A top fried chicken joint from Guatemala may open 5th NJ location
More than half a century ago in Guatemala City, a traditional Guatemalan hand-breaded fried chicken joint opened. They called it Pollo Campero. The year was 1971. It was a huge hit.
It became so popular that locations spread to El Salvador. People from those countries living in the United States want a taste from home so when relatives visited here it became common for them to bring Pollo Campero with them on the plane. In fact, it was so common it led to the company developing insulated bags for the chicken to make air travel easier and lock in the aroma.
By 2002, some 31 years after they first started in Guatemala, the first location of Pollo Campero opened in the United States. Worldwide there are 400. About 100 in our country, and four of those are already in New Jersey. They are Elizabeth, West New York, Plainfield, and Trenton.
A fifth one may be opening in Woodbridge. There’s a building there at 545 Route 9 North where Antonio’s Pasta and Ravioli used to be. Pollo Campero would like to tear it down and build a more than 2,000-square-foot structure with a drive-thru and they’ve applied to the Planning Board of Woodbridge.
According to the Courier Post, Mayor John E. McCormac seems on board with the idea. “It’s always good when redevelopment of vacant or underutilized property is proposed that will bring new use and service to the Township,” he said.
Even if this goes through there could be even more locations. They’re looking to heavily expand in a lot of places. Their goal is to go from 400 worldwide locations to 650 by 2028.
Other places where you’ll find Pollo Campero include Honduras, Mexico, Ecuador, Panama, Costa Rica, Spain, Bahrain, Puerto Rico, Montserrat, Haiti, Belize, Czech Republic, British Virgin Islands, Slovakia, Canada, Ireland, Italy and the United Kingdom. Their proposal to build in Woodbridge is being heard September 18.
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