Twitter Is Going In On Popeyes' BYO Bun Solution For The Chicken Sandwich Shortage

In case you missed it, it's been just over two weeks now since Popeyes announced that it was experiencing a nationwide shortage of its new fried chicken sandwich and chaos ensued. Now that #PopeyesGate is well underway, the Louisiana-based fast food chain is hustling to keep customers happy until the cult-favorite item is back in stock — but it's safe that its latest idea to ease the situation didn't exactly go down how the company expected. The tweets about Popeyes' Bring Your Own Bun Chicken Sandwich promo are going in on the idea, because how are you supposed to recreate the golden fried sammie with some chicken tenders?

If you've been following along, you know that Popeyes Fried Chicken Sandwich had some serious hype when it debuted back on Aug. 12, with everyone from food critics to regular customers raving about just how good it was. While the formula seemed pretty simple — a brioche bun, golden fried chicken breast, pickles, and a spicy mayo type sauce — they did it well, and the menu item quickly amassed a cult following and sold out of the company's stock in just two weeks after it was rolled out nationwide. It was the shortage that absolutely no one saw coming, despite the long lines and ridiculous wait times, and considering that the fast food chain touts itself as a connoisseur of all things chicken, customers were pretty upset about it. How can a restaurant that is about all things fried chicken run out of a fried chicken sandwich?

Now, about two weeks later and after numerous tweets dragging the company or suggesting that customers would be willing to bring their own buns, pickles, or both of the above, Popeyes is trying to offer a consolation prize to disgruntled visitors. No, the sandwich isn't back in stores yet, but they'll help you make it yourself if you BYOB, or bring your own bun.

In a promo video shared to Twitter on Thursday, Sept. 12, the chain that they still have the best fried chicken in the game, so you can bring your choice of bread and order a 3-piece of the chicken tenders and attempt to make your own DIY version of the menu item. You know, except that there's no "mayo. Or pickles. And you bring your own bun."

Now, there's a few things that aren't flying here. Chicken tenders don't automatically replace a chicken patty, and what made the OG sandwich so good was its combination of brioche bread, the spicy mayo sauce, and the pickles that lent plenty of texture and flavor to each mouthful. Needless to say, people are not here for this shoddy replacement, and they're taking to Twitter to voice their opinions.

For their part, Popeyes seemed to take the ribbing with good humor, tweeting back in response to one user, "Can't blame us for trying? Right? Ok, we get it..."

So, when can we actually expect the real Popeyes Chicken Sandwich to make a reappearance? The actual date is still up in the air, as a Popeyes rep shared an official statement with Elite Daily by email on Sept. 12, saying:

Popeyes and their suppliers are working tirelessly to bring the new sandwich back to guests as soon as possible.

The good news is that Popeyes is hearing its customers loud and clear and probably working overtime to bring its chicken sandwich back to stores. The bad news? Unfortunately, there's no telling when that'll be at the moment.