Juan Pollo -- 300 S Garey Ave Pomona, CA 91766

First an apology and explanation. Last week I was out of town at a family event (nephew's wedding) so didn't get to Papa Tacos as I had indicated. While I knew I would be out of town, I don't like to put that out here so that people will know I'm not around and the bad guys can come and ransack my dwelling (not paranoia, just caution).

I was home by the middle of last week and thought I'd "catch up" by going to Papa Tacos, which I did at about 1:00 pm on Wednesday. Unfortunately, they were not open (Yelp said they open at 11:00 am) and as far as I could tell, it appears that they may not be there anymore despite the sign still being there. I will investigate and report back my findings.

So I've moved on down Garey and this week had lunch at Juan Pollo, which follows.

My Meal Cost: $7.62. Health Rating A. Yelp 3.5 stars

Juan Pollo in downtown Pomona is in the historic building which once housed the Pomona Women's Community Club, built in 1923 by Mark Potter. The women's club began in 1922 as an auxiliary to the YMCA. The brick facade is pretty much unchanged since 1923 with the original upstairs ballroom currently housing an event space. Unlike my previous sites, this one has a Garey address, but the entrance is actually on Third Street.

Juan Pollo has rotisserie chicken, that is chicken which is slowly cooked on a revolving spit. My personal preference is for either fried chicken (KFC or Donahoos), or grilled chicken (Pollo Loco), but rotisserie chicken does a much better job at getting a nice golden crisp skin, while maintaining moisture in the chicken meat itself.

The interior of the restaurant has lots of seating at booths and tables and is festooned with colorful murals. A very pleasant place to spend a lunch hour. Service is walk up and pickup when your number is called. I decided to try the lunch special which included two pieces of chicken, salsa, tortillas (they asked me if I wanted flour or corn, I responded corn, but ended up with flour, I'll live), a cup of potato salad, a cup of rice, and a medium beverage. They have several agua frescas including horchata and jamaica, as well as the regular fountain drinks and tea (I had diet Pepsi).

The potato salad was good with green onions and other small veggie items inside. As a lover of anything potato, this was a good addition to my lunch. The rice was not a Mexican or Spanish style rice but was a sticky white rice with a few caraway seeds and some carrot pieces and green onion. Since I'm not a fan of plain white rice, I added some of the salsa, which made it a little more palatable but still not something that I'm going to be craving.

Again, the chicken was good and juicy, with a wonderful crispy skin. The ambiance was very pleasant. The lunch crowd was steady but the large dining room was not at all crowded. The TV set was playing an old black and white TV show from the 50s or 60s, volume turned down (at time of writing I can't recall what it was because I was not sitting facing the TV).

I know I'll get another chance at Juan Pollo when I get further north on Garey so if you have a favorite item, let me know.

UP NEXT: Papa Tacos

Since it doesn't open until 4:00 pm, this one will end up being a dinner review, and probably a little later than normal.