Malecon: El Rey Del Pollo

Over the past year, I’ve been in a rigorous search to find the best rotisserie chicken in New York City. Everyone in my comments has been saying I HAVE to try Malecon. Malecon this, Malecon that.

When I went to the one on the Upper West Side and felt it was a bit uninspired, everyone harshly informed me I went to the wrong location. "We only claim tha one in the heights!!" referring to the Washington Heights Location.

I put my ego aside, and thought if people are so passionate about this then there must be some merit to it. My big bro and I made the 1 hour and 6 minute trip on a blessed Sunday to see what all the hype was about.

From the window outside, you can see 6 different rotisserie ovens all filled with mouth watering chicken. A breath taking sight.

Right when we walked in, I understood. There is so much soul in here. It was JUMPIN at 2:30pm. There were two separate birthday parties with tables of 8+ where the whole restaurant joined in to sing happy birthday. The staff and customers were interacting like lifelong friends. There was a table of 5 dudes who cheers’d plastic cups filled with a shot of Crown Royal, talking about "I'm so grateful for you guys..." Just the ultimate community feel.

We were STARVING and vibes were up, so we ordered a feast: 2 half chickens, a side of rice and beans, 2 different types of plantains, fried chicken, mofongo, steak, fried rice with chicken and spanish sausage, and some french fries.

Honestly, everything was fantastic, but I'm really the rotisserie chicken expert so here it goes: Having tried over 50 different roasted chicken spots in NYC at the time of writing this, Malecon is unquestionably top 3. It's a true chicken titan. Crispy golden brown skin, tender juicy meat that is flavorful and well seasoned, and not overly salty. Fall off the bone chicken. This is just about as close to a perfect chicken you can get.

They had this green sauce too that my big bro and I could not get over. Most green sauces these chicken places have are super heavy and seemingly Mayo based, but this one was light and just added a slight accent to the flavor of the meat. We ended up putting it on everything and had to keep asking for more.

I also NEED to shout out our waitress. She was unreal. Checking on us just enough without being overbearing, smiling every time we asked for more green sauce, and boxed up our food with meticulous attention to detail like my latino Granny used to do when I'd go over to her place for dinner. So much love in here.

After I posted a pic on my Instagram story, this random guy DM'd me saying "I got this place's logo tattooed on me for a reason." I think that says more than these words I'm writing could ever say.