Lucky Chicken

Just ate the chicken and rice.
Puts Mamis to shame (good chicken, no flavor at all). Almost as good as El Pollo Rico in Arlington, VA! That’s really good!
Really flavorful, lime you can actually taste. My mouth is still stinging a bit! I’ll be back!

Disappointed :/​I had high hopes esp considering my mom is Peruvian. My boyfriend and I visited Lucky Chicken for the first time on Friday and from the moment we walked in it was awkward.
No one greeted us at first it seemed, there was only 1 waiter handling the whole place on a Friday night — once we were finally seated at the table we were overwhelmed by smell of bleach used to clean. Then the waiter lazily moped over to our table and made a exhausted grimace that showed he didn’t want to be there. Vibe killer– We walked out.

Almost a year later we tried again. They are still a horrible place. And what’s worse is now when you order the Pollo a la Brasa, they only give you one tiny little side, FOR A WHOLE CHICKEN. If you want another side it’ extra.
If you want authentic Peruvian food go to Raleigh for Mami Nora’s or Alpaca. I live in Clayton and I still wouldn’t waste a penny eating at Lucky Chicken.

Where do I even start? Came in around 1200 with my family — table for 6. There was another large table and a couple in the entire restaurant so three tables at lunch time. There weren’t enough menus for all of us so we had to share two menus. Placed our drink orders — they had run out of chicha morada. Once again: it’s 1200! Placed our food order and that’s where everything went downhill. 1245 rolls around and not one member of staff has came by our table to ask if we needed refills (most of our drinks were completely empty by that time).
Finally managed to get the attention of one member of staff and inquired about our food. He proceeded to tell me that they had just started our order. At this point, I tell him that although I understood that the restaurant was busy, which was an exaggeration because there were three tables in the establishment, it would be great if they could at least get our appetizers, or bring bread at least and see if we needed refills.
It’s not until then that we learn that we will not be able to get one of our appetizers because their blender broke. We then get our food, only to have one order missing. At this point we don’t care about the missing order and just tell the server to forget about it. The last blow came when the order of white rice didn’t make it to our table because they also ran out of white rice.
I wanted to take my in-​laws and parents to a nice dining experience, and boy did I miss the mark. If at lunch time, the staff can’t handle three tables on a Saturday, I would seriously hate to be a patron of this establishment during dinner rush.
Horrible customer service + mediocre food = an establishment that I wouldn’t come back to nor recommend to anyone.

I hate to update with disappointment but: Two bad experiences in the same week here. One night (not Tuesday, when they’re closed), we called for about an hour to place an order for pick up, but no one answered. We drove by (long before close) and it looked to be closed. (Not sure since we didn’t stop.) Tonight, on a Friday night, the had run out of half and whole chickens by 6 p.m. Since I can have only limited carbs, that meant that I didn’t get to eat dinner while the rest of my party enjoyed theirs. Additionally, though there was only one other party there, our water was never refilled. Our server had to reach over the empty cups to pick up plates. Bummer, and we’re not looking to go back soon. Come on, LC! Clayton needs you!

Great little Peruvian restaurant that reminds me of the amazing Cuban food from FL.

Not even wasting my time with a lengthy review. This place is a mess. Saturday night, we ordered two chickens, sides and a few beers.
Can’t get beer as there was nobody there that can serve… did I mention is Saturday night?
After 15 minutes they inform us they are out of chicken… at the chicken restaurant on Saturday night… really?!
Complete fail. Enough said.

I visited Clayton, today. I chose this place for lunch on a whim. The food was great! It was an unexpected treat. My only critique is that the «tea» wasn’t really tea, so much as light brown water. Otherwise, I STRONGLY recommend the Pollo a lo Pobre (pan fried chicken with fried eggs on top) and the Chaufa de Pollo, which is Peruvian style chicken fried rice… AMAZING!

I’ll say it. As another reviewer said, «I can’t believe that we found the best place to eat Peruvian food… and it’s in Clayton, NC.» It beats the Raleigh favorite Mami Nora’s, hands down. We ordered take out tonight (first time). We enjoyed the Lomo Saltado. It’s the best we’ve ever had, full of flavor, tender beef… just outstanding! Our kids liked the Caufa de Pollo… Cheers! Here’s to a great food experience in Clayton, NC… Lucky Chicken… Still shocked. We will BE BACK.

GREAT CHICKEN. INCONSISTENT SERVICE. I have had lunch and dinner here at least 20 times over the years. The food is terrific. The green dipping sauce for the chicken is crazy good. We often split a half chicken and the sea food fried rice. It is a good combination. What is holding them back from 5 stars? The service. It is always a little weird. Sometime too slow or sometimes too fast. Sometimes a long wait then salad and entre arrive at the same time. Sometimes food comes out, then dipping sauce comes out when you are almost finished eating. Then the craziest thing was, «sorry, we are out of chicken»??? …excuse me, what is the name of the restaurant??? I guess one chicken really did just get lucky. Ha ha ha. Overall I am a fan, but I have to go when I don’t care so much about great service… just be patient and you will be rewarded with a terrific chicken dinner.

The food was pretty good and cost very reasonable. I would go again.

I had the grilled chicken breast with rice and veggies instead of fries. Very good, a little upcharge for the substitution but food tasted excellent. For lunch, a little overpriced.

I wish I would have come here sooner. The food was excellent, prices are reasonable ($ 12 – 15) per entrée, and there is a full bar. I had the ceviche and fell in love with it. Everything is made from scratch, so be prepared to wait just a little bit longer. It will be worth it, as the quality of the food is excellent. I’ll be a regular.

I actually ate at their new Cary location, but can’t seem to find it on Unilocal.
The food was itself was very good. The chicken portion was pretty hearty and loved how moist it was and he seasoning. My only suggestion is that when they serve the black beans that they consider serving it within a small bowl on the plate. I didn’t like the fact that the beans expanded on the plate and I had to attempt to scoop them up.

My Peruvian friend told me that Lucky Chicken, which has a loctaion in Clayton, opened earlier this month in Cary, so a group of us decided to check it out. My brother-​in-​law is Peruvian, so I’ve been introduced, and enjoyed, the cuisine for several years now. I love ceviche, lomo saltado and their charcoal roasted rotisserie chicken, so was eager to see what Lucky Chicken had to offer.
This is an order at the counter place, with tables inside and out. Atmosphere is basic, but we’re here for the food and friendship, so no worries. We placed our orders and grabbed a table outside. Note — ceviche takes about 25 minutes to prepare, so take that into account. The woman working behind the cash wasn’t very friendly, but maybe it was a language issue.
I decided to try the Ceviche de Pescado y Camaron (Marination of diced fish and shrimp) and the quarter chicken dinner (comes with salad and your choice of side — beans, fries, plantains, yucca). Woah — I ordered WAY too much! The ceviche is a meal in itself, and comes with potatoes (sweet and white) and corn kernels to nibble on. It wasn’t the best ceviche (it needed more lime and hot pepper), and some of the pieces needed to sit longer in the lime to «cook», but it was decent. The chef came out and told us it was his first time making ceviche — that made me a bit nervous, but 48 hours later I’m still healthy, so that’s good :) The chef was very friendly. After the ceviche, I nibbled on the yuca and ate the salad. The yucca was dry, and the salad (while the dressing was delicious), was unimpressive with only iceburg lettuce and limp cucumbers. The chicken was a different story. I was too full to enjoy it last night, but had it today and wow — delicious! You can taste the smokey charcoal flavor, and it was very moist. That alone warrants a return trip.
One of my friends had his order forgotten, then it came out wrong, but they quickly rectified the situation so props to them. Being that they’ve only been open 2 weeks, some of these issues could be growing pains. I’ll check them out again once more time has past.

Let me start by saying that when we eat at Lucky Chicken again, I will update my review. Okay, got carryout from there today and it was just OK. We got a vegetarian mixed vegetables with rice, kid’s chicken and french fries and plantain. The plantain was amazing but everything else was just ok. The vegetable sauce was really salty! We’ll try it again but add of today, can’t give it more than 3 stars.

The last time I are here was in the previous location, which was not much more then a kitchen with some sparse tables and chairs. The chicken and fries were good, but I had classified the place as just a carry out type of meal.
What an improvement! Both the new location and the expanded menu makes this one of the nicer dining choices in Clayton. I highly recommend this place to my fellow Clayton-​ites looking for nice meal without the commute into Raleigh. The Peruvian cuisine is excellent, and the owners offer service with a friendly smile. Highly recommended.

I have read some feedback that concerned me about this restaurant elsewhere, and I almost passed on the place. The Mrs. & I were greeted there this evening by an emotionless teen playing on her computer pad, and was like here we go as she escorted us to a table. There were seven other people on location listening to light music that was enjoyable and sounded what I believed was from the Peruvian culture. The place was clean and actually had a bar that was empty from patrons & bartender in an adjoining room. Our waitress (Grissell), is working on her English was very nice & somewhat new to the server position.
We first ordered as an app. that we shared. The fried Yuca with A creamy cheese sauce sprinkled with a little fresh cilantro which was really good & cooked perfect. I wanted more but the boss said I had enough.
We ordered side orders of Tostones, creamy black beans & rice, & the sweet plantains. My only beef was that the sides came out prior to the main course, but actually it worked out better as it filled in the time waiting for the dinner, which was not necessarily long. We loved all the sides, and do not be concerned about the salt content as the items had come unsalted which I feel is better.
I ordered the Chaufu especial (beef, chicken, shrimp. Peruvian Cantonese fried rice).
It did remind me of Chinese fried rice but was way better and tasted great. The queen ordered shrimp& rice Peruvian style which was similar to my dish but tasted totally different and was just as good. The portion was plenty for me as I am 6’1″ and 290 lbs.
We split a small dessert (Suspiro a La limena) which is creamy milk custard with a hint if cinnamon topped with meringue. It was fresh and very good but very small for 3 clams. A soda & glass of wine totaled the bill at 58.00 dollars. It was a very good experience & will be going back with friends/​family. The need to change the name & get rid of that comical chicken they use on menu’ sand banner in front of the place. I think that it makes you think it’s a fast food joint rather that the restaurant that it. Casual or neat dress is fine.

I’ve only eaten there once and keep saying we need to grab it again. I haven’t been since they moved locations, but I can say the old restaurant had zero atmosphere and almost seemed grimy.
Get the chicken… it was my first experience with Peruvian roasted chicken, and I will definitely be trying it again! It was everything roasted chicken can be when done well: juicy, crispy, peppery, delicious.
The sides were very disappointing, just greasy and bland. I was hoping for a more exotic experience, but next time I will skip eating their sides, order the chicken for take-​out, and make our own veggies at home.

I have to say that for downtown Clayton, Lucky Chicken is a pretty unique dining experience. A family owned restaurant with Peruvian recipes handed down through the generations, the atmosphere is distinctly native and the menu reflects the same.
Our waiter aimed to please, giving us this history of different dishes and wine. I tried the special Peruvian wine with unfortunate results: the bottle had turned to vinegar. But our server was extremely apologetic and after my new glass had some time to breathe, it was pretty tasty.
The seasoned chicken special is definitely the shining star of the menu. Tender and juicy, the spices are complex and just plain delicious! We also enjoyed a few of the sauces served with our rice. Although very interesting, I wasn’t really a big fan of the plaintain appetizer or the dried corn. Both were just a bit dry for my taste. The fried whole flounder special looked amazing with deep diamond cuts along the side, but was lacking in flavor and a bit dry. The Peruvian cookie was bland and the other desserts are basically popsicles and novelties. But, my daughter LOVED the Chicha Morada (peruvian beverage) and the Inca Kola.
So, three stars for this first visit, but we will definitely try it again. Our server recommended coming on a Friday or Saturday night when they are fully stocked with chicken and other specialties. I absolutely commend such unique efforts in a small town and we will certainly support them!