Pollos Inka

This is hands down the best Peruvian chicken joint I have ever been to… and I’ve been to a lot. Do not worry about the atmosphere, just come for the food… and do not order anything but the chicken. I always get the half chicken with rice and salad. Some friends get yucca, but the rice soaks up the heavenly green sauce with a touch of fiery orange.
I am addicted to the green sauce and the charcoal grilled chicken with spices. No other place compares and gets it perfectly like this place. It a true secret hole in the wall but has the best food of all chicken joints. BTW their fresh corn tortilla chips and homemade salsa are unbeatable too.
Trust me here folks.

Great hole in the wall kind of place. Food and service were great. Wish this was closer to where I live.

If you are in for some good chicken go to this place. Try this one, don’t be scared away from the looks, it is clean, the service is nice and they explain every dish, even if their English is not so good, they will manage, it feels you are on holiday. The food is good and the price is very reasonable.

Pollos Inka has been around in the Herndon neighborhood since ’91, offering classic Peruvian fare in the appetizers, soups, charcoal broiled chicken, sandwiches, entrees, and in the desserts categories. I tried their ½ Pollo, which comes with choices of 2 sides (rice, beans, salad, french fries, yucca, tortillas, or fried plantains). Unfortunately, they were out of most of the sides, as I was told that certain items were just unavailable. I ended up choosing just white rice and the side of french fries. The ½ chicken serving itself was quite generous — the meat was very juicy and extremely flavorful, and I was pretty impressed with the seasoning and the preparation of the chicken! It was flavorful enough that I didn’t even need the dousing of the aji sauce (their sauces are all housemade, and the aji sauce was actually more mustard-​based; I wasn’t a fan, but I was surprised that I didn’t need any of it as the chicken itself was just that flavorful!). The french fries and the white rice were both forgettable, and I just wished that the yucca and the fried plantains were available instead! You do get served complimentary chips and salsa when you are seated, which is pretty awesome — the salsa was finely-​diced and went well with the crunchy thicker tortilla chips. Service was pretty friendly but slightly MIA. Prices were pretty fantastic for the amount of food you get.
+juicy, flavorful charcoal broiled chicken!
+limited sides available
+housemade sauces
+to the right of the Dollar Tree
+plenty of parking in the shared lot

Went to this place craving some ceviche pescado.
The ceviche is great! The only problem with it is the Peruvian corn that usually comes with it, is replaced with normal corn on the cob…
Also, got Pollo. I had the yellow sauce and it was old, crusty around the top and tasted horrible. Stomach didn’t feel too good after it.
They arent really conscious with your order, I wasn’t asked if I wanted white or dark meat, I said no potato with the ceviche and was still given it.
Also, authentic ceviche comes with the sweet potato this one came with yucca and a baked potato.

Ordered an order of white meat chicken, fried rice and yucca. After a 10 minute wait, I got dark meat chicken, white rice and fries. I checked my receipt when I got back and they had charged me for the white meat. These guys can’t even get a basic order right.

Fantastic restaurant. My favorite is chicken and prepare and serve it perfectly. Meat is tender and juicy, french fries are delicious and salad is great. I’ve been a regular for several years, but yesterday was first I visited in 2015. Nothing has changed and I will be returning soon.

Visiting from NYC and haven’t had Peruvian food out of the city. This was delicious! Pollo ala brasa was moist with crispy skin and ½ was a large portion. Loved the yuca fries and fried plantains. The staff was super friendly and wanted to make sure everything was delightful. Would definitely go back again.

I really liked the food here, I had a Aji de Gallina, the taste was accurate just as if you were eating it in Lima, Peru. My husband had something with mariscos, seafood, he liked it too, they are kid friendly.
The only thing I didn’t like was the waiting time for your food to be served, but if you don’t care to wait In order to get something done right and tasty… go ahead! Will I return? yes definitely, bearing in mind that I have to wait a little bit :) I don’t give 4 stars just because of the time issue.

My family and I love the chicken at Pollio’s Inca! Since we moved here in the year 2000, we have yet to find a Peruvian chicken joint that has as much wonderful flavor as the chicken at Pollos Inca. I would give them a five star review if the side orders that come with the chicken, fries or rice and salad, had a little bit more of a variety.

I hadn’t been to Pollos Inka in years. How many years? Well… let’s put it this way — last time I was there, Unilocal wasn’t even a gleam in Jeremy S.‘s eye!
I had been after my husband to give it a try, as he had never been here before. Finally, he said «okay’ when I suggested it for dinner.
We were here on a Saturday around 5 p.m. Upon arrival, the man behind the counter told us to sit wherever we wanted, so we chose a booth. At the time, business was slow with only 2 other parties seated.
Our server was very prompt as she brought menus as soon as we sat down. Having looked at the menu before coming here, we both knew that we wanted pollo a la brasa and both of us chose ¼ chicken with white meat. We decided that the default sides, fries and a salad, were fine. You can substitute yuca instead of fries for a small amount of money. Also, there is a small charge for white meat chicken.
I noticed that one of the side dishes available was platanos fritos, so we ordered a side of it to share. To drink, I had Inca Cola — and much to my surprise, my husband said that he wanted to try it! — even after I told him it was really sweet.
Our server conversed with us half in Spanish, half in English (thankfully!) as my Spanish is really rusty. Yet, I find that if I’m exposed to it, it gets dislodged in my brain and I start remembering quite a bit of it LOL!
Each table is given complimentary corn chips and dip. The chips were sturdy with a nice crunch to them and the salsa was a bit on the watery side but had a bit of kick to it.
The platanos fritos arrived first. The platanos were cut into strips and simply prepared but flavorful. They were piping hot and while not as sweet as Puerto Rican ones, they still were very good.
When you order the pollo a la brasa, 3 squirt bottles of sauces are brought to the table — 1 with the spicy green sauce, 1 with the yellow mustard-​based sauce and 1 with creamy Italian dressing. All 3 sauces are house made. In addition, there is a bottle of ketchup on the table.
We both agreed that the pollo a la brasa was top notch! It was nicely flavored and moist, which is impressive when it comes to white meat. The skin was nicely crisped. The salad was simple — iceberg lettuce and 1 tomato slice that was topped with finely shredded carrots. We used the creamy Italian dressing and found it to be decent. As for the green and yellow sauces — we both sampled them. Both have some kick to them but the green sauce was very spicy. Both of us agreed that the chicken had plenty of flavor and didn’t need any sauce.
When we got the check and my husband looked at it, he was shocked — in a good way! It cost $ 22.08 before the tip! The server asked us in Spanish how the meal was. I said «delicioso!»
We will definitely be back. Maybe we will try some of the other great sounding Peruvian entrees!

Server problem is getting better, some of the servers are improving their English skills and the owner has hired one or two more that completely speak English so it’s better.
I go to this place once a week religiously and it’s all about the food, great place. Very casual, great lunch spot.

I’m a fan of Pollos Inka for two reasons, their Peruvian Chicken AND their Pollo Saltado. Everything is cooked and the flavor of the food Whenever I’m in the mood for either one, I’ll come here (if I’m at work). I’ve never had an issue with the wait staff not understanding my order (in English) and neither have my «very American» co-​workers.

Sent the wrong fish. When the correct fish was sent, I noticed it was very unfresh. I wouldn’t recommend eating here, ever. The server girl didn’t understand English. She also faced the other direction the whole time. At one point, someone from my party had to go look at everyone in the kitchen to get a refill.
I’m not expecting a Michelin star meal and service here, just delicious Peruvian food that won’t kill me and isn’t nasty. The whole chicken that was sent was completely pink inside, not one part was cooked properly except for the skin. Its a shame, the sauces are spectacular.
Yucca was the best part of the meal…

Had the beef strips yesterday served with rice/​mixed vegetables and fries. Very good but a bit salty.
There chicken was perfectly cooked and the skin was perfect.
Overall still trying to find a chicken place with good salad.
Half chicken and double salad. Healthy meat option

First time eating here and I found good and bad. Lets start with the good. Ceviche was the best I’ve tasted in the area. I went to Waku chicken a couple weeks ago and bought the worst. The chicken was ok, I like the chicken at chicken Rico better. What I tasted of the lomo saltado my friend got was excellent. The sauces however need work. I found the green and yellow at Waku had better flavor. I guess I wish I could get pollos inkas food with Waku’s sauce. The Peruvian cookies hit the spot for dessert.
All in all good food for the money.

I’ve had this place bookmarked in Unilocal as a place I wanted to try but not anymore. Because on 06/​05/​2013 I finally decided that I would give this place a try for lunch, and this was coming a day after just going to Guapo’s for lunch. So with that being said, on to my review.
Pollos Inka is a cool place to go if you want to eat some Peruvian food. When I entered this restaurant I immediately noticed that the décor in this restaurant was a little out-​dated however, the restaurant was very clean and quiet (Keep in mind I went into this restaurant during the lunch hour). I ended up getting the lunch special which comes with ¼ chicken, soda, french fries & salad for $ 6.89. I didn’t feel like eating fries so I substituted that with white rice.
I thought the chicken was tasty and the rice was also tasty. I mean the rice was so good, that I was enjoying the taste of the rice without adding any sauces to it. Honestly I didn’t really need to use any but eventually I added some, so that I could give it that extra taste. I enjoyed Pollos Inka however I think Guapo’s is better IMO. I do believe that I will go back to Pollos Inka but that may only be if I am absolutely in the mood for Pollos Inka and if I don’t feel like waiting in the long lines at Guapo’s.

Anyone who knows me knows THIS is my place for peruvian chicken. I have loved them for about 15 years lol. I love everything about them! The seasoning blend, their homemade authentic salsa, even the fries lol. Their green sauce isn’t spicy like others and it is how I judge all other sauces. I even got in a fight with the other half because he ate it all lol.
Unfortunately, I had THE WORST time ever trying to place an order via telephone this week. I speak Spanish and even told him my order in both English and Spanish… it was still messed up lol. It was admittedly one of the dumbest phone conversations of my life. I have to take a star away because they should simply let someone else on staff answer the phone now.

This place was a little odd because it was a sit down place with waiter service, but if you do just that, you get unlimited green sauce, and great customer service. I also really liked how they allow you to choose dark or white meat. A lot of pollo places are more of a you take what you can get type deal.
I’m pretty picky when it comes to pollo a la brasa, (I don’t even like guapos) and I have yet to try a place in the DC metro area that satisfies my taste buds. I can say with confidence that this place did just that. It still wasn’t up to par with my favorite place of all time which is located in Harrisonburg, but came close.
The chicken was marinated to perfection, succulent and juicy.
The only thing that disappointed me was that it was on the pricer side and they served their chicken with white rice instead of orange rice.

We went here for lunch today — I’ve been curious to try out Peruvian style chicken and had yet to experience it.
The place is pretty big on the inside — lots of seating. The place is popular — were lots of people eating lunch here. The place smelled awesome when we walked in — I was slavering over the possibilities.
I ordered the Polla A La Brasa — the lunch special portion, with beans and rice. The Polla A La Brasa is a seasoned/​marinated chicken rolled over a natural hardwood charcoal fire. And a glass of water with a wedge of Lime.
The chicken was tender, moist, tasty, and succulent. I poured the beans over the rice and stirred them together. Our server brought us three squeeze bottles of sauces — a creamy white Parmesan style sauce, and two hot sauces — both creamy — a light green colored one with jalapenos — and a red one with Habaneros — which had some real heat and kick to it!
I alternated squirts of both of the hot sauces and dipped my chicken in it.
Lunch was less than $ 7.00 and I tipped the waitress $ 2.00. She was a bit slow at times — but I was willing to come her some slack the first time.
I can’t wait to come back and order a whole chicken! Yumm!