If you come into Pollo Volador, don't let the meager decorations and simple tables distract you from the reason you came – the food. While there's no bread or rolls, the appetizers run cheap and can fill you up deceptively quickly. Beef or chicken empanadas are available for $1.20, or sweet corn cakes with cheese for $2.99. Large, hearty soups are available – the adventurous can dive into the consome (a chicken soup with gizzards, liver, and chicken necks) for $3.10, or the hen soup with rice and avocado for $8.

The main draw and proclaimed specialty of the house is the roasted chicken. Slow-cooked over coals, the skin comes to a caramelized firmness, trapping some very juicy meat underneath. A half chicken for $6.50 comes with fries and can feed most, or hungrier folk/larger groups can get a whole chicken (with sweet plantain and corn cake) for $10, or a family platter (with rice and potatoes) for $16.25. Steaks should never be counted out in a Columbian restaurant, and Pollo Volador offers a nicely charred churrasco (strip steak) with sweet plantain, cassava and potato. Or if you prefer to delve into seafood, bass, white fish, and several shrimp plates are available from $11-$14.

A few tropical shakes are available with a base of water ($2) or milk ($2.50) as you like: blackberry, passion fruit, or the exotic guanabana or lulo (make sure to stir). A can of Kola Champagne, Inka Cola, or several other imported sodas are $1.35 apiece. If you have room and haven’t exhausted your sweet tooth, get a plate of figs with cheese or sweet plantains with cheese for $2.50. But you'll probably want to get at least one order of the flan ($2.50) – with a crust bubbling with caramel and a firm texture that gives you more to savor than just the syrup, you'll have to fight off a few other forks once the rest of the table gets a taste.

Average cost: $10-$20

Centerstage Reviewer: Dan Morgridge