Mr Pollo 1
“back to this place like a said somethings are good some are ok .dont get da empanadas sucky.”
“But overall super tasty and even good for leftovers for the next day.”
“Friendly staff and easy pleasant music plays in the background.”
Mr Pollo 1
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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Not really sure why everyone is hating on this place. Mr. Pollo 1 is basically a Colombian diner, typical that you can find also in Jackson Heights which I frequent pretty often. It's a small place and I recommend getting the bandeja plate which is probably Colombia's most popular dish. It comes with a mix of everything, beans, rice, arepa, maduro, chicharron, avocado, meat (either steak like or ground meat) and an egg. Any typical Colombian place I go to, the egg is always well done so I knew it was going to come out like that. The portions here are generous and I think I ate my dish for a few days as leftovers. My friend ordered the breaded chicken which was devoured. I also ordered a side of tostones which were pretty standard. It tasted even better when I dipped it into my rice and beans.
Ordered take-out. When I got home, I found that they forgot to include one of our dishes. I called and the person on the phone spoke to me in a very accusatory manner, as if I was claiming the food wasn't there in order to get free food. There's no reason to treat your customers that way. This is Bayside, for crying out loud. Not East New York! You can relax a little here…
The food itself was very bland, very oily, and overly salty. I've had good Colombian food, and this ain't it. There wasn't anything that excited me. The steak was tough and rubbery.
Even the rice and beans was devoid of flavor. I mean…. Jesus H. Christ, right? That's like a Russian forgetting to add beets to his borscht! That's like an Israeli forgetting to put chickpeas in his falafel! It's like a Canadian forgetting to add french fries to his poutine. If there one thing this restaurant should be good at, it's rice, beans, and plantain. how is it possible they have awful rice, beans, and plantains?
Seriously? I would love for some nice semi-trendy place to take this space over and give us a nice Sunday brunch place. We need more brunch places in Bayside.
We ordered the "Desayuno Mr. Pollo" that costs $12.00. It was ok. Nothing fantastic. More along the lines of mediocre. The beans are typical Colombian style beans from what I've been told. Not vegetables nor seasonings other than powder seasoning. Not my favorite but at least I tried. The water we requested were given in a plastic bottle. The passion fruit juice was ok. It was served in a plastic margarita glass. What bothered me the most was the salad I requested. I wanted a simple green salad but was given lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers with, what seemed to be, a full can of carrots and peas just thrown messily on the top. The only dressing they have is French dressing in a little server. It's not authentic French dressing. It's just dressing out of a plastic bottle. Messy set up. The tables, table cloths and plates should be updated soon to attract more clientele as well. I saw several people walk by and try to read the menu. After looking in they restaurant, they continued walking in search of a place to each. Wishing this location the best with improvements to help them prosper in the future.
Breakfast till 12pm! Seating is toomy and if you het lucky there are seats right by the window that opens up to the street. So you get to enjoy the music and people watch. Colombian food with Medellin/Paisa flavor. Medellin is a city/region of Colombia.
Friendly staff and easy pleasant music plays in the background. There is also a bar if you want to dine or have a soft drink. They also deliver.
I'm glad that I didn't get anything beyond an appetizer at Mr. Pollo, because my experience there was disappointing: mediocre service and too-heavy food.
Here's a walkthrough of what I encountered there: The door into the restaurant was hard to pull. At first, I thought Mr. Pollo was closed, since the door seemed like it was locked. After giving it a second, more forceful pull, I opened the door. I encountered this same issue when exiting the restaurant– I had thought it was a problem only when you enter.
I walked down towards the bar after entering, and no one greeted me. This set the tone for the rest of my time there: the service was subpar. I said, "Table for 1, please", to the waitress behind the bar, to which she said, "huh?" When I repeated myself, she said in a dispirited way, "you can sit anywhere."
The food I got was the better part of the night: I got a coconut shrimp appetizer, which I thought was overpriced for $8. It was tasty: crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, and just like what I expected a coconut shrimp dish to taste like. I give props to my server for asking me if I wanted tartar sauce, to which I said yes. To my dismay, she brought a small glass cup with three tartar sauce packets in them. I knew they weren't fresh by their dulled color.
The shrimp was too greasy for an appetizer dish, in my opinion. My stomach felt full and settled after eating this dish, which left me wondering, why is something like that an appetizer (the first course of a full meal) if it fills you up so quickly? I would feel weighed down if I ate this dish and an entrée at this place.
Another note about the service: I didn't see any server come up to the person at the table next to me (who had come before me) once. Not once! It was hard to tell if that person was also a staff worker taking a break, or a customer.
To me, the decor in this eatery felt forced and artificial.
The fluorescent lighting wasn't my favorite, the walls (in the colors of the Colombian flag) were too visually harsh on my eyes, and it felt like there were a bunch of trinkets thoughtlessly placed on the walls of this restaurant.
After I paid the check, I walked to the door in silence, since none of the servers greeted me. Even a simple "have a nice night" would've been great to hear.
Over priced bad food. I stopped in thinking I could grab some quick cheap unhealthy fried chicken.
Well, I got the unhealthy fried chicken. But, I paid a full restaurant price. Chicken was dry as tatooine. As I was eating realized that this is a more authentic Colombian way to cook the chicken. But as an American, I expected fried chicken to be more moist in the inside.
The fair in general seems fast food quality but the place is set up as a sit-down restaurant.
For the price I paid, I could have got a full lunch special at a nearby sushi place.
I got a coke, and it came in a dirty can. But they did give me a straw. But for two bucks, it wasn't worth the gross out factor.
Another weird thing is that they had a TV playing Latin music videos but the volume was muted while they played different Colombian music over the load speakers. Just weird and poorly thought out.
The environment was festive though.
My service here was just OK. The waitress was some what attentive. She gave me a few recommendations based on what people normally come back for. There are WAY TOOOOOO MANY menu items. I chose #41. It came with steak, plantain, beans, rice an egg, half avocado, and pork. I will not be ordering that again. The egg was over cooked unless they meant to do that. Steak was under seasoned and probably beaten flat. Beans and plantain were OK. The pork was dry and crispy and just not good. I asked for the check and the waitress said sure. Then she proceeded to work on something else and 15mins later I got my check …wow.
All the reviews about the rude waitress are true.
Me- Hi can I have scrambled eggs?
Waitress- No, we stopped serving breakfast at 12.
Me- but it's 12:07
Waitress- No, it's actually 12:11
Me- OK so by less than 10 minutes you can't serve breakfast?
Waitress- No, your going to have to order from the lunch menu.
I played it safe and ordered the carne azada with rice n beans, and contrary to other reviews, the food was good.
I would give it 3 stars but deducted a star for poor service.