El Pollo Regio

El Pollo Regio does not even have a door; you walk up to their small window and place your order. After you blink your eyes, the food is ready. You are given a bag with smoky-flavored roast chicken along with charro beans and Spanish rice.

Regio’s is not much of a restaurant, but it has one heck of a kitchen. Every morning, aromatic plumes of smoke perfume the air of the adjacent neighborhood. The smoke actually overwhelms a BBQ/smokehouse next door and makes them look like amateurs, but at least the BBQ place has tables.

Eat your food your car, or at home, or wherever, as long as you don’t trash the parking lot. Regio’s is where the locals park, especially the Austin police, and there is occasionally a car or motorcycle in the lot.  There is also a donut shop around the corner.

What should I eat at El Pollo Regio?

You unwrap the foil and paper to reveal a lightly seasoned and marinated half-chicken with a smoky fragrance. The tender, moist meat falls off the bone. The charro beans are mildly flavored and full of porky strips of meat crowding the Styrofoam cup. The Spanish rice is bland but does work as a filler. A half of a roasted onion, lime, and two sauces, along with a half dozen corn tortillas, help round out meal. You are supposed to make little tacos with the ingredients, but I usually attack it all separately. I like the addition of a roasted onion. It is soft and sweet, much like an onion ring without the crunch or grease.

Their name says it all: the main focus is chicken. El Pollo Regio does offer steak and a few composed meals, but I cannot vouch for them. This is simple open-flame charcoal grilling as opposed to enclosed slow wood-smoking, a style of cooking that can be found around Austin. Regio’s is pro-Kingsford. They are complemented by a panaderia next door that serves excellent baked goods.

Please see their website for multiple locations!