‘The Handsome Chicken” has a new city address.
El Pollo Guapo, Wethersfield’s popular rotisserie chicken concept, opened its second restaurant Dec. 5 on Front Street in Hartford. Owners Heather and Roy Riedl first announced plans to take over the former Qdoba space back in October.
The new location comes 18 months after the Riedls, who also own and operate the Mercado food truck, opened their first brick-and-mortar restaurant on Wethersfield’s Berlin Turnpike in June 2017. There they quickly won fans with their menu of rotisserie chicken and sides like roasted vegetables, rice and plantains; salads, rice bowls, tacos and tapas-style snacks like empanadas and chicken quesadillas.
In Hartford, the menu remains largely the same, but its expanded space (58 seats) accommodates considerably more dine-in guests than the Wethersfield original, where business is mostly carryout due to its limited seating. The Riedls want the new spot to be attractive to everyone, from couples on a date to families with young children looking for a relaxed meal.
“We wanted people to feel comfortable here to hang out as long as they want, and it’s something we’ve never been able to offer in Wethersfield,” Heather says.
At the new restaurant, Guapo fans will find a few additional side dishes: charred broccoli with roasted red peppers and garlic, and sweet and spicy green beans with queso fresco and crispy tortilla. (On the more indulgent side, there’s a new offering of nachos, featuring Guapo’s chile-lime seasoned house chips loaded with chicken, hot queso dip, queso fresco, roasted corn and pico de gallo.)
“We wanted to incorporate more green sides, and something as well that wasn’t fried … something on the more health-conscious side,” Heather says. The restaurant will also offer regular specials as it gets settled on Front Street.
The Hartford eatery also serves beer and wine, offering Underwood canned pinot grigio, pinot noir and sparkling rosé ($8) alongside four rotating draft beer options ($6) and canned Tecate and Tecate Lite ($4.) Recent drafts included local features like Counter Weight, Hog River and Lyman Orchards’ 1741 hard apple cider.
“We’re catering to the person here that’s on the go, or [who] wants to relax and have a rice bowl and a beer,” Heather says. “We really can be both of those things for people with this new hybrid model that we’re doing.”
For those looking for quick meals, El Pollo Guapo offers online ordering at both of its locations, with a designated pickup counter. In Hartford, they plan to offer two 15-minute parking spaces outside the restaurant for pickup convenience, Heather says.
Rotisserie chicken meals range from $10 for a quarter chicken with rice, one side and sauce to $32 for a whole chicken and three sides. “Side chicks” like house fries, coleslaw, crispy Brussels, sweet potato wedges and cucumber salad, are $5. Munchies, including smashed avocado with house chips and crispy seasoned chickpeas, are $4 to $10.
Rice bowls and salads with rotisserie chicken are $11, and tacos are $5 each, or $11 for a combo of two tacos and rice. Desserts, like an apple empanada and brownie with a pretzel crust, are $3 to $4.50. Kids’ meals are $7.
El Pollo Guapo followed the Riedls’ food truck, which launched as a catering business in 2014 and began vending at farmers’ markets and public events in the spring of 2015 with a trailer hitched to a pickup. In 2016, the business graduated to its current full-sized box truck, serving what the Riedls call “Span-ish” cuisine: tapas-style plates like duck fat fried potatoes, pork empanadas, queso frito with truffle honey and fennel pollen and arroz con pollo.
Mercado will hit the streets again in the spring, Heather said, with full-service catering and stops at markets, breweries and special events. The Wethersfield restaurant will also operate as usual.
Heather says it’s “a cool time” to be part of downtown Hartford, with Front Street foot traffic from local employees, residents and area visitors.
“I think we’re excited to get to know the people who live here, and who are really supportive of downtown businesses,” she says. “It’s exciting to be residing downtown now. We’ve always been a visitor with the truck, so to have some roots here, it’s cool. We’re excited to be part of the community.”
El Pollo Guapo, 26 Front St., Hartford, is open Monday through Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday, noon to 8 p.m. elpolloguapo.com.
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