Chicken Itza

Excellent traditional Mayan cuisine! We found this place on Unilocal and loved it! We will definitely come back. The cochinita pibil enchiladas were delicious!

What a find! Don’t be put off by the location — I-​95 and Jones — next to the Cal-​A-​Ranch Store. The panuchos and salbutes were fabulous. The staff is friendly and helpful. Definitely a must try!

Great food from the Yucatan! Care and tlc in their product. Carlos is a character and makes you feel welcome. The habanero salsa is a winner if you can handle it (which i do a drop at a time!).

After living in Southern California, it’s hard to impress me with Mexican food. I’m used to real mexican food, great street tacos, and getting it all cheap. Chicken Itza is better than any other mexican food I’ve had in Las Vegas because it’s real. The curb appeal of the shopping center is lacking, but my favorite foods always come from dives and holes in the wall. The chicken in the enchiladas was amazing, their green sauce made me tongue happy and their horchata was authentic. We spoke with the owner, and he is delightful. Give Chicken Itza a chance, your taste buds will thank you.

A true gem of Las Vegas with an authentic taste from a part of Mexico you can’t find elsewhere and a business owner they should put in the movies. If you’re lucky enough to encounter Carlos, you will leave with a very content stomach and a smile.
Carlos jokes that the location is in «scary plaza,» but it really isn’t that scary, just a bit isolated, and even if it were scary, it would be worth packing habanero spray for a taste of the cochinita pibil (pork).
The environment is simple and charming with vivid orange walls and pictures from Carlos’s home, including one featuring the restaurant’s namesake Chichen Itza. The punny name makes me love the spot even more because it is an honest reflection of the good spirit at work here.
An even better reflection is the food! The fare here is from the Yucatan region of Mexico, so although they do offer tacos and enchiladas, you should venture into some of the regional specialties! Everything is super affordable, and when I visited I ordered the panuchos with pork. Like a tostada, but with black beans, these savory circles were generous in both size and flavor. And, although I didn’t try them I was intrigued to see the salbutes which are served with turkey! Plus, the meal started off with a perfectly prepared soup that I think changes daily. I would do it all again.
The charm, the value, the passion and the flavors… any one may be reason enough to go, but when you have them all, it’s hard not to be a repeat eater!

Dang, Cabron!
What a surprise. Thought we’d eaten most of what was to be eaten on the West side, then THIS! Feels like you are in the Yucatan.
Clean aftertastes. That is HUGE when it comes to Mexican food. Chicken Itza has it dialed. The Habanero salsa is perfect — not too spicy, not too ‘buttery’-tasting. I poured it all over my food just like a typical salsa — a first. (And I did not regret it later in the day :)
My sizzling hot plate ($ 6) of chicken enchiladas w/​rice & beans was fantastic and generous. The special Yucatan-​style pork mini-​tostadas ($ 6) were amazing as well. Plenty of food.
It only took one time to know I was going to be a regular.
Friendly Unilocal Tip: IF you’re a freaky fan of Komex or of Taqueria La Mexicana, you will definitely want to try Chicken Itza. I won’t give away the ending (but I think you may have found your new value spot.)

Just found this place and my coworkers and I have officially placed it into our weekly rotation. The owner is awesome. He is so passionate about his food and its authenticity. As soon as we sat down, he brought out homemade chips with 3 different kinds of salsa — including a very spicy habanero (my favorite by far). He then brought out some kind of soup with lentils and barley, which was great.
The menu is very simple, which is ALWAYS a good sign. Food was perfect. The atmosphere is so authentic, I kept having to remind myself that I WASN’T in Cancun on vacation.

While you wait for your meal they bring out chips, salsa and their soup of the day! I miss Cancun and this place reminds me of that happy place with their native cuisine would be waiting for us to sample after swimming in a senote sagrado exploring ancient ruins and zip lining through the jungle.
The owner made some suggestions and we tried tamales, Salbutes, Panuchos, and Cochinita Pibil tamales topped with mole negro. All that was missing was the most popular soup in all of Yucatan their «Sopa de Lima» which I will have to return to try. This is a family owned and operated restaurant and you can definitely sense their pride in every dish. I will say to keep in mind that every state in Mexico will have their own food specialties and will differ from state to state which in my opinion makes trying Chicken Itza a unique dining experience.

Mmmm Chicken Itza
After seeing this listed on Unilocal as one of the new recommendations I couldn’t wait to try it out. Chicken Itza is located off of Jones and the 95 in the same shopping center as the new CAL Ranch store. The décor was very pleasant and lively with brightly colored chairs and fun sombreros hanging from the ceiling. The waitress very helpful with her food recommendations. I couldn’t help but admire the freshly made to order food.
Chips and Salsa Verde: The chips that were brought to the table were hands down some of the best i have had of late. They were perfectly crunchy and very refreshing when paired with the yummy salsa verde with the fresh chunks of avocado. They were so good we almost ate the whole basket.
The soup: The soup was a pleasant surprise and brought to us along with the chips. It seamed to be a broth base with lentils and strips of pork with vegetables. My boyfriend enjoyed his more than I practically scrapping the bowl.
The Chicken Panuchos #1: So yummy, I was a little upset at myself for not being able to finish them but my stomach was so full after the unexpected treats. I ended up taking to of them home to finish after my food coma and they were just as great. I wish I had more.
Chicken Mole Enchilada: My boyfriend devoured this in less then five minutes. You know its good when you have to sneak your fork in to steal a bite.
Chicken Mole Tamale: Usually not a fan of mole, but this had to be one of the best sauces I have ever tried. The chef made this special for us and that always gets points in my book.
I will be back and plan on making it to dessert next time.

After reading Nelson’s review, I had to try this place. It is hiding in plain sight. I can’t believe the number of times I’ve passed on the freeway and saw that large open shopping plaza, much of it empty, and little did I know there was a gem of a restaurant right in my line of sight.
I stopped here after a «Showgirls of Las Vegas» program at the Nevada State Museum. I was the only customer at 5:10 and remained the only customer for the hour I was there. It’s a shame. They should have more business.
I got the chips and salsa and I asked for the hot salsa. That salsa with habanero peppers is quite good. The mild salsa is fine, too, and I liked the small bits of avocado in the mild salsa.
The woman brought me a bowl of complimentary soup. It was not the vegetable soup shown in other photos for Chicken Itza but rather a noodle soup – fideo soup. It was very good and very hot! Let it cool for awhile so you don’t burn your lips, tongue, throat, and anything else to which this may come in contact!
For dinner, I ordered the panuchos. Since there are three to an order, I got one, chicken, one turkey, and one pork (cochinita pibil). All three were excellent! The split tortilla filled with refried black beans with the tasty meat and toppings were super! The meats were very juicy and this was a more than one napkin experience. The meat could have been a bit hotter, but it didn’t detract from the flavors.
For dessert, I had arroz con leche which was not complimentary. It is really, really, good! It had a nice amount of cinnamon, raisins, and bananas and there seemed to be some pieces of crust as if the rice and milk were baked in a pie crust of some kind.
The horchata was very good.
I’m coming back to try their other Mayan (Yucatan) specialties! It is so wonderful to live in such a diverse city with all these different foods from which to choose.

After Zip lining through the jungles and swimming in the Cenote Sagrada (Sacred Well)
we feasted on a local spread which featured Salbutes, Panuchos, Pollo Asada, and Cochinita Pibil. One of our greatest food memories on our visit to Cancun.
Enter Carlos Cervera, a native of the Yucatan and 30-​year resident of Las Vegas, and a restaurateur who’s taking a gamble, not only opening up a restaurant, but in a location where he calls the «Scary Mall» because of the few businesses that are here,(same mall as Del Taco and Four Kegs off of US 95 North and Jones) Huge space, out of the way location where people don’t really frequent, alot is riding on his shoulders…
But I love the optimism and passion of this man, and also in the food he serves here. He along with family members Miguel and their cook who is also family have brought the flavors and soul food of the Yucatan to diners who want to experience the real deal. Yes, he has had to compromise a little to people who come in looking for Tacos, Burritos, and Quesadillas, which is why he has those items on the menu as well.
We started off with some chips and two great tasting salsas, and a vegetable soup filled with potatoes, carrots, and chayote. After a pretty lengthy conversation with Carlos and Miguel about our visits to Cancun, the places, culture, and people, and his early «rocker» days (His fave artist is Jimi Hendrix) out of nowhere comes two tamales-​One done in the Yucatan style steamed in Banana Leaf and One in the usual corn husk topped with a really complex Mole-​both filled with chicken, but each having their own distinct flavor.
Carlos also put together an assortment of Panuchos for us-​Fresh tortillas smeared with refried black beans, meat (we had chicken, turkey, and cochinita pibil) topped with lettuce, tomato, and avocado-​one bite of this instantly brought me back to that Zip lining moment through the jungle, and if food can make me do that, you can bet that I’m a fan! We finished off with some Arroz con Leche topped with bananas, raisins and cinnamon, which had a great flavor but the rice was just a hair under (not as bad as the Embers risotto though…;0) We don’t really know the full total because he didn’t charge us for our full order (sneaky guy) but we one-​upped Carlos, added the menu prices up and left a hefty tip on top of it. He asked us to sign his «Good Luck» book and we thanked him and his family.
It is businesses like this I love to continue and support, I am in the process of working out the deets with Carlos so we can all gather up once again for a taste of the Yucatan… Stay tuned… ALOHA!!!
Unilocal 100 CHALLENGE 2013−(47÷100) «Soul Food of the Yucatan…:9»

We’ve survived the dreaded Mayan apocalypse and now get to enjoy Chicken Itza’s delicious Cancun-​style cuisine. Already open for a month or two, I’ve driven by numerous times and I could not be happier with my experience here when I finally stopped in for lunch! I’m a sucker for a cute name, but Chicken Itza delivers so much more than that.
The menu keeps it simple with eight different food options: panuchos, salbutes, tacos, burritos, quesadillas, tortas, nachos, and enchiladas. Panuchos and salbutes are regional Yucatan specialities that I’ve never seen at the average border-​style Mexican eatery. It’s different from the traditions of Mexico City (DF was Aztec territory, naturally), too. The priciest item on this menu is the steak nachos at $ 7.99, with most plates around $ 5.
You’ll find proteins like turkey and pork (cochinita pibil), real Mexican cheeses, delicious horchata, and the hallmark of Yucatecan cuisine– pink, pickled onions– on nearly every dish. Forget that thing you’ve heard about a lack of ambiance indicating the food tastes more authentic. They’ve put some thought into decorating here, with new, bright orange paint, Mayan Riviera-​themed artwork, and large, colorful wooden chairs. It’s a comfortable environment for dining-​in. After 3pm on Sunday, you may catch some live music.
As we placed our order, we were presented with a basket of chips and salsa verde, as well as cups of lentil soup. The soup contained visible pieces of meat, but my husband was happy to finish what I didn’t eat. It was hearty and reminded me of my southern Grandma’s lentil soup. The bright green salsa contained tomatillos, cilantro, and pieces of avocado, and had excellent flavor! I later tried a smoky, red salsa and I’m having a hard time picking a favorite.
My order of panuchos included three pockets of fried, fresh corn masa filled with a black bean paste and topped with sliced avocado, tomato, lettuce, and pink, pickled onions. The flavors were fresh, clean, and rich, almost buttery, due to the crispy masa and ripe avocado, yet not heavy or greasy at all. My husband’s order of three tacos included cochinita pibil, carne asada, and chicken, of which only the chicken was a bit bland. Some dishes are served with flavorful sides of seasoned rice and refried beans. You must order the horchata.
We were pleasantly surprised once again when our enthusiastic waiter (possibly the owner) brought us each a complimentary dessert of arroz con leche and flan. Both tasted amazing, the flan being a bit different from any I’ve ever tried, with a spongy, firm texture. I felt like I was being invited to try some really great family recipes. It was the perfect ending to a memorable meal.
After ordering a burrito and quesadilla to go, our total bill for this feast was only $ 25. We will return here whenever a Mexican food craving hits. In fact, my parents are visiting this weekend, and we won’t be taking them to Border Grill. We’re headed to Chicken Itza!

This place is new to me. They had Cochinitas on the menu and I’ve never had pork prepared that way. It was great in the Torta. Basic menu and good food.