There are two of them. That’s the first thing you notice.
Same block on Macdonald Avenue, same blue tents strung with bare bulbs, same red tiered shelves holding steel pans and squeeze bottles. Same clamshell containers. Same prices. Pollo Con Papas and Pollo Con Papas Fritas, two families who, workers at The Lot said, know each other. Set up maybe fifty yards apart on a Tuesday afternoon in downtown Richmond, both frying chicken in open air next to Richmond’s Main Street. Both flying the same banner underneath their stand names: Estilo Chapín.
Eleven dollars gets you one piece of chicken and fries. Twelve gets you two pieces and fries. You stand there doing the math, then order the two-piece because you’re already here.
In the back of the tent, someone is cutting russet potatoes by hand with what looks like an industrial French fry press, pushing whole potatoes through in a single motion. The fries that come out are thick, almost steak-cut. You can taste the difference…