Have you ever seen a hot grill roasting chickens from one wall to the other at a restaurant? At Pollos Asados Los Norteños in San Antonio, you can witness exactly that from a window near the front entrance, where you can also smell the spices on the smoky birds as workers tend to the grill. If that doesn’t draw you in, the restaurant’s highly affordable prices just might.
I visited Pollos Asados Los Norteños to try the Eastside gem’s signature pollo asado, a Mexican-style grilled chicken that comes out a bright reddish orange once it’s done. The goal was simple: Order the half-chicken meal, which comes with half a grilled chicken, rice, corn tortillas, salsa, a grilled jalapeño, lime and a grilled onion for $10.29.
Parking is easy enough at the restaurant, but do be careful to use the actual front door, as the side door closest to the parking lot is reserved for servers to enter and exit the drive-thru area. That being said, the drive-thru is massive, with the ability to service multiple mobile customers at a time, so that’s something to consider if you’re looking for chicken on the go.
Once inside, a host led me to a seat at a red checkered table in view of a TV playing soccer. A server came by right away to take my order, and without hesitation, I asked for the half-chicken meal and water to wash it down. No joke, it took about a minute for the food to come out, and it was nicely plated on checkered paper to match the table…