Pio Pio

I love chicken as much (if not more) than the next guy so I jumped at the chance for a free (belated birthday) meal at Pio Pio (210 East 34th Street between 2nd & 3rd).  Pio Pio is a chain of Peruvian restaurants that do one thing; pollos a la brasa (rotisserie chicken) & boy do they do it well!  I’ve had delivery from them before, but DJ informed me that the dine in experience would be far superior.

First off, I was surprised by how small the space was; I had imagined some cavernous monstrosity filled to the brim with rotisseries, but instead I found a small (slightly tight quarters) restaurant.  We started off with a pitcher of Sangria (obviously…) & dove right in & ordered the Matador Combo ($32).  This is basically a sampling of  everything they have to offer; a full roasted chicken, rice & beans, tostones, salchipapa & an avocado salad.  Perfect for 3 to share!

The rice & beans were unremarkable, the tostones were a little on the dry side, I kinda dug the salchipapa (fries with sliced, pan fried beef hot dogs or sausage).  I wish there was more of the avocado though as I’m a huge fan, still it came with salad & tomatoes as well.  As you can imagine, the main attraction here was the chicken!  I’m not normally a ‘breast guy’ (not with chicken anyway), but this was so moist that I resisted the urge to nab a thigh.

DJ was right when he said that eating there was totally different from delivery.  Fresh & steaming off of the rotisserie, this is some of the best chicken I’ve ever had.  Moist, flavorful & spiced just right.  Let’s just say that we devoured the chicken…

In summation, I really enjoyed my meal at Pio Pio; the service was good (even though the place started to get pretty packed by the time we were finishing up), the sangria is pretty damn good & for $32 you’re gonna get some of the best Peruvian chicken in the city.  Don’t be put off by the fact that the name of the place sounds like a laser sound effect for Star Wars, run, don’t walk, to Pio Pio!