Pollos Guapos, the chicken shop that rescues the traditional flavor, opens its first store

Juicy, good size, golden and super tasty. The handsome chickens arrived in the neighborhood and seek to become your poultry header. In the style of the old chicken shops, with giant crispy potatoes and homemade sauces, this chicken shop initially created as ‘dark kitchen‘ by pandemic Now you have your first store. The challenge continues to be to make Lima diners fall in love with an increasingly demanding palate.

How was the idea born? “We realized that what people missed the most during the pandemic was their grilled chicken. We wanted a chicken shop with a few points of differentiation from other chicken shops. It would have to be a high-quality chicken, with all the good things that a chicken can have: a decent size, juicy, cracker-like skin, good crispy Peruvian potatoes, homemade peppers,” chef Heine Herold tells us about the Pollos Guapos, a chicken shop that was launched at the beginning of this 2022 in Santa Catalina. “Not only do we make a ‘pepon’ chicken, handsome is also the one who puts things in their place in the neighborhood, the one with personality. That’s how our chickens are and our customers are our handsome friends,” emphasizes the chef.

Between Creole and Oriental

“Our dressing plays between the Creole and the Oriental, you feel the Chinese cinnamon and the tausí, but also the cumin and the Creole spices. We want to evoke what was the chicken of the neighborhood that is no longer seen so much due to the chicken chains. Before the fries were thick sticks, now they come thinner or wavy, hamburger style, they are not Peruvian and they don’t have that ‘feeling’”, says Herold.

At Pollos Guapos, potatoes are a delicious surprise. They can be Peruvian, huayro, tumbay, yellow potato both, it will depend on the seasonality. Right now the grilled chicken comes with some delicious Huamantanga fries, in the future it could change to another variety, depending on which one they find with better quality depending on the season.

Sauces with chicken punch

It is not milk or sachet mayonnaise, Pollos Guapos mayonnaise has the right density to adhere to the potato without dripping. “In addition, we have two types of peppers, a chicken one that is a little more herbal than the one from other chicken stores because we use huacatay, coriander, parsley and the green part of the Chinese onion to give it an intense color. Also, we use yellow pepper, roasted rocoto and other ingredients that make it very tasty. The other chili is the ají bravo, with a rocoto base, one part with seeds and the other without seeds, powerful, for the most chorado palates”.

The beautiful sauce is made from the backbone of the chicken with grilled chicken dressing: “We put it in the charcoal oven, toast it well, and send it to a pot with other ingredients. We make a reduction of those grilled chicken juices and the beautiful sauce comes out. It is a hot, versatile sauce that can be used to bathe your chicken, your potatoes or ‘dip’ them, bathe your chaufa or rice with corn, and even to dip your wings”, Heine adds about this magnificent sauce that even, if you have leftover , you can freeze to bathe other food such as a grilled breast or noodles.

Pollos Guaposos makes its own chicha morada, it also offers soft drinks, but what comes out the most is the liter and half liter chilled chicha. The salad is fresh and large, the classic chicken salad. It has two types of organic and American lettuce, slices of Japanese cucumber and tomato, pickled radishes, strong avocado, white onion julienne, a little fresh cheese grated on top and sprouts. Impossible not to try the other wonderful dishes such as the homemade aguadito, in the old style, and an incredible regional chaufa rice with cecina, as if to put together a mostrito. In addition, they offer to accompany white rice with plenty of corn and flirty croquettes stuffed with grilled chicken with white sauce.

About the delivery

Being originally a ‘dark kitchen’, they have been very concerned about the consistency and resistance of the packaging. The materials and ventilation preserve very well both the chicken and the potatoes that remain crispy. The aguadito arrives hot, as well as the chaufa rice, ready to enjoy. So that they do not fight over the wings, for this month Pollos Guapos will send 2 additional wings also grilled style, so the whole family is happy.

More data:

• Chef Heine Herold (Lima, 1977) has been dedicated to gastronomy for 24 years. In 2014 he opened the Catalina 555 restaurant. He studied restaurant management and food management. Currently, he is a professor at PUCP, does consultancies and manages Pollos Guapos. In September he will go to the United States for a while to set up a restaurant.
• Order your Pollos Guapos by Rappi, Mesa 24/7 and by WhatsApp when it leaves the distribution range. Enter the link https://linkr.bio/PollosGuapos
• Location: Julian Arce Street 445, Santa Catalina, La Victoria
• Hours: Tuesday to Sunday from 12 noon to 9:45 pm
• Check out his Instagram: