Pollo Express - Pilsen [Pictures]

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Pollo Express is a solid Mexican chicken joint on 18th street. Is it worth a special trip for this northsider when D'Candela and El Llano are so close? Yes, if mainly for the fact Pollo Express cooks in a different style than most, adobado slathered spatchcocked (butterflied bird) directly over mesquite as opposed to whole chicken with rotisserie/charcoal.

Pollo Express





Crisp lightly charred skin, subtle bass from adobado slather and compact chicken flesh, breast ever so slightly dry, thigh just about perfect.

Pollo Express half chicken



Warm commercial tortillas, soggy yellow Goya Sazon flavored rice, warm soupy beans with bits of hot dog and bacon, grilled knob onion and jalapeno optional accompaniments.

Charro Beans







Punchy pickled red onion, warm guajillo and pureed fresh salsa come with a basket of chips. Loved the warm salsa and tart red onion in combination with chicken on a tortilla.





Friendly somewhat multilingual service, comfortable minimalist space and reasonable pricing along with mesquite grilled spatchcock chicken combine to make Pollo Express, if not destination chicken, at the very least a solid Pilsen stop.

Thanks for the Pollo Express intro Pigmon, nice to have another chicken joint in the rotation.

Pollo Express
1315 W 18th Street
Chicago, IL 60608
312-829-1551

I'll give this place a little bump-y love.

My daughter recently house sat a block or so away from here, and being the growing up fast, Chowhoundita that she is, she made fast notice of its Tuesday/Thursday special of buy one, get 1/2 free. So, Thursday, I met her in Pilsen, where we got the very last chickens left. As noted above, this style of chicken runs a bit on the dry side, but it had plenty of flavor from the marinade and the genuine charcoal. Of course, there's salsa and bites of very hot grilled jalapeno to liven up things when necessary. I think I liked the beans and rice a bit more than Gwiv, finding the rice especially greasy in a good way. Service, for carryout, was bilingually exceptional. All it was missing was the all-you-can eat jello bar. With dinner at Dusek's a few nights later, I'm really itching to move to Pilsen.

NB, the wheat sweet empanadas by the register are very good.