Peru's Chicken

Located at 3050 Valley Avenue in Winchester, Virginia, Peru’s Chicken offers South American fare for lunch and dinner seven days a week. Family-sized chicken meals are available, and free delivery is available for orders over $20.

Winchester is a regular lunch stop on journeys back to Greensboro from New Jersey, and we are always looking for new places in the area to try. Well-regarded and specializing in a cuisine we can’t find at home, Peru’s seemed like a good bet. In some regards, it was.

Situated in the back of a plaza, Peru’s is easy to miss, but the craving-inducing smell of cooking chicken will let you know you’re in range. Peru’s is small and spare though more colorfully appointed than many hole-in-the-wall joints. It’s a counter service establishment, and though the staff were not overtly rude, they definitely did not seem thrilled to be there.

Peru’s menu features various permutations of chicken (white meat and dark meat platters, sandwiches, burritos, etc.) as well as a nice assortment of sides (yuca, plantains, rice, and beans in addition to the requisite fries). My wife and I went with chips and guac, a side of plantains, a burrito, and a mixed bowl, and a horchata. The $3.25 chips and guac were an absolute joke: a small portion of guac, a very thin salsa, and chips that seem like they came from a warehouse store. Avoid. Thankfully, everything else proved to be much tastier and made with greater care. The plantains were maduros (sweet fried), and a good rendition thereof, the horchata was refreshing and not cloyingly sweet, and the salsa that accompanied the chicken was a coarse homemade variety, fresh-tasting and vastly superior to what accompanied the chips. The chicken was the real star though: juicy, flavorful, and filling. It is also quite affordable: the mixed bowl (pulled chicken, salsa, and rice) and the burrito (pulled chicken, rice, beans, lettuce, salsa, and sour cream) were both approximately $7, and a large horchata was only $3.

Peru’s may have a few rough edges, but if you stick to the chicken, you will leave here satisfied.

7.75/10