Pollo Rico

I had to mull on this place for a bit before leaving a review. We love Colombian food, but always go to the same place and there are so many Colombian restaurants in the area, that I thought to try other places. First try, was a fail for me. First off, they don’t serve ajiaco on Sunday’s as every other Colombian restaurants I’ve even been in. It is served Monday’s. Right there I wanted to leave, but the hubby convinced me to give it a try. Bandeja Paisa, another Colombian staple wasn’t on the menu, to which the hubby wanted to leave then (didn’t let him, payback’s a bitch) we asked and they did serve it, se we stayed.
They did have more chicken dishes than most, and that is a plus for me. I hardly eat red beef, or pork, and I only have seafood at places I know it’s fresh, so my go to is alway chicken. I had the Pollo a la Criolla, which is a chicken breast fillet with a onion, tomatoes and pepper relish in tomato sauce, with rice and beans. It was decent. Not full of spices as I would have liked, but decent. The chicken fillet was big, which is a plus.
Hubby had the small Bandeja Paisa, he wasn’t too happy with it. The meat was small and paper thin, the pork rind was tiny, they do give you chorizo as well, but he didn’t care for that, he wanted his pork rind dammit! Rice portion was small, and the beans are poured right in the plate, which fills half of it, giving the impression of a larger meal. It was about $ 13.99 so I don’t know how much the bigger serving would be. He didn’t care for the meat, and that is the soul of this dish, so this place is out for us.
Service was good, not overly friendly, but good. The place is small, and all the tables are placed very close together, so we had to maneuver our way to get out, since we were in a corner table, and there were large parties on all sides. They do have their regulars for what I saw. To find this place you have to know where it is (or find it through Unilocal,as we did) so that speaks well for them. Just not for me.

I am on a small quest with my wife to find the best Colombian restaurant in the Coral Springs area. I am using the Bandeja Paisa, a typical Colombian dish as a point of comparison. At El Pollo Rico they have a large and a medium, i order the medium one for about $ 13. It had the usual rice, beans, one fried egg, avocado, meat, pork rinds, chorizo plantains and an arepa… yeah, it is a lot of food. Overall the dish was good, but not the best i have had. The meat was very thin, and therefore lacked juiciness or much flavor, the pork rinds was smaller than usual, but they compensated that by also including the chorizo (usually you get one or the other). The red beans were really good. The service was good and the place was clean. No the best but a good overall place.

The food is sooooo delish! I do cantina which gives you a daily special during the week for $ 30. It is so big I always have left overs. My family loves it. Everyone is friendly and the owner is always there and treats you like family. I’m so glad I found this place. I would say the best Colombian food around. Try their cazuela de mariscos is to die for.

I remember the day my father came home with food from Pollo Rico, he was so excited to try this place over 8 years ago. Good Colombian rotisserie chicken that can compare to our homeland’s finest, is hard to find. The sancocho has always been my favorite, but it’s only offered on the weekends. I absolutely love homemade Colombian soup, I was raised on it and it brings me back. The owners are extremely friendly and treat you like family. The food is always freshly made and they also have a daily special that is $ 4.95 ¼ rotisserie chicken and 2 sides, you can beat that!!! If you are in the area of Tamarac, Mcnab and University stop by.