On Saturday, Crayton and I were about to catch a pesero to City Market — the Mexico City gourmet market of all gourmet markets, or so they say — when we realized we were both hungry. Not super hungry. Just a little bit.
Thanking the lord that we lived in a country where one can satisfy that kind of hunger perfectly (and cheaply), I suggested we hit Gili Pollos, a roasted-chicken joint on the corner of Sevilla and Chapultepec. The name is a play on a Castilian Spanish word that, loosely translated, means “dumb ass.”
I’m a fan of clever word play. And I’ve been curious about Mexican roasted chicken lately. Unlike in the U.S., where most people buy roasted birds at the supermarket, in Mexico there’s an entire industry of rosticerias, or specialized chicken-roasting joints. Many are open-air, and the birds roast slowly on rows of spits, their skins turning a crispy, dark-golden brown.
Gili Pollas has a certain nostalgic charm, too. The workers wear paper hats, and there are black-and-white checkered floors inside. We grabbed a table underneath the awning above, which overlooked the bustling Avenida Chapultepec. The chicken tacos were 13 pesos each — kind of pricey for one taco, I thought.
“Do you want onion?” a young guy in a paper hat asked us.
“Oh yeah,” I said.
And then he set this in front of us:
It was enough meat for two tacos, easily. And it had onion, and cabbage. Both drenched in chicken drippings. Next to the plate was a bowl of pickled jalapeños for garnish, and red salsa.
The meat had bones, so I picked off a few chunks and placed them in a tortilla. (No idea if this is the proper way Mexicans eat them or not, but who cares.) Threw in some jalapeños and salsa, and gobbled it up in few minutes. The chicken was succulent, and the skin — it was crispy and perfect, and worth the trip alone.
With happy and full stomachs, and only $2 lighter in our pocketbooks, we crossed Chapultepec and caught the pesero to Del Valle.
I highly recommend the place, if you’re ever in the neighborhood. There’s also an outpost in the Centro, at Isabel la Católica and 5 de Mayo.
Gili Pollos
Corner of Avenida Chapultepec and Salamanca, in Colonia Juarez (Zona Rosa)