Pollo Mania - El Monte, CA

Slave girl and I were running errands in the area and couldn't decide where to go for lunch. After some debating back and forth, we decided to get some Peruvian chicken at Pollo Mania.

Be aware, on a Friday during lunch time, the parking lot was super packed even though they had a huge lot. Everyone in the lot was driving like student drivers so be very focused when you maneuver around. You have been warned.

Inside the restaurant, there were plenty of seats but all the seats were taken. I guess that was a good sign. The restaurant was counter service only and since it was packed, finding a table after ordering was a little challenging for us.

The restaurant had plantain chips and lucuma ice cream to sell on top of the menu items. There was also a simple salsa bar available for adding more flavors to the food. The red pepper one packed with plenty of heat, even I had trouble to keep up after one little cup.

I ordered 1/2 chicken with 2 sides, and slave girl got lomo saltado burrito since she thought it would be cheaper in a burrito form. Wrong, the poster didn't show price but it was exactly the same price as the regular order at $12.25. We thought about getting the chicken soup too but decided we already ordered too much.

The half chicken came with 2 pieces, one with thigh and leg, and the other with breast and wing. Both skin and meat were seasoned with lots of flavors and meat was very tender. I couldn't find anything bad about the chicken other than I couldn't stop eating it. I picked fries and slaw as my sides and the slaw was refreshing.

Make it a taco?! Hells yes!

The burrito was huge and made fresh. I could see the flames going up in the kitchen area, love it. Lomo saltado was tasty here and the sauce was fully soaked by the rice and fries. The only thing I didn't like was the burrito got all wet and soggy on the bottom because of the sauce. It was nearly impossible to hold it in my hand to finish the thing so deconstruction was the only way to finish off this monster.

The most interesting thing was the aji sauce here. It was brown versus the usual green (as I usually refer it to the green crack sauce), but the taste was still similar, only milder. I also like the green onion oil with chicken.

Overall I really like this place. They had chicken in their restaurant name and sure enough, the chicken was amazing. If you haven't tried it yet, make your way out for some Peruvian love.