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New Fried Chicken place in Brickyard Mall Chicago

New Fried Chicken place in Brickyard Mall Chicago
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  • Post #61 - October 14th, 2005, 1:51 am
    Post #61 - October 14th, 2005, 1:51 am Post #61 - October 14th, 2005, 1:51 am
    I ate at both Pollo Loco and Campero this week. Campero won, hands down. Pollo Loco's chicken is simply quite flavorless--I can't find anything to distinguish it from the roasted chicken at my local KFC, and there are no side items that even closely compare to either the Campero beans or tostones. The crowds have died down at Campero, but the quality still remains high. Word has definitely gotten out beyond the Mexican/Central American community as well; I noticed that the clientele at the Brickyard Campero has gone from about 5% Anglo (grand opening) to about 30% Anglo. El Pollo Loco may have had the guy in the chicken suit, but the quality needs to improve if they can expect to compete here. Maybe it's better out west.

    The one thing that I will give El Pollo Loco, however, is their Fuego sauce (from the salsa bar). A few Camperitos dipped in that sauce would be absolutely amazing.
  • Post #62 - October 14th, 2005, 3:32 pm
    Post #62 - October 14th, 2005, 3:32 pm Post #62 - October 14th, 2005, 3:32 pm
    pix of EPL from LA taken in April:
    Image

    this looks NOTHING like the meal i got from Milwaukee Ave 2 nites ago... (i didn't take pix becaue i was just so disappointed...)
  • Post #63 - November 10th, 2005, 2:16 pm
    Post #63 - November 10th, 2005, 2:16 pm Post #63 - November 10th, 2005, 2:16 pm
    So I went and tried Pollo Campero today.

    It is almost certainly one of the two or three best places to eat at Brickyard Mall.

    Chicken-- crispy skin good, meat okay, lack of spices or any flavor beyond salt disappointing.

    Beans-- pretty good. Is that actual pork flavor I taste in the broth?

    Salsas-- good flavor but ran the heat spectrum from mild to extra mild.

    Plantains and tostones-- fine, nice that such things are sides and it's not just fries.

    Overall: for fast food in a mall, okay, but I wouldn't go more than 100 yards for it again, or stand in a line with more than eight people in it.

    Incidentally, it and Pollo Loco were talked about by Steve Dolinsky on WBEZ today, but a perusal of the parking lot did not reveal a sudden influx of Volvos bearing Kerry/Edwards and Black Dog Tavern bumperstickers, so it doesn't appear that enough of a Dolinsky Effect exists to get folks out of Evanston all the way to Diversey and Narragansett.
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  • Post #64 - November 10th, 2005, 3:45 pm
    Post #64 - November 10th, 2005, 3:45 pm Post #64 - November 10th, 2005, 3:45 pm
    Mike G wrote:it doesn't appear that enough of a Dolinsky Effect exists to get folks out of Evanston all the way to Diversey and Narragansett.

    As far as I can tell, only Chicago Magazine and Check Please have any disturbing impact on restaurants.

    Reviews in any of the newspapers, from the weeklies on up to the Trib, don't seem to do it, nor do Sherman Kaplan's WBBM reviews. (I'm not sure about James Ward or other TV shows.) That's not to say these don't increase business, but it seems a steadier type than the mob of I've-got-to-try-the-latest-thing types who pack a place and then move on to the next latest thing.
  • Post #65 - November 10th, 2005, 10:52 pm
    Post #65 - November 10th, 2005, 10:52 pm Post #65 - November 10th, 2005, 10:52 pm
    Mike G wrote:So I went and tried Pollo Campero today.

    Mike,

    Funny, so did I. Chicken was ok, crisp skin, little oversalted, but that's par for the course with most fast food fried chicken. What surprised me was there was nothing that really distinguished Pollo Campero as any different from good ol' American fried chicken. I was hoping for at least a hint of mojo criollo, citrus/cumin/garlic anything, but no distinct flavor popped out. In fact, I'd say it was quite similar in both crust type and flavor to Macarthur's and Priscilla's, which both do good versions of steam table Soul Food.

    Tostones were ok, though salty, beans, as Mike mentioned, had a hint of pork flavor, but the rest was undistinguished. Once again, not bad, just undistinguished. Hard to see why people wait in 2-hour lines.

    Pollo Campero is spotless from the parking lot to the bathroom, employees are friendly and well informed, and prices are reasonable. I'll most likely go back, but see no reason to go out of my way to do so.

    Enjoy,
    Gary
    Hold my beer . . .

    Low & Slow
  • Post #66 - November 10th, 2005, 10:58 pm
    Post #66 - November 10th, 2005, 10:58 pm Post #66 - November 10th, 2005, 10:58 pm
    It was what I imagine the Iowans would make, if Iowa were in Central America.
    Watch Sky Full of Bacon, the Chicago food HD podcast!
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  • Post #67 - November 10th, 2005, 11:15 pm
    Post #67 - November 10th, 2005, 11:15 pm Post #67 - November 10th, 2005, 11:15 pm
    Mike G wrote:Incidentally, it and Pollo Loco were talked about by Steve Dolinsky on WBEZ today, but a perusal of the parking lot did not reveal a sudden influx of Volvos bearing Kerry/Edwards and Black Dog Tavern bumperstickers, so it doesn't appear that enough of a Dolinsky Effect exists to get folks out of Evanston all the way to Diversey and Narragansett.


    Well this evanstonian made it overthere, and thought it just fine, I was of course driving my volvo, actually went there towards the end of summer, same time as my inaugaural visit to bonnies, nothing made need to return
  • Post #68 - November 11th, 2005, 7:42 am
    Post #68 - November 11th, 2005, 7:42 am Post #68 - November 11th, 2005, 7:42 am
    G Wiv wrote:
    Mike G wrote:So I went and tried Pollo Campero today.

    Mike,

    Funny, so did I. Chicken was ok, crisp skin, little oversalted, but that's par for the course with most fast food fried chicken. What surprised me was there was nothing that really distinguished Pollo Campero as any different from good ol' American fried chicken. I was hoping for at least a hint of mojo criollo, citrus/cumin/garlic anything, but no distinct flavor popped out. In fact, I'd say it was quite similar in both crust type and flavor to Macarthur's and Priscilla's, which both do good versions of steam table Soul Food.


    Enjoy,
    Gary


    Boy, that shows you how subjective taste is. I recently had the very well done fried chicken at Army and Lou's, and I found it NOTHING like Pollo Campero. I also find that PC has a garlic heavy marinade, that really's not Guatamalan per se, but does make the chicken taste different.
    Think Yiddish, Dress British - Advice of Evil Ronnie to me.
  • Post #69 - November 11th, 2005, 8:15 am
    Post #69 - November 11th, 2005, 8:15 am Post #69 - November 11th, 2005, 8:15 am
    Vital Information wrote:Boy, that shows you how subjective taste is. I recently had the very well done fried chicken at Army and Lou's, and I found it NOTHING like Pollo Campero. I also find that PC has a garlic heavy marinade, that really's not Guatamalan per se, but does make the chicken taste different.

    Rob,

    I haven't been to Army and Lou's for a year or so, and typically get the catfish, so I really can't (wasn't) compare Army and Lou's fried chicken to Pollo Campero. I have, however, been to both Macarthur's and Priscilla's in the last couple of weeks and thought there a similarity.

    In all three cases the chicken coating was thin, crisp and slightly salty, chicken flesh had no penetrating flavor from brine/marinade/injection and the chicken used was straight-up industrial, and on the small side. I'm not being negative about Pollo Campero, Priscilla's or Macarthur's, simply saying that, while their chicken was fine, and I'd be happy to eat at any of them again, they did not fluff my pin feathers. Macarthur's pork hock, on the other hand, was terrific. Tender as a love song, moist, lightly smokey with Macarthur's mac and cheese a perfect compliment.

    Far as Pollo Campero having a heavy garlic marinade, my garlic/spice/flavor meter barely nudged, and that was mainly from salt.

    Enjoy,
    Gary
    Hold my beer . . .

    Low & Slow
  • Post #70 - November 25th, 2005, 2:07 pm
    Post #70 - November 25th, 2005, 2:07 pm Post #70 - November 25th, 2005, 2:07 pm
    well there are so many things about this chicken, like i was reading from somebody in the forum,he said: maybe I don't understand "guatemalan chicken", which i thought it was kinda rude but true, but anyway everything goes more than just the food, for all of us that came here and been in the u.s. for some years, campero chicken is like being at home, there are so many memories about it, and you can't deny that it has a particular flavor, i definetely agree about the tortillas, which made me feel kinda happy because in Guatemala Pollo Campero's tortillas were nasty, so it is the real deal. great, i hope to have it in grand rapids one of these days. :lol: and yeah it's right it's kinda crazy make those big lines but i'm pretty sure is worth it.
  • Post #71 - August 20th, 2006, 5:24 pm
    Post #71 - August 20th, 2006, 5:24 pm Post #71 - August 20th, 2006, 5:24 pm
    Hadn't been back here since the opening hoopla. Had a very good fried chicken meal just now with the familia. The chicken was excellent, and the flavor of the marinade definitely penetrated into the flesh of the chicken. Sides were all good, though the rice sucked tasting of powdered flavorings. The green salsa was particularly flavorful and complimented the chicken nicely. They now serve chicken strips which the kids appreciated (though they were out of the ubiquitous ranch sauce that seems to run through the teenagers veins).

    As an added bonus, the Brickyard was hosting some live bands in the parking lot just outside of Pollo Comparo. We got to hear a song and a half by a more urban than Rage band called Berto Ramon that sounded quite promising, if you're into that sort of thing.

    -ramon
  • Post #72 - August 20th, 2006, 9:25 pm
    Post #72 - August 20th, 2006, 9:25 pm Post #72 - August 20th, 2006, 9:25 pm
    And people like me who like KK from way back still eat 'em, and for people who just went to try. Well, check the stock ticker.


    Reading this thread for the first time thought I'd like to point out this post. ALthough not abut Broiled Chicken - about fads...

    Yeah, VI, check the stock price - although Im sorry to bring it up now-stock prices have a lot to do with fads - and stock prices are not wholly reflective on a certain products quality.

    Pollo Loco is going public soon. Although I dont think it will go the way of KK (up then way down) nor will go the way of Chipotle (up and up), it is a fad that will run for 5 years. If you get the IPO sell it on the first day.
  • Post #73 - March 23rd, 2007, 7:09 pm
    Post #73 - March 23rd, 2007, 7:09 pm Post #73 - March 23rd, 2007, 7:09 pm
    Just spotted at the NW corner of Lawrence and Pulaski, in the new strip mall behind the new Staples store:

    Sign reading "Pollo Campero, Coming Soon"

    Doesn't really change my life much, but Cookie really digs the place.

    Best,
    Michael
  • Post #74 - March 25th, 2007, 9:25 pm
    Post #74 - March 25th, 2007, 9:25 pm Post #74 - March 25th, 2007, 9:25 pm
    I live one block away from the corner of Lawrence and Pulaski and was happy that they're going into the mall! Albany Park has so many different restaurants and I'm happy to see this added to the mix. :D
  • Post #75 - March 26th, 2007, 11:22 am
    Post #75 - March 26th, 2007, 11:22 am Post #75 - March 26th, 2007, 11:22 am
    On our way to the LTH dinner at Amanacer last Friday, we passed a "Pollo Campero - Coming Soon" sign. I think we will be spending more time eating in Joliet in the future.

    Suzy
    " There is more stupidity than hydrogen in the universe, and it has a longer shelf life."
    - Frank Zappa
  • Post #76 - March 26th, 2007, 1:51 pm
    Post #76 - March 26th, 2007, 1:51 pm Post #76 - March 26th, 2007, 1:51 pm
    sdritz wrote:On our way to the LTH dinner at Amanacer last Friday, we passed a "Pollo Campero - Coming Soon" sign. I think we will be spending more time eating in Joliet in the future.

    Suzy


    Suzy,

    Where did you pass this sign? I'll have to keep my eyes peeled.

    Flip
    "Beer is proof God loves us, and wants us to be Happy"
    -Ben Franklin-
  • Post #77 - March 27th, 2007, 8:06 am
    Post #77 - March 27th, 2007, 8:06 am Post #77 - March 27th, 2007, 8:06 am
    Flip, we took 80 to the Chicago Avenue north exit and stayed on 53 all the way to up to Ruby Street. It was somewhere along that route on the left-hand side.

    Suzy
    " There is more stupidity than hydrogen in the universe, and it has a longer shelf life."
    - Frank Zappa

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