Sardi's Pollo A La Brasa - Gaithersburg — Restaurant in Gaithersburg

It was my first time there. The lines were long the day on Xmas eve. While in line, I noticed that one of the ovens had higher than normal flames. There was a worker trying to tame the flames. You could tell that the chickens in that oven were burnt to a crisp. While standing in line, I hoped that they wouldn’t serve the burnt chicken. I ordered the two chicken special with sides and sodas. The man behind the counter cuts each chicken into quarters. But, he only covered one, so as the trays went along the line, people were coughing and flinging their hair over the food. I chose the yuca, plantains, black beans/rice, pinto beans/rice, and sodas. One lady in line said I should try Inca soda so I did. The total was like $45.

Taste:

Even though the chicken I received was mostly black on the outside, the flavors was good, but could have been better without the mix of pure black burnt parts that tasted like charcoals. The unburnt areas was finger lickin’ good.

The black bean rice and the pinto bean rice was really good. They probably should have had a bit more bean to rice ratio for it to be perfect.

The yuca fries were good, better than regular steak fries.

Plantains was good.

The fried rice looked good...I’ll get that next time.

Inca soda tastes like Mountain Dew.

Seating. It was loud in there so we had to shout to have any type of conversation.

Overall, I’ll be back. It would be better if the chicken wasn’t so burnt on the outside. While the food tastes good, I probably increased my cancer risks by eating the burnt pieces.

Worth a try and I...

First time here - Was passing thru Gaithersburg and decided to try out lunch takeout from here, and plan on coming back again soon!

Clientele: While waiting for my order, I observed that most customers were here for the tasty food, and weren’t as health-conscious as I am. Example: A typical customer would order a side of yucca (which is essentially like french fries) and full-sugar coke for their beverage (not diet). In contrast, to maintain my health and my trim figure, my default meal is usually lean protein plus veggies, and this place fits the bill!

How’s this different from most chicken places? - Unlike other chicken chains in the area, this place offers several other protein options than just chicken, including grilled shrimp and carne asada, which didn’t disappoint! Also, cashier was patient with the questions I asked as a 1st time customer (don’t remember her name but was a supervisor/manager and was petite - 5’2” or so).

Why 1 star off? - Hopefully management sees this, since I want to keep coming back. I normally get veggies for sides anywhere i eat (no carbs). Their vegs become too overcooked when sitting in the steam pans for as little as 1 - 2 hours. I recommend them undercooking the veggies in the back kitchen, so that they’d be at the right temperature by the time the veggies are served to the customer.

That said, it’s my new favorite place. Hope they make improvement on...

DO NOT ORDER ONLINE FOR THE CURBSIDE PICKUP. We ordered online for curbside pickup at the Gaithersburg location at 430 N Frederick Avenue.

We had a HORRIBLE experience and probably won't order take out from them again. We ordered online to be picked up at 6:15 We arrived 5 minutes early and called for curbside delivery.they said it would be out in a few minutes. We called about 15 minutes later and they said we had ordered for 6:45. I checked my email and they were wrong. The email did say pick up at 6:15. After about 5-7 minutes more, the person called us back with another question and then a bit later someone came out with the wrong order. I had to go into the store which I was trying to avoid and there were people everywhere waiting and it was impossible to socially distance from people. The person came with the order and I asked her to repeat it which she did. Unfortunately, I should have double checked because the order was missing an extra fried rice and an extra beans and rice that we had ordered as well as missing the red sauce. The yucca container was also 1/2 full. I called to complain and it took about 10 minutes and being put on hold several times before someone recognized the error and said they will give me a credit (which I will have to make sure I get), but we didn't have enough food and we had to end up making extra food which defeated the purpose of...