food chain was a West Coast burger giant, but, when it came to fried chicken, Bourdain had a well-documented love affair with Popeyes. The chef, TV host, and cookbook author dined in more than 100 countries before his 2018 death and experienced some of the finest cuisine that the world had to offer — Bourdain's favorite restaurant on Earth was the historic Le Dôme Café in Paris, where he savored the seafood — but he was famously unpretentious. This included an abiding affection for fast-food chicken, which he detailed in multiple publications and interviews.

"To me, Popeyes is exotica," he told People after having just returned from a 10-day sojourn in Asia. "[T]o be back and eat some Americana food, well, I will weep with gratitude at macaroni and cheese." In fact, Popeyes mac and cheese was an especial delight for Bourdain. "I have an unholy and guilty attraction to fast-food macaroni and cheese," he confessed on a Reddit AMA. "I will often disguise myself to try to slip into Popeyes [...] And I'm always recognized." 

He compared getting caught with fried chicken to being photographed carrying illicit materials, but that didn't curtail his drive-thru devotion. Bourdain's go-to Popeyes order was a spicy chicken breast, mac and cheese, and a Dr Pepper. During a trip to Lafayette, Louisiana shortly before he died, Bourdain was reported to have visited Popeyes three times in as many days, including making a special trip to the last Popeyes buffet in existence.

Anthony Bourdain knew good fried chicken — his recipe for Korean fried chicken was a complicated journey that took two days to prepare but was the perfect accompaniment to a cold beer. Moreover, Bourdain famously hated viral food trends and probably would have lost his mind ranting about contemporary TikTok culinary hacks. "Good food is very often, even most often, simple food," he wrote in "Kitchen Confidential."

Bourdain traveled frequently outside the U.S. as part of his job but always loved coming home. "I'll go back, see my daughter, unpack, repack, mimic a normal life, which is extraordinarily pleasurable to me," he told People, regarding coming home from long shoots. "I really love doing laundry [...] that's very comforting to me." It's easy to believe that, for Bourdain, spicy chicken with a side of mac and cheese from Popeyes was another pleasure of home that soothed his soul after the stress and hustle of international travel. 

After eating spiced sheep's hooves in Saudi Arabia or grilled cassava fish in Ghana, enjoying every delicacy that far-flung locales on Earth had to offer, maybe coming home to something basic and familiar simply felt good. Apparently, he had a similar affinity for spaghetti Bolognese, another unfussy pasta dish. For Bourdain, a notoriously witty straight-shooter who delivered some of the most scathing put-downs of flashy celebrity chefs ever uttered, it seems that a bit of homely comfort grub touched his hidden soft spot.