Category Archives: Peruvian

El Pollo Loco

Posted on October 20, 2013 by | 1 comment

New Peruvian restaurant in Columbus

727 Georgesville Rd, Columbus, OH 43228
614.754.6769

El Pollo Loco is a new – as in, opened yesterday (10/19/13) – Peruvian restaurant on the west side specializing in Peruvian charcoal-grilled rotisserie chicken or pollo a la brasa. If you had been to the late, lamented Fito’s on campus, you’ve almost certainly had a very similar style of chicken. Word to the wise – if you liked it there, you’ll almost certainly love it here.

pollo a la brasa in Columbus

The menu lists a wide range of options, but upon opening the chicken was just about all that was on offer, at least as far as entrees go. We did try an order of the salchipapas (french fries with thinly sliced hotdogs), and the papas a la huancayna (cold boiled potato slices in a creamy garlic sauce). Both are pleasant enough, though far from a reason to make a special trip.

el pollo loco peruvian chicken in Columbus

The special trip-worthiness comes from the chicken, which is incredibly moist and tender and wonderfully seasoned.

columbus peruvian food

El Pollo Loco also features a selection of Latin American sodas, including Inka Kola and Kola Inglesa, as well as some house-made beverages. The chicha morada, described as a purple corn drink, was particularly pleasant and had an interesting fruity, cinnamon flavor.

1 Comment

Posted in Latin American, Peruvian, Uncategorized

Si Senor Sandwiches & More

Posted on June 5, 2013 by | Leave a comment

peruvian restaurants Columbus Ohio

Cuisine: Peruvian

72 E Lynn Street
Columbus, Oh 43215
614.227.0070
Website (warning -has music)
Facebook
Twitter

Open M – F, 11:00 am to 6:00 pm, Saturdays, noon to 4:00 pm

Click here to map it!

Si Senor, best known as a popular downtown sandwich shop, just relocated from Long Street to a new larger location on Lynn Alley. The “& More” in their name refers not just to salads and desserts but also to their weekly Peruvian specials. On Saturday lunchtimes, the owners offer Peruvian-style ceviche and a weekly Peruvian special.

The ceviche, which comes in two sizes, is made with small chunks of tilapia fillet, sliced red onion, hot peppers, aji amarillo (peruvian yellow peppers) and lots of fresh lime juice. It’s served with sweet potatoes, salad and sweet corn. It’s unsurprisingly acidic – the lime juice is used to ‘cook’ the fish – but we didn’t find it too spicy.

Si Senor Peruvian sandwiches

Weekend specials include dishes such as papa rellena, lomo saltado, adobo de chancho, arroz tapado and tallarin saltado con pollo y camarones. On our most recent visit the special was pollo saltado, a dish of sauteed chicken, onions, tomato, peppers mixed with soy sauce, Peruvian spices, and french fries, served with rice. As you can see from the photo below the French fries are stir fried into what amounted to a very hearty portion. We loved the caramelized onion and the flavors of this dish, though the chicken was perhaps slightly overcooked.

peruvian food columbus ohio

Another Peruvian speciality is the empanadas. Available daily, these are filled with ground beef, onions, garlic, raisins and hard boiled egg. The crumbly pastry shell is topped with powdered sugar, which creates an interesting sweet-savory dynamic. The empanadas are served with a wedge of lime and some house-made hot sauce, both welcome accompaniments. Overall, we liked these a lot.

peruvian empanadas si senor Columbus

You’ll also see Peruvian influence in the weekday sandwich menu. Our recommendations would be the chicharron Peruano with chunks of fried pork, pickled red onions and sweet potato mayo or the jumping beef sandwich with roast beef, sauteed onions and tomato, melted cheddar and avocado mayo. On Fridays you’ll often find the popular fish tacos as a special.

peruvian chicharron sandwich

If you still have room for dessert, Si Senor offers some Latin sweets including tres leches cake and flan. You may also find alfajores, buttery sandwich cookies with a homemade caramel filling in the middle (manjarblanco or dulce de leche), coated in powdered sugar.

Leave a comment

Posted in Peruvian

Fito’s

Posted on January 29, 2011 by | 13 comments

Ohio state ethnic food columbus

This restaurant has closed at this location. We hope that they will reopen soon in another location. For updates check their facebook page. 

Cuisine: Peruvian
1664 N. High Street (on Chittenden ave).
614.299.2066
Website Facebook
Hours – Tues -Sat: 11am-10pm, Sun: 11am-9pm

Click here to map it!

Peruvian Rotisserie chicken or pollo a la brasa has been popular on the East Coast for some time and Fito’s, a family run restaurant, has finally brought this dish to Columbus. The restaurant opened in January 2011 and is located right by the OSU campus.

As soon as you open the door the amazing smell of the grilled meat hits you. The rotisserie is a huge indoor charcoal barbecue that can grill a whole a flock of chickens at one time and was imported especially from Peru.

fito's peruvian rotisserie chicken columbus ohio

The chicken is marinaded and then grilled for 1.5-2 hours. You can order a whole, half, or quarter chicken (quarter chicken combo is pictured below). If you order a quarter you are asked if you prefer light or dark meat. The combo includes french fries, Peruvian yellow chili sauce (aji amarillo) and a choice of salads: house, Greek or Caesar. The house salad (a little over dressed for my taste) includes radish and avocado.

Fito's columbus

The chicken skin was incredibly crispy, salty and a little spicy. The flesh underneath (I chose white meat) was moist and tender. The aji amarillo is garlicky with a kick at the end. They’re still working out how much spicy heat to add.

We were early for lunch and the chicken wasn’t quite ready. While we waited we tried another Peruvian specialty Causa. You can choose between chicken, tuna or vegetable Causa. We opted for chicken. A Causa is two layers of cold mashed potato filled with a spiced chicken salad, avocado and hard boiled egg. It was also served with aji amarillo (yellow chili sauce).

peruvian dish, cold mashed potato, fito's columbus ohio

At first eating cold mashed potato seems a little strange (especially because we weren’t expecting it), but it’s a good balance to the chili sauce and overall the dish is creamy and flavorful.

Other menu offerings include a chorizo sandwich, a chicharron sandwich (roasted pork with sweet poatoes) and dog fries (salchipapa) french fries with cut up hot dogs. The owners have plans to expand the menu and include items such as ceviche and seafood when they are more established.

13 Comments

Posted in Latin American, Peruvian

Tagged , , , ,