Controversial Popeye’s location in historic Toronto building has closed

A Popeye’s chicken location in Toronto that was housed in a beautiful historic building has closed permanently, locals report.

The Christie Pits location of the fried chicken restaurant, located at the intersection of Dupont and Christie lasted less than two years before shutting down for good this month, according to locals.

It’s not the restaurant’s disappointingly short lifespan that has people talking about the closure — rather, it’s the building that formerly housed the business that’s the topic of conversation.

The once-charming red-brick building had housed a Starbucks location prior to being a Popeye’s, but had sat dormant for months, getting repeatedly vandalized to the point where its exterior was unsalvageable.

When Popeye’s moved in, the bulding was crudely whitewashed, which some residents say completely ruined the the building.

“Honestly, whoever ran Popeye here destroyed the facade,” comments a community member in a Facebook post announcing the closure. “They painted it without city approval without any regard for the history of the building and their windows were always dirty.”

Locals seem divided on whether the loss of the business is a good or a bad thing, with some voicing concern over the property reverting to its pre-Popeye’s state of vacancy and vandalism, while others are saying “good riddance” to the fried chicken chain.

“Great! The fewer corporate fast food chain joints around, the better,” comments one member of the community.

There is no word yet on what will be replacing the Popeye’s location at 657 Dupont, but I sure hope that, whatever it is, it moves in sooner rather than later.