Golden brown skin is the key to what makes rotisserie chicken so great, but once you add super cheap prices, Latin style side dishes, and Peruvian aji (green sauce), you’ve got a real winner. Sound good? Well then head to Tio Pio West (the original is in Brooklyn) on 36th btw. 5+6th, where $7.50 will buy you half a chicken, rice, beans, and plantains. Oh, and not to mention a fairly big cup of aji.

What I got and a +/1 after the jump…

So you’re probably saying to yourself, “Zach, what gives? That doesn’t look like half a chicken to me!” And my only reply is to say, I screwed up. That’s right. I ordered the 1/4 chicken combo, with rice beans and plantains (at the equally cheap price of $5.50) thinking to myself, I could write just as informed a post of Tio Pio having eaten a 1/4 of a chicken, as eating 1/2 a chicken- so why not go for less chicken and supplement my lunch with some Treats Truck action on the way back to work.

Halfway through my lunch I realized what a huge error I had made. I ordered the white meat, because rotisserie wings are like a gift from god- but the breast meat is always going to be drier than dark meat. It was still pretty delicious, but after polishing off my wing, I couldn’t help but think I could have kept going (if for no other reason than to have something to dip into my aji, which despite being more watery than I’m used to, still managed to hit the spot with its spicy green goodness.) 

The rice, beans and plantains were fine, but if you’re not into the Latin sides, they have got a steam table full of others to choose from, including pasta, veggies, french fries, and a decent looking mixed salad. The steam table also had fried shrimp, fried chicken, fish, and meat stews- which I may go back and try, but it will be hard to walk into Tio Pio and not order the chicken.  Combos will run you $5.50 to $9 depending on what you order (and how much of it), but the chicken is by far the best deal (and the most delicious).

THE + (What somebody who likes this place will say)

• Um… it’s rotisserie chicken.  And it’s cheap.
• A lot of good side dish options
• I love to eat alot, and you can’t get more food for cheaper anywhere in Midtown.  ($7.50 for half a chicken, and side dishes.  Come on!)

THE – (What somebody who doesn’t like this place will say)

• The white meat can be a little dry
• You can get better latin food in Midtown at places like Margon & Sophie’s Cuban
• The Peruvian green sauce is way too watery (and not spicy enough)

Tio Pio West, 46 W. 36th St. (btw. 5+6th), 212-239-6633

But El Sabroso is on a different level.  At least those other places are actual restaurants.  El Sabroso is just a counter, with a few stools.  A counter, inside a hallway, leading to the freight elevator of a building.  Yup.  My first lunch in a freight elevator hallway.  And while the menu is mostly standard Latin fare (pernil, pork chops, stewed and baked chicken, rice & beans), on Fridays they serve a few Peruvian specials- courtesy of the Peruvian lady who makes all the food.

What they’ve got, freight elevator food porn and a +/- after the jump…

Peruvian cuisine is one of the few treasures I have yet to unearth in Midtown, and while El Sabroso is not the lomo saltado godsend I have always been searching for, it will do for now.  All week long they have the standard Latin dishes available at Margon or Sophie’s, but on Fridays the menu includes tallarin rojo, a homestyle Peruvian red spaghetti dish.  

When I got there, and sat down in one of the few stools at the counter, the guy next to me was happily tucking into a plate of spaghetti and other assorted goodies.  And it looked pretty damn good, pushing me to say the words that come in handy so often when eating at a place where their native language is something other than English.  “I’ll have that.”

Those “assorted goodies” turned out to be white rice, beef stew and a green spaghetti (which replaced the normal Peruvian red spaghetti special on that day).  The whole thing was garnished with a few chunks of roasted pork (hello!), and he offered me some orange’ish hot sauce to go on top.  It was all pretty delicious, and only cost $6.50.

Still interested in the Peruvian red spaghetti, I returned the next Friday hoping it would be back on the menu.  He asked if I wanted it with chicken, I said yes, and he proceeded to load a plate with plain noodles, and then pour a reddish gravy, from the big pot of chicken stew, over the noodles.  Then came two big pieces of stewed chicken, and there it was.  Tallarin rojo?

The chicken was fall off the bone tender, and the spaghetti was, well- spaghetti.  But it was all good, and a nice change from the standard Latin fare in Midtown.  The special green spaghetti from the week before was far superior, but I don’t know if they are going to offer that again- or when.  Even so, as workers from the area came in and ordered their lunches, I got to see much of what El Sabroso serves- and nothing looked bad.  Pork chops, rice and beans, roast pork, baked chicken, stewed chicken- they even have tamales. 

The prices on the board say $5 and $6 for everything, but I’m not exactly sure what you’ll end up being charged.  From my two visits it looks like $5 gets you a plate with meat, rice and beans., $6 for the Peruvian dishes, and $6.50 for that plate of mixed food.  No matter what you get charged, at under $7 it’s a total steal.  The guy behind the counter is very helpful, and even though the place is tiny (there are only 4 or 5 stools and one little makeshift table), most people take the food to go- so both times I was there the counter was pretty empty.

So while I’m not sure exactly what they’ll serve you, or how much they’ll charge you for it, I do know this.  Go and order what looks good, and you won’t be disappointed.  That’s the beauty of a hidden gem.  How can hidden Peruvian food in a freight elevator hallway for under $7 be bad?

THE +

• It’s Peruvian food!!!  In Midtown!!!  (But only on Fridays)
• It’s in a freight elevator hallway
• Everything is under $7, and the guy behind the counter will pretty much give you whatever you want.  Even a mixed plate of stuff…

THE -

• It’s not a true Peruvian place.  While the lady who makes all the food is Peruvian, most of the dishes they serve are standard Latin fare- and the tallarin rojo is fine, but not great.  Lomo saltado, where are you????
• If you like latin food, but are not down with adventure, Sophie’s may be more your style.  The menu at El Sabroso changes every day, and you just have to ask the guy behind the counter what they have.
• If you don’t like little bones all throughout your stewed meat, you may not like this place
• It’s very small, so there is a possibility there won’t be anywhere to sit when you go (although both times I went there was nobody at the counter when I got there).  Not the best place to go with 5 of your office mates (unless you are going to take your food to go).

El Sabroso, 265 W. 37th St. (btw. 7+8th), 212-284-1118

Thanks to db from FoodCandy for the great recommendation… If you have a reommendation or the lowdown on a hidden gem in Midtown, email it to me at zach@midtownlunch.com