Cynthia Carter, known as Ms. Cynthia, is the upbeat, musical voice of the Popeyes restaurant on Loyola Drive.
Cynthia Carter, known as Ms. Cynthia, is the upbeat, musical voice of the Popeyes restaurant on Loyola Drive.
Cynthia Carter, known as Ms. Cynthia, is the upbeat, musical voice of the Popeyes restaurant on Loyola Drive.
Cynthia Carter, known as Ms. Cynthia, is the upbeat, musical voice of the Popeyes restaurant on Loyola Drive.
It was a drizzly day in Kenner. Loyola Drive was crowded and contentious, and there were still several hours of workday to get through before the weekend. Yet the folks at the Popeyes near Interstate 10 were smiling like it was a sunny Saturday morning, because Cynthia Carter was working her particular magic.
Carter is the voice of the drive-through line that loops the iconic New Orleans chain restaurant. But, ask anyone: Ms. Cynthia, as she’s known, does more than take orders for fried chicken and biscuits. She dispenses good vibes, as soul-satisfying as the gravy on the mashed potatoes.
Over the past 15-plus years, Ms. Cynthia has honed a chortling patter that is musical, amusing and utterly comforting. Every word is an affirmation. Everyone receives a hearty “Who Dat,” regardless of the season. Everyone receives a Big Freedia-esque “you already know,” or a bouncy “back that thing up.” Every Coke is described as a “Jack Daniels and Coke.” And Ms. Cynthia refers to all of her customers as “baby” or, better yet, “honey dumplins.”
Watch as ‘Ms. Cynthia’ charms her ‘honey dumplin’ customers at the Loyola Drive Popeyes in Kenner.
In emotionally tense times such as these, being called “honey dumplin” can be a very good thing.
Twenty-nine-year-old Rebecca Weaver, who arrived in the takeout line in a scarlet Buick Regal, said she’s “been knowin’” Ms. Cynthia since she was in high school. Weaver said she lives nearer another Kenner Popeyes location, “but I come over here to see her. She’s a sweetheart.”
Loyola Drive Popeyes general manager Will Gould said Carter’s personality is certainly part of the draw at the popular location. “She’s polite and she puts her own spin on things,” he said. “She puts a lot into it.”
But, he pointed out, she’s also “got a lot of experience” and is able to “move the line,” which is crucial.
Cynthia Carter, known as Ms. Cynthia, is the upbeat, musical voice of the Popeyes restaurant on Loyola Drive.
Carter is 57. She was born in New Orleans and attended Alfred C. Priestley Junior High School before her family moved to Mississippi, where she went to McComb High. She started at Popeyes in 1988, first at the Jefferson Highway location, then the Williams Boulevard and finally at the Loyola Drive location. She’s been there for 16 years, more or less.
Carter said her upbeat musical personae was inspired by a customer who, sometime during the dreary recovery era after Katrina, arrived at her window unexpectedly singing his order. “He said, ‘I need a two-piece, white meat, spicy, with frIIIIIIIES,’” she recalled, laughing. From then on out, Carter has been lifting spirits with a similar strategy.
“I’m a people person,” she said, understating the matter. “Somebody’s got to make somebody else’s day.”
It’s not just an act, Carter said. She’s really as happy as she seems. “I don’t play,” she advised.
God has a lot to do with it, she said. “God keeps you going. God gives you peace of mind.”
A recent video capturing one of Carter’s spirited takeout performances became a local Facebook sensation. But it wasn’t her first moment in the spotlight.
She said she was first discovered by WGNO television’s News with a Twist, 15 years ago or so. A little later, she achieved a measure of national fame on the reality TV show “Undercover Boss.”
In 2014, she said, she was featured on the short-lived “Meredith Vieira Show” on NBC, where she was awarded an SUV, which she still drives. “It’s my blessing,” she said.
Cynthia Carter, known as Ms. Cynthia, is the upbeat, musical voice of the Popeyes restaurant on Loyola Drive.
If there’s a downside to any of this, it’s that Carter’s career as the singing drive-through order-taker might be nearing an end. She has no exact plans, but after more than 30 years on her feet in the chicken business, Carter said it may be time to retire “pretty soon” and start doing “God’s work” on a fulltime basis.
“It might be a good thing,” she said, though the seemingly endless line of hungry drivers waiting at the Popeyes takeout window on Friday would surely have disagreed.
Ms. Cynthia’s daughter Nicole Carter, 27, is following in her mom’s footsteps, to a certain extent. She works the takeout window at a Taco Bell restaurant on Williams Boulevard, where she’s devoted to putting the speed in window service. “The only thing about me is I don’t sing,” she said, “but I move fast.”
No, Nicole said, her mom’s not always singing around the house and in public, mostly just at work. But her upbeat attitude is a constant. “She’s a positive woman,” Nicole said.
And who knows? Maybe someday Nicole will develop her own takeout personae.
“I’m not ready to sing, but I might do something different,” she said. “It runs in the blood.”
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Email Doug MacCash at dmaccash@theadvocate.com. Follow him on Instagram at dougmaccash, on Twitter at Doug MacCash and on Facebook at Douglas James MacCash.
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