Viva Chicken — Restaurant in South Carolina

Evan served me at the counter. Although I didn’t receive an initial greeting he was really nice, and I witnessed him checking on other guests at their tables later on as I waited for my take-out order. The counter had spilled , dried up purple juice on the customer side where a customer clearly wasted some most likely from a sample they had tried. Unfortunately, this location has also, CLEARLY changed cooks because the food has COMPLETELY gone down hill! The food used to be AWESOME at this Viva Chicken location! My husband and I noticed the last couple of times we ordered from there the food wasn’t as good and my husband has refused to return, but I gave it another try over the weekend and was highly disappointed! They’re clearly not marinating the chicken long enough nor using enough spices to get that awesome Peruvian flavor. The mild sauce was more like medium and not as good as it used to be. The Peruvian salad, although it’s normally lightly seasoned was horrible! Absolutely no vinegar, lime or others seasoning used for flavor this time around and barely any juices! The yuca fries were edible but totally burnt. I’ve never had yuca fries so dark and dry from there. It’s normally my most favorite thing on the menu along with the chicken. Oh and my husband’s fried rice was totally salty and rushed. The seasoning or sauce they used didn’t even touch each particle of rice there were clumps of white rice towards the bottom of the cup. Highly...

To start off, Customer service is great. I was very excited to eat here based on the positive reviews and high rating, and I love Peruvian food! I went with the Lomo Salgado (steak Saltado) because it’s always a staple outside of the pollo ala brasa. I subbed out fries for their green beans. Looked really good, taste really felt flat. I love a good char, but there was an overwhelming burnt or char smell and every bite I took I felt there was felt there was very little flavor and even salt. I know this is a soy sauce based sauce so that’s why I expected. I asked for some spicy sauce or any sauce to maybe help the taste. Didn’t make a difference. So instead of powering through this dish I couldn’t enjoy I asked to talk to a manager (Jules) to give some feedback. She was very kind and patient with listening to my feedback. I love me some onions, but these onions were barely cooked and almost raw. I asked her about how this dish was supposed to taste and how it’s prepared and perhaps I’m missing something. She apologized and offered to make me a new one. I was very appreciative of that and that alone made me not want to leave a poor review. Customer service and making things right goes a long way in this industry. She did for me what I would’ve done for a guest of mine. I will be back to try the rotisserie chicken! The remake she made was better and everything was more cohesive....

Visited 12/28/2022

Fantastic and we are looking forward to going back. The staff members were wonderful and kind in such a way that I didn't feel rushed, despite the fast paced environment. I was honestly shocked at how responsive everyone seemed to be and how well they all worked together. They seemed like a cohesive team. I worked at Taco Bell and if we were HALF as put together as they were, we would have met our numbers/quotas! Basically: There's an impressive crew here!

As for the food: Amazingly savory chicken and while the menu may seem simple, trust me - every combination plus each sauce compliments all of the dishes in a unique way. There are so many varieties to try! Don't be afraid to try the sauces on your rice, beans, etc.. The fresh drinks are lovely (get the Mango) but you can ask the cashier for a sample to choose which you would like.

Note: Order the fresh fruit as a side! It was literally freshly cut fruit... Or... If it wasn't, I couldn't tell otherwise. I cut fruit for a grocery store for a while in college and what they served definitely tasted fresh.

Basically: This place is awesome! **No one paid me to write this review! I literally just enjoyed this place that much, especially because it's basically fast food...