Pollo Campero brings Central American fast food to West Saint Paul

Sara Rice

Not KFC, "LFC": Latin Fried Chicken

Put a check mark on the list of restaurants that have no presence in Minnesota next to Pollo Compero--the international fast-food chain that recently opened its first location here in our snowy state.

The menu reads like a Central American-ized version of KFC: fried chicken, dinner rolls (not biscuits), tortillas, beans (with tomatoes, bacon, and sausage--not "baked"), flan, three piece combos with your choice of sides--you get the picture.

But standout items are there--in fact, their yucca fries are delightfully crispy and not at all chewy, and their sweet fried plantains rival those at Brasa--and are always in stock.  If fried food isn't your bag, Pollo Campero offers well-seasoned grilled chicken.

It smacks of capitalization on local culture--did Robert Street really need another Latin restaurant? (Especially one corporately owned?) But it opened with a flourish in mid-December, with lines out the door on a Monday night; clearly the locals don't have a problem with its McDonald's-esque polish.

POLLO CAMPERO
1570 Robert St., West St. Paul