Ay Papa Que Rico

I’ve been here a few times but just decided to write a review. This spot is on the corner of Van Nuys & Valerio. Street parking only. However it is right in front of the bus stop for those wanting to take public transportation. The people are always awesome and so welcoming. The food OH MY G… seriously good. I’ve had the lomo saltado de carne, media noche, chicken, and even a salad and everything has been TASTY & DELICIOUS. You won’t be disappointed. The portions are good to get stuffed. Highly recommend this gem in the city of Van Nuys!

Fooled by Unilocal
The Unilocal reviews lead you to think it’s great, but it’s not, it’s «A-​OK». And I say this after waiting for almost an hour for an order of chicken with rice and TWO potato balls.
Food:
First let’s just get this straight, IT’S NOT TRULY CUBAN FOOD.
They don’t have mojo de ajo (a delicious traditional garlic sauce) for one, which is incredibly odd for a Cuban restaurant. Also their moro (black beans and rice) was meh, the rice is hard and dry. They also only offer fried Yuca … it’s traditional to have both fried and boiled. So while the food wasn’t bad, I didn’t detect much Cuban (if anything it was closer to Nicaraguan or Central American) on the menu. If you’re going to categorize your restaurant as Cuban, try to have something other than Cuban sandwiches.
Ambiance
It’s a Latino restaurant, so if you’re Latino or have been to other smaller Latino restaurants, you should know what to expect. It’s not fancy, a bit of a dive, sometimes those places have the best food … not in this case however. The booths were comfortable at least (which helped since again, I was waiting for about an hour).
Customer Service
This was my first (and last) time there (now mind you, even if they hadn’t kept me waiting for an hour, I still likely wouldn’t have gone back because the food isn’t worth the trip for me). The lady at the register didn’t know what mojo the ajo was, she was thrown off by what moro is, she clearly wasn’t Cuban and despite working at a «Cuban» restaurant, she wasn’t well versed in Cuban food.
This same lady had (about 15 – 20 minutes after I’d placed my order) come up to the table I was at and stated that my order was going to take a while because «it’s being prepared special for you» (whatever that means). I said fine … That was my mistake. I should’ve asked «why?», and «how much longer will it be?». It wasn’t until I overheard the cook ask surprisingly whether I was still waiting for just the two potato balls that I realized I was kept waiting an hour for two potato balls (and what kind of Cuban restaurant doesn’t have fried potato balls at the ready??). I promptly went to the lady at the register to explain to her that she should in the future be more clear when explaining delays in orders, at which point she was argumentative (instead of just saying we’re sorry etc etc … you know, customer service).
In short, it was an experience. I’ll laugh at it now, but I certainly won’t go back. Mostly because it’s not real Cuban food, and it’s not really a Cuban restaurant (no one there had a Cuban accent). Irrespective of the nationality, the food is just above mediocre, certainly not great. The chicken was on par with Vallarta, which isn’t a bad thing (so if you want something similar and are near a Vallarta, check it out!)
(Note: Most people would give 1 or 2 stars after my experience, but I’m an objective guy and ultimately it was about the food, and the food was just «A-​OK»).

seriously best chicken in the entire san fernando valley!!! parking is horrrrrrrrrrible, but the food is fantastic!!!

Ohhhh emmmm geeee! LOVED ALL OF IT! the fresh grilled chicken with yellow rice, black beans, the chips, salsa, plantain Madura, papa rellena carne, Pastelitos de Guayaba y queso, then Vincente, whom by the way took EXCELLENT care of us, gave a sample of sopa! All was a 5 star experience… Doesn’t seem you can go wrong with anything on the menu! Also, when you walk into a ethnic establishment — filled with that ethnic people… You know it is good

Man where do I start… this was my first time trying this restaurant. I’m normally not in this part of town, but since I came on business I figured I would try something in the area. I looked through Unilocal and this place caught my attention. I came for a Cuban sandwich and got talked into trying the chicken. This place puts el pollo loco to shame! Best charbroiled chicken I’ve tasted so far. The rice and beans tasted like they came fresh from a grandmothers kitchen and while I’m not a tamale fan, the cheese tamale was good. I highly recommend this place.

Good little sweet spot for Cubanos in the valley. Always hits the spot when I need it.

This chicken is the best chicken I’ve ever had. Ever. Always stop by this place and pick up some chicken whenever I’m in the area. Usually get mine to go, ate in once and service was good. I always get the chicken special that comes with rice, beans, tortillas and salsa. Love it!

If I was giving a rating just based off the chicken, then yes hands down 5 stars for the flavorful and juicy chicken. But I’m rating this place on the overall experience. I’ve read reviews regarding the older gentleman, he completely ignored us and was rude. Took him 5 minutes to acknowledge us, but as soon as my husband busted out the Spanish, his attitude completely changed. All of a sudden, he was the most polite gentleman and so accommodating.
We ordered the chicken, damn delicious! It came with yellow rice and pinto beans, both good and didn’t take away the flavor from the chicken. We also got the shrimp cocktail, where’s the shrimp? And then there’s the Cuban sandwich… Not my favorite, took a couple bites and was not impressed what so ever.
In short, my experience wasn’t great. You can’t pick and choose which customer you’re going to treat nice. Although that chicken was absolutely worth every last bite, I won’t return to this place.

Muy bueno el pollo
A mi esposa le encantan
Los tamales de elote son sus favoritos
Manejamos 15 minutos solo para los tamales de elote
Recomiendo este lugar por la comida.

Food on display just in case you are undecided what ethnicity you are up for; Mexican, Cuban or Salvadorian.
Found tamales and pastries appetizing for desert and a shake to go along a hearty yummy meal.

I just love this place so much I had to give it a 5 again.

Great service. The food came out super fast. Parking was challenging. I had the chicken. It was delicious.

Great customer service the food is so delicious everything on the menu is something worth to die for…
El personal y dueño son extremadamente amables no dejes de probar los elados y los pastelitos y el delicioso marañon

This place is LEGIT! I was in the mood for a good Cuban Sandwich and have grown so tired of the fact that Versailles (Encino) is incapable of making one. Luckily «Ay Papa Que Rico» came up in my Unilocal search!
First off the food is fantastic and affordable. The Cuban sandwich is so long they put in sub sandwich wrapper — plenty for 2 or more people to share. They don’t overfill the sandwich so it’s on the thin side but the portion is still large. We also tried the grilled chicken plate and ordered the «whole chicken» so my husband and I could share/​have leftovers. The chicken is AMAZING! So flavorful, well seasoned, and juicy! The portion is easily enough for 3 – 4 people. Our sides were simple but delish (white rice & black beans) and we had to get a side of sweet fried plantains… heaven!
My only gripes are that 1. The process is confusing. It was hard to figure out where to order and their menus wouldn’t be helpful if you weren’t already familiar with Cuban food or didn’t speak Spanish to communicate with the cashiers. The lady who helped us was nice but this isn’t the kind of place that has patience for a lot of questions. 2. If you order take out there is not convenient place to stand out of the way since the place is pretty cramped. 3. The parking situation is terrible. We parked in the strip mall just north of the restaurant because there were a lot of spaces but I always worry about getting towed when you park in place you aren’t supposed to.
All in all, the gripes don’t come close to how good the food is so we will be back often!

PLEASE STOP CHARGING EXTRA FOR SALSA! i mean, 2 lil bity salsas for a whole family meal? c’mon .
Pollo loco never charge for salsa or any other place that i know. Yes your chiken is good but fuck you for keep charging for salsa that should be included.
AT LEAST PUT A MINIMUM OF 4 SALSAS PER WHOLE CHIKEN.
that way i can continue to come back.

Place is off the chain! Super friendly and delicious mom and pop spot. The chicken, rice, beans is amazing and they have this green salsa mmmm! Their fried yucca (cassava root) and platanos fritos (fried plantain) are so good! They also have these yummy guava pastries oh man I want some and I want some now. They have a great variety of rare sodas (try inca kola!) and they make fresh aguas frescas.
The employees are super friendly and attentive! Everyone should be this nice. Great little local gem you might drive by and miss but definitely should check out!

BEST CHICKEN IN THE VALLEY!!!
This restaurant caught my attention one day when i was driving by because it smelled so good. Now that i’ve tasted it … Im even more impressed. I dont know how they pack all that flavor into the chicken but it didnt disappoint. The «Aguas Frescas» are so delicious and the service was beyond great. The restaurant owner even gave us some Guava & Cheese dessert pastries when we told him we were there for the 1^st time.
To top it all off … Its super reasonable.
I’ll be regular from now on thats for sure.

First time I came here, it was cause the girlfriend said it was kinda like Pollo Loco.
Wow, just wow. Great chicken, just awesome. Tasty, way better than anything you’ll find at Pollo Loco. Have tried other items now and its all pretty good.

This place is awesome
Affordable. Great service. Great prices. Salsa playing in the background just made that much better.

I am debating between 3 and 4 starts however the lady behind the register was really sweet so I go with 4.
The place is confusing. Looks like a fast food place but we saw the ladies bringing food out .
Nobody greets you at the door (fast food ??) and you assume to order at the register. However they won’t have you pay till the end (not fast food ???). They have hot food on display and that is where they serve your position … So where are we? …are we supposed to seat ourselves? Is anybody taking the orders? I never found out .
Ordered at the register … Found a table ourselves… Sat down … Ladies brought part of the food out … Chicken came 10 min later after rice was cold … At the end a gentleman started rapidly cleaning up our table … Brought the check and stood over me while I was figuring out the 20% tip, making me super uncomfortable .
Food was okay, chicken was really good, had a smokey flavor, but the rest was just ok, didn’t blow my mind. They ran out of ox tail right in front of us so my friend had shredded beef .
I have visitors from Europe and I am making a list of places we have to go to try, with the difficult parking added to this, this one didn’t make it :(

The guy said if i didn’t like the chicken, its free. I ended up paying and left the store very happy and satisfied!
If its your first time, get the chicken, get the whole chicken or even the 2 whole chicken combo.
He also gave me a free bread that taste sweet. It was really good for dessert! And partner it with the diced fruit juice and you’re all set!

Everything was so GOOD!!!
Ay papa que Rico!!!
Excelente atención al cliente, muy amables. Definitivamente volveremos y los recomendáremos. I hope they open soon the one on Van nuys and Arleta ave.

Me gusta mucho el pollo al carbon con congris y tostones .no deje de pedir los pastelitos de guayaba y la malta hatuey .me senti muy a gusto y volvere muchas veces con quince dolares comi hasta hartarme.

buen servicio buenisima comida, se los recomiendo hay papa que rico! sobre todo el pollo asado.