El Rico Pollo — Restaurant in San Bernardino

Anticuchos $8: these are made from beef heart, marinated overnight in a mix of vinegar, spices, salt and pepper? and I am sure a couple of other ingredients. When done properly they are very tasty, the come with grilled potato and a savory sauce to dip them in. They are supposedly cooked on fire till the edges are crunchy or very close to it. We liked them a lot. 4 Stars. Ceviche Mixto $12: the most popular of peruvian dishes. There are countless varieties of ceviche, and it does take skill to make a good one, let alone an excellent one. Fish, Calamari, Shrimp, Octopus, this is a Ceviche Mixto. Comes with a leaf of lettuce, sweet potato, corn or hominy, and depending on the person they can make it very hot (spicy) or mildly so. This one we also liked, and the price was a little more benign than in most peruvian places. 4 Stars. Fried Fish $13?: Fried fish, did not determine what kind, but it was nicely spiced to where it had abundant flavor. Came with white rice and a fresh salad, plus a traditional onion salsa. Did not disappoint. 4 Stars. Picarones $6: a traditional deep fried like doughnut, very fluffy and crispy, made mostly with butter squash or pumpkin batter, and served with a traditional syrup that is very popular in Peru, Chancaca? (hope this is spelled correctly). When done properly this dessert is delicious and this version did not disappoint. 4 Stars. Service was mostly adequate. 3.5 Stars.Total Bill: $55+, plus gratuity, we felt it had been expensive for a lunch engagement, but then again peruvian places always squeeze the wallets, some more than others, though. 4 Stars. Today, 5-8-2019, made the blunder of returning to this wore out establishment. Last time was around 2 years ago? We wanted Peruvian, and we broke our decision not to return. We chose this place again because of the driving distance. The place is nicely decorated, Peruvian motifs and well chosen music. First, they should change their name from El Rico Pollo (the tasty chicken) to El Pollo Seco (the dry chicken), for it required gulps of their distasteful water 💦 just to swallow the overcooked, badly marinated, Peruvian style chicken. A total embarrassment to the very tasty chicken sold in Peru. We ordered one whole chicken w rice/fries for almost $25. Rice was mediocre. You want good Peruvian white rice? Go to Panca in Oceanside. Fries from the frozen bag were a lot more appetizing. 1.5 Stars. 2 Ceviches Mixto (mixed ceviche) for almost $30. Mine had more red onions than seafood, total rip off, and word to the wise, the citrus juice that supposedly cooks the raw seafood, comes in a bottle. The other ceviche was loaded w seafood compared to mine, made me slightly envious. Still, it was edible. 3 Stars. Chicken Causa, $8? Told it was very nice. 4 Stars. Anticuchos, $10+ Decent. 3 Stars. Picarones, $6.50. Peruvian dessert, we like it a lot. Deep fried like donuts made with squash/pumpkin? with a unique syrup. Place was empty at 7 PM, very bad sign indicating that this place does not attract customers. We have eaten here over the years, and it steadily has lost what was good once. Cutting corners, overcharging, sending mediocre food to the table, Peruvian restaurants are well known, among other cultures, to charge a lot but give you a little. At least in Peru they deliver high quality, but here it is rare to get a decent meal. I am not referring to one or two dishes that are acceptable, but to the whole menu. Service was lacking any enthusiasm whatsoever, who knows? Lackadaisical attitude can get contagious 😷 so watch out. A group arrives in a festive mood, ready to spend hard earned money, and in 5 minutes of being in the place, the gloomy behavior of the staff, vanquishes all smiles. Maybe a little neurotic to add to the disappointing overall effect. Next time chicken from Costco, a lot cheaper and tastier. El Seco Pollo looses respect and certainly we will shy away from visiting...

I was there on 1/4/2020 around 3pm 1-services : friendly, very nice our server tried his best to help us bu the was over worked, he had too many tables and couldn't' keep up with so many people , I want to add that he was nice and professional .

3- As you wait they give you " Cancha" they put it on some paper tiny little samplers that you can hardly fit your fingers in that little thing, not even plastic, or glass the "cancha" is server in one of those sample little thingy's you get at costco for trying food, it was so tiny and is paper!! .You expect a little more when you are at a restaurant!!! I"m not exaggerating Its serve in a little tiny white paper thingy that looks like a tiny napkin '

2- Food : I had order " Saltado de Mariscos" and Lomito Saltado : the food was cold, had no flavor at all. I first tried to eat it but it has no taste the only thing you can taste was the soyce sauce. Its obvious that the Chef in the kitchen is not familiar with Peruvian food. I was not the only one, people on the other table were returning their food because it was under cooked and the table across me was returning it for the same reason. No tasty, cold plate and horrible food. The plate ordered it came with 3 shrimps, and a few more seafod things that smell bad and taste it old!!! ..

3- There was I believe one server and one other person helping which made it very hard for the Server to come and check on us, WE also wanted to order desert and the desert we wanted to order they didn't have it.

Overall experience was HORRIBLE

BAD FOOD -FOOD HAS NOT FLAVOR OTHER CUSTOMERS WERE RETURNING THE FOOD JUST LIKE ME ONE SERVER FOR THE ENTIRE RESTAURANT WITH ONE MORE LADY HELPING -THE PLATE PRESENTATION WAS NOT INVITING TO EAT -SEAFOOD HAD STRONG SMELL -PEOPLE WAITING FOR OVER 15 MINS. TO BE SEATED WE DIDNT GET A THANK YOU

• do not go to this place its bad and the experience...

I was excited to see Peruvian Cuisine offered locally, but they were ultimately disappointing. I ordered the "Pollo a lo Pobre," and it took them literally 25 minutes to complete my order, which they explained by telling me that they had to change the oil in the kitchen. Yet, the chicken was insanely overcooked to the point of a leathery quality, and the fries were like lumps of moist potatoes. Even the rice came off as clumpy and plain, and the egg was just obviously overdone to the point where I had to struggle to cut it with a knife. I've had good Peruvian food before... but this was not it. To their credit, the plantains were decent, and the Maracuya was a refreshing beverage, but I have to wonder why they are still in business if this is the fare they offer. 2/10; I don't think I'm planning to go back anytime soon. The lady was really nice about it, though, hence the full-stars for service. Also, my meal cost $30.00. That's a lot of money to be spent on...