El Pollo Sabroso

The food here is absolutely incredible! The rotisserie chicken is juicy, perfectly seasoned, and packed with flavor—you can tell it’s made with care and tradition. The atmosphere is warm and welcoming, and the staff are friendly, attentive, and quick to make you feel at home. Portions are generous, prices are fair, and you leave satisfied every time. If you’re craving authentic Peruvian flavors, this spot is a gem. Highly recommend!

The receptionist was kind and professional but the food was overcooked. The yucca was brown and the chicken was so hard - I could not eat the food as it was inedible and sadly went to bed hungry. I like to support local businesses and this food used to be soo good but I will not be returning.

I can't believe it took me so long to come here! I was brought in by the taco and papusa specials, and happily surprised each time. Pollo papusas and tres leches were the highlights. Very kind service as well

Hadn’t checked this place out in years but the sides lacked quality. Chicken was solid, but the yuca fries were soggy and the yellow aji sauce tasted like thousand island dressing. The jugo de marañon also lacked sweetness. Not dying to go back but the lady working was really nice and sweet.

I always come here to get my plantains and horchatas!!! I come about 4× a week.

OMG! Their tacos are just incredible. And they have a taco Tuesday offer you don't want to miss!

I love this place I have been coming since the 90’s it’s a mount pleasant staple

I love this place specially the sopa de gallina is my favorite 🥰

Food is very good, place is clean and spacious. The chicken 1/2 with 2 sides was a great deal and came out fast. 10 out of 10.

I love this spot! Delicious yuca fries and rice pilaf. The chicken is out of this world. The ambiance is friendly and warm, with fast service. This is a great place for dine in or take out. Well worth a visit!

This place is the bomb! We were walking around, looking for a late night bite and stumbled upon this absolute gem. The chicken was succulent and flavorful. The sopa was so warm and comforting. Prices are reasonable and serving sizes are healthy. Definitely stop by!

We got an amazing family combo deal (could feed 3-4 people) for only $45! IT included a whole chicken, 3 sides, and 5 pupusas. The chicken was delicious and very juicy! I enjoyed the green hot sauce, but not the sweet white sauce. It was more like yum yum sauce than the typical yellow sauce for Peruvian chicken. The beans were ok, but we enjoyed the plantains and yucca. The pupusas were also really solid! I liked their slaw and salsa a lot.

I've been OBSESSED with Pascado frito lately and have been going to many restaurants in the DMV to find the best one. This is definitely in my top 3 (I can't decide to place it #2 or #3) however since I did order through Uber eats, I'm positive that if I ordered and dine in at the restaurant while it's hot and fresh it would be #2 EASILY! I will have to go in for another shot but even for delivery it was amazing!

This is some of the BEST (and only) authentic Latin American food in DC! The fresh pupusas are some of the best things I've every eaten (I would have attached a picture but I finished them so quickly!). If you're looking for authentic Latin American and El Salvadorian food in DC, this is THE spot!

Went here with a friend and loved it! I've never had Peruvian chicken and really wanted to try out this place. The yucca was my favorite part. It tasted like a potato, but the white sauce with it was so tasty! The chicken and rice were good too. The green sauce was nice, but a bit too spicy if you're not great with spices. Still liked it though, just couldn't have a lot of it. The horchata was refreshing as well. Overall, I will be back! Quick and efficient! They also have pupusas if you want some.

A few years back this was my spot. I remember buying Pollo Sabroso to-go in to devour while watching the Season 3 premiere of Scandal. But much like Scandal, Pollo Sabroso's quality declined noticeably. I haven't eaten here since 04 July 2016 but before that this was a favorite spot of mine. Since then, I cut my meat intake by more than half but my data bank contains extensive information on Peruvian chicken/pollo a la brasa. And from my past experiences here and my cumulative time loving Peruvian chicken/pollo a la brasa and this last meal didn't measure up. The first iffy thing that I thought was though I got of a chicken everything was placed in the sub shaped to-go container and not the container with the slot for the main and the two spaces for the two sides. The next thing I noticed was that the meal didn't come with the little side salad como antes. To be honest, I could've taken those moves on the chin, understanding how hard things could be for small businesses but to eat my meal and to not find it satisfying.... :-( I guess the great Slim Charles was correct when he said..."The thing about the old days--they the old days."

Yummy food. My go-to is the grilled chicken salad which is large (two meals for me) and very satisfying. Have also had the mixed grill which I enjoyed but knocked a star off as they overcooked the steak which was thin so it was noticeable.

I ordered one and a half chickens and fried yucca to go. It was ready and waiting for me when I arrived at 6pm. Unfortunately the chicken was way too overdone as to be dry and pasty, which is a shame since it was well seasoned and could have been delicious. My guess is that it was sitting since lunchtime. I honestly wish I could give this business 5 stars, since they were prompt and very nice, but the quality of the chicken was such that I really can't.

This place was SO GOOD! Honestly wasn't coming to this restaurant, but I'm so glad we did. There are so many choices to pick from, and everything we had was so spot on! I actually had 2 cheese pupusas, my husband and friend had the carne asada and yuca. The pupusas were made perfectly *one was slightly more burnt than the other, but I didn't mind it at all. The curtido and salsa was DELICIOUS, and it just paired perfectly. My husband and friend said the carne asada was pretty good, but the rice that it came with HIT THE SPOT. The yuca was perfectly crispy. Everything just went so well together. The staff was super friendly and nice. Will def be coming back here to enjoy other things on their menu! Y'all need to try this place, if you haven't!

Oh MY GOOT! Some of the yummiest charcoal broiled chicken I have EVER had and I've had my share!! Tender and juicy! I also had the grilled shrimp which were absolutely DIVINE!! Their TACOS...TO DIE! As recommended, get the hot carrot/jalapeños ON THE SIDE (they are scorchers)! I highly recommend trying them at least once and I PROMISE you, you'll become a regular!! I'm ordering my family's dinner from them TONIGHT!

Delicious! Got pupusas and the half chicken platter for a weekend feast. It's a ton of food for a very affordable price. Wish you could choose any of their side options to go with your half chicken but it's still amazing and a great price.

Solid neighborhood standard for rotisserie chicken and yuca fries. Delicious fresh and in leftover sandwiches and dishes the next day. Thankful for the friendly service.

The food is always delicious. Yesterday I had the Mexican torta when I tell you that was the best steak sandwich I've had in a really long time. This sandwich had me wondering why there are skinny ppl, like does food not taste as good to them as it does me!?!?? Anyways go get it and add the green and pink sauce on it and you will not be disappointed. I ate it so quick I forgot to take a pic

This is the place you want to go. Half chicken two sides for like 12 dollars. And delicious. This is the spot.

Delicious half-chicken at a great price and was ready quickly. I look forward to going back

I entered El Pollo Sabroso in search of some authentic Peruvian pre-gym food to give me energy. It wasn't too packed, so we walked straight up and ordered at the counter. The restaurant has the typical street restaurant feel. Peruvian landscape art and other cultural pieces adorn the walls with a TV at each end. The menu is rather impressive, with authentic dishes in Spanish, and the more Americanized foods in English. I decided to order the half chicken with white rice and black beans (the black beans were extra, womp.), and plantain. The food came out pretty quickly, which was nice. The portion size was very decent given the price. The chicken looked pretty juicy as well. Overall good presentation. The chicken tasted pretty good. I felt like the black beans could've used more seasoning (salt, pepper, love, sumn!) and been cooked a bit longer, as well as a bit more "oomph" on the plantain. Food: 3/5 Service: 5/5 Ambiance: 4/5 Miscellaneous: 5/5 Value: 4/5 Overall: 21/25

Ordered delivery The pros: Food came pipingbhot in less than 20 minutes around lunchtime, which is fast. Portions were decent BUT ... The cons: everything that could be was bland. I ordered chicken, rice, salad and yucca. The chicken was obviously not marinated and the seasoning on the skin was minimal - essentially salt. The yellow rice had zero flavor. How is that even possible? The yucca had lost its crunch due to being in an unvented container. Salad was ok. I ordered extra sauce and requested napkins and utensils. None of those were in the bag. I really wanted to like this place but I could not. I can forgive the missing items but people of El Pollo Sabroso you gotta season your food.

Picked up from here last week and really enjoyed the food. I have tried a few of the Peruvian chicken spots in DC (Crisp and Juicy in Tenleytown and Pollo Sabroso in Columbia Heights - only a few blocks from this place) and this might be my favorite in DC proper now. I tried to order pickup but the person who answered the phone seemed to be busy and I wasn't really certain they took my order. I opted to show up regardless and order in-person if they had not taken my order via phone. Sure enough they did not appear to have my phone order ready but no problem since they were very quick after I gave them my order in-person. I got a whole chicken, two small salads, yucca, black beans, and yellow rice. All of this was about $20 and for the price/quality it can not be beat in DC proper. I made sure to get a big helping of the green sauce and white sauce which were both delicious. The green sauce has a very slight spice to it although not super hot or anything like that. Note for gringos/non-Spanish speakers: the person taking orders was very nice although they spoke very limited English. I had to order in my poor to slightly below average Spanish which was actually kind of fun to use for a change and worked just fine. Not sure if it is always like that depending on who is working at the time but the food was worth it!

The rotisserie chicken here is BOMB. The spices and brine make the bird juicy and flavorful. One thing, I wish the sides were better. The salad is lackluster and the yuca fries taste like the restaurant needs to invest in a new deep fryer. The rice makes me a little sad. Rice doesn't have to go down that way, really. The green sauce could be more flavorful and less fat based. Overall, $20 for a meal of one whole chicken and two sides, can't beat that on a lazy Wednesday night. Puts a little pep in your step for the rest of the week.

I've been here a few times now and overall have a positive experience each time. I agree with other Yelpers below that the chicken is a bit on the dry side, particularly toward the center of the 1/4 chicken platter. It isn't bone dry, though--not enough to turn my smile upside down. And the yucca fries are perfect and delicious every time. The white sauce is AMAZING and I have to get a second container of it whenever I'm there. The green sauce has a strongly peppered sort of spice to it. As far as ambience goes, El Pollo Sabroso keeps it simple. The first time I came, they didn't clean off a single table the entire time I was there, and about a third of the tables were a mess. This didn't happen the second time, so I'm going to look the other way. There's always an unusually high number of flies buzzing around here--kind of weird, annoying, and makes you feel a little unclean. I'm really giving it 3.5 stars. Don't pass it up!

A middle schooler works the register at this Mt. Pleasant Peruvian chicken joint. He's speedy with the order taking and makes sure to load you up with green sauce and white sauce and plenty of napkins before sending you on your way. If you take this chicken into an enclosed space (example: your car) the aroma of it will fill your nose. The chicken is delicious, to be sure, but my salad was brown and wilted. I like salad so this was a disappointment. And the yucca? Dry, and edible only after a good soaking in the white sauce. Sad, because I love yucca. I'll be back for the chicken, but next time I'll order it with plantains or rice.

Service is a little brusque and the menu format is sloppy (random pictures, fading dry-erase list that's half-heartedly numbered) but the food is legit with reasonable wait times. The chicken is tender and flavorful, and their fried plantains are caramelized to the point of awesome. Skip the yucca, it's cut too thick to cook all the way through. Green sauce is the better of the two sauces and offers a fair amount of heat. They're actually very capable of handling non-pollo meats as well-- their execution on the tender sopa de res and tongue in taco form were very tasty, and the former includes enough mixed soup veg that it can easily be stretched across two meals.

First off Yelp, this is not Mexican food... It's Peruvian. Now that that's out of the way... this is some of the better chicken I've had. The skin was nice and crisp, inside moist, and I love the green sauce it comes with. I ordered the 1/4 white meat with yucca. A 1/4 of white chicken (an upcharge from dark) is a single piece of breast meat. The yucca is an upcharge, but when in Rome... It was still around $6 or 7 after tax. The yucca was OK... maybe not fried long enough, or needed more salt. or I don't know. but OK. It comes with a side "salad"... which is really more just a few spoonfuls of the worst lettuce you could find. I was really amused by their "help" the day I visited... the owner's 10 year old son (really, 10 at the very most) was working the entire register. it was quite amazing to watch, he did an amazing job. He knew how to work the cash register and gave change faster than anyone I've ever seen... And answer the phone to take orders... and he bussed. really, it was quite a sight!

I ordered pork pupusas but they weren't flavorful. The slaw that came with it was really good which was surprising because slaw usually doesn't add that much.

I tried to start a "Meatless Monday" habit today, and was good up until 9:00pm. I had eaten the chat pat truck earlier, with no meat, but my craving for meat was too strong, and I was craving pollo like mad. Back when I worked in Arlington, across from VA Square, my only good lunch option really was Pollo Rico, the best Pollo chicken spot in the area. The only other options was a greasy burger from Z burger, Korean delis, and the vastly overrated BBQ spot Rocklands, all fatty choices. So in a nutshell, I had peruvian chicken from Pollo Rico almost on a weekly basis, I became Duke there pretty fast. Despite eating that much Peruvian Chicken, I did not get sick of it like almost anything else. Once I left that job in Arlington, I haven't had Pollo since then, which was about 2 months ago. After trying to go a full day without meat, I all of a sudden craved chicken n rice badly, I just got so hungry and I knew more vegetables wasn't going to keep me full. I have been wanting to try El Pollo Sabroso for some time, I live real near El Pollo Granjero (ultra salty) and La Granja de Oro (yelpers said there's a bunch of roaches there), so it was worth walking to Mt Pleasant to Sabroso, and I heard it had the best Peruvian Chicken in DC. In short, I got the 1/4 chicken w/ rice, and it comes with a salad. Too bad you can choose only one side, i would have liked to have gotten Yuca instead of the weak salad. The chicken itself had a nice char to it, and it was pretty juicy. What separates a good Pollo spot from the rest, is if their chicken is juicy and not overcooked, many overcook and leaves the chicken dry. You can also taste the charcoal taste, which is the mark of an authentic Pollo spot. It does not match Pollo Rico in terms of flavor and spices, however. So Pollo Rico gets the definite edge in this one. Also, the chicken was rather small, I came out of it still hungry and wish I got the 1/2 chicken. It could be because I only had veges that day, I cleaned that chicken straight to the bone, but the chicken was definitely smaller than Pollo Rico's and less filling because you only get one side, as opposed to two sides like most Pollo chicken spots. A solid spot that I can go to for when I have a Pollo craving, but it doesn't come close to Pollo Rico, or Super Pollo in Arlington.

I am obsessed with this place!!! My boyfriend and I regularly order take out from here because it's always a sure as hell yummy experience. The food is abundant, delicious, and gets to you super quick. And it's so cheap too!! Recommend 100% if you don't feel like cooking and want to have great chicken.

DELICIOUS. Granted, I was annoyed that they didn't include my $2 worth of extra spicy verde sauce; however, I can't hold it against the 8-year old kid for trying to get my order straight! Because it was cash-only I was a bit limited on what I could order. But the prices were incredibly reasonable and the portions were large. I came here during a break in the Giants/Packers game and needless to say was in a huge rush. Parking was a bit of a pain, however once we got in we placed our order and within 10 minutes we were presented with our neatly packaged pile of styrofoam containers. Once parked back in front of my TV I was pleasantly surprised by spicy green sauce, the juicy chicken, and perfectly sweet plantains. The side of avocados we ordered were ripe and soft, while the rice was dense and chewy. Aside from the salad (I do not like iceberg lettuce or thousand island dressing), I was in heaven. In all I couldn't eat this kind of food every day for every meal, but man I will be coming back on the 42 bus, quite frequently.

Quick and easy grab-and-go meal. The char on their chicken is so good... generally, el pollo sabroso has really figured out how to render the flavor out of their birds, and tenderize their meat. The white meat tastes as good as the dark meat. Still, the crispy salty skin is what knocks this out of the park. Prices are very reasonable, and the wait time is not long. Lastly, get their green sauce. It. Is. So. Good.

Good prices, they take credit card. Tasty Peruvian chicken. Solid pupusas. The jury is still out on their tacos though. I got 2 chicken, 1 lengua, and 1 pastor and they all more less looked/tasted he same which is really just creepy. Also I realized why tacos in DC, even at their best sort of suck compared to california, and it's the tortillas. The tortillas are always sort of soggy. This has pretty much been universal at every place i've gotten tacos. anyways get the chicken.

I'm not even sure where to start with this place! We snagged an Airbnb in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood and saw this place as we walked to coffee in the morning. We decided to grab it for a late night dinner our second night. This place was so so so amazing! The chorizo was the best I've ever had. They have a green salsa that has amazing spice and flavor! Everything everyone got was amazing!

It definitely the best chicken in the Columbia Heights area. It cheap and delicious. It traditional Salvadorian and Peruvian food. Love it!

I love this place. I only come in the spring and summer when the weather is nice grab some food, get some wine and go to the Drum Park. I can always find my peace

After signing our lease today, I wanted to check out our new neighborhood and decided to stop in for some lunch. The people behind the counter were very nice and hence the 3 stars. The food by itself would have rated 2.5 stars. I got the quarter chicken which comes with a side and a side salad. I added an order of plantains coz I can never get enough of that. My total was $8.15 including a $.50 upcharge for yucca fries. The chicken had good flavor, was not dry but was a little cold and exceedingly greasy. The side salad was just a bunch of lettuce with a little bit of dressing on it. The yucca fries were unevenly hot - some piping and others felt cold to the touch. In addition, they were 2 sizes - one gigantic underdone lump and a couple of regularly sized pieces. The plantains were definitely hot (almost burned a hole through the container) but were not flavorful at all. They were definitely over-ripe but did not taste sweet and tasted a little burnt. Seemed like more of a takeout place since I saw at least 5 people get to-go boxes in the 20 mins I was there.

I'm on a budget these days, so I'm on the prowl for bargain restaurants. I finally made it to this place after months of missed opportunities. It definitely lived up to its Yelp ratings. I speak to little besides their roast chicken (which is definitely 5 star). The plaintains were delicious too. Big portions and cheap sides. The fact that I had a huge delicious dinner for $9 warrants 5 stars. Their cans of soda are only 86 cents! (I thought this was craziness) It is by far the best roast chicken I have had in DC. Cash only though!

I am not ashamed to admit I was absolutely a regular when I lived in Mt. Pleasant. Sometimes I find myself missing their amazing pollo and make a stop over after work. I am not lying when I tell you they have some of the best Peruvian chicken I have ever tasted...Iiterally the best in DC for sure. Also, their prices are amazing and they have the best white and green sauce around. I also have tried their soups and they too are full flavor, vegetables and protein. If you are ever in Columbia Heights or Mt. P you should definitely stop by and check them out for yourself!

This place has the best Peruvian charbroiled chicken I have every had. They have great combination plates which includes their chicken, grilled sausage and steaks. Their combination plates are great, although they do cost considerably more. El Pollo Sabroso serves incredible sub sandwiches as well. I have had the charbroiled chicken sub and it is fantastic. For their sides, I recommend the plantains or the yucca. They are both so delicious and tasty. If you really want to have an even better experience with their chicken, buy a whole one uncut and take it with you. If it sits for 10 minutes, the juices pull back into the bird, and man, what a juicy delicious experience you will have. 5.0 stars:-)!!

Ahhh, El Pollo Sabroso, affectionately known as "The Chicken Place in Mt. Pleasant." And by God is it a chicken place. So delicious and moist and flavorful. In my youth, I made the mistake of ordering a burger here. That was wrong of me, and I have learned. Now, I only order the quarter chicken. I recommend taking a friend. One of you should get the quarter chicken with rice. The other should get the chicken with plantains. Then you share your rice and plantains. So perfect and so cheap. Only $5.28! And it's so much food. And the people who work there are really nice.

We still go here regularly, and their chicken, rice, and beans dish is one of our 2-year-old's favorite dinners. It's delicious and affordable. Strongly recommended!

Gods, the chicken here is good. I almost never cook or consume chicken anymore, for a variety of reasons - all the sanitation and ethical issues in mass production, the mealy flavor as compared to beef or lamb which are heartier. But all that flies straight out the window with Pollo Sabroso. This stuff is tasty, so tasty that I've not been able to force myself to order anything else in the little fast food joint - subs, grilled beef steak, chorizo - for 4 years. Just Peruvian roast chicken. Good grief you say, that's pathetic. It really is. But I just keep coming back to this place with the gritty pale cobalt blue decor - for the chicken. It's served with a salsa verde (you can order a tub of it for $3 and slather it on everything else in your guilty culinary closet) and a side. I used to love the plantains but have been finally converted over to yucca. The horchata and tamarind juice is just OK; I haven't acquired a taste for either yet and would recommend the Del Fructa guava juice. This particular brand hasn't quite been seized by capitalism yet and serves serious guava juice with 450% of the daily recommended serving of vitamin C. Awesome. For a while, I tried to have Peruvian chicken whenever I could get access; a lot of restaurants are in the suburbs and not metro accessible, so this became a serious research project. Out of 3 other places, this has still got the best FLAVOR. They've opened another store about 3 blocks away from the original one, closer to the Columbia Heights metro. Time to celebrate! Three stars bec/ they serve consistently fabulous chicken that makes me abandon all my principles, but also bec/ I haven't been able to move past the chicken (too much of a good thing, maybe I can revise upward later). Three stars bec/ if they still need to clean up; if they branded the stuff and franchised the business, Chicken Out, Boston Chicken, and the like would be dead in the water.

What is there to say about Pollo Sabroso that hasn't been said already? The chicken is solid, much more flavorful than your average Costco/supermarket roast chicken, and incredibly cheap to boot (but I'm partial to Nando's spices myself). But it's not the chicken that keeps me visiting this place on a bi-weekly basis (increase this to an every-other-day basis if I actually lived in Mt. Pleasant), it's the incredible yellow rice and the spicy green sauce. I don't know what it is, but the rice is always perfectly fluffy and is cooked with slivers of carrots and peas. At less than $2 for a huge side, I could eat the rice and the complimentary sauce as a meal in itself. Okay, apart from these staples I've also tried the fries (steak, yuck) and the yucca (not terrible...but not good) and have learn to stick with what I love. But at these prices, there's really no reason *not* to give other menu items a go (these range from sandwiches to gyros to...other American stuff I can't remember). There's also quite the expansive drink selection in the fridge (Mexican sodas too). Bonus points for nice guy who is always behind the counter.

I took the trip over to Sabroso and I was not disappointed. The Yucca was a little on the dry side, but as reported by many here, the Yellow Rice was fluffy and aromatic, but lets not beat around the bush here, you go to a Peruvian Chicken spot for the CHICKEN. The yard bird was crispy, nicely seasoned and DELICIOUS. I took a trip from L'Enfant Plaza to the Columbia Hghts stop. The service was quick and friendly. I got back to the office and everyone wanted to know where I got the great smelling chicken. Needless to say, I'll be going back with my co-workers. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for a fast, delicious, cheap lunch!

Reasonably priced and consistent food with delicious choices we love to get regularly. Their roast chicken is the most flavorful in the area. And the pupusas are fresh and delicious. While there are several in the area, this has become our regular kid friendly go to or take-away lunch and dinner option.

Been coming here for years. Great customer service. Must try the chicken sandwich I get it with no onion but to each it's own.

One of the stronger Peruvian Charcoal chicken establishments in the DMV. Solid amount of chicken, with delicious spices and savory side sauces. Side dishes were a fair portion, but not as large as expected. After moving from Arlington, Super Pollo still stands as my favorite Peruvian chicken joint, but this is a comparable spot. I'll be back here soon

Pollo Sabroso: IT MAY BE CHEAPER THAN RAW CHICKEN. And it's reallllly good chicken. So good I am considering buying a whole chicken every monday and then eating it in various dishes for the rest of the week. The chicken gets 5 stars. So do the sauces that come with it. The yucca, however, kinda sucks.

Consistently one of the best Peruvian chicken locations in DC. Always friendly, the family that runs the MtP EPS are incredibly friendly and accommodating when a phone order/pick up call comes in. Their 1/2 Chicken, white meat, yellow rice and a side of fried plantains (with extra green sauces) is the best.

We live very close to this place and order from here every now and then. Both my hubs and I are big fans of the torta salvadoreña, which is basically a steak sandwich. The steak is cut up into small pieces and it's served with lettuce, tomatoes, some chopped veggies and a great mayo-like white sauce. Very tasty and pretty big. Their fried plantains are also much better than most of the many other Latin spots in Mt. Pleasant.