Fonzie’s Peruvian Chicken

$ 18.99 for salad, fries, and a whole rotisserie chicken. It’s a good deal but way too much food for two people. My friend and I conquered half the plate of fries, most of the salad, and half the chicken, and were left in a death-​like food coma. The dipping sauces are supposedly good, but they are spicy so I automatically did not like them. The fries were flavorless and very forgettable. Plus, I prefer my fries skinny, not wedges. I was not feelin the salad dressing at first, but it grew on me as I took more bites. The chicken was flavorful, juicy, and not too fatty.
For 2 people, opt for the half chicken deal unless you want a shit ton of leftovers. Trust.
For 3+, the whole chicken deal should be fine.
I came hungry, and left with way too much food both in me and the to-​go box.

First couple of times I had their chicken, which was delicious, juicy, and tender. The chicken is served with a side of salad or fries and your choice of dipping sauces: a yellow sauce, green sauce, and a pink sauce (not sure what’s in them). Tried their potato salad (Papa a la Huancaina), which were basically sliced potatoes in a yellow (egg-​based) gravy, which was really good but expensive for the price (the gravy tastes similar to the yellow sauce for the chicken).
Their ceviche tastes good but is awfully plain and a bit expensive for what it is (raw fish in citrus juices and a bit of spice, and nothing else to it). I decided to buy a pack of their cookies, and it was $ 12 — $ 12 for 4 cookies! What was with that?!
The food is tasty, but I think I’ll only get the chicken when I come here.

Closed!

I have to, unfortunately, revise my review and knock it down a peg. Its not terrible chicken, and the dipping sauces are really good, but I’ve had better and the chicken is far too oily.

Came here once on a «try-​something-​new» rampage through Berkeley. I came here to eat their so called chicken. Saw the varieties of chicken they had. And conquered their menu.
Maybe not conquered since I only had one dish there. The chicken. Surprise!
The table placings (plastic coverings??) felt kinda cheap and for some reason I didn’t like touching them. I like my tablecloths to be made of cloth dammit.
The decorations are fun.
The dipping sauces here are good.

Kind of a disappointment for the money.
Weird rotisserie chicken, 7.99 for ½ a chicken and fries is a pretty decent deal unless it’s mostly dry chicken n once-​frozen-​fries.
Lomo saltado, 10.00. Some really mixed feeling about this dish. Overall there was solid flavor to sauce but the quality of meat was poor and it was rough (overcooked).

I love this place! I did not know much about peruvian food but after my friend brought me to that place, I am craving for it all the time. Lomos saltado is the best thing I have ever tried. When you get a chance to be there, please try it. Food is awesome!

I’m definitely a fan!
I walked into this place because I saw a chalkboard sign that said they had ceviche. My bf and I walk up some creaky stairs into what felt like a ghetto dining room of some sort. I saw that their menu had only a few items and I recalled what Anthony Bourdain once said that a place that has only a few things on their menu is probably good because they have to make it well to continue operating.
We were the only people in the restaurant and the server was a really nice woman. We ordered the chicken sandwich, ½ a roast chicken with fries, and this potato dish smothered in a yellow sauce.
I love the yellow sauce! I dipped my fries, potatoes, and chicken in there it was really yummy. Very simple food, not fancy at all, but it was the kind of comfort food I was craving on a cold Berkeley night.
The funny part was that the proprietor and the other workers all sat at a table in the corner watching the TV that was right above my head. It felt like they were a family at home watching TV after dinner. I thought it was cute.
$ 3.50 chicken sandwich (kinda like chicken salad sandwich with celery) is good!

I came earlier in the week and found that their hours had changed. M-​Th they’re open only for dinner. They open at Noon so I came back today (Fri) @ 12:25 and it was still closed! I looked in and there was a guy in the kitchen area. We made eye contact a couple of times and he even entered the dining area. I made questioning gestures with my hands and he proceeded to ignore me and go about his business.
W T F!!!
First off, having your lunch business start exactly at noon seems weird. Seems like you’d want to start it a little earlier, like 11:30 to catch all those punctual lunch eaters (not me).
Second, when there’s an interested person staring at you through your door /​window and you’re late opening, you might want to invite them in and say something like «Sorry, we’re running a little late today. We’ll be ready to go in 5 minutes. Why don’t you have a seat and peruse the menu while I finish up a couple of things.»
Because of this I got to eat sub-​par Indian around the corner
On my way back to my car I saw that the Open sign was now lit up next to their door :-(
Not that I’m bitter or anything. ..

I just tried this place but my review will be a little biased because 1) I love Lomo Saltado 2) Due to a friend with hookups a large group of us got special VIP service after-​hours!
In any case, I have been looking for a Peruvian restaurant up in the Bay Area since I got here. One day I was craving Lomo Saltado so I Unilocaled it and the closest match I got was one in a shady part of San Francisco. Even after hearing it was shady, I was still thinking about taking the BART and the MUNI to get to this place. That’s how much I wanted this Lomo Saltado dish. Then, after about a year of searching with no avail… my Peruvian friend pointed this place out to me – the best part is, I live 5 minutes away! Their specialty is the chicken, and the chicken did look delicious. Fresh and succulent. But my loyalties will always be with lomo saltado. They usually offer this dish as a specialty on the weekends so you should try it on a Saturday evening, you will not be disappointed! And my last piece of advice: USE THE GREEN SAUCE! You won’t regret it!
So all in all, the food is nothing too amazing. But I add that fourth star because of the location and proximity. Sometimes, for a college student reliant on public transportation as a main means of mobility, proximity is worth that extra star.

No flan today, but…
For $ 6.03, I got a quarter of a chicken and a crapload of fries that I could not finish in one sitting. Chicha morada was really good too. I need to come back for the chicken sandwich.
There are 3 sauces:
orange
green
yellow
Get the orange one if you want spicy!
+service+

Aaaaay! *snap fingers* *thumbs up*
Actually, make that just one thumb up. Fonzie’s Peruvian Chicken is good, but I wouldn’t say it’s the BEST rotisserie chicken I’ve ever had. I have no idea how so many people can make that statement. Honestly, in someways I’d rather have my dome-​busting Costco rotisserie chicken for $ 4.99.
Real talk, Fonzie’s is not bad chicken. It’s just not the best I’ve had or even that outstanding. But it is a great deal. I mean for $ 14.99 you can get a whole chicken with 3 dipping sauces, French fries, and a salad. That’s not too shabby. Great for college students. Wish it was around when I went to Cal.
And again, the taste is alright. Salad is lettuce with sliced tomatoes and cucumbers in a Italian-​like dressing with ground pepper. French fries are a bit over-​fried (but I like em’ extra crispy actually). And the chicken is tender but not to juicy. I mean if you stick to the dark meat you’ll be fine, but the breast piece was dry. I guess that’s what the sauces are for. BUT I will say the that seasoning is really good, I just wish it was a bit stronger.
What wins it for me is the ambiance and décor. The owner is really polite and friendly. The decorations are this weird mixture of Peruvian and Happy Days memorabilia. (Come on! It’s called Fonzie’s after all.) There’s this «shrine» in the front with like Fonz action figures and other stuff. My friend thought it was weird, but I thought it was pretty sweet. Haha.
I’m sad they have such a crappy location though. Hopefully they stay in business. :)

Not too shabby for rotisserie chicken! I really enjoyed the dipping sauces, actually a little more than the chicken.
I would have liked to of seen a larger variety of dishes.
Great service! Clean spot.

This was the best rotisserie chicken I have ever had. It was cheap and delicious. They might have been understaffed, though. There was only one guy that took your order, got your food, etc. Some older guy seemed like he might work there, but he was just mingling and talking with customers, rather than helping out. The sauces that came with the chicken were amazing and really added something. I really liked that the spices were under the skin and the meat really took on all the great flavor! Overall, I loved this place and would highly recommend it. Its a great deal for a delicious meal!

Delicious AND cheap! 3 of us shared a whole rotisserie chicken with the fries and salad, and it came out to about $ 15. And they comped us purple corn juice, which I thought was pretty nice! The fonzie shrine is a little weird, but I was there to eat, and didn’t give it much thought. The server was super nice and even invited us to his concert that night. I didn’t go, but I hope it went well!
Anyway, great moist chicken, great sauces, decent fries and salad! I would go back again!

The chicken was very tasty, but also expensive: you can buy twice as much chicken at Sam’s Market for half the price.
The staff was very friendly. I hope they stay in business.

It’s a little sad walking in here. The place is always so empty and the staff seems so eager to help you, that I wonder if I am the first patron of the day. Probably not the best location, it’s on the second floor of an already obscure eatery plaza.
Four stars for the chicken.
The chicken is tasty. The side sauces are good too. But that’s about it. The fries are standard frozen fried fries, and they tend to give you a lot.
They do have Inka kola, if you’re a fan.
Prices are cheap, so it’s good for students who live in the area.
They should really add some papas a la huacaina and I would definitely go there again.

Actually 3.5
Went with my wife and another couple and the bill was $ 23 before tip. The chicken was good but I’m not a big chicken fan and the only other choices was salchichas (weenies) and fries — that they called salchipapa. The menu is extremely limited. The chicken comes with a huancaina sauce and what they called a rocoto sauce — not sure why it was green though… The chicken that we had in Cuzco was better as were the sauce that there came in a plastic bag. The fries were fine — nothing special and the salad was a pile of iceberg with some tomato and cucumber slices scattered on top. The dressing was half a lime on the side. It could have used some olive oil or some other flavors for a little zip.
One person ordered the chicha morada and we were surprised to see a can of it appear. I didn’t know if came in cans.
The alfajores were not very good — they were the last two so staleness may have played a factor. The cookies themselves were too thick and rather dry and the dulce de leche filling wasn’t the best I’ve ever had. I would not order them again.
All of the people who worked in the restaurant were friendly and genuinely seemed to want us to enjoy the food.
If they added some other food items — like papas ala Huancaina, causa, papas rellenas, or ceviche I’d probably return. As it is I probably won’t since I’m not a big roasted chicken fan.

Alright, this place opened right by my house sometime earlier this summer and I was intrigued by the 3.50 chicken sandwich, especially since everything in that little grotto on telegraph tends to be outrageously expensive for the cheap student I am.
So I eventually get around to a dinner-​less night with a friend and the place comes to both of our minds. I refer to Unilocal,as I usually do in situations where it’s an untried location and was surprised by the perfect reviews. Almost two perfect, I thought to myself, noticing the amount of one review only new Unilocalers. I was suspicious, so in the name of Unilocal,my friend and I decided to eat there.
I got my cynical hat on and was ready to rip a new one for these upstarts.
We got seated. It was clean, new, with a view into a kind of shiny kitchen in the back. There was a TV blaring soccer in spanish and it was filled with what I assumed were family and friends. A man came to take our order and there was a little language confusion over the difference between two similar sounding dishes. I was dissapointed to hear there wasn’t any fried sweet potatoes (their listed as a side, as well as fried cassava and a variety of sauces), and only french fries.
A little bit self-​satisfied, we nervously waited for our meal.
And then it came. First a large salad, standard stuff but, let me emphasize again, large, with what I suspect was home made dressing. Then the chicken, a whole rotisserie one accompanied by another giant plate of fries. We dug in: Keep in mind, I’m no grand eater of chicken, but it was good– fully cooked and not dry are my qualifications for «good». The fries were also fine.
It was the sauce that was glorious. The dish came with a container of yellow and green sauce and they were magical. The server called them «spicy», but I think he meant it in a more flavorful than tongue burning way. Definently house made.
So all in all, the place is new, they haven’t gotten their act together quite yet (I’m taking off a star for not having the sides I wanted), but the food was good, very cheap (a whole chicken, fries, salad, and sodas-​easily enough for three people for 13.99), and the staff was trying their hardest to make them feel welcome.
Gonna invite the rest of you hardy Unilocalers to try this place.

Amazing.
Best chicken ever. The service is great, the chicken is tender, their sauces are unique, and best of all, the price is extremely reasonable.