El Pollo Alegre

«Dude, have you heard? There’s a place we hear may be better than El Pollo Rey.»
«No way, not better than THE KING OF CHICKEN?! How can that even be?»
And with that, we drove into the depths of KCK, up 18^th St, past the legendary retro location of Fritz’s, to the corner of Minnesota where the streets are all whacky criss-​crossed by that «storage place» with the really phallic sign.
«Oh, it’s right next to the Ice Cream place? Let’s see about this…» And, like the Ice Cream place, El Pollo Alegre (in name and outdoor signage) certainly looks like a fun place!
Inside, it’s simple: Some tables, chairs, pop cooler, a TV playing the Tejano videos that are a fun soundtrack to the meal… everything you’d expect.
But holy smokes, we really didn’t expect it to be better than El Pollo Rey?!
«Well, maybe just different. Look at these sides!»
So, the differences :
— Pickled Onions are brighter pink, and crunchier
— Rice is brighter orange and less oily
— Salsa is a delicious and fresh Verde vs. the Rey’s orange
— They have coleslaw instead of beans
— And, the chicken… it’s not as charred, and without the intensity of that charring, the seasoning comes out more strongly.
Sooooooo Gooooooooooooood.
«But, is it BETTER???»
You should find out for yourself. It’s absolutely worth the trip.