Pollo Campero Norcross — Restaurant in Georgia

I had the most memorable, positive restaurant experience – of any class of restaurant - of my life so far at the Norcross, Georgia location of Pollo Campero today. As a matter of fact, it was probably the best customer experience of any type that I’ve ever had.

THE SHORT ANSWER: if you don’t regularly eat here - your life isn’t complete. I didn’t know what I had been missing. I’ll be back again and again I’m certain!

This was my first time at any Pollo Campero. I had to go to their website to get their menu item names right for this review. Note: I edited out a lot of my story so that I could fit the post's character limit.

They provided metal – not plastic – utensils wrapped in a paper napkin and real plates. I looked around to see if these were part of the special treatment, but it wasn’t. All the diners, including several families, were served at their tables with the same service. Of course they couldn’t serve everyone such a robust taste test.

I was served almost immediately at my table with a ¼ of a chicken each of both their fried and grilled chicken, I think each of their Latin sides, each of their four Latin origin beverages and dinner rolls. One of the servers stopped by right away and friendly described each dish in detail. I was already impressed. All this gracious treatment would have fallen flat if the food didn’t measure up. Maybe, I was already biased because of such wonderful, unexpected and unwarranted hospitality. Yet, the food was all original, fresh and most tasty.

The fried chicken had a subtle, unique flavor compared to so many other quick serve restaurants. It was crisp on the outside but moist, tender and cooked perfectly inside. The grilled chicken was just as good but busting with flavorful seasons as expected. I highly recommend utilizing the lime wedges served with the grilled chicken to squeeze the juice over the top: delicious! The mashed potatoes and gravy was comfort and unassuming, surprisingly different and better than any other similar fast food similar fare. The flavor made me think it tasted just like fresh mashed potatoes I would fix at home would taste – not fluffed up powder potatoes with goopy gravy you might find elsewhere. The coleslaw was also fresh, colorful and well balanced in its ingredients. I prefer a sweet style recipe for coleslaw, but this non-sweet recipe would go on my table any day. The campo rice and the campo beans were both flavorful and lively without being bold. They were a great pairings with the chicken. The black beans were prepared great, too. It’s another mildly flavorful, fresh dish with a recipe that shines because of the quality ingredients, not just bold cover-ups.

They also shared samplings of their signature sides of plantains and yucca fries provided with sour cream and camper sauce respectively. I’ll have to get the plantains every visit and occasionally pick up the yucca fries. Mmmm.

I don’t think I would have tried the Latin drinks if they didn’t help me with that, but I would have gone wrong on my own. All four of them were different, but an awesome surprise. This gringo won’t make the mistake of not picking up one or more each visit. I had horchata once before somewhere else and absolutely hated it. That other place must have really screwed it up, because it was awesome at Pollo Campero! The Jamaica and Tamarindo will be in my rotation as well. Though the Mango was worthy, it was unique enough for me in my travels to pinch hit often for one of the other three. This mango drink was the best quality I’ve found anywhere, though.

The staff showed up just often enough at my table to make sure all was wonderful. The manager visited with me briefly of course. What...

Our visit was so random. We were headed home from kitchen cabinet shopping at lunch yesterday. We drove past several other food spots heading down Jimmy Carter. I saw your sign and we said yeah they got 4.3 stars on Google. So we pulled into the parking lot. I had no idea what food the restaurant served or price point but we were hungry. We were so grateful to be able to sample nearly every food option yesterday. I loved the fried/grill chicken so much, the plantains and French fries were some of the best I have ever had. I'm very particular with fries these were delicious. The rice options were good along with the mashed potatoes. I was so full I didn't get a chance to try the burrito. I did try the chicken nuggets. They were my least favorite they had a fair amount of breading and lacked flavor. I almost wish it was the same breading and flavor as the bone-in fried chicken in small bites. The restaurant seemed clean and new and I was surprised talking to the young man working that it had been open for several years. The parking lot was spacious and easy to get in and out off Jimmy Carter. Every staff member we interacted with was nice and made us feel welcomed. We've been in town for a year now and just found this place and glad we tried it out,...

This evening I met Ray and his staff and had an EXCELLENT customer service experience! My father and I came there, his first time... Ray gave us a nice selection of Pollo Campero specialties to try. My dad couldn't come inside but when I got back to the car and had him try a piece of the signature fried chicken, he was floored about the flavor. I absolutely love the flavor myself and find my car on auto-pilot sometimes when I don't want to cook dinner after a long day at work. The sides are quite nice as well! And for the first time, we got to sample the grilled chicken - what a treat! I'm so glad I was able to try a few more items than usual so that I can mix it up a little the next time I come. Thanks Ray for your kindness this evening and for clearly encouraging your staff to provide above par customer service. This is usually the case when you enjoy where you work! Good food is a bonus, but I only come back again and again to places where there are smiling faces and fun. Thanks Pollo Campero NORCROSS! My neighborhood go-to for great...