Pollo Rey's colorful design creates a Mexican fiesta

Nation's Restaurant News, Oct 6, 1997 by Carolyn Walkup

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. -- The festive atmosphere and decor of Pollo Rey Original Mexican Rotisserie quick-service restaurants transports customers to a fiesta south of the border.

Hand-laid tile, bright colors, Mexican folk art and recorded Latin music set the scene. Although the format is quick service, the detailed decor and made-from-scratch food result in an experience that goes beyond what most traditional fast-food restaurants offer their customers, said chief operating officer Art Velasquez.

With a check average approaching $7, Pollo Rey is positioned at the high end of quick-service chains. The upbeat atmosphere encourages 60 percent of customers to eat in the restaurants, while the remaining 40 percent order food to go. Seating capacity ranges from 15 at a joint-venture unit in Pittsburgh to 80 in a converted Kenny Rogers Roasters restaurant in Beaverton, Ore.

Saundra Clark, a partner in the Clark Anderson Designs of Palo Alto, Calif., has designed all 25 Pollo Rey units. "None are cookie-cutter. A common thread is the colors and tilework," she said, noting that she has transformed a variety of spaces into the distinctive restaurants.

By buying overruns from a major tile company, Clark is able to keep design costs on budget. Resulting colorful patterns from tile accents are a key element of the celebratory ambience that encourages diners to sit down and eat their meals, whether dinners or lunches, in the restaurants.

Folk art varies in each restaurant, since all of it is hand-crafted. The Chicago store contains antique, hand-painted wagon wheels converted to ceiling lighting fixtures, pottery, baskets and a historic photo of a meeting between Mexican leaders Pancho Villa and Zapata.

Old painted wooden tiles are arranged between photos to carry through the tile motif. A set of old advertisements printed on antique tin trays also is displayed in the Chicago unit.

Clark maintains a large warehouse full of collectibles that she can turn to whenever she is asked to design a new Pollo Rey unit. "California has a lot of Mexican importers, so I don't have to go to Mexico too often," she said.

"Tile is used widely throughout Mexico and has become a signature for us," Pollo Rey's Velasquez said. "We try to do some unique designs. All of our stores are different but with the same conceptual feeling."

The company employs two full-time tile setters who decorate table tops and make panel borders for the walls and fronts of counters. They also break tiles into pieces and combine them into mosaics.

The tile motif continues even into the restaurants' bathrooms. "We take a lot of pride in our bathrooms," Velasquez said. "It's like bringing people into your home."

More tile accents are used on the exterior as bands between the windows and sometimes on the ground at the entrances. In Chicago, the first Pollo Rey location in the Frost Belt, the company had to find special frost-free tile that cost more than the usual budget.

Some stores have special design features tied to their locations. The new store near Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs, features a "heavy hitters" table, inlaid with blue, red and white tiles spelling out the Cubs' logo.

A unit in the Stanford University student union has a redwood plank floor with the Stanford tree logo. "It's the first thing you see when you walk in," Velasquez said.

A variety of existing buildings can be converted to a Pollo Rey, Velasquez noted, if the buildouts are not being done in raw space. The Chicago site is in a turn-of-the-century building and retains a wall of original exposed brick.

"With our decor package, there is no limit on the kind of space you can go into without a tremendous expenditure. With color selection and tile work, we can create an entirely different feel and ambience," Velasquez said.

As part of a fiesta spirit, Pollo Rey often serves a selection of bottled beers as an accompaniment to its food. The Chicago unit is the first to incorporate an extensive tequila bar, trademarked as a Tequilaria. Other liquors also are available there.

The small bar area has five stools. Bright colors and tile borders tie the bar into the rest of the restaurant. Nonalcoholic beverages include "homemade lemonade," served from large mason jars.

Another folksy accent is a series of adages, in Spanish and English, painted on the walls. The English translation of one of them is "Faces we see, hearts we don't know."

Pollo Rey's signature item, fresh rotisserie chicken, is served in a variety of entrees as well as in tacos, quesadillas and burritos.

All accompaniments also are made-from-scratch daily, including hand-cut salsa, guacamole, nonfried Mexican rice, pinto and black beans, mashed potatoes and poppyseed slaw. Several items meet the Heart Smart program's criteria for low-fat, low-cholesterol and low-salt content. No lard is used in the restaurants.

The healthy connotation of the menu holds special appeal to women who are watching their weight or fat intake, Velasquez said. Women also are likely to appreciate such design elements as the tile work and folk art that owner Ray Klein and designer Clark display from their buying trips to Mexico.