If you come into Pollo Volador, don't let the meager decorations and simple tables distract you from the reason you came the food. While there's no bread or rolls, the appetizers run cheap and can fill you up deceptively quickly. Beef or chicken empanadas are available for $1.20, or sweet corn cakes with cheese for $2.99. Large, hearty soups are available the adventurous can dive into the consome (a chicken soup with gizzards, liver, and chicken necks) for $3.10, or the hen soup with rice and avocado for $8.
The main draw and proclaimed specialty of the house is the roasted chicken. Slow-cooked over coals, the skin comes to a caramelized firmness, trapping some very juicy meat underneath. A half chicken for $6.50 comes with fries and can feed most, or hungrier folk/larger groups can get a whole chicken (with sweet plantain and corn cake) for $10, or a family platter (with rice and potatoes) for $16.25. Steaks should never be counted out in a Columbian restaurant, and Pollo Volador offers a nicely charred churrasco (strip steak) with sweet plantain, cassava and potato. Or if you prefer to delve into seafood, bass, white fish, and several shrimp plates are available from $11-$14.
A few tropical shakes are available with a base of water ($2) or milk ($2.50) as you like: blackberry, passion fruit, or the exotic guanabana or lulo (make sure to stir). A can of Kola Champagne, Inka Cola, or several other imported sodas are $1.35 apiece. If you have room and havent exhausted your sweet tooth, get a plate of figs with cheese or sweet plantains with cheese for $2.50. But you'll probably want to get at least one order of the flan ($2.50) with a crust bubbling with caramel and a firm texture that gives you more to savor than just the syrup, you'll have to fight off a few other forks once the rest of the table gets a taste.
Average cost: $10-$20
Centerstage Reviewer: Dan Morgridge
