Cabanita’s Chicken

This place served great authentic Peruvian chicken and great sides for an affordable price. It was a staple of the upper fells community. Unfortunately, after not being able to call them for a few week i walked by and the business is now permanently CLOSED.

I went here on a Saturday afternoon after running some errands around Fell’s Point-​the lady who did my pedicure had told me to try Chicken Rico and said there was one close by, so I checked Unilocal,and this was quite a bit closer than Chicken Rico, so I headed here instead.
I placed my order with a friendly lady at the register, and although I think the prices have gone up a little since a lot of these posts were made (I could see on the sign for the meal I ordered that it used to say $ 4.99 and it now said $ 6.99), I still found the prices to be very reasonable, for the quality and amount of food that you are given. I got the ¼ chicken plate, with french fries and plantains, and it was delicious! I was a little disappointed once I got home and into my chicken that there was less actual chicken on the piece that I got than there should have been, but I had plenty of fries and plantains, and that yummy yellow sauce, so it was all good!
It was empty when I got there, and one family arrived while I was waiting on my food, but the service was quick and friendly, and the food tasty. Great for a quick takeout.

The place is not fancy, but food is good, and very cheap! good for group.

Cheap, delicious chicken meal! Went with a group of four, at 8pm. Id recommend the chicken combo meal with sides of either yucca fries, sweet potato fried, or the plantain. Cannot go wrong with this place. Chicken Rico is next on my list!

Excellent Peruvian chicken. Slightly better than chicken rico. If you’ve never tried it you need to. Coal fired rotisserie with great flavor.

I have to say, that aside from one other Peruvian chicken place that I go to ALL the time, I’ve started to become disenchanted with other places that sell pollo a la brasa. Is the standard that low? Is that other [unnamed] restaurant just that good?! I started to lose hope that any other place could even come close after visiting maybe a dozen other places with relatively disappointing results every time. Then…
Enter Cabanita’s, a place that restored my faith that SOMEBODY else could do Peruvian chicken well. On top of being cheap, everything is done very well. The chicken, yucca, plantains, and even the horchata are made much better overall than the four or so other Peruvian chicken places that I’ve been to in the city. I should probably mention here that from memory, I also believe they’re the cheapest. Can it get any better than that?
I’m really surprised that they don’t get better traffic. Although I really want this place to do well, I don’t think I can complain too much about that. After all, less of a wait time for me when I go. Which will be often

Best rotisserie I’ve had in years. Yuca fries were outstanding. Plantains to die for. As far as the atmosphere, if you recognize the intrinsic value of a «dive» atmosphere you’ll love this place. My yardstick for acceptable for a dive was surpassed by the cleanliness of the bathrooms. What’s not to love?

Yummy! This place has a really good lunch special and is tasty. While I’d say the chicken at chicken rico is better (better seasoning), the chicken here is still very good. I think Cabanitas stands out in these main ways…
The ¼ chicken & 2 sides deal is a couple bucks cheaper.
The yuca is also better here. They cut it smaller so it’s less dry and fries up better. Tastes great with the mayo!
It’s also less busy here so getting pick-​up is less of a hassle. At chicken rico it always feels smarter to just stand in line and wait to get your food as opposed to calling in a huge order. At Cabanitas, calling ahead and picking up is easier.

You know in the movies where the kung-​fu trainee goes to the dingy, nasty kung-​fu place only to find that the grand master is there? That’s kinda how Cabanita’s Chicken is: the atmosphere is terrible, but the food is amazing.
Cabanita’s Chicken, by the looks of it, is NOT impressive. The place looks like a kinda nasty cafeteria, complete with poor lighting, linoleum floors, and — to their credit — a basic amount of effort made on the counters and bar area (which only has soda cans…). It looks like a step away from a soup kitchen.
But, holy hell, the food is AMAZING. The chicken — their main entrée — is tender and juicy with a crisp crust and a wonderful flavor. The green sauce, which appears to be basically minced jalapeño peppers, adds to it and makes it freakin’ mind-​blowing. The beans are tasty, and the fried plantains are as well, and both act as a great side to the chicken. Best of all, this place is CHEAP — a meal for two barely cost $ 20.
Definitely order take-​out, though.

Three people, two guys and one girl. Less than $ 20 for everything. Ridiculous! I’ve been here twice and both times the food has been simple, delicious, and at a good price.
We ordered the whole chicken set that comes with two side dishes and added a salad on the side. The chicken is tender and juicy with well-​seasoned skin that can be slathered with their green (salsa verde) and yellow mayo sauces. We decided upon their crispy yuca and fried plantains that came in big portions and were fantastic. You get bigger sides with the whole chicken than ½ or ¼ chicken choices.
So, people have been comparing Cabanita’s to Chicken Rico, so I will make a few points:
— Cabanita’s has a more intimate restaurant feel whereas Chicken Rico is more of a cafeteria feel
— The whole chicken sets at Chicken Rico’s are better priced
— Both have green and yellow sauces as well as matchable side dishes
— Cabanita’s is better accessible for those who live in the heart of Bmore
— Chicken Rico may have better kick in chicken
Overall, wonderful Peruvian restaurant that beats Chicken Rico on the restaurant feel and location but loses slightly in cost and chicken.

I’m a big fan of Chicken Rico and this place is just as awesome. Date and I shared a whole chicken and two sides, sweet potato fries and plantains. Juicy chicken, and crispy fries and plantains were fresh out of the fryer. Yummy green and yellow sauces. There was only 1 other table in a large dining room and we had fast attentive service. Will definitely return for dine in or take-​out!

Went on a Monday night and the place was empty. I have been a Chicken Rico regular, but this place is walking distance from my house so I gave it a shot. Chicken was more dry than moist. Beans and rice were typical. Salad was fresh and crisp. Sauces were excellent.
Basically if you can’t get to chicken rico and you must have your quick chicken fix, this place will do. Maybe the chicken is better on the weekends when they have more business.
2.5 stars. Went with 2 because I ran out of sauce while eating the dry chx.

I’ve driven by this place multiple times so I decided to stop in and try it out on my way home from work. The place was empty (there wasn’t a single customer and only one other person came in while I was there) and very spacious. I ordered a half chicken with a side of yucca and a side of plantains. The platter was around $ 10, which felt a little high to me. The chicken was just ok. It was drier and tougher than I would have liked. I would agree with other reviewers that Chicken Rico is better. However, I thought their sides were amazing. The yucca was probably the best I’ve had. Nicely fried and crispy on the outside, not tough at all on the inside. The plantains were also well prepared and rich in flavor. You could tell they were freshly fried and hadn’t been sitting around like some other places. Their green sauce also had a nice heat to it, more so than other Peruvian places I’ve visited. If only their chicken were on par with their sides…

Tried this place after walking by it about a billion times. Atmosphere — it’s a huge restaurant, kind of empty. You can see them cooking the chicken in the back, which is cool.
The chicken definitely stole the show. It was juicy and the skin was wonderful. It was my first time tasting fried plantains, and they were decent when I dipped them in the yellow sauce. By themselves they’re kind of boring — granted this is coming from a girl who has never bought bananas as an adult. The sweet potato fries were cooked well, but not seasoned. I dipped them in the green sauce and it did the trick. My Peruvian cookie (the cashier didn’t give me a specific name) was a very heavy, dense tasting shortbread cookie. I really liked it — it wasn’t super sweet, it tasted homemade and interesting. It had powdered sugar on top so it’s a bit messy. I didn’t care. Make sure you get some milk with it, it’s a thirsty kind of cookie! I had a mango juice as well. I think it might be made in house? It was pretty good, very mango-​y.
All in all, it’s a nice place to check out. If I’m in the mood for rotisserie chicken I’ll definitely come back.

mm… cabanitas. my go to place whenever I get a Peruvian chicken fix. the prices are very reasonable – $ 5.99 for a quarter chicken with choice of two sides. the chicken is always cooked perfectly and is moist and tender with crispy skin. it comes with this yellow mayo sauce and spicy green jalapeño sauce that is good but on the watery side. sides that I recommend: yucca fries, rice&beans, and salad.
the restaurant is quite spacious and you can do take outs easily. their horchata is on the strong side so I would recommend some slight diluting.

I used to live in Arlington, Virginia, where I was introduced to Peruvian chicken through a restaurant called El Pollo Rico. When I moved back to Baltimore, I moved in up on Pratt and discovered Cabanitas Chicken just walking the neighborhood one day.
There are other good Peruvian Chicken places in Baltimore, and I’ve tried a few — including «Best Of» winners and other highly-​rated places — and I think cabanitas Chicken is the most flavorful Peruvian Chicken in the city. Their sides are fantastic, particularly the beans and rice, and the plantains.
There is no ambiance to speak of – I have yet to find a fine dining Peruvian chicken joint — but the restaurant has plenty of seating, and it’s BYOB. The staff is friendly, and service is quick. I have yet to go when an order was not ready within 5 minutes, and it comes out hot and fresh.

Great chicken, delicious rice & sweet potato sides. A great neighborhood joint with surprisingly huge dining area, and a very, very small menu. The ceviche was offered to me as a little sample, but it was a bit too fishy and not very «sashimi grade» fresh. The chicken and sauces, on the other hand, are delicious and very hot and well seasoned.

Absolutely amazing food! I often find it heard to eat as I have multiple food allergies. This place however, is spectacular. The chicken is delicious, the yucca is fantastic and the staff is awesome! It’s also almost all entirely gluten free (with the exception of anything breaded, obviously.)
It’s also BYOB and SUPER cheap, so it’s an awesome place to go any night of the week!

I dare you to find a Peruvian chicken joint you don’t like… dare you. But still, not all Peruvian chicken is created equal… CHICKEN RICO’S is still number 1.
I enjoyed the chicken and the usual sides here as well. And the price is unbeatable at 5.99 for ¼ chicken, and two sides.
Food:
— Chicken: moist, flavorful (tho not as good as chicken ricos which has an extra something in it that is unmatched)
— Yuca: delicious and thick, crispy all the way through
— Fried plantains (sweet): pretty good compliment to salty yuca and chicken
— Sauces: salsa verde is a bit watery, yellow mayo sauce thing was better.
Drinks:
Lots of traditional drink choices to pick from:
— horchata: freshly made, lots of rice «pulp» which I like but may not be loved by all.
Service: excelllent, unlike chicken rico’s which is a bit more hole in the wall, cabanitias has an actual sit down feel. The waitresses are very friendly, nice, considerate. a delight for sure.
Overall: not bad, what you’d expect from in price and flavor from peruvian chicken. BUT nothing beats chicken rico around these parts.

Meat was moist and seasoned pretty well, though home turf Super Chicken edges out just a tad on flavor. Orchata was a bit heavy on cinnamon, but not overly gritty or sweet. I’d have to agree with the other reviewer about the aji verde being more watery and less complex, with heat levels being moderately intense. Good enough once paired with the mayo sauce. Where Cabanita’s really won me over was the consistency of their sides: properly and evenly cooked without excess of grease. Plantains were outshone by the yucca but I like both.
I’d definitely be up for bringing my kid brother back again. We even managed to nab a spot on the street right in front of this cafeteria on the corner. Simple interior, bar with soft drink varieties displayed in the backdrop. Service was pretty good, despite a minor communication; we appreciated their willingness to cut up the ½ chicken for us to easily share.