Rico Pollo

I stumbled upon this place as I was in the area. I used to frequent El Pollo Loco in California but had yet to find something similar in Denver. This is a simple, small, quick service restaurant. The menu is fairly small but all you need to know is there is chicken and it just comes down to the size you need. What I was looking for was some good, tasty, juicy grilled chicken and I found it. I’m a sucker for green onions and those were right in the mix with the chicken, tortillas, salsa, etc. We ate in but there is no question I’d take out from this place.

If you are familiar with El Pollo Loco or other «chicken chains» this is a similar and great alternative. The menu is very simple — with half & whole chicken being the main items (they do have wings & flautas, but I didn’t try them)
For $ 10 you can get half a grilled chicken, beans, rice, salsa, and tortillas. The chicken is well cooked and seasoned and just what I expected. Most items are already cooked, so it’s a fast, easy dinner for dine in or take out.

I love this place, especially the hot wings! Everything on menu is good and so affordable!

We have been coming here for years, the pollo entero is usually a good meal for the family.
Recently they have changed the chicken recipe, and it tastes super garlicky. They would have been better to leave it the way it was.
This evening I went in and the staff refused to make anything but the «taquitos» for us. I asked if we could wait, as I saw they had chicken on the grill. They said «no, all you can have is taquitos.»
Needless to say I walked out empty handed and will not be back.

Overpriced and limited menu. It took quite a while to process my order because the cash register flaked out and had to be rebooted. The chicken was pretty tasty and had plenty of nice char on it, but there wasn’t that much meat. Also came with large, grilled green onions which are unpleasant and kind of difficult to eat. Plus standard rice, beans, and corn tortillas, with pickled onions and green salsa. Disappointing. The floor had interesting dirt patterns from likely not being mopped in weeks.

Came back today and again found the grilled chicken tasty and the atmosphere lacking, something like 1960’s strip mall run down and not updated for the last half century. I repeat, the food is worth a try. Consider take out. I will drop a star considering the place really needs an update.

I came to Rico Pollo for lunch and despite having some good chicken the atmosphere was atrocious, the floor looked as if it’s never been swept let alone moped, It had that texture that made your foot stick to the floor with each step. several tables had food from previous customers and the walls were just begging to be painted to cover up the shinny coat of grease, It really killed my apatite. If you do visit this place I recommend you grab your food (preferably chicken) and GTFO as quickly as possible.

There used to be this chain called «El Pollo Asado (EPA)» in Colorado and I miss it. I hope they come back or something similar to it. One of my dear friends keeps telling me about this place called «Ricco Pollo.» She said and I quote, «It is so frigging good and it’s a lot like EPA. So I finally tried it this week. I went to the one at 2049 S. Federal Blvd.
The food was as good as EPA but you want to know what killed the entire experience? The place was filthy. The tables were not bused, the table tops were sticky, the floors were gross and when I was standing in line about to order the food, my eyes began to wander back behind where the kitchen is. Oyyy, don’t ask over here.
We noshed and then took the rest of the food home. It was much better at home out of Styro foam boxes than eating there. At least I know my kitchen is clean-​hell you can perform surgery in my kitchen. I loved the food but I know I will ever be back. The service was so-​so too. None of the staff seems too happy to be working there and who could blame them? They need to be cleaned after work like they just left a nuclear power plant.