Pollo Campero

This location had the best chicken! Closed??? arggh

Pollo campero come back! I miss you!

Place is closed as of Dec 16^th 2013. The other location on Pulaski and Lawrence is still open though.

Pollo Campero is special to me because being Salvadoran it reminds me of my visits to El Salvador (as well as Guatemala). While this location isn’t quite the same as the ones in Central America its extremely closer then other locations I have been to (the one in Orlando is way over-​priced and not good).
None the less I went on Monday and they had a great 2-​piece daily special for only $ 1.99! And they also have other great daily specials.
Definitely doesn’t get better than that.

Craving empanadas? Spicy chicken ones, maybe? Pollo Campero might be calling your name!
Aside from having delicious chicken and an awesome salsa bar, Pollo Campero also has the most delicious spicy chicken empandas. The outside of the empanada is perfect — not too flaky, not too greasy. The filling is just great, flavorful spicy shredded chicken. I make a point just to stop by for some of these when I’m in the ‘hood.
They also have a black bean empanada and a citrus chicken one. I’ve never had the black bean one and the citrus one isn’t appealing to me because of the cilantro. So, spicy chicken it is! If you get the meal, you pay $ 6 for 3 and you get a side (sweet plantains, yuca, rice and beans, fries).
Oh, and they have guava juice, ya’ll. And a drive-​thru. Best.

$ 2.99 for two pieces of chicken (leg & thigh), fries, two tortillas and a drink? What an awesome lunch deal! I ordered the fried chicken, which, while the pieces themselves weren’t huge, were quite tasty. Skin was crispy & crunchy, chicken was flavorful & juicy. And service was very quick. Wish I had known enough to try some of their salsa, but there’s always next time I guess!
I’d previously tried their Campero Chicken Bowls and wasn’t too impressed with that. I guess when you’re used to the chicken «bol» from another «mexican» fast food establishment (ahem *chipotle* ahem) it’s difficult to not compare.
Overall great lunch spot, definitely go for the fried chicken.

The GOOD: The Chicken. Thank God right? My heart belongs to another charbroiled chicken establishment in Pilsen, but I really liked the chicken here. Had some good flavor, I appreciate that you have your choice of fried or grilled. I also appreciate all the different combinations one can purchase — w/​or without sides, chicken strips, etc.
The Sorta GOOD: Salsa Bar. While I appreciate having multiple options for salsa and I LOVE having fresh cilantro as an option, I question how sanitary it is — just like I question the cleanliness of any salad bar. I tried it and am still alive so I guess the were no contaminants on the night we were there right? In all honesty, just to be safe, how about just putting them in the containers and just dispensing them at the counter… avoid any future outbreaks? Maybe I’m too paranoid.
The SO-​SO: The sides. I didn’t particularly like any of the sides, especially the rice. The beans were ok, but we bought a family sized meal, and the beans came in a bowl that 1– wasn’t filled and 2 — was mostly soup? hmmmm. But alas, the star is the chicken right? Well, I’m sorry — I believe that the supporting cast should also be as strong as the star as they add to the overall performance!
The big question, will I return? Maybe… if I happen to be in that neighborhood and there is nothing else worth eating, I may go back, but I would ONLY get the chicken, and I would probably get it to go as the tortillas were pretty weak too!

I think their Chicken IS FAR SUPERIORER than KFC, Popeyes and just about any other place that serves Fried Chicken I have been to. I don’t eat fried Chicken often, but I must admit this is really excellent! And their grilled chicken is just as good.
The Campero Rice and coleslaw are both EXCELLENT as well!
Very good food and excellent, friendly service! Not sure where the mediocre ratings are coming from — this place is great and I wish they had more franchises around because this place is not that close to where I live.

Wow, the menu changes are great! We stopped in here last night for a quick dinner and for $ 13 and some change, were FULL! We got those new chicken rollup things — 4 are only $ 2.99 and they are HUGE. Yummy chicken diced up and mixed with tomato and onion and deep fried in a torttilla — and the avocado ranch sauce that comes with them is delish!
We then got black beans andrice, fries and plaintains (all single serving size) and some drinks. There is something a little «off» on the plaintains, but the fries and beans/​rice are always good. And service is super fast.

They were out of the grilled chicken when we got there and I opted to not wait 20 minutes so I got fried instead.
The chicken was quite tasty, moist and flavorful. We had a side of taro fries which were really yummy! And also a side of sweet plaintains.
I don’t think I’ve ever rated a fast food place above 3 stars before…

What led me into this facility this past Friday was a coupon I received to my email address to receive a free caramel flan for my birthday. I decided to use it. I received great customer service from friendly employees who did not speak my language (yeah), and were glad to serve me, thank me, and invite me back. Now that’s what I like.
I’m such a whimp though. Even though I received a freebie, and great customer service, I didn’t even think of purchasing anything to go with my free flan, which was very delicious btw. Next time, if not this month then next, I will make sure that I return to PC and spend some Washingtons, or whomever’s on those $ 5 and $ 10 bills.

This is seriously good fast food! I stopped by yesterday to pick up dinner to take home. Got grilled chicken, black beans and rice, cole slaw, tortillas and salsa. (Other sides offered were yucca fries, plantains, Campero rice (?),).
The chicken was so good! I sort of expected it to be dry, but it was like chicken right off the backyard grill — hot, juicy and delicious. Black beans and rice were also delicious. Cole slaw was just ok — next time I’ll try the plantains. (Don’t know why I didn’t!) Even the tortillas were great. I reheated them at home in the microwave and they were still soft .
I eat chicken 3 – 4 times a week and Pollo Campero is second only to Fogo 2 Go for great take-​out grilled chicken.

Where else in Chicago can you go to a DRIVE-​THRU and get a bowl of rice, black beans, fried plantains, fried chicken, and mango-​pineapple salsa. That’s right, only at Pollo Campero. I ordered the Caribbean Bowl and it wasn’t bad. The chicken was DELICIOUS, and I’d be tempted to order that again by itself – think Fried Chicken with latin/​caribbean seasonings. The bowl itself had some GREAT bites, but I found it kind of bland over all. It probably could have used a bit more of the plantain and more salsa.
Overall, very solid fast food, and I’d definitely give it another try.

Surprised the ratings are so low, but I see three 1-​star reviews from people who all felt unwelcome there because they’re not hispanic.
I’m not hispanic, but I eat here all the time and I’ve never had a bad experience. Sure, service is a bit slow compared to most fast-​food places. The drive-​through is pretty useless, to be honest, but counter service is plenty fast, I’ve never had to wait more than a few minutes.
For regular fast-​food fried chicken, I actually prefer Popeye’s, but Pollo Campero is all about the garnishes and sides. If you go in there getting a chicken dinner with a biscuit and mashed potatoes, why did you even bother? Try a tortilla (tor-​TEE-​ya!) and some of the various salsas and garnishes and their awesome rice and meat-​tastic beans and plantains and you’ll see why it’s so great. I bet the people giving this place one star are the type of people who go to Europe and eat at McDonalds.
Only other gripe is they never have the fried plantains. The sweet ones are good, but not as good as the fried, ha.

Fast food chicken with a Mexican flair.

I like it but I don’t.
The chicken is pretty good this place doesn’t rank extremely high on the richter. Good flavor overall but a little too much salt.
This place is good for curing your plantain craving as they actually serve up maduros platanos quite nicely for a fast food joint.
It’s kind of weird that they offer tortillas because the type of «cuisine» they have isn’t normally served with tortillas but hey when in Rome, right? :)
Black beans and rice is flavorful but they can keep the stale gross «dinner roll» that they throw in with the chicken.

The fried chicken at Pollo Campero is pretty damn good. There’s no denying that. The skin has plenty of crunch and crisp with a really good, distinguishable flavor. Heck, if this place were closer, it would probably be THE go to place for fried chicken.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not giving it just three stars because it isn’t close. But the food is just lacking a little something that would motivate me to come here more often. Maybe it’s portion size. I can eat with the best of ‘em, and even after a 3 piece meal, I wasn’t completely satisfied. Not starving, just not full enough. The sides of beans and campero rice were kind of weak too. Maybe I should have ordered fries instead. The salsa they have available are just OK. I actually prefer the salsa bar at El Pollo Loco to this one.
Not a bad place. It’s just missing something. Despite the excellent fried chicken flavor, Pollo Campero doesn’t really offer anything that Brown’s or even Popeyes can’t. Unless you like mediocre flan.

The food is pretty good, 4 star quality good, but service? .AY CARUMBA!
If you are ever in a hurry, don’t use their drive thru.
If you think that you have half an hour to kill, don’t use their drive thru!
I was in the area, and needed to pick up a quick snack for my son to nibble on after school. I had actually 35 minutes to kill, and school was only about 10 minutes away. I thought that I allotted myself enough time to not only order the food, but would have ample time to pull over and eat something myself before school let out.
I ordered a Caribbean Rice bowl, chicken strips, plantains, fries and a chocolate milk. The guy who took my order repeatedly asked me what I would like for a side. I had already told him that I would like fries and plantains! When it came time to pay, my bill came to $ 17.16! What???
Upon looking at the receipt, it turns out that he had charged me for someone else’s order! I could see my bowl of rice waiting to be packed. They instead insisted that I had ordered the 8pc family pack. There were 6 people behind the window working. SLOW AS MOLASSES! It took 3 people to figure out what went wrong and to figure out how much money they actually owed me. After I was reimbursed, they all of the sudden remembered that I never received any food. So again, I had to wait. And wait.
22 minutes total in a drive through, all the while, the cars behind me drove past giving me the stink eye.
I never had time to pull over and eat. In fact, the whole ordeal caused me to be a few minutes late picking up my son, which totally pissed me off. I felt like the neglectful mother.
The Caribbean rice bowl is super yummy as well as their chicken strips. The fries however are a bit stale and I do not understand why they put them in a paper bag then seal it in a plastic one. We do not like our fries steamed. I have ordered their chicken in the past and though flavorful, the size of the pieces reminded me of a Cornish hen.

So this was a visit on a Sunday afternoon, with low expectations. I mean, fast food chicken? I’m thinking it’s gonna be a Latino Popeye’s with a twist.
(A trend you will realize soon) I was wrong.
This place is amazing.
We walk in and I don’t know what I want. I mean, 2 piece meal, 3 piece meal, half chicken, whole chicken, or whatever (they also have strips). So we’re the only ones in line and with my classic ‘wtf’ face on, the cashier/​manager (as evidenced by the darker dress shirt) ‘helped’ us figure out what we want. Essentially when I said I wanted the 3 piece white, he was on my feet about sides and all. With a smile. But I felt rushed, no bigs.
We got our number and sat down at a booth. She got some sauces as I was busy in a text war. She came back with the freshest pico de guyo I have ever had. Let me stop right there. Ever since W. Garden was ripped up, I haven’t had fresh tomatos. Fuck that noise. If I could, I would walk into this place and eat the pico de guyo as often as possible. Anyway, like five minutes our waitress delivers us our food and looked pretty delicious.
THIS CHICKEN THUMPS EVERYBODY ELSE’S.
It’s not that salty, but it’s crunchy and the actual chicken meat is so juicy. Fuck Yes is all I was thinking.
I got the fried banana slices I think and they were pretty thumbs up.
I don’t care where I am, when I get in the mood, this is the joint for me.

My experience with this place has been pretty good so far. The inside of the restaurant is VERY clean and the staff is pretty friendly. When you see a lot of latinos eating here, you know it’s gotta be good!
Their chicken strips were very good and their plantains were the best I’ve ever had so far! My cousin had the mashed potatoes and she said it wasn’t really anything special.
They had a nice juicy picture by the menu of a plate of flan and we couldnt help but order one. Turns out… the flan was much smaller than we imagined.
Either way, I’d love to come back here again. I love the whole concept of this fast food restaurant and I’m down for trying some more things off their menu!