Poulet

Seriously this place is awesome. French deli and coffee with seating and super nice people. Reminds me of Paris more so than almost anything else I’ve had in the States. Even given that the food is more aimed at carry out it is super good, very affordable and tastes like something you’d get at a home in France vs a restaurant in Berkeley. Wonderful!

Wonderful food and excellent service.

I’ve gotten chicken and different salads over the years and everything has been delicious. My only complaint is that I haven’t experienced a warm response from the people at the counter. One woman who helped me acted like I was doing her a disservice by asking her for another kind of salad to take home. Not once did she smile at me, not once did she communicate in a friendly way. I felt I was imposing on her time. I’m sure it is hard to stand on your feet all day and serve customers, but I have experienced clerks at similar kinds of places serving the public with patience, smiles, humor, and friendliness, so why can’t the staff at Poulet?

I came here because I smelled deliciousness conning from inside. The owner is really nice and funny. The food was really good too. I definitely am coming back with friends. Cool vibes too

I came here for the first time yesterday, and I’m back again. This place is quickly rising in my «favorites» and «bring friends who are visiting» lists. I don’t understand why the rating is so low – I feel like I never came before because of the rating, when it deserves much much higher.
There are other reviews saying the staff behind the counter is rude. Maybe it depends on who you get, but I’ve had awesome service both times I walked in. I came late, a little after lunch hour. Yesterday, my first time, the Asian woman behind the counter immediately asked if she could help me and was polite in answering my questions about the salad prices. Today there was a young man and a middle-​aged woman, who were joking around and having a good time. The woman immediately included me in the joking, asking me to support that she was a ‘genius’, asking for my name, shaking my hand and saying they were glad to have me there. It was friendly and awesome, and the main reason I’m writing this review. ⁵⁄₅!
You can have tastings. I mentioned I was torn between two salads and the woman behind the counter immediately offered to let me taste, springing into action to ladle some food into a square of wax paper and handing me a plastic fork.
Food: Delicious. It’s about $ 2 for a cup (½ pint) of Caesar salad, $ 5 for the heavier salads like the Yam and Sweet Potato Salad. I also have tried the kale salad and the curried chicken salad, all were really good. (You can get a 2-​salad plate for $ 8.50, 3 salads is $ 10.50). I would definitely recommend their fancy salads like the Yam and Sweet Potato – I know I’ll probably be coming back! I also have had a buttermilk fried chicken drumstick, which was deliciously crunchy and moist. Their plates come with a piece of baguette-​y bread (not as soft as a baguette though, boo. Still good). There’s also free iced lemon water from a nice pitcher setup (you drop in the lemon slice yourself, which is great because my water was way more lemony then if the lemons had been sitting in a huge jug for hours.)
Even though I’ve been here twice, I want to come back many more times in the upcoming semester, which is definitely rare for a foodie who likes to explore. Maybe I got better service because I came after the usual lunch hour, but still it’s been a great experience.
Note that it’s a little pricey, but that matches the nicer sitdown décor. I could come here for an expensive lunch or for a nice but slightly-​casual dinner!
There is free WiFi. While eating I plopped down with my computer and worked a bit.

I was extremely impressed with Poulet! My wife and I stopped in here in the morning and we loved it. The food was fresh and delicious. The service was AMAZING! We will be coming back everyone we are in Berkeley.

A great neighborhood eatery at a reasonable price! Their buttermilk fried chicken is so tasty!

I didn’t read the reviews before coming here. The woman at the counter acted so annoyed by my boyfriend and I because we were taking a while to decide. She stood there rushing us and looking at us like we were idiots. When we decided what we wanted, she served us the food without uttering a single word, just glaring at us.
While the taste of the food is ok, they don’t heat it up before serving it to you. We asked them to heat the chicken, and they did so reluctantly.
There are so many amazing restaurants in the gourmet ghetto, and I don’t understand how this place competes.

I think more restaurants should stick to what they do best. This place does chicken… roasted chicken… and they do it very very well. The chicken is moist and flavorful and the sandwiches are delicious. The sides and salads can be a little hit or miss, but the chicken is sooo good. Very limited seating inside.

I love Poulet! Perfect lunch place, eat in or take out. They also do dinners to go… brilliant for busy work days.
They have there usual spread of salads and specialty rotisserie chicken, hence the name. But surprisingly my favorite is their curry chicken they make on very rare occasions. Their chef has to be a genius for that dish. There was nothing left on my plate, I practically licked every drop of sauce!
If you are looking for an amazing but quick lunch, then Poulet is your place. I’m sure if you go you will see me standing in line!
Tip: miss the crowd and go after 1:30. They will still have all options but you won’t have to wait in the long lunch line.

As with many restaurants, some items on the menu are better than others. Savvy diners are practiced at uncovering the subtle clues the pave the way to epicurean delight.
My personal experience, was that when I went into this restaurant called POULET, I ordered the (wait for it)… chicken.
Yes, Unilocalers, the CHICKEN at POULET is truly excellent. I believe that all the reviews complaining about polenta and side dishes are sort of missing the point.
Sorry for the rant. Here’s my actual review: Since becoming a regular customer, I now have the problem of going to relatively expensive restaurants, ordering chicken… and being disappointed because it is not as good. Having been to CHICKEN, sorry I meant POULET many times, I can say there is some variation but the range is from «simply the best chicken I’ve ever had» …to very good.
I’ve never been disappointed. Seriously, if you know a place that serves better whole CHICKEN, PLEASE post it here. Actually, please contact me directly. I will give you a reward.
BUT, if you can’t identify a better source for CHICKEN, I think five stars is the most logical rating for POULET.
On the other hand if you want to go to a restaurant called CHICKEN, and give it one star because you don’t like the bean salad… You go right ahead.

Love the presentation and concept of this place. Chicken, sides, bread. Simple yet so satisfying. The chicken is well cooked and moist. many choices for sides. Great comfort food

My boyfriend just moved near the gourmet ghetto, and our first stop on our quest to try all the food was Poulet.
We were greeted by the sweetest lady ever, and she complimented me on my choice in dinner: adobo ¼ chicken with Parmesan cauliflower on the side. I’m not sure if my chicken was supposed to be cold, but it was delicious either way. The adobo sauce is a must try!
My boyfriend got the lemon garlic ¼ chicken with potato salad on the side. His chicken was warm, but a little too lemony for my taste. He enjoyed it though!
The ¼ chicken meals also come with bread which was BOMB. It makes me want to try the sandwiches next time!

You can never go wrong with chicken at this place.
I drop by to get myself a half chicken about 3 times a week. The chicken is always good (lemon garlic), and the staff is very friendly. I also recommend their fried buttermilk chicken, loads better than KFC. They don’t open on Sundays, so keep that in mind if you want to see them after reading my review :)

THE BEST CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES EVER! Honestly, I come here just for cookies more often than a full meal.
I’m surprised to see this have an average of only about 3 stars. The chicken is always great, and I just love the staff. They all have fun personalities.
I wish the plates were about a dollar less expensive per side add on and that their online menu was consistent. I also wish they would offer more paninis.
All in all great place, great atmosphere. Definitely a place full of regulars– I tend to see the same crowd every time I go in

ive read reviews about the chicken being dry and other problems but been here a couple of times and each time i was pleasantly surprised.
inexpensive, this place is not. but you can be sure there will always be fresh and tasty chicken. the sides were healthy and exactly what i needed.
it is an older establishment so sometimes the older people can be no nonsense, but this is what this place is. want chicken? come here. no nonsense.

I feel sorry, that I cannot put 0 stars.
Service: RUDE. After I asked, why total is so high the guy responded: because it is.
Food: expensive and BAD. I even don’t feel well after getting their meal. It’s $ 22 for peace of chx thigh, 2 oz of «salad» and a small order of a side.
Would I recommend anybody to go there — NEVER.
Would I come back — NEVER.

I love the atmosphere, service is fine, food was alright. I got the chicken panini, which is grilled chicken, brie cheese and aoili. Feel like there should be some kind of vegetable in it, tomato or greens. Kind of plain tasting without, I guess I can ask if I go again. Everything was kind of overpriced for the quality

Poulet is such a Berkeley institution it surprised me that I hadn’t reviewed it, probably because we rarely go there. I love roasted chicken and we have places closer that make it, so I forget Poulet. However, today Alan brought us lunch from there. He had leftover brisket that he was going to make into a sandwich and decided to bring me chicken salad. We’ve been getting chicken salad sandwiches from Semifreddi’s and he wanted something different. We have Vital Vittles bread in the freezer, so he got a bit of chicken salad, along w/​a beet, carrot and spinach salad, a curried chicken salad w/​rice and a container of coleslaw.
My chicken salad sandwich was delicious, w/​bits of onion, celery, capers and chunks of chicken bound together w/​a little house-​made mayonnaise. I particularly liked the chunks of chicken, which were not too big and not too small. The beet and carrot salad was fabulous. The carrots were in large pieces, as were the beets, and tasted as if they’d been roasted. The spinach was fresh and whole. I’m not sure what the dressing was, probably a vinaigrette that was light enough to let the vegetables shine. I didn’t taste the curried chicken salad, but Alan liked it. Neither of us cared for the coleslaw, which seemed salty to me. I prefer a vinegary coleslaw to one w/​mayo anyway. So we won’t buy that again, but the others we will and one of these days I’m going to buy one of their chickens and try it out for dinner.

My first venture out to gourmet ghetto. It was very good the first time I was here. I got a fried chicken sandwich with coleslaw. It was so tasty.
The first time I was here the service was so so but I thought it was me since I was a little slow on deciding what I wanted.
Second time I came to this place I got an oven roasted chicken. Swear it was the smallest thigh and drumstick I’d ever seen. Had Mac and Cheese– thumbs downs. Received rude service, I thought it was me but now after having read other reviews I see it is the workers here.
DONE coming here.
Oh yeah and the dog in the kitchen is gross. I’ve seen the cooks preparing food and the dog hanging around the kitchen. No thanks.
Does health services know about this?