Alpaca Peruvian Charcoal Chicken

Basically a fast food restaurant that breaks the mold and serves tasty food. The chicken is excellent and their cookie was awesome. If it was closer to our house or office it would be a place we’d go to often. And make sure you try the plantains!

Food is absolutely great. Very tasty and fresh. Nice ambiance and service. However, there is one lady at the register who you have to watch for. She will ring up extra stuff if you are not paying attention.

This is hands down the best Spanish cuisine around! Best bang for your buck around! The portions are huge & the food is amazing. When my Family & Friends visit they always make me take them here and believe me I do not mind at all! Best Rotisserie chicken I have ever had.

I really like Their authentic food. I come back here again and again. The only set back is if you call in an order, please make sure you review your bag to see you received everything. I had a few call in take out orders missing things and it can change your experience. This is the only reason they got 4 out of 5 stars from Me.

Excellent as always! ¼ white chicken with black beans and coleslaw. I ate it all! Alone! In 10 mins flat! Did I mention the «to die for» yellow and green sauce?

My last experience was so good that this place just earned a 5 star update! I recommend going during the busy hours (yes sounds crazy). If you want fresh food, this is the best way to go! The chicken are taken out of the oven and served immediately. I went during slow hours the last time and could tell the difference between chicken that has been sitting out for a while versus fresh out of the oven chicken. I can’t stress how good the green beans are! Get that and you won’t regret it. The sauces are on point! Can’t wait to visit again!

My first review was for Mami Nora’s and the name has since changed, yet the pollo remains the same. If you like chicken, you have to come to Alpaca. As soon as you walk in the door, you are in a tropical place with Latin rhythms playing on the radio, Futbol on the television and the aromatic smell of chicken and sides. The first decision is, how much chicken do you get? You can get a whole chicken cuts into 4 or 8 pieces, a half chicken or a quarter. You pick white or dark and the friendly employee will cut it for you. You then have a choice of sides that range from rice to black beans to fried or more upscale sides like yucca fries or plantains. You can get an entire chicken and two sides for $ 15.50 and Lindy P. and Sara B. got us hooked on this special. The chicken is so flavorful and succulent and I had no idea chicken could taste so good. They have ample seating to sit and eat or take the food to go. It is in the shopping center by Food Lion on 54 and a perfect spot for lunch or dinner. There is also a location in Raleigh, Durham and Sanford. Buon provecho!

Ordered 2 plates, a whole chicken, which came with rice and two large sides (green beans and black beans) and 8 extra ounces of yellow sauce for carry out. Total with tax was under $ 40. The food itself was outstanding. This bounty of Peruvian Yard Bird greatness fed 6 — Yes — SIX People.
Forget that they say these are local, non-​GMO, organic, au naturel yard birds of the finest Yuppie quality —
Six people ate for under $ 40.
The chicken was excellent — No fake Liquid Smoke used and not a hint of under or over doneness.
The green beans were either fresh or fresh frozen and wonderfully swimming in a delicious seasoning including red onions.

Didn’t love it, didn’t hate it. Chicken was very good. If you don’t like pepper definitely don’t eat it because it was almost overwhelming at times. But overall good flavor and very fresh tasting! Had the tostones and where I’d love to say I enjoyed them, they were so salty I couldn’t even eat more than one. It’s like they dumped a bottle of salt onto them.
I would say if you don’t want to smell like food, definitely eat outside or get it to go. Not sure if it’s for us but glad we tried it and we didn’t regret it.

Order the Lomo and Pollo
The rice and fries are great. but the sauce was so … salty it is almost unbearable.
Overall, the meal should be great, but it wet all the fries and rice up.

El Pollo Saltado!!! Excellent. Moist tender chicken over a bed of lightly seasoned fries & fresh tomatoes. The rice was moist and topped with cilantro. I love this place.

I live stone’s throw away from Harris Teeter and that’s enough for fix my rotisserie chicken requirements so I never thought this place will offer any different. But they serve grilled chicken grilled chicken with a twist of Peruvian spices, a juicy delicious surprise.
They also offered sides like Yucca fries, black beans and steamed yucca which is I guess their Peruvian influence. Like everyone has written before me price wise this place is unbeatable and thats also one of the reason I am hooked now.
The service is quick irrespective of eat on or to go order. So do yourself and your pocket a favor once in a while and try this place out.

I like the concept, it’s affordable with big portions in a casual setting. Good value for money. You order at the counter and bring your food to the table and get your utensils. The food is home style cooking. My wife and I had the whole chicken which includes two large sides for 15.50, not a bad deal at all. For 50 cents extra we opted for the premium sides rice with beans on top and maduros. The chicken was juicy with the nice charcoal taste, but some parts inside a little bit pink. For a whole chicken, the size is on the smaller size, but that also means more flavor. It was enough chicken for us with some left overs also. The rice and beans were good. You get two different sauces with your food, yellow and green, the green is a little bit spicy, goes well with the chicken.
We had a coupon that entitled us to 5 dollars off for ordering 20 dollars of food. Our order initially came to 20.74 and we were told we have to buy more to use the coupon. Apparently, the coupon meant 20 dollars before tax (not stated on the coupon). We were less than a dollar off. They could have just let it slide rather than ask us to buy more. Not a big deal, but it sets a tone. We got the dulce de leche cookie for 1.75 to get above the 20 dollars. My belly is totally full, so I am yet to give my verdict on how that cookie tastes.
Service does not seem very flexible, a lady in front of me wanted to amend her order, get a larger size of sides and pay extra for it, but the cashier just said no, can’t do it. One of the younger girls working behind the counter has a very bad attitude and doesn’t seem to want to be there. She seemed bothered when we asked for boxes for our leftovers. I’m taking a star off for that.

Wow.
I didn’t think that Alpaca Peruvian Chicken was going to be that different from other grilled chicken places. I was dead wrong.
This place is one of the best values/​food pay off in the area.
I picked up an order togo. I got the whole chicken with rice and black beans. I also saw a tres leche so I picked up one of those as well.
The place is bright, warm and loud in a good way. The service was quick and efficient.
First off, the sides are huge! Not some dinky sides in small ramekins. The rice was fresh and the black beans had a lot of flavor.
The chicken was excellent of course. I like the fact that they will cut it in 1/8’s or ¼’s for you as well. Decent size with plenty of leftovers. The chicken had an excellent char, was tender and juicy.
Finally, the tres leches cake was quite possibly the best one that I’ve had around here.
A+, would repeat, eat and review again!

Alpaca Peruvian Charcoal Chicken is a mouthful of a name for a restaurant but when you walk in the door you’ll get a noseful. The olfactory stimulation that results from roasting rotisserie chicken over wood charcoal is exciting. Pull as much of that scent over your receptors as your heart desires as you peruse the menu boards posted on the wall. Your nose will love you for it.
If you didn’t notice the mouthwatering scent of chicken when you walked in the door, or if you didn’t notice the word ‘chicken’ in the restaurant’s name, you’ll at least notice that the menu highlights chicken as the star of the show here. And, it’s not just any chicken. It’s local and hormone free. And, gluten free.
Choose white or dark meat and two sides. I opted for a quarter chicken (dark meat) with green beans and sweet plantains. The chicken was perfectly roasted and had tons of flavor. The green beans were also perfectly cooked and loaded with garlic, which I loved. The sweet plantains were outstanding. Slightly caramelized and sweet. Delicious.
Check it out. Your nose will thank you and your mouth is in for a party.

Chicken.
The thought of it brings up memories of countless boring dinners at home, bland dishes that need to be spiced up, or passé rotisserie fast casual places (eg, Boston Market, Kenny Rogers, etc). Not here. Holy moly, this was good.
Alpaca is all about real hardwood *charcoal* grilling. Do not confuse this for charcoal briquettes. This is the real deal — the high-​performance fuel that burns extra hot and imbues the meat with a smoky woodiness. The folks at Alpaca have steak and a few other specialties, but it is really about their chickens — which they prepare beautifully. Long enough so that the smoke is all the way to the bone, but slow enough to keep the meat juicy, tender, and fully cooked. And the charcoal they use is wonderful. The meat is on the medium-​to-​light side of smoky, with more woody characteristics rather than sweet fruit-​tree types typically used in Carolina. Simply divine.
The chickens are not super huge ones you get in grocery stores these days, but they are «normal» sized ones that are either younger pullets or simply not jammed full of growth hormones. Not sure. Either way, small chickens are generally better because the meat tastes better. [Update: found out the chicken is organic.]
You can get quarter, half, or full chickens — the last making feeding families quite economical. So standard meals start off at about $ 7 before drinks and extras. Get a full chicken and you can get that down to about $ 4−5/pax.
The chickens come with two dipping sauce choices — green and yellow. Green tasted like a jalapeño/​spice purée, while the yellow seems like a mayo/​mustard mix. I tasted the sauces but frankly opted to not use them because the plain roasted chicken was sublime.
Standard meals come with two side dishes — of slaw, black beans, white rice, steak fries, soup, corn or salad. I had fries and salad. The fries were great — seemingly par-​boiled and then fried to give them a nice fluffy center and a nice browning without getting too heavy. The salads came with wonderful home-​made dressings. Not super authentic Peruvian, but who cares. We’re not here to eat cuy chactado and pachamanca.
Put this at the top of the rotation for «can eat it every day» business lunch, «don’t feel like cooking but not getting all fancy pants» dinner, or «I want to cater for a dinner at my house, but can afford less than $ 10/​head».
There are four locations, which makes me think it is a mom-​and-​pop operation. But, the front of house looks professional, clean, and nicely appointed for a fast-​casual concept (ie, order at the counter, gather your own utensils, and bus your own tray). Do yourself a favor and grab four or five napkins — your going to need them for all the bone picking you’re about to do.

Best Peruvian chicken in the Raleigh, Durham and Cary areas. Always well-​seasoned, juicy and piping hot. The whole chicken, which comes with 2 large sides is the best deal and great for sharing. The leftovers are yummy reheated or re-​purposed. I typically use it to make chicken salad the next day.
Their homemade sides and homemade sauces are the perfect complements to the chicken. They are all delicious but I always opt for the tostones and yucca frita (and yes… they are worth the extra
$.50)!
If you’re in the mood for something other than their awesome chicken they make a mean lomo saltado and their daily specials never disappoint.
If you’re not opting for water to drink, try the homemade chi cha morada. The spicy clove and cinnamon make this drink absolutely yummy. If you want a beer with your meal, grab the Presidente.
The only criticism I have of Mami Nora’s/Alpaca is that the tres leches and alfajores are prepackaged. As a lover of tres leches I wish this wasn’t so. But honestly with food like this who needs dessert?
We have been regular patrons for over 5 years (starting at the Wake Forest Road location and now here) and we will continue to be for years to come.
Welcome to your newest addiction!

I had my first ‘When Harry Met Sally’ dining moment at Alpaca! Holy goodness of chicken and rice!
Why haven’t I heard of people raving about this place? Well, this madness stops now. I’ll take this burden upon myself and do so now.
Alpaca is a quick serve Peruvian restaurant chain. If you like Guasaca, you need to run to your car, don’t worry about brushing your teeth or changing clothes, and get there asap. Your taste buds will thank you for it a million times over.
I ordered the ¼ chicken with 2 sides (to go… like a fool) and the caramel flan. Thinking I wouldn’t finish it all, I sat down and devoured everything but the dessert. It was a big meal and the flavors just jump off the plate. They use only no-​hormone, GMO free, gluten friendly, etc etc chicken which you can clearly taste. It’s cooked to perfection, on charcoal of course, and served with a green sauce and a yellow sauce. Being someone who doesn’t like to mix foods, I embraced the culture and mixed it all together! Yummy!
If the above doesn’t convince you to try it out, then know that I immediately went up to the cashier after the meal and told them how much I enjoyed it. I also inquired when the next location was opening. They said early 2016 in Sanford. Good for Sanford, too bad for this West Raleigh gal.

Today I ordered the daily special: Arroz Chaufa. It is a fried rice dish with sausage and chicken. The pieces of meat were smaller than expected but even a bite with only one tiny piece of meat was flavorful. It is a good choice if you are not looking for a lot of meat. I would definitely get it again.
My usual pick is the dark meat chicken with two sides. I think the chicken and dipping sauces are what stands out for this establishment. The chicken is well seasoned and cooked to perfection. Accompanied with the green spicy sauce, it is phenomenal. My favorite side is the sweet plantains. I love sweet plantains in general so it is not that they are particularly great here but I do appreciate that that they offer both the green or sweet plantain option. I have tried the steamed yucca and did not care much for it but I do like their thick cut fries.
I used to go to the Durham location when I worked close by but now the Cary location is closer to where I work and live (I am ecstatic!). The Cary location is larger and feels nicer since it is newer. One notable difference in the Cary location is that you can see the food behind a glass wall as you order verses just making your choice based on the menu.

Finally got to go here and eat inside the restaurant. The company I worked for orders catering from this chain regularly.
I ordered a half chicken with black beans and a side of green beans.
Beware! The green cilantro sauce is surprisingly spicy and induced hiccups the first time I tried it because I was not prepared. If you’re the type who always complains that restaurants don’t make things spicy enough, you will probably like this sauce. The yellow sauce is also good and tastes like a honey mustard variant.
Chicken
— Cooked perfectly. Tender, moist, and with no dry spots.
Black beans
— Nothing special to call out here, but no complaints either
Green beans
— My pick because I’m trying to eat healthier. Cooked in oil and lightly salted. No complaints here either.
I’ve had their rice, fries, and fried plantains when it was catered at work. All great choices and you wouldn’t go wrong ordering any of them.
On the plus side, this place is a great place for anyone trying to eat paleo or low-​carb with the right choices. You really can’t go wrong.
Go here if you’re craving some delicious charcoal grilled chicken.