El Pollo Feliz
6801 Guadalupe, 323-6604
Daily: breakfast, 7-11am; lunch & dinner, 11am-10pm
For years, this unassuming frame building at the confluence of Airport and Guadalupe housed one of our city’s favorite burger joints, the Hamburger Haven. More recently, an operator sold both burgers and an Indo-Paki takeout menu. These days, it’s home to El Pollo Feliz, a very reliable Tex-Mex fast-food outlet. The food here is strictly to go, three meals a day, hot, fast, and affordable. The house specialty is rotisserie chicken presented in plates, whole birds, and multiple bird party packs accompanied by sides of salsa, rice, potato salad, beans, and tortillas. The Lunch Special ($4.75) offers a tender, juicy breast and thigh section with rice, potato salad, salsa, and tortillas. The Dinner Special ($5.75) features half a chicken with the same sides, and the Mini-Pack ($10.99) includes one whole chicken with side dishes big enough to share with the family.
The menu isn’t all chicken, however. The breakfast tacos ($1.10) are thick and hearty, and they’ll also whip up a plate of Huevos Rancheros or Migas ($4.75) with potatoes, beans, and tortillas to go with a hot cup of coffee ($1.10) or a cool Agua Fresca ($1.25). They won’t offer you the hair of the dog, but Menudo ($4.75 large, $2.75 small), the traditional folk cure for a hangover, is available every day. The lunch and dinner menus also include Taquitos (four for $4.15), Tortas ($4.75), and Burritos ($4.99) with fillings such as pastor, carnitas, carne asada, jamón, and lengua dressed with fresh salad and salsa, paired with a soda. All in all, there’s plenty of food to fortify you against the slings and arrows of outrageous taxation. You’ll leave with a happy wallet.
This article appears in April 15 • 2005.