Mr. Pollo - Peruvian Chicken (YUM!!)

They're not open on Monday.

Oh well, so much for that idea for dinner tonight. Thanks for letting me know. We'll try another time...

This place is right down the street from me. DYING to try it!

We were both so excited to get it again, but alas, they are closed on Mondays

My review:

Great stuff! Exotic comfort food--that might be one way to describe it. The flavors are slightly spicy, but definitely complex. I don't know what they put in it, but a lot of exotic herbs and spices I guess. But it's also just savory comfort food. My kids both liked it. The sauces are very good. One of them, as my wife said, "has a kick like a mule!"--but that's a good thing.

The location is not the prettiest in town, but it's ok. The eat-in area is long and narrow, but was spacious and clean. I got the take-out dinner, which seemed like a very nice deal. For $20 you get one big chicken cut in quarters, and *plenty* of beans and rice and aji sauces. We had big appetites, but we still had leftovers for tomorrow. And the sauces worked very well for us for dipping artichokes that we cooked at home to supplement our meal.

Here's how good I thought the chicken was--normally I eat very little skin from chicken, whether cooked at home or at a restaurant--but I ate three or four bites of Mr. Pollo's. What nice flavors. It is rich stuff. So my diet may have taken a hit, but it was worth it.

The three men serving me were very polite and helpful, and got together our meal and packed it up very well in c. 5 minutes.

Oh--almost forgot that they gave us a complimentary bowl of soup too. It was a very savory salty soup with rice, potatoes, peas, and generous chunks of chicken.

So, if you're looking for food that's economical, fast, and yet exotic and flavorful, I definitely recommend Mr. Pollo.

Nice little writeup from the Courier today too. The word is a'spreadin...

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2010309290073

Nice little writeup from the Courier today too. The word is a'spreadin...

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2010309290073

John: Thanks for posting that great review! Garlic, cumin, and rosemary are some of the ingredients....Here's a little of it:

"In Peru, according to Jairzinha, pollo places — known as pollorias — are as common as burger joints in the United States. And if Mr. Pollo is representative of the genre, it's easy to see why.

Here, the chicken is first brined, then marinated in a mixture of herbs and spices that includes hefty amounts of garlic, cumin and rosemary. And it goes without saying that the marinade includes some secret spices. The chicken is then roasted (in an electric rotisserie) for a long time — until the skin is a deep, dark reddish brown.

The spices penetrate the firm flesh right down to the bone. The skin is toothsome, pliable and richly flavored. A couple of creamy house-made Peruvian sauces are on hand for dipping, one made with a mild yellow Peruvian chili called aji amarillo, the other made with a hot red chili called aji rocoto. Both make superb condiments, whether smeared on the chicken or poured over a side of fries."

Somebody has to warn these little restaurants about being reviewed and the crush of people that follow. I went by tonight to pick up a dinner and they were in the weeds. They said, they had no idea they would be so busy. I feel sorry for them and will be back. I left because of the wait. But all reviewers need to warn them about the consequences of not being ready for the rush. It can kill the good vibes and buzz of a new place that they might not recover from.

I'm sorry that they weren't prepared for the overcrowding, but it is nice they are having some success. I went in a couple of days before the review and it was empty. Not a customer in the place, aside from myself. And it was almost 6pm, which I think would be prime time for a place like that.

Anyway, good to hear they were overwhelmed with orders. And if people keep coming I imagine they'll hire some folks to help.

Feast or famine. That's one of the risks of the biz, isn't it.

I think their chicken takes maybe 3 or so hours to make. And so if the day of the review they got ten times the regular number of orders, I wonder if they even had enough?

[Robin Garr]

And so if the day of the review they got ten times the regular number of orders, I wonder if they even had enough?

I hope they did, too, but I really doubt they would get that much of a bump from a CJ story. I'm sure it was crowded, and I'm glad for them, and I expect they'll get another bump when the LEO and HotBytes review runs next week.

I think they did know it was coming, by the way, for a couple of reasons, including the photographer coming in for a picture before press time. If you'll look back up the thread, Jairzinha mentioned that they knew there was going to be an article in the paper, and a little bird told me that they had spotted him "taking pictures and asking a lot of questions" a few days after Nancy's report in HotBytes.

Jairzinha and Mario are sharp cookies. I'm sure they were busy, but I expect they were ready.

To be precise, I walked in the Pollo about 6:30 pm and the restaurant was full. I waited at the counter for 2 minutes or so, while one gentleman was working on a meal and no one else was in sight. All the seats were full, and half the people had not eaten yet, Finally a lovely young lady came out and I said," How are things going? She said," not good, we did not know we would be this busy" I said, " would it be much of a wait? She said, "Yes" I said, "I will come back when it is not so busy, I am looking forward to trying your food, and have heard many good things about it." I also mentioned being ready for the rush after a review. Shady Lane was slammed for a week after our CJ review. I agree with Robins assessment of the quality of our chain newspaper, but one thing that they excel at are the food reviews, and they bring the hoards along with them, I was also busy after Robins excellent review, I was just saying, that smaller places should hire extra help, and be ready for the worst case scenario. I just thought it wise to reiterate "to the just about to be reviewed" that they be warned and warned again. I have seen good reviews turn out to be the beginning of the end for restaurants only for lack of proper planning. And that is a shame. I will be back and really look forward to trying the food.

I think they did know it was coming, by the way, for a couple of reasons, including the photographer coming in for a picture before press time. If you'll look back up the thread, Jairzinha mentioned that they knew there was going to be an article in the paper, and a little bird told me that they had spotted him "taking pictures and asking a lot of questions" a few days after Nancy's report in HotBytes.

When I told Jay (she's ok w/ that name btw!) I was going to talk about her chicken on LHB (if I liked it), I also told her "be ready - people will want to try it if it's the real thing!" I knew once the word spread they would pick up. I also believe the article in the CJ was a huge boost.

I stopped in to say "hey" last week and she said she had no idea they would get THIS MUCH business. But that's what happens when the food is really, really good - just like what happened with Shady Lane.

Hopefully it will turn into a steady but manageable stream of business, also just like Shady Lane.