Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen restaurant scheduled to open in 2027 at the site of the former VFW Lodge and parking lot on Plain Street in Lowell. (Photo courtesy Melanie Gilbert for Inside Lowell)
by Melanie Gilbert
LOWELL – The former VFW Lodge and parking lot on Plain Street is the site of an under-construction Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen and a proposed Chipotle Mexican Grill.
A third parcel is an as yet unidentified restaurant. All three businesses will offer dine-in and take-out service, as well as drive-through windows.
Sanitary Code Enforcement Inspector Matt Sheehan updated the Board of Health on the projects during its Nov. 4 meeting at City Hall. He said the Popeyes is scheduled to open after the first of the year.
“They started painting the facade and then I think they’ll start working inside,” Sheehan said during his monthly development services report.
Analyst, Communications Jaden Hall for Chipotle Mexican Grill said by email Friday that the company is “currently scheduled to open a new location in Lowell next summer.”
The projects first came before the Planning Board in March 2022, when Lowell Development, LLC, a New Jersey-based company, applied for a pre-application discussion of plans to redevelop the existing properties at 190 and 198 Plain Street. The subject property is located in the regional retail zoning district.
Popeyes occupies the 190 Plain St. parcel and consists of a 2,112 square foot building. Chipotle will occupy the 198 Plain St. parcel at more than 2,000 square feet, while the third middle parcel – the former parking lot – will be 2,000 square feet.
A visit to the site on Friday showed the Popeyes building was complete, and construction workers were grading the remaining two lots.
The parcels are adjacent to the Lowell Car Wash business and across the street from the Meadow Brook Center and just a couple of hundred feet from the Lowell Connector.
The project is part of a busy commercial district stretching from its location to the intersection of Plain Street and Chelmsford Street. Along this corridor there are several chain businesses, including a Target, a McDonalds and a Walgreens.
The Planning Board unanimously approved the special permits and site plan approval with conditions including vegetative screening from the restaurants to the abutting residential area and traffic standards, among other issues.
“Each drive-through can accommodate 10 cars and extra spaces are provided to avoid backups onto Plain Street and each drive-through will have a bypass lane,” the Planning Board said during its findings and decision for the site plan and special permit review on Dec. 4, 2023.
The city’s economic development team said the proposal was an improvement over the current condition of the site.
“The site is an appropriate location for these types of businesses, and it will create jobs in the community,” Department of Planning and Development then-Associate Planner Dylan Ricker said in a Nov. 2023 memo.
The project is part of a push by the city to generate business development. Both Popeyes and Chipotle will be the first locations for the fast-food and fast-casual chain restaurants in Lowell.
To date in 2026, Sheehan told the Board of Health that the Division of Development Services had approved the opening of 51 new restaurants with more to come.
“We have maybe before the first of the year, another six to 10 coming online,” Sheehan said.
Restaurants that have already opened include FORK Included and On the Bun in Downtown Lowell, Bunny’s Diner on Lawrence Street, I Got Crabs on Pine Street, Beijing Tasty House on Lilley Ave., Lowell Crust Pizza and Chicken X on Chelmsford Street, Nana’s Kitchen on Gorham Street and Caribou Coffee on Broadway Street, among other businesses.
“We have a handful of other cool concepts coming into the city,” Sheehan said.
A rendering of the proposed Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen restaurant, courtesy of Lowell Department of Planning and Development)
