Staff was friendly but they didn't have a lot of sides that were on the menu. Iced tea machine was broken. The chicken was pretty good though. I'd give it 3 stars but they just seemed so disorganized and the sides that they did have weren't that great. I guess it's better than the overpriced dog-food across the street at the Derby.
Jack F.
Yelp Warning: This establishment is not photographer-friendly. Keep your cameras turned off or leave them at home. To read what prompted a full debate on food photojournalism, read Kikos is somewhat of an anomaly in the Pleasant Plains area. You have a hip new restaurant in a somewhat impoverished Hispanic neighborhood so I have no idea who the restaurant intends to cater.[1] Kikos offers rotisserie and fried chicken with the "the new chicken flavor" so it's probably a new competitor for Pollo Campero. Dollar for dollar, Pollo Campero is the cheaper option.[2] But let's focus on Kiko's chicken. The chicken isn't cooked evenly. Parts of it can be very tender whereas other parts of the same chicken can be very dry. The saving grace, however, are Kiko's sauces. In addition to ketchup and honey mustard, there's are 4 in-house sauces: Mild, Mango 1/2 Spicy, Honey Spicy, and Mega Spicy. Try them all, they're pretty good when combined with dry chicken. I would avoid the sides. Both the rice & beans and the green bean options were over-cooked and mushy. None of the sides were very appetizing if you looked close enough. It all had a dry, pale look ... like cafeteria food from elementary school. The chicken wings (6pcs. for $4.99) are pricey but comparable to other restaurants. I would avoid the chicken wings too because each piece is small, puny, and slathered with a heavy buttery sauce. So what do I like about Kiko? The Carribean Chicken Plantain. For $3.49, you get a very filling dish of shredded chicken seasoned with curry and spices on top a fried plantain disk. It's a great value. Even without the photograph incident, I would still rate Kiko with only 2 stars. The food is okay but nothing as good as surrounding Latino restaurants. In all fairness, Kiko is at least better than Pollo Campero (1 Star). [Original Visit: May 3, 2009] Footnotes: [1] You could say that the gentrification of Columbia Heights is spreading north. Source: Urban Institute and D.C. Local Initiatives Support Corp. [2] 1/2 Chicken Meal with 2 sides, tortillas/biscuit is $7.59 at Pollo Campero but $8.99 at Kikos. A Whole Chicken family meal is $17.99 at Pollo Campero but $24.99 at Kikos.
Robert O.
Finally a good wing place in the hood. Worth the trip. Great sides and super-friendly service. They also deliver!
El G.
The service was incredible. I've been walking by this place for a while and got curious. I ordered a mixture of things for the hell of it: Burrito: Awesome. Fantastic. Chicken: Dry. Not that great. Really dissapointed about this actually. Sides: Awesome Sauces: Awesome I'll go back because it's across from the Red Derby, but like another reviewer said, I wouldn't go out of my way for it.
Sandra M.
Kiko's is a new chicken place across the street from Red Derby. My family and I went there this past Sunday for dinner. The service was really good. The owners were so helpful in getting the tables together for a large group and the food was good. The white meat was dry, but the dark meat was very tasty. The plaintains were amazing! I'll definitely be coming back for my plaintains.
Dan W.
I am freak-os for Kikos Chicken who differentiate themselves by offering a unique homestyle chicken seasoned with spices unlike those of their competitors. So on this fine day, I decided to dive into the rotisserie chicken as well as their fried chicken with a few of their homestyle sides, you know, just to check this place out. I decided to lavish the red skin mashed potatoes and the sweet plantains from the many many side list of possibilities. The verdict: hmmm, the rotisserie was by far the winner of this competition of chicken flavors. The fried chicken, I must say, I found disappointing and made me wish I had brought in Pollo Campero's fried chicken in its place. The rotisserie was good and very juicy and flavorful, but not knock my socks off good, although it is good enough for me to return for a round trip ticket on another fine day. The side orders: wow, the potatoes had so much butter in them they just melted on your tongue leaving you with the longing desire to have more. The sweet plantains were very good as well, and I will most definitely have those again. The conclusion: this place is worth trying if you have not already, so go and savor the new chicken flavor of Kikos.
Staff was friendly but they didn't have a lot of sides that were on the menu. Iced tea machine was broken. The chicken was pretty good though. I'd give it 3 stars but they just seemed so disorganized and the sides that they did have weren't that great. I guess it's better than the overpriced dog-food across the street at the Derby.
Yelp Warning: This establishment is not photographer-friendly. Keep your cameras turned off or leave them at home. To read what prompted a full debate on food photojournalism, read Kikos is somewhat of an anomaly in the Pleasant Plains area. You have a hip new restaurant in a somewhat impoverished Hispanic neighborhood so I have no idea who the restaurant intends to cater.[1] Kikos offers rotisserie and fried chicken with the "the new chicken flavor" so it's probably a new competitor for Pollo Campero. Dollar for dollar, Pollo Campero is the cheaper option.[2] But let's focus on Kiko's chicken. The chicken isn't cooked evenly. Parts of it can be very tender whereas other parts of the same chicken can be very dry. The saving grace, however, are Kiko's sauces. In addition to ketchup and honey mustard, there's are 4 in-house sauces: Mild, Mango 1/2 Spicy, Honey Spicy, and Mega Spicy. Try them all, they're pretty good when combined with dry chicken. I would avoid the sides. Both the rice & beans and the green bean options were over-cooked and mushy. None of the sides were very appetizing if you looked close enough. It all had a dry, pale look ... like cafeteria food from elementary school. The chicken wings (6pcs. for $4.99) are pricey but comparable to other restaurants. I would avoid the chicken wings too because each piece is small, puny, and slathered with a heavy buttery sauce. So what do I like about Kiko? The Carribean Chicken Plantain. For $3.49, you get a very filling dish of shredded chicken seasoned with curry and spices on top a fried plantain disk. It's a great value. Even without the photograph incident, I would still rate Kiko with only 2 stars. The food is okay but nothing as good as surrounding Latino restaurants. In all fairness, Kiko is at least better than Pollo Campero (1 Star). [Original Visit: May 3, 2009] Footnotes: [1] You could say that the gentrification of Columbia Heights is spreading north. Source: Urban Institute and D.C. Local Initiatives Support Corp. [2] 1/2 Chicken Meal with 2 sides, tortillas/biscuit is $7.59 at Pollo Campero but $8.99 at Kikos. A Whole Chicken family meal is $17.99 at Pollo Campero but $24.99 at Kikos.
Finally a good wing place in the hood. Worth the trip. Great sides and super-friendly service. They also deliver!
The service was incredible. I've been walking by this place for a while and got curious. I ordered a mixture of things for the hell of it: Burrito: Awesome. Fantastic. Chicken: Dry. Not that great. Really dissapointed about this actually. Sides: Awesome Sauces: Awesome I'll go back because it's across from the Red Derby, but like another reviewer said, I wouldn't go out of my way for it.
Kiko's is a new chicken place across the street from Red Derby. My family and I went there this past Sunday for dinner. The service was really good. The owners were so helpful in getting the tables together for a large group and the food was good. The white meat was dry, but the dark meat was very tasty. The plaintains were amazing! I'll definitely be coming back for my plaintains.
I am freak-os for Kikos Chicken who differentiate themselves by offering a unique homestyle chicken seasoned with spices unlike those of their competitors. So on this fine day, I decided to dive into the rotisserie chicken as well as their fried chicken with a few of their homestyle sides, you know, just to check this place out. I decided to lavish the red skin mashed potatoes and the sweet plantains from the many many side list of possibilities. The verdict: hmmm, the rotisserie was by far the winner of this competition of chicken flavors. The fried chicken, I must say, I found disappointing and made me wish I had brought in Pollo Campero's fried chicken in its place. The rotisserie was good and very juicy and flavorful, but not knock my socks off good, although it is good enough for me to return for a round trip ticket on another fine day. The side orders: wow, the potatoes had so much butter in them they just melted on your tongue leaving you with the longing desire to have more. The sweet plantains were very good as well, and I will most definitely have those again. The conclusion: this place is worth trying if you have not already, so go and savor the new chicken flavor of Kikos.
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