Pollo Riko website

	Yasmine wrote I LOVE THIS PLACE! THE BEST CHICKEN IN TOWN!! I also love the salad; the dressing is sooo tasty! Does anyone know how to make Pollo Riko's salad dressing?
	Ralph wrote Best roasted chicken in Houston. A great value as well. Try the fried yucca, it’s great! They do one thing, chicken, (plus a variety of sides) and they do it all very well. Very healthy and better than fried chicken.
	Luis wrote Unique taste in chicken with a lot of sides. A lunch combo for $3.54? tax included? DAAAAAAANG!!!! Save money and eat good stuff! I'm not advertising but DAAAAAAANG!! I only work about 3 streets down.
	Tanya wrote Let me start off by saying the Chicken is great, same for the prices. My mother told me about the place and I have to say will never go anywhere else. There's something about a distinctive taste the chicken has you just have to try.
	Stacy wrote I love the roasted chicken it's healthy and full of flavor. The arepas are the best I have ever had. I will be going for years to come.
	Jason wrote Fresh roasted chicken, with rice, red beans, and corn tortillas for five bucks, can't beat it with a stick. Try the arepas, the white corn tastes like Southern grits, the yellow one is much sweeter.
	Linda wrote The Chicken is in a class of it's own. I love what they have done to the restaurant, it’s a place where the family meets on Sunday for lunch after church. The price is the best in town.
	Terry wrote I love Pollo Riko. The chicken has a unique flavor, that I can’t get anywhere else. The value for the food is wonderful. I eat there at least once or twice a week. You just can't get enough.
	Ray wrote Great Latin style rotisserie chicken. Also great arepas for those of Colombian or Venezuelan descent. The plantains are super too. In general a great value.

HOUSTON CHRONICLE SUN 12 / 05 / 1999

By DAI HUYNH
Staff

DREAMS are built on hopes.

Nestor Villamil hoped for a better life after immigrating to the United States from Colombia. He wanted to build a legacy; he wanted to give his son a future. On Father's Day, he comes closer to realizing his dreams with the grand opening of his third Pollo Riko.

People credit Ninfa Laurenzo with introducing Houstonians to fajitas. Villamil has done the same for Colombia's beer-basted rotisserie chicken, cooked slowly over mesquite charcoal.

In 1992, Villamil sold 50 chickens on opening day at the original Pollo Riko on Fondren. Today, he sells more than 250 birds at the restaurants on Fondren and on Bellaire Boulevard.

The many ethnic groups that make up Houston's melting pot line up for his $3.95 lunch special. Peruvian, Colombian, Ecuadorian and Nicaraguan mothers stock up on his vacuum-packed arepas (corn cakes) to send to their children, serving in the U.S. military or away at school.

"My father has handed me all the education and all of the experience that I need to build my future," says Villamil's 27-year-old son, J.C. "His philosophy is simple and true: Be honest and work hard."

In 1988, Villamil, his wife and J.C. landed in a studio apartment in New York. He found work as a parking attendant in Manhattan. The chance to work thrilled him. In Colombia, opportunities were scarce, and the rain forest was rife with guerilla and drug activities.

"We didn't have much. We came with only $1,000 and a suitcase - one piece of luggage for three people," J.C. recalls. "I slept on the couch for years. We rarely went out. Once a month, maybe, we would eat at a small neighborhood restaurant. We were saving money to open a small business. We had a goal; we had each other; and we had unity."

In 1989, the Villamils moved to Houston to join other family members. They opened a small Colombian restaurant. It wasn't until later that they started serving rotisserie chicken on weekends. The chicken outsold everything else on the menu, and in 1992, the family opened Pollo Riko, or "good chicken."

Business boomed. The family sold the Colombian restaurant and opened a second Pollo Riko, on Bellaire Boulevard.

As at the other locations, the new Pollo Riko at Airline and Tidwell will feature rotisserie chickens marinated overnight in a secret blend of 30 spices.

"We're growing, finally," Nestor says. "I never thought that the business I started 12 years ago would grow to be this big."