Justa’s Chicken

We moved here a year ago from NJ, where some of the best Peruvian food we ever had is-​so we were looking for a place here. The food here is «sometimes» good-​kind of hit or miss never consistent. And very pricey. We have been coming here pretty much every Saturday morning for better part our time here. Staff, owners, food started changing up in past 6 – 7 months. Now they charge you an automatic 18% tip no matter what– and they have the nerve to add the 18% «after all the tax». We always tip well, but being regulars we found this insulting. We told the waitress to remove the 18% off the bill! or we would never come back. One day our regular waitress was in a very foul mood & nasty, so my tip was as well. Can you believe the next Saturday she actually questioned us about it??? REALLY? I was shocked beyond words. So then the 18% (yup you guessed it) was added right back in again. My husband said please remove the 18%. She actually asked him if he understood how tips work! hahaha! I said yes tips are for good service and they are NOT mandatory! Looks like we aren’t going back. And need to find a new place for our Saturday morning breakfasts.

It wasn’t bad but nothing that I’ll crave later. It should be listed under Latin with a Peruvian twist. Menu also has a Coke Zero logo but no Coke Zero which is kinda weird.

This may be the only Peruvian place around.
Good food and reasonable prices
Beer is available

Ok, so I came here Friday night (5÷6÷2016) and the place was not crowed so I was immediately seated at a corner table. My waitress was friendly and she quickly got me a menu and started my drink order. After she got my drink I was ready to order, I started with the ceviche mixto (mixed seafood) and Tallarines verdes. Which is spaghetti with a Peruvian style pesto sauce, and a steak on top. When I got the ceviche it was huge, it could easily be a meal by itself for many folks. The Tallarines was also a good size portion, but it lacked some flavor. First, it was literally smothered in this green sauce that didn’t taste like classic pesto sauce. Granted they’re not trying to imitate the Italian style but I could not quite pin point the flavor. Basically it wasn’t bad it was just different from other places I’ve had this dish before. The steak on the spaghetti was tender and flavor. In the meantime, my friendly waitress kept checking in on me, and refilling my cocktail per my request. Over all it wasn’t bad they had quite a selection on their menu that I’m willing to return and try them out. They also have different sporting events on their flat screen TV’s and I think after 10pm they have dancing with a live DJ.

This place is delicious! I used to live down the street from here, and I would get my chicken fix. The food is freshly prepared, yummy and the staff are excellent.

Great place!!! Karla was our waitress! She gave us the best customer service and made us feel welcomed and comfortable in the restaurant to my family and I. I definability recommend eating here it’s very nice and traditional. Coming back soon!

Loved the ambiance and the kick of flavors! Met Jake, the owner, and he was great to talk with and very helpful with meal suggestions. I enjoyed the carne saltado and the sauce it came with on the side carried some serious heat which I really appreciated! Was there for lunch so I can’t speak to dinner prices or portions but the lunch size portion was perfect!

Won’t be back ever.
I wanted to try some place new, and Justa’s Chicken has managed to stay open for several years now so it must be good, right?
When I walked in there was a straight-​faced woman behind the counter, so unfriendly looking. I already knew what I would order — ¼ chicken with rice & yucca. I put my order in with her and the next thing she said was the total. I can’t remember now what it was, but I remember it being way overpriced. I gave her my card and she completed the transaction — 10 minutes she says. I patiently wait for my food to come out and when it does I say thank you and she says nothing. I take my food and leave.
I open the box and it looks meh. The food itself was probably ²⁄₅. How is this place still open?

I’m giving this place two stars based on the quality of their food. I have not been here in a while so I know I’ll try again some time and hopefully it’s a lot better. I ordered papa a la huancaina and I know how it’s supposed to be and it’s definitely not supposed to be warm (I think they keep this frozen/​refrigerated) and when you order they warm it up. It did not taste good we ended up not eating it, the place itself needs some major updates. I would suggest spending just a few more bucks somewhere else where you’ll get good food. If you’re on a budget and want to try Peruvian food then I think this place will be just fine.

There aren’t many Peruvian chicken places that are good in this part of town. This isn’t terrible, but not the best. I’ve had dry chicken from here before and dried out plantains that weren’t very mature. It’s very convenient and close to seminary road and Beauregard + little river turnpike etc. could be better.

Since moving to the DC area, I have been to this place several times. They have a good Peruvian spot back home and this place is a close comparison. Nice People. Good Food. Good Service. I don’t think I can ask for much more than that.

Random stop for lunch caused a return trip with my girlfriend! She agreed, wonderful food and friendly staff. Try this place!

I really enjoy the rotisserie chicken here. I think this is my second favorite Pollo place in the area! I have eaten here dozens of times and have only once had a meal that was less than expected. Prices are great. Service is great. Atmosphere is sport bar like with lots of room for big parties.

We came back! The rest of the family wanted to try this place so despite the not-​so-​great experience we had last month, we decided to give it another shot. Wasn’t a good idea. We got there at 6pm exactly, and didn’t get the drinks on the table until 6:36, not to mention they waited until 6:33 to let me know there was no sweet tea. The food took another 30 minutes to come out, and we had Ceviche. After finally getting the food on the table, we realize we were never brought any silverware or napkins, after waiting for the server to return, my fiancé finally got up and walked to the kitchen to ask for some silverware so we could eat. The server didn’t even seem to be trying to tend to us, and then we get the check to see 18% tip is automatically added. Great.
The ceviche wasn’t the best tonight, and that’s coming from a Peruvian. so we probably won’t be returning, I mean 2 times is enough chances when there are so many good Peruvian restaurants in the DMV area.

Two friends suggested I give this place a try so all three of us dropped in for dinner one recent evening. I remember when this place used to be a pizza hut, so seeing it transformed in this way was interesting.
The interior is attractively set up and we were ushered to our seats without much of a wait. The restaurant was mostly empty when we arrived which was surprising considering we were there around 7:30 pm. The server seemed polite enough, and we worked through our menus while she got us water. Many of the offerings here are surprisingly expensive for a Peruvian restaurant, though in fairness some of the entrees did seem intricately put together. Things started going downhill from here.
My water smelled and tasted surprisingly like chlorine for some reason. My two friends’ waters were fine, so I politely asked for another glass (which she brought out a few minutes later). I ordered the ½ la brasa chicken (which is the only meal close to $ 10 on the menu) and the three of us received our orders without too much delay. I was surprised to find the chicken bland and unremarkable, and despite the hot sauce and mustard that came with the meal, there wasn’t much flavor to be added to it. I did opt for the Yuca side dish and it was excellent, I’d definitely consider getting that in the future.
After limping through the meal, when we received the checks, we found out that an 18% GRATUITY IS ADDED TO ALL CHECKS AUTOMATICALLY! This isn’t just for parties but for ALL customers. I would have given our waitress a tip approximate to this value, though if we had received markedly bad service you would have had to tip well anyway. I can tell you from my experience as a server and bartender that guaranteed tips always result in service staff not working as hard. If you want good service, you make your servers earn their tips. This is a bad policy and I have never seen universal automatic gratuities anywhere aside from here. Glad most places are sensible enough not to have it.
In summary, the food is unremarkable, the prices vary, and you’d better pray you get good service because you’ll be paying for it regardless. I would not return here.
Overall: 2.0 stars
— — — — — -
Pros:
— Attractive interior.
— Good selection of liquors at the bar for such a small place.
— Interesting free nut appetizer tasted nice.
— Several TVs if you’re into watching sports while you eat.
Cons:
— The water tasted like chlorine until they replaced my glass. Not sure what that was all about.
— Some of the food can be good, though much of it is bland and unremarkable.
— Prices are pretty high considering the quality of food you’re getting.
— This place has an automatic 18% gratuity regardless of party size or your experience. Not cool and not a good business policy.
— This place doesn’t know what it wants to be: it’s half sports bar and half quasi-​fancy Peruvian dining. Just like the boat-​car, by trying to do two things, they fail to achieve either.

I enjoyed this place. It’s quaint but the food is very good and with good portions. It was a bit off-​putting that the TV’s were set to novelas (soap operas in Spanish) but no big deal.
The service was prompt and friendly and I look forward to coming back!

One of the best places to eat around here if ur in the mood for delish food that’s going to to make u want to come over and over again this is deff the place to go this is one of my must go places when am in the area

My husband and I came here to check out their Peruvian chicken. We always pass by Justa’s, located inside an old, Pizza Hut-​turned building. Their menu offers the Peruvian chicken, appetizers (ceviche, tamale, etc.), beef/​poultry/​seafood entrees, soups, and desserts. They also have lunch specials and Happy Hour from 4−7PM. When you are seated, you get a small stainless bowl of roasted corn — these nice and salty, and great to munch on while trying to figure out what to order. We had the ½ Chicken, which comes with a cup of salad and a choice of one side order (fries, yuca, rice, rice & beans, beans, or tortillas; we opted for the fries) — the chicken was juicy and very meaty; the aji sauce was more on the mustard-​focused side and tangy, but complemented the chicken well (I like it when it’s more salty and creamy). The fries were your typical steak fries. I was also curious about their Tamal con Salsa Criolla, which was a corn tamale with sliced green olives — I wasn’t much of a fan of this tamale as it was more on the wet side, and the sliced olives (usually a lover of olives) didn’t really help. It came with a side of diced red onions, carrots, and cilantro. Our server was very nice and friendly, but she also kept forgetting to get our horchata drink: P This place seems to be a popular spot for the locals and their families; the interior is dark, a little humid (no AC, unless it was kept to a bare minimum; ventilation wasn’t that great, either), and I liked the red décor. It is also kind of loud with the mariachi soundtrack they have going on at full volume (which I didn’t mind, but you can’t really hold a conversation unless you shout).
+juicy Peruvian chicken with a mustard-​y aji sauce
+no AC
+loud music
+friendly staff

I have now been here for lunch twice, so I feel I can have enough experience to review it.
Justa’s Chicken is a full Peruvian restaurant, not just a Pollo Chicken joint. My first time here I had the Aji De Gallina which was very good. I was warned by my coworker that it was very spicy, but I didn’t really see it. The second time I had the Pollo Saltado which was also very good. Extra consideration just also be given for having Inca Cola on the menu.
The Peruvian friend with whom I went one time never answer my question about the authenticity, but whether it is or not, it was very good.

Solid peruvian chicken choice. Definitely cooked to perfection. perfectly seasoned? I’m not quite sure that it surpasses Super Pollo as it seems a bit underseasoned for my taste, although I find the quality of the meat itself to be superior to Super Pollo’s. The yucca was perfect. I was tempted to try one of the other traditional peruvian offerings (arroz chaufa or the soup with shrimp in it (sopa camaranoes (sp?) but since I came to pick up food for lunch, I didn’t want to wait long.
The atmosphere is nice for sitting down to eat as well. Since the city of Alexandria crushed my lunch dreams by shutting down the food trucks at Mark Center, Justa’s is at the top of the list along with Yamazoto. Gotta drive a bit further to avoid the dreaded Noodles and Company and Subway but it’s worth it. Not having to get onto Little River Turnpike from Beauregard is also a plus point.