Photograph by George Sakkestad
Robert Garcia, general manager of Pollo Rey, prepares fresh chickens on a rotisserie twice a day.
By Suzanne Cristallo
At Pollo Rey, a Mexican rotisserie in Los Gatos, chickens delivered daily from Race Street Fish and Poultry are roasted slowly, turning on a spit for two hours over mesquite coals before they are considered ready. All food is prepared fresh twice daily for lunch and dinner; beans are served whole, not refried, and lard is never used, according to manager Robert Garcia.
Garcia, 32, oversees a staff of seven and shares in all of the food preparation and cashiering duties of his employees. "I call myself an employee's manager," he says. "Because I do with them what they do, they seem to respect me. I certainly trust them to run the place well if I'm gone for a while."
Garcia's style of management seems to work well. Since he first became a manager for Taco Bell when he was 20, he has been "recruited" away to serve as a restaurant manager for four different fast-food chains.
Pollo Rey, a Mountain View- based chain with 19 outlets owned by Ray Klein, recruited him six months ago, just about the time he married his wife, Teresa, who works as a manager in a competing fast-food chain.
"We offer lots of service and fresh food," he notes as an explanation for what he believes Pollo Rey offers over its competitors. "We want out customers to stay. For instance, I only ask if their orders are for here--not to go--because we don't want them to go."
Known for occasionally slipping a free dessert or a little extra soup to a customer, Garcia says his object is to make people happy.
"Fresh Mex fast food" at Pollo Rey includes: steak, veggie, tofu and chicken burritos with rice, cheese and beans, which can be customized with sour cream, guacamole and lots of cheese; quesadillas with veggies, chicken and chicken chili; stuffed potatoes; special salads like the chicken Caesar, a green salad in an edible tortilla bowl, or chicken and rice, all with fresh salsa and jack cheese; chicken and steak tacos, and half and quarter chicken dinners with side dishes, all under $6.
Children under 10 may order smaller portions of burritos, frijoles, quesadillas or a drumstick with sides for under $3.
Pollo Rey, 15724 Los Gatos Blvd., Los Gatos. Hours: 11 a.m.- 9 p.m. daily. 358-8680.
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, December 25, 1996.
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