By Mike Hazlip—
Demolition work can be seen at the shuttered Burger King and Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants along the 8000 block of Greenback Lane, as contractors prepare the buildings for re-opening under new business names.
Sunrise Marketplace Executive Director Kathilynn Carpenter told The Sentinel in an email Wednesday the former Kentucky Fried Chicken is set to become a Burger King, while the former Burger King is being transformed into a Popeye’s Chicken restaurant.
As of last week, construction fencing surrounded each eatery as crews worked to move debris piles into dumpster bins. The windows remain boarded up, following the closure of the restaurants last year.
Popeye’s will be the second new chicken fast food franchise along Greenback Lane, as Raising Cane’s is currently constructing a new chicken fingers drive-thru in the Hobby Lobby parking lot near Birdcage Street.
Related: What’s being built in front of Hobby Lobby in Citrus Heights?
Burger King and Popeye’s are owned by the same parent company, Restaurant Brands International, which purchased the chicken restaurant chain in 2017. The Burger King restaurant at 8030 Greenback Lane closed during the pandemic for unknown reasons, but online reviews had given the location a low rating of 1.5-out-of-5 stars on Yelp.
Sunny Ghai, franchise owner of the future Burger King, said the new restaurant is planned to open in about 75 days. He said the adjacent Popeye’s is planned to open in about four months.
