A few weeks ago I decided to pick up dinner on the way home. I stopped at a Peruvian chicken place called El Pollo Ranchero on Route 1. The chicken is seasoned heavily on top and under the skin then cooked in an industrial sized rotisserie. The result is an extremely juicy and flavorful chicken. It's served with two side dishes and two types of sauces, a green one that is spicy and a yellow one that I think is mayonnaise based and mild.
Each time we've gotten a chicken we've had enough left over for dinner the next night. And it's a real bargain. $11.95 for the chicken and two side of your choice (fried yucca, salad, coleslaw, refried beans, French fries, or Spanish rice). I got fried yucca for both side dishes since we eat left overs the next night.
They have a pretty good menu of other options such as papusas, yuca con chicharron, fajitas, and several tex-mex offerings. The restaurant is located in an old bank building next to the new Krispy Kreme on Route 1 in Alexandria. And every time I've stopped in the place has been busy. They do a very brisk take out business in addition to eating there.
Check 'em out:
El Pollo Ranchero
6324 Richmond Hwy
Alexandria, VA 22306
703-721-2000
Great post on a really solid restaurant. It makes me wish I was down in Alexandria more often.
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Fried yucca? How does that taste? All I know of yucca is the obnoxious plant in our yard that would not die. I kept pullling and digging and it would come back from the tiniest speck of root. If I'd known it had food possibilities, I might have left it.
ReplyDeleteThanks Ant, this is a solid restaurant. And it's so convenient as it's on my way home from work so a quick stop to pick up dinner is always easy.
ReplyDeleteLynn: the Yucca is actually a root (from the yucca plant?). It's texture is that of a dense potato and the flavor is similar as well. We've tried to cook yucca at home but find it's much easier buy it.
This sounds like a great place on a budget. My son just moved to the DC area and I'll have to let him know about this!
ReplyDeleteWe enjoy this restaurant. At one point, I stopped making main dishes for get-togethers at our house and got carry-out Pollo instead.
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