Review: Pollo Campero - Yuca Fries

Pollo Campero is a Guatemalan fried chicken fast food chain and the largest fast food chain in Latin America. They made landfall in the U.S. in 2002 and have since expanded to 50 U.S. locations including one at Downtown Disney in Orlando. Guatemalan fried chicken offers a different flavor and seasoning than the southern style we're more used to but today I write about one of their more unusual sides--Yuca Fries!

The yuca or cassava is a long, tapered, starchy, tuberous root and is quite a popular source of carbs in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. As food, it's fairly analogous to potatoes here in the States in taste as well as texture. This makes Yuca Fries fairly similar to steak fries but they're different as well.

Pollo Campero is the only fast food chain that I've seen offering them and they sell them at $1.99 for an individual portion and $3.99 for a family-sized portion. It is served with Campero sauce on the side which tastes just like a blend of ketchup and mayo. I went for the family sized portion to share.

The Yuca Fries themselves are fried to an even crispness and just seasoned with a little salt. The insides remain moist and starchy. The taste? I would describe it as like a potato but not. There's a distinctive flavor to it that tells you its not a potato which makes it quite novel and worthy of a try if you want something like a French fry but not. An order of Yuca Fries is my favorite side from Pollo Campero.

Pollo Campero Restaurant Locator

Nutritional Info - Pollo Campero Yuca Fries - individual portion (108g)
Calories - 315 (from Fat - 135)
Fat - 15g (Saturated Fat - 3g)
Sodium - 144mg
Carbs - 22g? - they list 220g on their site but that's physically impossible (Sugar - 0g)
Protein - 1g