Go For The Chicken, Stay For The Fried Yucca, Plan For Grilled Beef Heart Next Time

Chicken, yucca and rice & beans at Grille Chick N' Pollo

You can buy roast chicken in so many places, but it is worth a drive to the Hickory Ridge village center  in Columbia for a Peruvian take -- and especially some Peruvian side dishes.

Grille Chick N' Pollo was one of the new restaurants for 2013, replacing a similarly-named restaurant that had occupied the space before.

This is casual, counter service.  They serve roasted chicken, and it's moist and cooked through.  Bones make such a difference.  Even the Chick N' Pollo white meat is a world better-tasting than the boneless, skinless breasts that I keep in the freezer.

To me, the stars are the side dishes.  Plain yellow rice, but they work when you mix in the black beans. They're rich and earthy.  Then you add the green sauce.  That's fiery and fresh.  Chick N' Pollo charges extra for extra sauces, and they're worth every quarter.  I added sauce to the chicken, the rice, and then used the rest for dipping the fried yucca.

If you like french fries, then you'll love fried yucca.  Chunks of starchy vegetable fried crisp.  They're one of my favorite foods if you can get them hot and spice them up with sauce.  Chick N' Pollo has those fresh sauces, and they fry yucca so that it comes out light and tender.

Grille Chick N' Pollo wants to be more than fast food.  They have some cool fusion ideas like a Thai burrito made with their chicken and salsas.  They serve desserts like flan and alfajores, the cookies that I had enjoyed at the prior iteration of this restaurant.  Next time, I will try the grilled beef heart.  Again, I had enjoyed the antichucos under the prior management, and I hope the current folks make the chewy, beefy cut as deliciously.

Hickory Ridge can be an overlooked food option in Columbia.  They have several other good restaurants, including Hickory Ridge Grill and Luna Bella Ristorante.  They also have Meadows Custard for dessert if you want to eat chicken, then enjoy a sweet as you sit on the plaza.

Grille Chick N' Pollo
6470 Freetown Road
Columbia MD 21044
240-755-0079

NEAR:  This is on the back side of the Hickory Ridge village center.  That's Cedar Lane between Rte 32 and Howard Hospital.  There is a Giant on the front side of the shopping center, and Chick N' Pollo is on the opposite side.  Park in back to be closest.

New Year = New Restaurants, Starting With Peru

Amanda's photo of the Grille Chick N' Pollo

Peruvian roasted chicken should return to Columbia on Thursday when Grille Chick N' Pollo re-opens in the Hickory Ridge spot that had been dark for months.

Amanda posted a photo of signs announcing a January 3, 2013 reopening.  The space had been Chick N' Pollo, but they closed last year.  Folks have said to expect a similar menu of roasted chicken and other Peruvian foods similar to the old menu.  I'm holding out for the delicious cookies and the grilled beef heart.

In other news, a Mexican restaurant is slated to fill the Rte 108 slot that used to be Donna's.  Xitomate appears to be the name, and an anonymous commenter linked to a Craigslist post that seems to confirm that Xitomate will be a new menu from the folks who run Azul 17 in Columbia.  There are several, so it seems they're still hiring folks for the kitchen and the front of the house.

Let me know if try the chicken when Chick N' Pollo reopens, and let me know if you hear a timeline for the opening of Xitomate.  And what about the timing for the new Indian restaurant that broke ground in Fulton?

Peruvian Chicken Is Coming Back To Columbia

Peruvian chicken is coming back to Columbia -- at the same Hickory Ridge village center spot where it used to be.

Signs for Grille Chick 'N Pollo say that they're coming soon.  They're in the backside spot where the old Chick 'N Pollo used to be.  Jeremy sent me the photo above.  It looks like a similar place advertising roasted chickens.  I hope that they'll have plantains and the antichuchos.

Does anyone know the story or timeline for the new Grille Chick 'N Pollo?

(Update: The signs now say that they'll open on January 3, 2013.  Amanda posted photos on the HowChow Facebook page.)