Al Carbon Pollos Asados - Culebra #2 — Restaurant in San Antonio

UPDATE: They now have desserts. Empanadas and polvorones.

B.L.U.F.: 4.5 stars, not 4. Great alternative to Pollos Asados Los Norteños. Chicken a bit less smoky but in some other ways a better place to eat charcoal chicken. Will return fo' shizzle.

Receipt photo attached for prices. I ordered enough for 4 and took a bunch home.

REVIEW NOTE: I consider Pollos Asados Los Norteños (P.A.L.N.) the bar by which others charcoal grilled chicken joints are measured. If you've been to Los Norteños, you now what I mean.

At Don Carbon the setup is basically the same as the other two. Red squared basket dish lined with checkerboard-patterned paper in red and white. White plastic silverware, green salsa in a clear plastic squeeze bottle. Capacity: 16 tables, 4 seats each.

CHICKEN GRADE: A+. The chicken was tender and cooked well, to the bone. Whole chicken came with half a grilled onion wrapped in aluminum, half a lime, a bit of guacamole, rice, and a ton of tortillas. Beans were a buck extra each. Chicken taste was good, very juicy and the color was the familiar bright red of other joints like P.AL.N. and El Carbonero but less smoky flavor than both P.A.L.N. and El Carbonero. Overall, with P.A.L.N. as the standard, this chicken is 90% as good and I may not tell the difference with a different batch (El Carbonero is about 95% as good).

GREEN TOMATILLO SALSA GRADE: A. Tastes the same as P.A.L.N. (little heat and apparently same ingredients) but blended more and thus creamier, smoother to pour. Not thicker, just smoother. I like tiny chunks of tomatillo flesh and the broken up seeds in my salsa (it adds texture) and this one was just smooth like mexican crema, like a thinned out green ketchup. Zero chunks. Not bad at all, tastes the same as P.A.L.N.'s, just smoother. The bottle we got had warm salsa, which was great. Not sure if they ever hand it out refrigerator-cold like they sometimes do at P.A.L.N. but hot salsa is definitely better than cold salsa on warm chicken, breakfast tacos, etc. If you get cold salsa, send it back!

RIBS GRADE: A Served in a smoking hot skillet with onions and a smoked jalapeño. Ribs were very tasty, juicy, not overcooked, light flavor spice (season all?) with a light smoky twang since they cook a bit faster. Bone came off easily with little struggle. Nice presentation, too, lined up in parallel rows, unlike El Carbonero where they just pour them on the skillet in a pile. And the one pound order at Don Carbon looked like it had more ribs and meat than El Carbonero. Ribs made great tacos with bones off.

CHARRO BEANS GRADE: B+ Beans had all the Charro Bean staples: peppers, chicharrones, tomatoes, some bacon, etc. Not bad, just not great. Need more flavor.

TORTILLAS GRADE: A Plenty of white corn tortillas came with a whole chicken, a stack of about 20, served in a plastic warmer lined with aluminum.. They were warm, moist, pliable, but maybe a bit too thin.

RICE GRADE: B Rice was not bad but nothing to call home about. Not pasty or chunky, it was fluffy with regular mexican rice flavor, just regular. No carrot bits, pepper, or anything, just rice. Some places sell Mexican rice that I can't stop eating. This one made me focus more on the other dishes and I barely touched it. Meh.

LEMONADE GRADE: A Fresh squeezed, natural lime, water, and sugar. That's it. Refreshing as hell. In a huge cup, about 24 oz. Big enough for 2. My wife loved it, she grades it a strong A. I think it could have used a bit more lime and sugar but that's just me. I confess I have a sweet tooth and I would give it a B.

RED SAUSAGE SPECIAL GRADE: B Self explanatory. It's a red sausage, grilled, split in had lengthwise, with cheese on top. Seems overpriced at $2.50.

DESSERTS GRADE: ZEE-RO! FAIL! NO DESSERTS! No flan, tres leches, polvorones, glorias, Carlos V, paletas, tamarindos, caramelos, or anything. Didn't expect that.

PARKING GRADE: C Plenty of space but very close to the road. Parking in the back, most of it is dirt with potholes and not paved. No lines to space cars. One word:...

As we pulled into the Al Carbon Pollos Asados parking lot, I had a feeling this spot had all the makings of a great chicken spot. It shares parking with a gas station, has maximalist branding with a cartoon chicken holding two big thumbs up, there were no vacant parking spots, the blue sky looked straight out of a Windows background, and the smell of Northern Mexican style marinated fire grilled chicken cooked over charcoal was waging war on my nostrils.

This spot is about as authentic as it gets: Mexican music blasting from the speakers, a colorful interior with papel picados and Mexican murals lining the walls, and a server that only spoke Spanish. I legit feel like we were in Mexico.

We got coke zeros because we are skinny legends, and they served it with a styrofoam cup. Soda just hits different out of styrofoam.

I got a half chicken with a side of rice and tortillas that ran $11.44, DIRT cheap. It also comes with a huge bottle of avocado sauce so you don’t have to continually ask for more which is HUGE.

As always, I must rate the chicken pre sauce, because otherwise we are just rating sauces. The chicken itself was a 7.9/10, but please keep in mind this is a much tougher grading scale than restaurant chicken.

My only gripe was that the chicken was a bit dry to be considered truly elite, but an explosion of flavor, avocado green sauce, and vibes made up for it. It’s places like this that make me hesitant to rank chicken from restaurants, because although the chicken itself was an 7.9/10, but I would recommend ANYONE to go here when in San Antonio.

IG...

I gave it a 1 star because of the experience we had.

I would like to express my concerns regarding our recent visit to this establishment. On March 31, 2025, at approximately 2:30 PM, my wife and I dined at this restaurant and unfortunately encountered a significant issue with our order.

We specifically ordered the parrillada para dos along with two teas, which I clearly identified on the menu. I even pointed at it. However, when our food was served, I was surprised by the quantity and felt it necessary to confirm with the waitress whether this was indeed our order. To my astonishment, she informed me that the order was for the parrillada familiar, which I had not requested. It remains unclear whether this was a misunderstanding or was purposelydone, but the result was that I was charged $52.50 instead of the expected $27.99. Although the waitress offered to cover the difference, I opted to pay the full amount; however, I found the situation quite disconcerting. I was not happy.

While the food itself was satisfactory—the chicken was flavorful but a little dry, the rice was well-prepared, and the beans were good—such a mix-up overshadowed our dining experience. The service was generally acceptable, but the misunderstanding regarding our order was a significant issue.

In light of this experience, I am uncertain if I will return. For me to consider a revisit, a compelling special or incentive would be necessary. As it stands, I feel dissatisfied with the overall experience and hope that this matter can be addressed to prevent similar occurrences...