WeCouldEat @ the GrubHub

Pio Pio
1746 1st Avenue (90/91), NYC
6 other locations around the city

Pio Pio has been around at least eight years, but lately has expanded its locations to around Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx. It is no surprise why its popularity has grown, it has a casual atmosphere, inexpensive food and drinks, and an interesting (but not intimidating) menu. The 1st Avenue location is long and narrow with cramped seating that no one seems to mind once the large plates of grub arrive.

We ordered the Matador Combo which consists of a whole chicken, and large plates of rice & beans, salchipapa (franks and fries – odd combo, but tasty), tostones, and avocado salad. It is enough for 3-4 people, which obviously isn’t quite enough for us, because we also had to have the yucca fries. Luckily, there were other couples with 7 plates covering their small table as well. Everything was tasty, although all the fried foods together were a little overwhelming for us. The chicken was juicy and flavorful, although it had a slight aromatic flavor which was not quite as appealing as some of my favorite chicken joints.

I will definitely return again and order more sensibly and get some of the good looking sangria. My co-corker, Aliyah, who is a regular, recommends a quarter chicken each (with awesome spicy green sauce) and sharing two sides. That sounds pretty good to me. While Pio Pio does not quite deserve a Golden Bozone, I do love my chicken-on-the-bone, and this is a great place to get it.

Chicken Kitchen
1177 Second Avenue at 62nd, NYC

When I moved to Manhattan and got my first real job in the East 40′s, there was a Chicken Kitchen two blocks. When I switched industries and moved to a cooler company downtown, there was a Chicken Kitchen two blocks away on East 23rd Street. Those locations are gone, and now I am working on the Upper East Side, and while Chicken Kitchen isn’t two blocks away from my job, it is two blocks from where I switch trains when I return home. Chicken Kitchen seems to be a constant for me and I am not exactly sure why, but I am regularly drawn to it. I know it is partly nostalgic, because I used to eat it several times per week, but beyond that it is a solid, healthy lunch or dinner that can feed two for under $15. At this point I have tried everything on the menu and while the chicken sandwich in pita and the chop chop (chopped chicken with lettuce and tomato over yellow rice) are fine, the rotisserie chicken on the bone is really the main attraction. Get a quarter white or dark meat platter (includes two sides and pita) with the delicious mustard curry sauce and you won’t be disappointed, plus it’s like $6. My favorite sides are the black eyed peas, spinach rice, steamed broccoli, and tabbouleh. If you don’t like chicken on the bone, the above mentioned sandwich and chop chop are decent choices. I’m not going to lie, the decor is about as bad as it gets. There are actually pictures of chickens on the wall and that’s about the only thing they’ve done to spruce up the joint. So I recommend take out or delivery, their range is pretty wide on the UES. There may be better rotisserie chicken places out there, but Chicken Kitchen will always leave a special wishbone in my mustard curry heart…