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Pollo Rico
Click here to view map Click here to launch website Pollo Rico doesn’t look much cop from the outside. An apparently greasy spoon café filled almost exclusively with men sat around a long, ugly steel bar with chickens cooking away all over the place and far too much information listed all over the front window to make sense of what’s going on. In fact the superficial impression of the place could not be much worse - I still haven’t managed to convince my flatmate of just how great it is - but thankfully there is an upstairs section which greatly contrasts with the rather shabby lower floor. The restaurant upstairs is a perfectly nice eating environment. Most diners, especially on the weekends, tend to be families and old folks for some reason, and located in the immigrant Raval neighbourhood, it is popular as much with locals as newcomers. Service is very good and fast with plenty of people serving. The walls are tiled with tasteful mosaic patterns, the tables are good quality wood and it isn’t even too smoky. But best of all, at these clean, suitable tables, you can eat one of the best value meals in Barcelona! As it is called Pollo Rico, by all rights we should start with the chickens. To enter the downstairs café area you have to traverse the hellish corridor of flaming, rotating chickens, but such a task will be deemed a small trial once you are actually chomping away on the unfortunate poultry and at €3.25 for a quarter of chicken and tasty chips, you surely won’t be complaining. There is also spit roast rabbit and a good selection of steak, escalope, and a tapas menu. All portions are absolutely massive, drinks are cheap and everything tastes much better than you might imagine at the price it’s sold at. I particularly enjoyed the massive butifara which is just about the size sausages should be. If I had to choose one cheap place to eat at everyday… well, I couldn’t... but it would certainly be a toss up between Pollo Rico and Bar Salvador. Super affordable, tasty food with good service and a nice dining atmosphere. Great stuff.

Address:

Carrer de Sant Pau, 31,
08001

Area:

Raval

Nearest Metro:

Liceu

Opening times:

Thurs-Tues: 10am-1am

Price range:

€5 pp

Food types:

International
Take Away