Location: Ditmars Astoria NYC Service: very accommodating, Ambiance: place wasn't that big. A little old looking. Went here to quench my roasted chicken craving. I ordered a quarter and it did not disappoint. The green and orange condiments are what really makes it taste much better. read more

Chicken Festival - Quarter-chicken, 2 different sauces. Both tasted great with the chicken- a little spicy. - Barbeque Near Me - Astoria, New York

Prices are astronomical for the dishes, and workers rude. I would hope that the sauces would redeem the dry chicken but they did not. I would not recommend read more

This Peruvian restaurant has reimagined itself with new owners and a new menu. Long gone is the old wall menu with out-of-date items and prices. The new menu and remodeled restaurant have new staff and new owners, but the same decor. We ordered some chicken lunches with rice and tacos and sat at one of the old tables from previous generations. All in all very good experience with friendly staff and quick service read more

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Hoy estuve allá. Pedi una pechuga y media. El señor que me atendió dice que no puede vendelo así. Le digo, ok deme dos pechugas enteras. Cuando llegue a mi casa encontré dos mitades, ósea una pechuga. Cuando llame me di cuenta que el señor no sabe la diferencia entre una pechuga entera, media pechuga o 3 cuartos de pollo en pechuga. Me alego que eso fue lo que yo pedi. Están perdiendo mucho dinero porque no aprender matemáticas. Me cobro por dos mitades, la orden que yo quería era el doble. Nos quedamos todos en la casa con ganas de pollo porque no alcanzo la comida. La próxima vez me toca explicarle con dibujos mi orden. read more

Great food I love their fried rice with the chicken cutlet heads, the spot all the time

Used to visit this place weekly but the last few times I took out food, it was horrible. I took out the combo chicken & ribs. Ribs were so hard and dry and over cooked and tough, it hurt my gums to bite into them. They were not edible. They over dose you with rice and the salad is wilted and soggy with just a few carrots in it and a little salad dressing. No tomatoes or other things you would expect to find in a salad. Their rating is always GP (grade pending), which makes it hazardous to eat. This awful dish was $24.00 and most of it went into the garbage. Not giving them anymore chances b/c it has been like this the last few times I bought their food. read more

I ordered a half chicken to eat at home. When I opened the box there was a rancid odor and chicken went right into the garbage.....no bueno

I ordered chicken, rice and beans, and beef empanadas... The chicken was overly seasoned, it tasted like they just poured salt on top. They gave me a plate of rice with beans sprinkled on top and the empanadas were filled with oil. Won't be back. read more

I love this place. I have been going here for a very long time. The chicken milanesa is always wonderful. However, the service is getting ridiculous. I purchased over 100 dollars worth of food and the lady was being nasty saying that I need to pay for extra sauce when she only gave me 2 little sauces. I am a frequent customer here and I'm very disappointed with this terrible attitude read more

I work in the area and went often with no issues until I found a roach in the soup I ordered for takeout. Won't be going again unfortunately. read more

Peru is known for its cuisine, which is heavily based on potato (a crop they're proud of) and a few signature dishes. When slavery was abolished in Peru, the workforce vacuum was filled by Chinese laborers who immigrated by the millions. The Peruvian Chinese, named tusán, account for up to 1/5 of the Peruvian population, so Chinese food has been integrated into Peruvian cuisine. For those who are familiar with Peruvian cuisine, you might be surprised to hear that lomo saltado is nothing more than a Latin American stir-fry. Makes sense, no? No bok-choy on Peru, but lots and lots of onions! Anyhow, we're here to speak about Chicken Festival, a Peruvian restaurant in Astoria, Queens. The SINGLE WORST Peruvian restaurant I've ever eaten at. We went there ONLY because of Yelp. Yelp rating malaise says that all Yelp restaurants will score somewhere between 3 and 4 stars. I'm sure there is a explanation of this fact that's grounded in the Central Limit Theorem of probability theory. Basically, this says that Yelp restaurant ratings will be normally distributed between 3 and 4 stars with very thin tails. If you see a 5 star rating, the place must be ENORMOUSLY good. If you see a 2 star rating, it's ENORMOUSLY bad. Like Amy's Baking Company kind of bad. Chicken Festival, as of now, has 4 stars, so we were intrigued and went. We're sorry we did. The counter woman who appears in charge of the restaurant has an acidic face and demeanor. We're been to this restaurant three times, and she has always been unwelcoming, dour, uninterested, curt. We definitely did not feel welcomed or appreciated. We wanted to walk out based on her attitude alone, but the 4 stars intrigued us. She's probably the owner's wife or family, because she has a very entitled customer-unfriendly attitude. No employer would stand for employees scowling at customers the way she does. Salad: F The salad was disgusting. http://alturl.com/8qzdr It was nothing more than a bunch of wilted iceberg lettice and a few droopy carrot shaving in some unidentifiable goop. My Chicken: C- I ordered a quarter of a chicken which included the drumstick and thigh. http://alturl.com/ski7h This was supposed to have been dark meat but it was so dry and overdone, it was indistinguishable from white meat. I swear to you -- I literally had to CHOKE the food down. It was horrible, and I left more than half my chicken untouched. Seriously. Look at this picture: http://alturl.com/7cp7n This should be juicy dark meat. Look at the left part. It's so dry, that you can actually snap the chicken in half. My Wife's Chicken: C- The same as mine. http://alturl.com/7xsxs So dry that it's brittle. Incredible for dark meat! Rice and Beans: D Literally the worst rice and beans I've ever had. Rice and beans in Latin American cooking comes in many forms, some complex and some simple, but all savory and flavorful. But this ... was terrible. It was, literally, tasteless generic white rice with a few dry pinto beans tossed on top. I'm having trouble believing that any Hispanic worth his eñe would call this dry and bland dish "rice and beans". Some jalapeño would've been good. Some of the beans' sauce or cooking the rice in boullion would've saved this dish. The slightest care would've made this disgusting food into something passable. http://alturl.com/7xsxs Chaufa: D My beef fried rice is known in Peru (and other places like Costa Rica) as chaufa. I've never had a chaufa that I truly liked... we do fried rice better here in NYC. But this chaufa truly stands out as terrible. My rice was al dente! WHO EVER HEARD OF AL DENTE FRIED RICE!?!? Every bite was crunchy. I literally took 3 bites and threw out the rest. http://alturl.com/ski7h Empanada: C+ The empanada fared better. http://alturl.com/m83hw It was actually pretty good in an unhealthy kind of way. Delicious, yes, but when you pick it up, the oil and grease will start dripping down your hands towards your sleeves. They obviously don't allow the empanadas' oil to drain before serving them. In summary: 1. Simpy god-awful food. 2. Una bruja vieja que odia sus clientes. 3. An unpleasant eating area. Why does this place have 4 stars? First, I think the soup Nazi effect is in play here. It's a very unfriendly place. No Visa, no delivery, no waiters, and a scowling vieja amargada makes it feel like this place is something special. Indeed, Peruvian food is enjoying a surgence in NYC, but it hasn't hit Astoria, so this food is still exotic by Queens standards. There's also another Chicken Festival that seems to enoy a higher place in the Yelp search algorithms. http://www.yelp.com/biz/chicken-festival-new-york Do a search for "Chicken Festival" and you'll get the other one. I suspect many of these 4/5 star reviews were actually for this other place, given to this restaurant by accident. read more

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When it comes to something new, I'm always willing to try it twice. First time around if it doesn't bode well, I am willing to think it's a bad batch. I'm always a believer in second chances. If it doesn't pan around after that, then I'm just not able to get on the bandwagon. That is, until a few years go by. I was in my old stomping grounds of Ditmars and found myself waiting for the bus in what seemed like eternity. Eternity spawned hunger, and hunger encourages desperation and I found myself here giving Chicken Festival another shot. Since I was in a hurry, I rushed my order for the quickest thing they can prepare - which in this case is almost always chicken. A 1/2 order of the roasted bird, along with some rice, salad, and a side of a tamale roja, and I was off to the races. Soon as I began digging into my meal, I noticed something different: the chicken was juicy, flavorful, and fell right off the bone. Combined with the moist rice which had soaked up a lot of the rotisserie flavor, was oh-so-good. The tamale was steamed perfectly, as the corn masa held together with the pork as I scarfed away like a caveman who hadn't eaten for days. This was a good meal. And it cost me all but $8 and change. A few hours later after a run in Astoria Park and hanging out with a friend listening to jazz at Waldorf Astoria, I found myself craving food again from this place. Even after a day full of activities, I still had chicken on my mind, so as the bus came near, I signaled for the stop and promptly got off, this time with a couple of hungry companions in tow. We ordered a small variety of dishes as we scrunched our way into the tiny tables into the back. After ordering a variety of dishes, we covered every inch of our table as onlookers witness what might've been the second coming of Thanksgiving. Adorning the table was a barrage of Peruvian specialties, everything from a whole rotisserie chicken, lomo saltado, chaufa style fried rice (house special), spare ribs, tallarin marinara, and a house special lo mein. Though the chicken takes the cake with it's crispy, flavorful skin (especially with that awesome house hot sauce blend), the rest of the food had clearly undergone a significant improvement. The fried rice was not as oily as in years past and was seasoned well. BBQ spare ribs are severely underrated here and the lomo saltado (sauteed mix of steak, onions, potatoes, and tomatoes over a bed of rice) / tallarin marinara are very tasty. The only thing that was still off was the uber bland house special lo mein, which really just resembled Chinese fast food takeout. It's always a great thing when I see a mediocre place make the changes to become a neighborhood favorite. Now all I see are hordes of people mobbing the counter shouting their orders and the cashier woman who is constantly on the phone taking to-go / delivery orders. Chicken Festival is totally on fire, I suggest all chicken lovers to give their pollo a la brasa a whirl. read more

Food is delicious here, way better than Caravan on Broadway. I come here all the time and the girls in front are swee, especially Yesenia. Tonight I saw her handle a crazy customer screaming about green sauce with such class. read more

Really good chicken and ribs. You may think the quarter chicken isnt enough, but with the rice and beans its a hearty meal. You can also upgrade your meal with ribs for just a few dollars more and would suggest that. The ribs are tender and juicy. Service is fast, and the smell of rotisserie chicken is a hard sell. read more

Found a COCKROACH in my plate. Absolutely disgusting and unsanitary. Never coming back.

The pollo a la brasa here is Ah May Zing! You can probably tell I enjoy some good pollo ... I grew up in Astoria and was so excited when they opened this place since I used to go to Flor de Mayo on 100th and Broadway to get a good meal like this. When visiting my parents these days, I run in here when I get a craving. The chicken is always fall off the bones juicy with a great favored skin. Their chicken fried rice is delicious with egg and scallion, just the way I like it ... and that's all I usually get. The garden rice is always very good, which tasted like its been cooked in cilantro. YUM! Koral read more

Chicken Festival - Pollo la Brasa with fried rice (done right with egg and scallions) - Barbeque Near Me - Astoria, New York

Disappointed Placed an order 20 min prior to coming Waited 20 minutes more when arrived When reached to work my order was incorrect Asked for garden rice with my order they gave me Fried rice could g return it was already at work When I ask server why I've been waiting so long because I called prior to coming No answer she whispered u just got here They will not get my business again I can find another place read more

Absolutely the best chicken EVER. Always super fresh, Maduros are on point. Haven't tried anything else cuz the chicken is poultry-gasmic. Don't forget the red sauce! read more

If you want some good, flavorful food, this is the spot! We ordered for take out. We ordered the half chicken with rice and beans. SO GOOD. The chicken is well seasoned, the beans are deelish and who doesn't love white rice! We also got the llomos soltado with garden rice and it also came with fries in there. So many flavors in this. I loved every bite of my meal. Last but not least we ordered a tub of that green sauce!! I could drink that sauce it's so good! this was my first time trying out the food here and I recommend it to all. A huge plus point to this place is the portion! It's a lot of food and the pricing is great! read more

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This is the first restaurant I've come across of its kind that doesn't come with Pork fried rice with rotisserie chicken combo, THANK GOD! Since I don't eat pork, whenever I want rotisserie chicken with fried rice, I have to order separately because the combos only come with pork fried rice (i.e Peking BBQ, Caravan chicken etc). This place serves you with garden fried rice. The rice is fried with only eggs and spring onions. So good! The food here is a bit salty. The green sauce is excellent. Thick and creamy, and is excellent with the chicken. The quarter chicken with fried rice and salad combo is only $7! read more

Chicken Festival - 1/4 chicken fried rice combo - Barbeque Near Me - Astoria, New York

I work around there so I eat there once in a blue an it's good just had lo mein an it was good plus there isn't a lot of Spanish restaurant nearby I recommend but I also think they should make a lunch special and add some fish on they menu so I can bring my boy some of there food read more

Love their chicken with vegetable fried chicken. The chicken can be salty sometimes but overall the flavor is always good. Make sure to ask for their green sauce! read more

I loved going to Chicken Festival every week. But haven't been there for a few weeks and went in today. I'm so sorry I did. I asked for shrimp fried rice with quarter chicken. I got four small small shrimp with gummy rice. The chicken is so dry I can't even eat it. This place changed. Even the girl up front was nasty and condescending. NO BUENO read more

Amazing Peruvian food, accessible prices and delicious food , I wish they can have anybody for delivery locals

Yum to their half chicken with red beans and rice- an $8.50 choice that is an incredibly generous portion of food that is good for two sittings. They also have the best tostones! read more

A cook wasn't wearing a mask. I got scared and left. He had his mask on his chin, not covering his mouth or nose. That's the same as not wearing a mask at all!! read more

Cheap place. The chicken is excellent but the most amazing thing is the soups!! Bean and rice are also good. Nice people! read more

I never get to this place enough and I don't know why. Maybe it's because it's too conveniently located, as an option, in my neighborhood of Astoria. Maybe it's because I pack my lunch for work nearby, then stop longingly to look in their window, priding myself for not splurging on something that would be so much more satisfying than my dried out deli turkey. Nonetheless, sometimes (at least three times in the past year) I have conveniently "forgot" to bring lunch to work, and I immediately bolted out of the office, to this place, to order their chicken and ribs. Highlights: 1. Their counter service is exceptionally fast and friendly. 2. There are many Peruvian options, priced right. 3. I love the spices, and their are tasty sauces available at the counter or tables. 4. Most importantly, it's simply the best for when you "forget" to pack your lunch. read more

Food is very good here but the prices went up way to much here. I use to get a quarter of chicken with rice and beans for like 6 dollars now its almost like 9 dollars. I understand rent goes up but the prices are ridicules here now read more

Love the chicken, but my favorite thing on the menu is the aguadito soup. Their green sauce is just ok..a bit too salty and not flavorful enough for my taste, but hubbie likes it just fine. read more

Ok food for premium price it's getting out of hand to eat in Astoria tostones with 1/4 chicken north of 10 dollars I get an entire meal in Brooklyn for 7 dollars read more

2nd TIME I RETRY THIS PLACE CHICKEN was so pinkish & raw barely cooked well. Salad was very small but was the only good thing. Beans over seasoned . Threw half of the plate out . Employees dont sanitize the food , properly. the dish had a weird smell also. Never again. So dissapointted. Improve your food!!! :( :( :( read more

If you're looking for service and ambiance, you should go elsewhere. If you're looking for fantastic flavor and consistently awesome chicken, this is your place. Also, apparently Peruvians are awesome at Chinese food too. The lo mein is outstanding. The green sauce and red sauce here are ridiculous so I always ask for extra. The salads are little more than large garnishes, so maybe skip them and worry about greens another night. read more

Thank you Yelp for another awesome find. My brother and I were in the neighborhood and wanted a filling, yummy meal, and we were really happy we tried Chicken Festival. It doesn't look like much on the outside or the inside (frankly, it's the type of place I wouldn't even notice if it wasn't for Yelp) but the food was really delicious. We both got the quarter chicken - mine with fried rice and his with rice and beans - and a side of maduros, and we both licked up every bite. The chicken was moist and flavorful without being too greasy - just really, really good. I passed on the spicy sauce they give you (it was a bit too hot for me) but if you like your food to kick you in the face, by all means go for it. This is definitely more of a take-out place (the girl who took our order actually seemed surprised when we said we wanted out food "to stay") and like another reviewer said, it's DEFINITELY not a date spot. Still, don't judge this book by it's cover. Ain't nobody don't like some good chicken, naw mean? read more

Wow i DID NOT expect this to be so delicious. Walked in with a friend who told me I had to try it, didn't expect much but JEEZ these guys really don't play games with their chicken! Ordered a half a chicken and a side of tostones and I was good to go. Lil warm inside the place so walked over to Hoyt park by Astoria blvd. The chicken was delectably moist, crisp skin on the outside. Ask for a side of hot sauce which really serves up well with the chicken. They cook up dishes with broccoli, cooked wok style and several other Peruvian specialties. Be aware you might find yourself entangled in a wedding procession pouring out onto the street next door! Just don't throw the rice from Chicken Festival! **** 4 stars for a great rotisserie chicken, yummy hot sauce and a pleasant surprise on an otherwise uneventful walk along Ditmars. Quiero mas!! read more

Don't get me started girl. The chicken is heavenly! Heavenly here. I come here almost every other day, it's that good. Don' t get me wrong, the prices have increased since I've started coming here (grumble grumble), but the chicken is so well seasoned, well cooked, and the service is quite nice (they know me well here), I overlook it. However, this might change if they decide to raise their prices one more time. (Warning to the owners!) You good girl, but not THAT GOOD. $7 for GOOD half chicken is expensive enough. Don't get crazy now. I also have a slight gripe that chicken with vegetables costs MORE than chicken with french fries or rice. So basically if I want to go healthy I have to pay a little more which I think is bullshit. Anyway, I come here often. It's so so good. read more

5 stars?! Am I crazy? Well, yes, I am. Crazy for their RIBS! Chicken Festival's chicken is fine and all, but hubby and I are totally obsessed with their ribs. Dare I say, they're the best ribs we've had in NYC. That's including Dinosaur BBQ and countless other rib joints. We always get the ribs with extra hot sauce (so good) and their plain fried rice (with a little bit of egg and scallion, perfect with some more hot sauce and to balance the delish fatty ribs). The only downside is that they don't deliver anymore. Which is maybe a good thing. Because the only thing stopping us from eating their ribs constantly is that we have to actually haul our lazy butts to Ditmars to pick them up. Seriously, get the ribs. You won't be sorry. read more

I really, really, really like their spare ribs. It is SO good and about to fall off the bones., It is that finger licking good. The rotisserie is very pretty good too. It is moist and rotissered to perfection. This is a great place to get some stomach happy food in Astoria when you don't feel like cooking. Other good bets are the Lomo Saltado (sliced steak sauteed with fried potatoes, tomatoes & served with rice, I have them leave out the french fries), Beef Milanesa and the empanadas. Yummy. Make sure to ask for their hot sauce. If they bottled that, I would buy it! read more

Having been shopping in neighborhood and looking for a quick fix for dinner I decided to try this establishment. Normally rotisserie chicken is a great and flexible and cost effective meal. WELL, wam bam got my goose cooked here. I should've known better!!! The the place and its food were both unappealing, dry, and tasteless to say the least. I ordered , but got one anemic chicken. The cost was $19.00. Yikes. Ok, maybe worth it. but no way. SHRUNKEN, dry, malnourished and TASTELESS. I had to forage for some chicken noodle soup to use as a pseudo gravy. Even then, I had to take it on the lamb and THROW out the rest. I never waste chicken. I prefer it to steak. FORTUNATELY no food poisoning. Later I got a chance to review their take out menu. it's was just as unappealing . ROTTEN and cheap images. The whole experience left a bad taste in my mouth and a hole in my wallet. I can't understand how this establishment sustains itself in this good shopping area. This is a one and done. Avoid CHICKEN FESTIVAL / DITMARS BLVD. it's not a festival but a wake. They killed the chicken. read more

i have given this place one less star b/c food is not consistent. have picked up chicken & fried rice on 2 subsequent occassions....both were not so great on 2nd re-try. also, do urself a favor and do NOT ever get the empanadas. so disgustingly greasy. the oil was the flavor. nastiness. oil was either old/reused or not hot enough for frying. my interest in the food is waning. read more