Orange County Register

Had a mad hankering for some pollo asado or Mexican rotisserie chicken and of course, whenever I get on any kind of food kick, I’ll do it to death. So it was three consecutive days of rotisserie’d bird for me. My absolute favorite part? Eating the tender, juicy meat with the crispy and flavorful chicken skin, mmm. That’s what does it for me. That combined with some homemade salsa is a beautiful marriage, all tucked in a steaming tortilla with some fluffy rice. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some good ol’ Zankou and Rosine’s in Anaheim, too — but something about the Mexican-style rotisserie chicken always has me feenin.’

My first craving took me to Super Pollo in Costa Mesa, my local stop for some spit-roasted poultry. The next day, I went straight to Juan Pollo, a favorite of mine since my teen years. (There are only three Orange County locations of the San Bernardino-based chain.)

The half chicken meal at Super Pollo came with five soft tortillas, a side of rice, beans and salsa for about $9, a tad pricier than other joints. The bird came dusted in bright red seasoning — I thought it was going to be spicy, but it wasn’t. The skin wasn’t very crisp at all, but we probably nabbed one of the last chickens so late at night. It was, however, very juicy and had a nice touch of citrus tang. All in all, an enjoyable and quick meal, made even better by the cool and jovial guy who took our phone order 10 minutes before closing.

The next day, we hit up Juan Pollo in Santa Ana for lunch, just a short drive from the office, actually. Ha, I remember the day in high school when I discovered that the owner of Juan Pollo was actually a Japanese dude! I couldn’t get over it. How awesome is that? Anyway, Juan Pollo was my upgrade from El Pollo Loco back in the day. The chicken at JP was always tender and flavorful, with that tantalizing crisp skin, fluffy golden rice cooked in chicken broth and a homemade potato salad. I’m so glad to find that more than a decade later, the chicken is still just as good. For a ridiculous bargain price of $12, we got a whole chicken meal that came with tortillas, salsa, beans, potato salad and rice. The salsa contained the usual ingredients with the pleasant addition of carrots. I’m told about 100 chickens are roasted daily at the Santa Ana location, though on a busy day, that number can climb to 300.

I’m bummed I didn’t get to try El Pollo de Oro before it closed in Santa Ana, I had heard good things about that joint. I’ve been meaning to try BC Broiler in my Costa Mesa ‘hood and also El Pollo Norteno right down the street from the office, anyone know whether those places are any good?

Man, I’ve been eating so much poultry that I feel like I’m going to sprout some feathers and a beak any day now. And don’t get me started on grocery store rotisserie chickens — the $5 ones at Costco are perfection — deeply flavored, impossibly moist, and excellent for making a quick and savory chicken noodle soup. I always have to laugh whenever I make my way over to the Fountain Valley location and see Vietnamese families piling their carts with four to five chickens.

Super Pollo
1731 Superior Ave
Costa Mesa CA
949.642.7574

. . .

Juan Pollo
1231 W. Memory Ln.
Santa Ana CA
714.550.0507

or

1100 E. La Habra Blvd.

La Habra, CA

562.690.5333

or

1200 S. Beach Blvd.

Anaheim, CA

714.821.3333

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