Chuy's Chicken

Tonight I stopped into this five-week old Albany Park entry in the south of the border chicken sweepstakes.

Chuy's is grilled chicken, not rotisserie, and unlike the picture of El Pollo Loco in today's TimeOut Chicago, there was no open flame. Gas grill, not charcoal. The counter guy said "Mexican, actually Mexican-American" when asked the joint's provenance.

The "Grand Opening Menu" is predictably spare, and not in a bad way. There are some oddities, such as the choice of free hand made tortillas or pita bread with any order "as a Grand Opening courtesy." For sale are 1/4, 1/2, or a whole chicken and sides.

Home Made Sides: Mac & Cheese, Mash Potatoes [sic], Green Beans, Refried Beans, Chicken Rice Soup, French Fry Potato Wedge, Cole Slaw, Sold Pasta Salad, Spanish Rice, and Corn

Sauces: BBQ, Salsa Spicy Green, Salsa Spicy Red, Jalapeno, Teriyaki, Soy

I ordered a leg and a breast with two sides--refried beans and mac and cheese (in deference to my 1 1/2 yr old dining companion).

The chicken was fine though not special. I tried the roja and the verde, which were both of a fairly standard formula, but also both better than I expected. Especially the roja. Mac and cheese was not very good, and not very hot to boot. The refried beans were also better than I expected. The texture and consistency was pretty good, but I did detect an odd anise-like flavor that I couldn't quite place.

I queried my server, and he proudly brought me to the kitchen to witness a giant pan of beans soaking for tomorrow, and another of the mashed beans for today. Only water, beans, salt, onion, and oil, he says, explaining that they were made in the traditional style. I asked him about lard use (which clearly was not in evidence), and he gave me a look that suggested no right-thinking American could expect to open a contemporary restaurant serving beans cooked in lard. I was pleased to see a giant tub of chiles de arbol in the kitchen.

Finally, the fresh tortillas, which I saw being pressed and griddles, and were really a nice addition to the meal. They could have been griddled a little longer for my taste, but they were thick, fresh, chewy, and hot. I don't believe the pita is made on-site , nor did I ask if they import South Side bread. I doubt it.

The feel is very much that of a place trying to be a "contemporary American restaurant"--it was pretty obvious to me, based on my general knowledge of Chicago dining and my interactions with the waitstaff, but it had an air that made me ask whether it was the only location. It is.

The walls are painted a bright orange, and the space is very clean and well-kept. The tables and chairs are standard issue fast food. The sides and sauces are kept in a long steam table reminiscent of Subway's coldcut and veggie table. There are a few barstools at the end of the counter positioned in front of a brand new high definition flat screen television, on which a family of four watched, I believe, Jimmy Neutron on Nickelodeon while I patiently waited for them to leave so we could switch to the Sox game.

All in all, an agreeable place, and if I lived a couple blocks from there, instead of Brasa Roja, Mr. Pollo, and Semiramis, I could certainly see returning when in the mood for a cheap chicken. I'm interested to hear what others think.

Cheers,

Aaron

P.S. As far as I could tell, there was absolutely no relation to the Austin-based Tex-Mex chain Chuy's.

Oh, and one more note, I asked for a leg and a breast, and I believe I was charged for a half chicken (with sides), which seemed a little pricy at $7 and change for what seemed like not too much food. If you get the half chicken and specify just white or dark, you may get more food.

Thank god not that Chuy's

Mexi grilled chicken does seem to be taking over. Not that long ago, I visited Chicken Run in Logan Square. While I am predisposed to like about any grilled chicken, this chicken was oddly bland (even after marinade and douse w/adobo powder).

Vital Information wrote:Mexi grilled chicken does seem to be taking over. Not that long ago, I visited Chicken Run in Logan Square.

I think Chicken Run also goes with the tortilla or pita option, at least they were when I visited it after their opening. I know I've seen it one or two other places.

Since I'm not a big fan of Brasa Roja's chicken, I'd definitely like to check out Chuys, especially since there are fresh tortillas available.

¿Dónde Está?

Best,
Michael

This is the place just a few doors east of Chicago Kalbi on Lawrence, right? I saw it and looked in for a moment before we ate at Matsumoto but have never made it back. I tried to get a nationality for the food out of the guy behind the counter but he refused to agree to any of my choices-- Mexican, Peruvian, etc. The sides seemed very Americanized but it looked like it might be all right over all. Later I mentioned it to GWiv and he said there have been a procession of chicken places there over the years, he suspects the Korean landlord likes chicken-- or at least wants to recover his investment in chicken-cooking equipment....

Sorry, and I had the menu right in front of me.

Chuy's Chicken
3652 W. Lawrence
773-267-3377

I grabbed some chicken from Chuy's on my way home Monday night. Except for the really nice homemamde tortillas, I came away largely unimpressed.

Chuy's chicken is treated with a "secret recipe" dry rub according to the nice young guy who waited on me. My attempts to determine the primary ingredients or ethnicity of the dry rub were met with protests that the owner didn't want to give his secret away. H e did indicate that the owner was of mexican descent.

I found my half chicken to be lacking in flavor, kind of tough and dry. I chose sides of some well cooked Spanish style rice and some cole slaw.

The sides kind of confounded me. If you want to separate yourself from the pack in this grilled chicken marketplace, do it with the sides. What i saw at Chuy's looked like the same side orders one would get at KFC (mashed potatoes, green beans,mac n cheese).

The folks there seemed nice enough though there's way too much emphasis on this "corporate secret" stuff from the guys that work there. The food quality just didn't compare to the various rotisserie chicken options available in the neighborhood and nearby.

I was going to try Chuy's again before writing about it. But, since Aaron raised the issue- and his experience wasn't far off of mine, i decided to punch in now.

YourPalWill wrote:. If you want to separate yourself from the pack in this grilled chicken marketplace, do it with the sides.

How 'bout separating yourself by selling good chicken

At a minimum, can any place grill over live coals?

Pdanne and I met at Chuy's about two weeks ago. At 7:30 the place was fairly empty except for the help and about a dozen birds which looked like they had been roosting on the grill a bit to long. When we asked the counterman how long the chicken had been resting he claimed that two hours was the max they let the chicken sit out before putting it in the steam cabinet.
At this point we decided the chicken was a bit "long in the beak" and flew the coop to Great Sea for a very satisfactory platter of spicy wings and noodles in a black bean sauce

Kind of a hike but am still convinced that this place is the best Mexi-chicken joint around.

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewforum.php?f=14

winebabe wrote:Kind of a hike but am still convinced that this place is the best Mexi-chicken joint around.

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewforum.php?f=14

Which place? I'm not sure the link worked as you intended.

Oops, not so good at this high tech stuff.

Do a search for Pollo Vagabundo.

winebabe wrote:Do a search for Pollo Vagabundo.

Pollo Vagabundo

Thanks Gary

Chuy's is great! I may be a bit biased as I live within walking distance and am there so often, but if you didn't like the food here your first time it deserves another shot. I would suggest the chicken pita sandwich, which I haven't seen anyone mention yet. The owner, Jesse, is a friendly guy - and he does a great job with this place in my opinion.

Mike G wrote:Later I mentioned it to GWiv and he said there have been a procession of chicken places there over the years, he suspects the Korean landlord likes chicken-- or at least wants to recover his investment in chicken-cooking equipment....

Yes, there have been chicken restaurants at that location for a while now. Here’s a link to an old post about some of Chuy’s predecessors if anyone cares. Oddly, the address has changed (was 3650, now 3652) though the building is the same.

I haven’t yet eaten at Chuy’s but have to say they have a sense of humor of a certain sort:

Decal on Door of Chuy’s Chicken

LTH,

Though there have mixed reviews my recent lunch at Chuy's was quite good across the board. Friendly owner, spotless restaurant, comfortable seating, couple of newspapers scattered about for customer perusal, tender moist chicken, good sides and Mexican coke in the cooler.

Chuy's Chicken on the grill


I opted for dark meat with rice, refried beans and pita, though had I remembered the tortillas were house made I'd have gone with those.



The rice was fine, good flavor, with a pea or three scattered about, and the refried beans were pretty darn good. When I asked about lard in the beans Jesse, who is the owner, said no lard as he has quite a few Muslim customers. He went on to say he uses a Guatemalan recipe trick with the beans where he deeply caramelizes onions in vegetable oil, almost to the point of black, removes the onions and just uses the flavored oil.

Chuy's Chicken with a spritz of table salsa on the beans




Chicken cooked on a grill has, like good BBQ, a life cycle, fresh off the grill the chicken is, obviously, going to be at it's peak, I was there around 11:45am and quite enjoyed my chicken.

Enjoy,
Gary

Chuy's Chicken
3652 W Lawrence Ave
Chicago, IL
773-267-3377