Pollo Campero

A year and a half ago, Elizabeth and I ate at Pollo Campero in Burbank one night, just before picking up her sisters at the airport. The other day, we were out for a Sunday drive, trying to decide what to do for lunch, and we drove right by it. "Want to try it again?" I asked.

"Sure," she said.

There are a couple large murals on the walls, including one of a giant smiling cartoon chicken. 

"Why is he so happy?" Elizabeth asked. "He is about to be breaded and eaten."

I took a picture of the other mural, a much prettier one.

There is a small salsa bar and I took a few items: cilantro, chopped onions, ketchup, and a roasted green tomato salsa, the less spicy of the two they offer.

We both ordered fried chicken breast sandwiches.

If you like tomatoes, there was a thick, fresh slice of tomato on the sandwich. Of course I removed it immediately. (There was a time when, if I received a sandwich like this, I would not have eaten it simply because the tomato touched it. If there was even a tomato on the plate I would not eat the food, I was so disgusted by them.)

I put some of the sauce on my sandwich - basically a sour cream with a tiny (very tiny) amount of spice - along with jalapenos to heat it up and cole slaw to cool it down.

The slaw at Pollo Campero is nothing spectacular, although I admit it could be considered great by fast food standards: it's creamy, which is not my favorite kind of slaw, but it's not too creamy.  I ate all of it, in no small part because the fries were disappointing, limp strings of potato.

After ordering, I noticed a small banner advertising a 99-cent menu, one of the items being a "chicken crisper roll." I inquired about it and was told it's chicken and salsa inside a lightly fried tortilla. I ordered two. They were delicious, not over-fried but slightly soft and full of flavor. I actually liked these more than the sandwich.

Pollo Campero is a good fast food option if you're close by, but I don't imagine I will ever eat at one again. It's better than KFC (which isn't saying much) but I don't see myself driving to Burbank again to eat there. But I have heard from several people that the Pollo Camperos are much better in their native Guatemala, so if I'm ever there I will certainly try it.