Pio Pio Restaurant — Restaurant in Orlando

Greeted very warmly in this small quaint restaurant off I-Drive on Kirkman in Orlando. Parking is difficult so just be warned! This place is just busy, even on a Wednesday evening. Arriving at 715pm, we parked just slightly down the road. We walked in and were seated quickly. Many people had just left after their meal. Our waiter, was very helpful in suggesting the popular dishes. My husband knew exactly what he wanted, since you can see the rotisserie through a window. I asked, Kenneth, not the guest favs, but his!

Tostones with guacamole hot or mild The crisp of the fried green plantain paired with the freshness of the guacamole was an incredible start. I'm not easily impressed with guac, but this one was incredible with the cilantro, tomato, and red onion accents.

Sangria- for me, seemed to fall a bit flat. I usually love Sangria, but this one, yes it was good, I think I would have preferred a more red wine taste to come through instead of fruit juices and chopped fruit. I could barely taste any wine. For some, this is perfect, but I like to taste the wine too. A great waiter for seeing our needs and dislikes and taking care of us. A job well done! TY!

I had Lomo Saltado. What an incredible flavor on the steak! Each piece carefully cut and seasoned to perfection. Wonderful flavor! I'm was not to keen on the "French fries" tossed into it. I see a French fry and expect it to be crispy. It was an additional flavor and not bad, just not expected.

Roasted ½ chicken- wow! Just wow! Incredible and flavorful. My husband had a small amount of all 3 sides for a small upcharge. The sweet plantains were softened to bring out their sweetness. The Bean soup was ok. Not my favorite but ok.

We ended the meal with their Tres Leches. Good size piece with whipped cream and chocolate syrup streamed across the top. The cake seemed to fall apart on the plate but the flavor was a wonderful combination of the 3 milks. The one thing we suggested to our waiter was to have the option to order a shot of Coquito to pour over the Tres Leches. That would be a fantastic upcharge for the restaurant and push the sales of the already good dessert.

By 830pm, we are out the door and the restaurant seems to be quieting down.

Over all..... our time was an incredible Peruvian journey through food! We will be back and we will definitely bring friends and try that house...

Pio Pio Overall review: Came here with the girlfriend. We were planning to go to Universal and this was one of the only restaurants open at 11 around the area so we gave it a shot. It was practically empty when we came (makes sense, we came in like 10 minutes after it opened). The waitress was very welcoming. The food took a little longer for it to be made but it was pretty good. We got the peruvian chicken since that is one of the things that it was known for. The chicken was not as juicy as I expected and was a little dry and saltier than I would have liked but overall flavor is still positive. The chaufa rice had a good amount and contained plantains which in honestly complemented the saltier foods really well. I would probably not order the same thing as I felt that it was “OK” but the selection is wide and I would definitely come back and try something else as they seem to have some pretty good things on the menu. Food: 4/5 --Ordered the Chaufa Mixa Rice which contained rice, beef, chicken and shrimp as well as a side of plantains. The dish was good but I felt the meats were cooked a bit too much and felt dry because of it. It is large enough to be shared amongst two individuals The peruvian rotisserie chicken I ordered was flavorful, but it was a little salty for my tastebuds.

Price: 3/5 --Chaufa Mixed Rice $18 -- Half Rotisserie Chicken $7.75 -- Definitely more on the higher end in terms of pricing

Atmosphere: --Nice ambiance. You can see the rotisserie chicken being slow cooked when you walk in. The place is quite large. Service: 5/5 --The waitress that served us was very helpful and gave us recommendations and always had a smile so it was a good...

Where should I begin? We immediately got seated when we arrived because we had made a reservation before going. However, we were sitting at the first table next to the door with a blaring speaker blasting music, besides the restaurant being less than half full... Our server then asked if we wanted to move in the middle of the musician's live performance, which we took. The service seemed great when we arrived, but it quickly declined as time passed. The restaurant barely had any people inside, and it felt as if we were being ignored. There were three of us; we ordered two appetizers: fried calamari and chicharron con arepa. Our appetizers were good! We then ordered a Lomo saltado, Arroz Chaufa con pollo, and a grilled salmon. The Lomo saltado tasted bloody, and that taste could have been better with the mix of the sauce they used. My friend ordered it with shrimp because the menu states $2 for additional shrimp on any entree. The grilled salmon was dried and tasted wrong. The arroz chaufa had an overbearing flavor of sesame seed oil. For drinks, we ordered a lemonade, sprite, and a Pepsi. The lemonade was frozen and frothy, which was never explained when ordering. When we received our check, we realized we got charged $2 PER shrimp and eight pieces were automatically included in the check. Not only is it morally wrong, but as a server, why wouldn't you clarify that it's $2 per shrimp and ask how many pieces are wanted? Besides not asking, my friend never stated she wanted 8 pieces, and she would not have ordered the shrimp if she knew it was priced PER shrimp. Overall, not a...