Alternative to Papa's Cache for pollo chon?

I apologize in advance if the answer to this question is obvious. I did some searching, primarily in the threads that mention Papa's Cache Sabroso, and didn't find anything.

After some inspiration last night, I've decided that the one major gap in my food experience that I'd like to fill today is to have pollo chon for the first time. I don't know how this food has escaped me for so long, especially since I've lived relatively close to Papa's for some time. Unfortunately, Papa's is closed on Sundays. I will surely get there soon, but is there anywhere I can get respectable pollo chon today? Closer to West Town/Wicker Park/Bucktown/Humboldt Park/Logan Square would be ideal, but I'm willing to travel for a good example of this chicken preparation. Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

Why not wait a day for Papa's to be open? I've never had anything but Papa's (there was this place that some liked but is now closed). My guess would be that any alternatives to Papa's would be on the Puerto Rican strip of Division in Humboldt Park, but they, too, might be closed on Sundays (the Roman Catholic day of worship).

aschie30 wrote:Why not wait a day for Papa's to be open?

Yeah, I know. I'm just impatient and hungry. The urgency is mainly due to the fact that I have the time today to seek it out, and I'm about to begin a hectic schedule of work and travel, which is going to make it tough, at least in the next 2 weeks, to squeeze in pollo chon.

aschie30 wrote:My guess would be that any alternatives to Papa's would be on the Puerto Rican strip of Division in Humboldt Park, but they, too, might be closed on Sundays (the Roman Catholic day of worship).

I had the same thought of heading over there and just looking. I thought I might also head back to North Ave, which is where I was last night and saw the sign for "el famoso pollo asado con sabor a lechon" in the window of the closed La Isla space that inspired my pollo chon hunt.

Actually, this inspires another question: how different are the different kinds of Latin-American spit-roasted chickens? I don't think I ate chicken at Papa's, I was too busy getting my jibarito on...our go-to was Mr. Pollo, which was fine (nothing spectacular; I've only had it para llevar, and it isn't as crispy-skinned as I'd like) but is apparently Ecuadorian in style. Then you have the very good spit-roasted chickens in the mexican markets along North Clark: Supermercado Chapala is where I usually end up; it's spit-roasted and thwacked to pieces with a cleaver similar to Papa's.

It seems (from smell) that most of these chickens are marinated in something like Goya Adobo. So am I wrong, are there distinct differences?

Supermercado Chapala
7117 N Clark Street
Chicago, IL 60626
(773) 465-3907

Papa's Cache Sabroso
2517 W Division St
Chicago, IL 60622
(773) 862-8313

Mr. Pollo
3000 W Belmont Ave
Chicago, IL 60686
(773) 509-1208

2937 W Montrose Ave, Chicago
(773) 509-1222

Is pollo chon simply a spit roasted chicken or is something more specific about it?

A search might reveal a long-ago thread. But, yeah, pollo "chon," pavo "chon" etc. are birds cooked in the style of lechon, which tends to mean roasted with a mojo criollo marinade the way Puerto Rican or Cuban lechon is prepared.

Mhays wrote:I don't think I ate chicken at Papa's, I was too busy getting my jibarito on...

Papa's offers one of the best jibaritos around.

Since our exchange dinner there last week, I have been dreaming of the opportunity to return. Papa's uses a garlic-oil on his chicken and various cooked sides of yuca and plantains.

I hadn't been there in too long, though I can now say Papa's is back at the top of his game.

Regards,

Ghazi wrote:Is pollo chon simply a spit roasted chicken or is something more specific about it?

JeffB wrote:A search might reveal a long-ago thread. But, yeah, pollo "chon," pavo "chon" etc. are birds cooked in the style of lechon, which tends to mean roasted with a mojo criollo marinade the way Puerto Rican or Cuban lechon is prepared.

In trying to answer Ghazi's question for myself, I didn't find any extended explanations on LTH. However, this old Chowhound thread with Cathy2, Erik M., JeffB, Vital Information and others helped clarify things for me quite a bit, especially the difference between pollo chon and pollo al carbon.