El Pollo Rey

1101 Kansas Ave
Kansas City, KS 66105
(913) 371-4243

If you are wondering where to look for the best grilled chicken in Kansas City, El Pollo Rey is the place you are looking for.
This place is small, run by only two people (when I went there). They spoke little English, actually only one person (the cashier) who understood what I wanted. :)
I saw only few tables were set since the place is very small and right in the corner of S. 11th Street and Kansas Ave. It's right in front of Firestone Autocare. I didn't get a chance to take a picture of the restaurant, so the one on the right is taken from "Neal1960", who put the picture on his flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/neal1960/3543438471/).

No menu is necessary, because all they sell in there is grilled chicken. You either want it half or whole chicken. Half chicken costs $6.50 and whole is $12. They also do chicken wings with, I believe, their own creation of buffalo sauce. They accept CASH only. ;)

I did not order the chicken wings, so I won't comment on that.
However, the grilled chicken is absolutely delicious. It came with a small cup of Mexican rice, bean soup, salsa, tortillas, and sliced pickled red onion.
They know how to grill a perfect chicken, let's leave it at that.
It was smoky, tasty, and wonderful!

It actually reminded me of home. No, I wasn't born in South America. But, somehow the taste of the chicken was similar to the ones we have in South East Asia.
The tortillas that came with the chicken were different than what I would have gotten from chained restaurants. I may not be 100% in this, but I think they made their own tortillas or may be got them from an authentic Mexican supplier. It was freshly made!

Anyway, the Mexican rice was salty to my taste (because I only ate it like that). Until I put some chicken on the tortilla with the rice, red onion, and salsa. Absolutely delicious!!
I am not a big fan of pickled onion, so I did not eat a lot of them.
The bean soup was wonderful, as well. It had bacon in it and that made it different, I think. I could see the whole pinto beans, but they were very tender and tasty.

I loved just to eat the chicken and dip it in salsa. It's very addictive!
I could taste the sourness in the salsa, as well as the sweetness and not too overbearing spiciness. All in all, El Pollo Rey is now my number one favorite chicken place. You just can't get enough of them!