For those of you don't know already, Pollo Campero is a Guatemalan fried chicken chain and for this particular write-up, I'm focusing specifically on the location in Long Beach.
When Pollo Campero opened its first location in Los Angeles, I heard that lines were around the block. When I heard news like that, my curiosity was definitely piqued, but time passed by and I soon forgot about until I started working in Long Beach and found out there was a Pollo Campero location down the street from me. Fate was definitely working on my side, so I decided to check it out for lunch one afternoon.
I walked through the doors, up to the counter and after a quick glance at the menu, I ordered a three piece fried chicken with rice and yucca fries. While I was waiting, I loaded up on some salsas at their salsa bar. When the plate was finally placed in front of me, I have to say that it looked good and it smelled good, but did it taste good? The answer was a resounding YES in big capital letters.
The skin was wonderful and there was just enough batter to form a "cracker crust". What I meant by that is when I pulled the skin from and off the chicken meat, it seemed wafer-thin and crispy like a cracker. The chicken itself was tender and juicy and very well seasoned, which doesn't translate to being spicy, just full of flavor. A little peppery. A little bit of a kick. All of which made me one happy chicken eater.
The chicken was definitely the star of the plate-- the yucca fries would have been a complete thumbs up if they hadn't been overly salty. The rice really didn't really add much to the meal. Overall, I was happy and was looking forward to making Pollo Campero as one of my regular lunch stops.
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to make it back until a few months later, but I was still anticpating a great meal. Too bad, I didn't get it. I wish I could share pictures, but as luck would have it, I didn't have my camera with me. I ended up ordering almost the same thing I ordered the first time, but this time I replaced the rice with black beans, which were a definite improvement over the rice. However, the yucca fries, while wonderfully crispy, were still too salty. I would have been fine with whatever sides I ordered, as long as my chicken had been up to par. Oh my, it wasn't and saying "Oh my" is putting it mildly.