I like Hill Country Chicken, but more for its style than its food. The atmosphere is 1970′s basement kitsch that is really fun. The street level has is an open space with ’70s light fixtures, checkered wall paper, and bright yellow walls. The underground dining level is wood paneling all the way with framed LP’s and arcade games. It’s a fun place to hang out, but the main issue is that it wants to be a real restaurant, but has cafeteria/fast food style service. The chicken and sides aren’t bad, but get dried out on stream tables and under hot lights. We tried both styles of chicken, HC Classic and Mama El’s, and both were good, but not great. Classic is fully coated, traditionally seasoned, and Mama’s is thin skin (or no skin?) spiced, and crispy. Like pizza, all fried chicken is pretty good. But I bet its much better fresh out of the fryer. The sides were mediocre and forgettable. We had fried mashed potatoes, coleslaw, blistered corn salad and carrot-n-raisin slaw. I thought the pies would be tasty, but they are so tiny, that they are more novelty and crust, than anything you can sink your teeth into. I bet the slices are better than the cups, but they were not on display, so everyone bought the cute cups. The pie shake is pretty amazing, although a calorie killer.

There are no meal deals, so the prices are pretty steep. When you add up 2 pieces, 2 sides, a drink and pie, it is $20 and not really a whole lot of food for one person. That’s a good price for Hill Country BBQ, but for glorified fast food, it’s high. Now I respect that they use quality ingredients, like Bell & Evans chicken, and would have no problem paying it, if I enjoyed the food more. I am not sure why I would return. If I want great fried chicken, there any many choices, if I want cheap fried chicken I can go to Popeye’s, K-town, or KFC. I guess if I want to chill in the basement with friends, and not focus on amazing grub, Hill Country Chicken would be the place.

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.

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…