One-Night-Only 2Pac Pop-Up Draws Epic Lines

A line of Cronut™-esque proportions formed at a burger joint in Fresno, California last night, as hundreds of people flocked to a pop-up restaurant paying tribute to 2pac.

Opening (and closing) on the 20th anniversary of the rapper’s unsolved murder, the owners of Take 3 transformed their fast-casual restaurant into the Powamekka Cafe for one night only, and fans came from miles around to scope out the scene — and the Hennessey chicken wings, which shared the menu with a California Love chicken sandwich and the cleverly-named Brenda’s Baby Back Rib burger.

Arthur Robinson/Facebook

On Facebook, people reported waiting as long as three hours to make it through the line and order food; around 9 p.m., one person reported they’d been in line since 6:00 — the restaurant didn’t open until 7 — and there were now more than 100 people behind them, with the line stretching around the block.

Some of the less fortunate had to settle for hitting up In-N-Out once the restaurant ran out of food, but there were seemingly plenty of Ghetto Russians (a cocktail of Bailey’s and cognac) to go around.

Arthur Robinson/Facebook

In hosting the Powamekka Cafe, the hosts weren’t just paying homage to the late music icon; the restaurant concept, from the name to some of the menu items, was taken straight from sketches done by the rapper himself sometime in the 1990s, blown-up versions of which adorned the walls.

It’s not the first time Take 3 has paid tribute to rap world greats, either: The Fresno Bee reports the restaurant celebrated the Notorious B.I.G.’s birthday earlier this year by serving T-bone steaks, cheese eggs, and Welch’s grape juice, a meal the rapper famously described in the song “Big Poppa.” With the 20th anniversary of the death of Tupac’s one-time friend/adversary coming up in March 2017, perhaps a restaurant on the East Coast will be inspired to answer with a pop-up tribute of their own.

• Hail Mary: 2pac-Themed Pop-Up Restaurants Lands in California [E]
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