Chicken Tortilla

Did wasn’t bad. But they are closed now. I’ve eat there twice the workers homed if up in the portions. To bad for that buisness. Another one bites the dust.

I heartily second Monkey Rotic, um, Monk E.R.‘s review.
Years ago, I went here, and it was beyond the Marine Barracks, down toward the Navy Yard. I found street parking at a meter (there seemed to always be plenty of parking, it was a rougher area back then). I was going to park, when I saw a nearby bus stop. And a man. I thought he was peeing in the bus shelter. Not quite. He was pouring something out. And appeared to be in a hospital gown and OMG WTF NO NO NO NO.
Undeterred, I moved my car and went in. The place had phenomenal food. Just HUGE burritos, and impeccable sides. It was always a treat to go here, and dodge some of the more, um, «colorful» characters of the streets.
Fast forward a few years. I’m all for the improving neighborhood. Lots more choices in the area, even though the food at Chicken Tort DOES have a great, unique taste (it’s the charcoal, giving, well, a «char» to the food that is delicious). I think it would be worth a visit just to see how they’re doing. It won’t be the cheapest meal, but it will beat many of the chains that have arrived in the area, and give you a much more unique (in a good way) taste. Support local and give them a shot.

Regrettably, I must agree with the other half-​way satisfied Unilocalers.
The chicken itself was good, but the two sauces that came with it were both terribly watery (are they trying to save $$$ by diluting them???), the fries were flavorless and somewhat undercooked, and above all, their lunch «special» (¼ chicken + two sides) cost almost $ 10.
I’ll drive to Arlington to Super Pollo next time the craving hits & pay half the price for twice the quality in food.

This is a great lunch spot. They regularly have specials on the rotisserie chicken.

Good classic chicken rotisserie chicken. Pretty standard expectations of grilled chicken and sides. add hot sauce.
Especially loved the Unilocal deal that came with it. $ 10 for $ 20.
Parked nearby, got this and munched on it, along my way to the baseball game, so as to avoid the extremely overpriced crap food i would end up paying for once inside the stadium.

No. The white sauce was runnie and tasteless. The green sauce was runnie and not spicy… at all. I mean, I put three of these 50 cent watered-​down sauces on my fries and chicken and it was still bland. I don’t understand how anyone could give this place more than two stars besides the fact that the portions are somewhat generous. Pricey too, my coworker had three tacos at $ 12. I say pass. I wouldn’t leave base for this place.

I stopped in here on my way back home from something, and being really, really, hungry and not having time to prepare dinner for the family, I stopped in to buy one of chicken tortillas 50.00 whole chickens. I’m obviously being factious about the price– but cost was my chief complaint approximately one year ago, and it hasn’t changed much from what I could tell.
They didn’t have any chickens left when I stopped in around 7:30, so I got a burrito instead. The person who made it was very nice and very apologetic about the lack of chickens but didn’t offer me a discount or any other courtesy for the inconvenience. He did, however, make me a delicious burrito and charged me 9.00 for it, which is way more than I would pay at countless other Mexican spots in this city. The burrito was good but no better than another less expensive burrito would have been on that same night.
I applaud Chicken Tortilla for staying afloat amid the weight of its prices and with the new Chipotle opening up in Barracks Row. I still appreciate the convenience of the location for someone like me, who lives in SE and has few food choices, and do hope that it can continue to stay open. I will try to continue to support it as a small business when I have the money to eat there.

Decent rotisserie chicken in a currently turning location. Great for take out.

I had the pollo a la brasa with rice and beans and a side salad and thought it was okay but yeah, I’ve had better. I came shortly after the lunch crowd but it seemed like they were already packing up for the day as I witnessed the cook scrape the bottom of the container for rice.
The chicken was okay but it’s nothing like Pollo Rico in Arlington. Outdoor seating is nice with big umbrellas.

The WORST! Called to give an order for an event my job was having. They would NOT TAKE MY ORDER because they did not understand english. They referred me to an «Eddie» gave me 3 digits then hung up on me. I called back to get the rest of the digits another person said they didn’t understand and hung up. I called back and they gave me the rest of the digits. I called the number so I could order and it was a wrong number. I called the restaurant again and told them it was the wrong number and they hung up on me! WTH??? EXPLAIN. why I’m getting hung up on and I just wanted to order some Tortilla’s for Cinco de Mayo!!! WARNING! DO NOT GIVE THIS PLACE BUSINESS! THEY DO NOT WANT IT IF YOU SPEAK ENGLISH! THEY ARE RUDE!

I want to like this place, but the mediocre service i have received both time I have gone leave me with a lackluster attitude towards Chicken Tortilla. My first time there, the service was horrible. The guy had no personality and seemed uninterested in answering questions. Plus side was, he made me an AWESOME burrito salad.
Second time I went there were two equally poor customer service guys there. This time was inexcusable as I had to ask several times for the guy to add more lettuce to my burrito SALAD. The amount of lettuce he gave was less than you get inside a burrito. The place has potential to be much better if they had staff that were courteous or minimally welcoming.

I would give it 3.5 Stars, but since we had a Groupon ($ 10 for $ 20) and the two employees working that day were very helpful, sociable and nice, I’ll round it up to 4 Stars (I’m big on customer service).
We went without any expectations but were pleasantly surprised. The food was tasty, and it was a nice little eatery (emphasis on ‘little’).
I’m not sure if I’d go out of my way to go there without a coupon or deal since I do feel their regularly priced menu is a bit steep. But nonetheless, we enjoyed our experience and will be keeping an eye out for any further Groupons, Living Socials etc for this place.

I have eaten here for lunch before, and it was «okay». Nothing spectacular by any means, but I was craving chicken for lunch and it was fine.
Based on prior experiences eating here, I did the math. I saw the Unilocal Deal… $ 10 for $ 20 of mediocre chicken for dinner for 2 people was a risk I was willing to take.
Unfortunately, what I didn’t calculate was $ 10 for $ 20 of mediocre chicken and dinner for two people really meant no dinner for anyone, and I’d be screwed with trying to figure out a somewhat reasonably priced take out dinner for two people in an area I’m only kind of sort of familiar with and no means of communicating anything to anyone since I didn’t have my phone on me at the time disaster of a cluster f in SE.
I showed up, Unilocal Deal in hand, promptly at 8PM. The store hours are clearly posted on the door (and here on Unilocal), open until 9PM. The sign on the door said OPEN. Silly Lisa, thinking the place would be open! There wasn’t even a holiday party or any discernible reason for closing early (no sign, nada).
The people working there just kept wiping down the counter staring at me with dead eyes even after I stood there for a good five minutes shrugging my shoulders and pointing at the clearly posted hours of operation which state 9PM is closing time.
I’d get it if it was five minutes before closing, heck, even a half hour before closing time, but this was an entire hour. I was not a last minute customer rushing in. Since I work late, I can’t even normally get there before 8PM, but now that I know I can’t even use my Unilocal Deal — literally in ever — I’m left here disappointed with $ 10 in wasted money I can’t use for even mediocre chicken.

RED FLAG:
Look at the whopping 17 «filtered reviews», a clear indication this place is spamming like crazy. Look for Freddy B’s review. It pretty much sums up the reaction I got from the owner as well. Absolutely zero management and customer service skills.
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I’ve been here a few times already to grab some dinner after work. My prior experiences haven’t been too bad. My last exchange with the owner (Michael) was rather colorful.
Before my last visit, the lady taking my order failed to take off her gloves while handling the cash register and money. I believe that’s a health code violation. She must have been a new hire or something cuz she seemed unfamiliar with things, so I give benefit of the doubt.
My last visit, may very well be just that. I actually came in two consecutive days before only to be turned away. The first day, I get out of work really late (8pm, they close at 9pm) and walk over and pick up a whole chicken. There’s a sign on the door that says they are out of chicken. FML, I was really in the mood for chicken. The next day I get out of work earlier and get there at 6:30pm. There’s another sign on the door that says, due to high volumes of last minute groupon* redemptions, no whole chickens are served after 6pm. I turn around, because I really want a whole chicken. The next day, I come after lunch (1:45pm) to pick up my bird, only to find out they are not serving whole chickens until 5pm. SERIOUSLY WTF??? Three days straight!!! The guy (store manager?) then apologizes — rather unapologetically — that you people wait to the last second are killing me with the groupons. Not to mention, as I write this review, Unilocal is offering a $ 20 coupon for this place. I explain to him I was here 2 consecutive days prior. Not very last minute in my mind. He tells me that’s when everyone started coming. Okay, fine, so you had two days to figure out people would be redeeming their groupons at the last minute. There are no surprises because THEY HAVE THE LIST OF GROUPONS. Even first graders begin to understand the concept of addition and subtraction! (i.e.- groupons sold — groupons redeemed = groupons remaining). Seems pretty simple to me. The guy seems a bit peeved that so many people are coming in last minute, and I explain to him that’s how people are and that they should have anticipated this last minute rush, then he explains to me that’s not how business operate. It’s pretty obvious he doesn’t want to honor the groupons like they were intended. I know this is disingenuous because there are no birds in the oven. The doors were wide open. Perhaps you really are out of birds? I bought that story the first night and the second night, but the third afternoon you’re still out of bird but open for business? That’s three strikes. Sorry I’m not biting.
Not really wanting to have to deal with the process of getting a refund, I decide to cut my losses and just buy stuff I don’t want. I get the burrazo, which wasn’t bad, except for the fact that the other dude preparing it slopped everything together. Think feeding time at a pig pen. Not very appetizing at all. Then the girl who looked rather unfamiliar and confused from my previous visit… well she still looked a little aloof. The other employees seemed rather frustrated with her too.
Anyway, the food itself is not bad. If you’re looking for rotisserie chicken, then this is a good option. If you’re looking for Peruvian chicken, you’ll be disappointed. It doesn’t have the kick you’ve come to expect at other Peruvian joints.
* note the use of lower-​case «g». It wasn’t actually a «Groupon» but one of the other daily deal specials.
NOTE TO MICHAEL: Instead of blaming your customers, trying reading this article. It summarizes the 4 mistakes you broke.

One word: YUM!
So I usually venture to VA to go get Peruvian Pollo a La Brasa; I say this to preface that I live just about down the street my whole life and just ventured to try this out with a Groupon I had purchased earlier this year
Well imagine my surprise when I discovered I didnt have to make more than a 5 minute trek down the street to have such yumminess!
The Chicken was superb moist, flavorful, and not stale.
We ordered Yucca– took a while to be ready but worth the wait.
Tositios and Guacamole– Fresh made chips can NEVER be beat! and their guacamole was good too.
Rice– Was a little undercooked but not a big deal
Salad– Great sized portion and yummy esp the corn!
Salsa Blanca– Not bad, very tasty just not the consistency I hoped for (I like it when its ketchup consistensy)
Salsa Verde/​Jalapeño– Ok by far the best Ive ever tasted… Can I buy this in bluk to put on everything???
Their portions are great definitely worth it!
So overall I WILL be back. I love it! Cant wait to try all the menu items.

I tried this place because I had a groupon. Two co-​workers and I ventured off campus for lunch and were very happy that we did. We ordered a whole chicken with two sides of fried yucca, plus rice and beans. The three of us ate to bursting and still had leftovers for dinner tonite for one.
Food: Delicious, in a word. The chicken was flavorful and tender. The fried yucca was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Rice and beans were perfect and not greasy at all. The two sauces (yellow and green, as they call them) were a tasty compliment to our meal.
Price: Very reasonable and cheaper than some other places that serve the same quality food.
Service: very friendly and helpful. We couldn’t find an extra chair for our table so one of the staff took a chair from the outside which was wet from the rain and offered to wipe it dry for us.
Ambience: Cafeteria style with limited indoor seating
Transportation: I wouldn’t say it is conveniently located. It is between the Navy Yard and Eastern Market metro so whichever metro stop you use, you’ll have a walk of about 10 minutes.

I mean how can you not like a place that slap a whole chicken on the counter cutting board and use scissors to cut it into whatever desired portions you want? How simple and lovely is a place that has two accompanying sauces that you choose by color? (green or yellow) I love the no fuss menu of this place. You don’t have a slew of entrees to choose from. I know when I visit either I’m getting chicken or a burrito. For those who want tacos and quesadillas they have it but it stops there. Nothing more. You have your sides. My personal fav is the fried yuca and the rice and black beans. I like to throw in one of those tamarind drinks too. Great on warm day.
Probably the shortest review I’ve ever written but hey, no need in making something that’s simple and perfect into a long drawn out read. The food is great, the service is outstanding and price is unbeatable. Oh and you can even sit outside and enjoy your meal but honestly, the way I tear into that chicken is way to humiliating to do in public. SOLD…

So my last review on this resturant focused on the tortillas… what you REALLY need to focus on is that Peruvian Chicken. Crisp and Juicy has nothing on this place. I would even consider eating here on weekends!
There is a new owner and manager, he seems to keep a tight, neat and orderly shop. He doesn’t let anyone loaf especially when there is a crowd.

If there’s one thing that’s clear, its the pride that the new owner/​manager takes with Chicken Tortilla. He took the time to explain the ingredients with each dish (we had the chicken dinner with 4 sides and 2 drinks for $ 23). The four sides consisted for the black beans, rice, salad, and yucca fries.
The chicken has been marinated with Peruvian spices for 48 hours and wrapped in a bag. (He said that this process allows for the air to suck in the spices. I’m not sure how that works but we ended up with a tasty chicken). The rice has lime, cilantro, and has been boiled with garlic. The meal was satisfying — and best of all, with the generous portion sizes, we had leftovers for the next night. Definitely an awesome value.

I’m sorry it has taken me this long to stop and try Chicken Tortilla. Then again, I suppose if I had tried it sooner and saw how much I liked it, then I would have eaten there more often and I’d have that much more trouble fitting in my clothes.
Please note that I grew up in San Diego and Mexican food is a staple in my diet (if you can call it that). From the outside, this place looked like your typical hole-​in-​the-​wall greasy-​spoon type of taco shop you find on every street corner in San Diego. When we walked in the door, I did a double-​take. It was VERY clean and well-​maintained inside. The interior looked more like a Baja Fresh or other corporate franchise type of place.
They do the assembly-​line style of building your burrito like a Chipotle or Subway sandwich place would do. They don’t JUST have chicken — they also offer steak or pork. However, since it’s CHICKEN Tortilla, I thought I should give the chicken a try on my first visit there. I had a chicken burrito and it was EXCELLENT.
I didn’t try their guacamole, because it looked like the liquidy-​smooth-​processed type of green slime you get at Chilis. But that’s okay. I don’t really expect to find fresh or high quality guacamole in states where they don’t actually GROW avocados.
I’m a coke addict, so they got a thumbs-​down for serving Pepsi products. That’s just my personal preference though.
The service was prompt and professional although not very friendly.
Overall, excellent food in a clean place with decent service for a moderate price. I guarantee I’ll be going back here again.