Applegreen has opened a €15 million roadside service area at Junction 9 of the M7 near the Naas Ball, carrying the first Popeyes Drive-Thru in the Republic of Ireland.

The site opened at 9.30am on Tuesday, but customers queued from 3am to claim opening-day offers including free chicken sandwiches for a year and free burrito meals for a year. Three customers received free Popeyes Chicken Sandwiches for a year, three received free Taco Bell Burrito Meals for a year, and hundreds more took free food from Popeyes, Taco Bell and Crafted Kitchen & Deli.

The development creates 150 new jobs. The food and retail line-up includes Popeyes and Taco Bell outlets, M&S Food, Crafted Kitchen & Deli, Braeburn Coffee, and an Applegreen forecourt and convenience store.

"We're thrilled to have opened our new service area in Naas, and we were delighted to welcome so many customers this morning," said Seamus Stapleton, managing director of Applegreen's Republic of Ireland business.

Popeyes marked the launch with a brass band in the morning and a DJ in the afternoon.

The Naas opening extends a deliberate brand strategy. Over the past 12 months, Applegreen has introduced both Popeyes and Taco Bell to its Irish operations, using high-profile US fast-food names to drive footfall at roadside locations where dwell time and drive-thru access matter.

The M&S Food partnership now spans 43 Applegreen locations, making it one of the operator's most widely rolled-out food anchors. Applegreen is also scaling its own Braeburn Coffee brand and its Crafted Kitchen & Deli offer.

For operators and investors, the Naas site shows the scale of capital now required to compete in Irish roadside retail: €15 million buys a full food court, a drive-thru format and a forecourt in one package, not a simple filling station. The early 3am queues also demonstrate the pulling power of American QSR brands in a market where Popeyes had no drive-thru presence until this week.

Applegreen has not said how many further Popeyes or Taco Bell sites it plans in Ireland, but the pace of the past 12 months — two new US brands, a 43-site M&S partnership and a €15 million flagship — points to continued rollout across its Irish estate.