A few people wave at passing motorists honking their horns as local officials and Chamber of Commerce of the Mid-Ohio Valley members gather Monday for a ribbon-cutting in front of Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen on Grand Central Avenue in Vienna, the first Popeyes location in West Virginia. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

Curt Oxyer, center, director of operations for Popeyes Louisiana Chicken franchisee GPS Hospitality, speaks Monday at the grand opening of the Popeyes on Grand Central Avenue in Vienna, the chain’s first location in West Virginia. Also pictured are, clockwise from front left, GPS district leader Sean Dawe. GPS Vice President of Operations Mike Kovac, GPS director of marketing Chris Jasinski and Vienna Popeyes general manager J.J. Jaso. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

VIENNA — It’s not by chance that Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen is on Grand Central Avenue.

GPS Hospitality, the franchisee for Popeyes in the Mountain State, plans to open multiple locations around West Virginia, and they weighed many of them to find the right place to start, said Curt Oxyer, director of operations for GPS. Vienna is the first West Virginia site for the GPS franchisee.

“We chose this one as the first one because we thought this was the best site,” he said, citing the high traffic volume, ease of access and location on Grand Central Mall property.

The ribbon was cut Monday morning, ending months of anticipation by fans of Popeyes and the friends and families to whom they recommended it.

“We’ve really opened restaurants all around the country, and I can’t think of anywhere we’ve been more accepted in advance,” Oxyer said, joking that he “felt like a rock star” when walking around the area wearing his Popeyes shirt.

The restaurant saw a good crowd Monday, running two drive-through lines and having an average wait time of 10 minutes from entry to receiving food into the afternoon.

“We haven’t slowed down,” said Chris Jasinski, director of marketing for GPS. “It’s been a nice, steady flow.”

Oxyer said it’s not just customer reaction that has made coming to the area a positive experience.

Local tradesmen were hired to build the restaurant on the former Long John Silver’s site, “and their quality of work is outstanding.” The company also got a strong response when it sought prospective workers with the help of Workforce West Virginia, interviewing 500 applicants in the first week.

More than 100 people have been hired to staff the restaurant. Oxyer said it’s not unusual for them to hire that many, expecting to lose some along the way.

“We typically will hire more than we need because we expect to see some bit of attrition,” he said. “We didn’t see any attrition with this restaurant.”

More than 50 members of the Chamber of Commerce of the Mid-Ohio Valley turned out Monday morning to attend the ribbon-cutting and sample some items from Popeyes menu.

“To be the first Popeyes in West Virginia, hopefully we have set the bar for the remainder of their ventures in” the state, said Jill Parsons, president and CEO of the chamber.

Oxyer said the food — primarily chicken, but also popcorn shrimp — is made from authentic Louisiana recipes.

“The chicken is all fresh chicken that we marinate for 12 hours before we cook it in a blend of Cajun seasonings,” he said. “Then we pair the chicken up with Louisiana-inspired side items.”

The atmosphere of the restaurant is meant to mimic the music, energy and decor of New Orleans’ French Quarter.

“This is not like going to any typical fast food restaurant,” he said.

As part of its entry into the community, Popeyes served free food to Parkersburg and Vienna police and firefighters on Friday and to area teachers on Saturday.