Pollos Asados is a hidden gem, I especially like their Pollo Entero - for $25 it's a great family dinner takeout option; which includes a very flavorful, mesquite smoked whole chicken, a bunch of homemade tortillas, grilled serrano peppers, salsa and hearty pinto beans (cooked in some of the chicken drippings). It's a lot of bang for you buck, but worth noting that the grilled chicken is excellent. Don't order via doordash, they'll double the cost of everything - just call the restaurant directly. Also like their birria pizza - whenever we have to feed a crowd (school potluck, hosting a large party, etc) this place is a great way to go. read more

*3.5 stars* I just knew I had to try out Don Rafa's, Mezquite Grilled Chicken plates, but I was waiting for over 30 minutes for six (6) tacos at another spot in Richmond. I opted for a Super Burrito de Pollo at Don Rafa prior to their cutoff/closing time. Their burrito did not disappoint! I loved the way it was wrapped securely and grilled to perfection. Though this spot is known for their chicken, I didn't really experience anything unique about this wrapped meal. It was delicious and tasted how it should be, but I was hoping the "star" of this meal would be their chicken. I ate my burrito immediately and it was served at a decent temp. Perhaps, I'll give Don Rafa a 2nd chance and order a half (or whole chicken). The Birria Pizza looked appetizing as well. Don Rafa is located inside of the Food Barn Market and reminds me of a Latino version of a Pacific Supermarket. The restaurant appears somewhat modern, tidy and spacious, while the rest of the market area seems outdated. read more

Haven't seen a spot do a birria pizza before and man I was excited to give this a try! Super easy to order, we called ahead and the worker over the phone was super nice. The pizza took 20 minutes to make so by the time we got there it was ready. It's a great portion for a large at only $30! The plaza the store is in is a little ghetto but not like fear for your life ghetto. The interior of the restaurant is like the typical Mexican restaurant, smells great as soon as you walk in, friendly Spanish speaking staff, and great food. The meat is flavorful, the consome compliments it so well, and enough cheese to keep the slice together. I wish they somehow were able to double up the tortilla so it was more firm so you could hold the slide like an actual piece of pizza. It gets a little messy but it's worth it read more

Pollos Asados Don Rafa - Pizza Birria (Large} - Mexican Near Me - San Pablo, California

I had heard from my boyfriend that this was a great place to eat and it was a "hole in the wall" kind of place. Restaurant is located inside the Food Barn grocery store. It is a small and cozy restaurant that offers plenty menu items, all are somewhat pricey from what I have experienced at other restaurants but the taste is definitely there. They accept Apple Pay (yay!) so come in and enjoy some quesabirrias with handmade tortillas, you won't regret them! read more

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Hadn't tried this place although I've lived in the area for some time. My coworker brought it for a potluck and I've been hooked ever since! I love that it's not super rich and heavy like some birria pizzas can be. I get it double cut as suggested by my coworker and I feel like it makes all the difference. It's like having birria pizza that is layered but super crispy. I like this place for their birria pizza better than other competitors and will continue to order from them! read more

¡Birria! I love great birria, and when I stopped in Richmond, I asked the locals where to find the best--and everyone pointed me to Pollos Don Rafa. hidden gem, tucked inside a grocery store food barn, is absolutely fantastic! The food is incredible, and the staff couldn't be nicer. My husband wanted something simple and ordered the half grilled chicken. He prefers flour tortillas over corn, and they happily accommodated his request. We enjoyed one of the best meals while sitting inside a grocery store--who would've thought? As for my birria burrito, it was absolutely delicious! They even cut it in half for me, which was a great touch because it's so generously portioned that finishing a whole one in one sitting would be a challenge. If you're craving a soda, just pop into the store to grab one--no big deal at all. I highly recommend this place. If you're in Richmond, don't miss read more

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Pollo al carbon is one of my staples. I had heard about Pollos Asados Don Rafa, and, after being away from home for 14 or the past 20 days, I needed to order in, and eat some comfort food - chicken al estilo Mexicano, arroz, frijoles pintos, guacamole, grilled jalapenos, arroz, etc. The meal arrived within less than 30 minutes, on my front porch. Just taking in the aroma as I took the bag back to my kitchen, I knew I had hit paydirt. The chicken was perfect - clearly brined and marinated, and cooked to perfection, charred on the exterior and juicy on the inside, with an enormous grilled jalapeno in the container. Guac was delicious, pureed rather than chunky. rice and beans were as expected. I gorged, and still have a quarter chicken from the half I ordered in the fridge for later today. Carry on (andale!), Don Rafa. Another feather (pun absolutely intended) in my Richmond nest! read more

Pollos Asados Don Rafa - Gimme da chicken - leftovers! - Mexican Near Me - San Pablo, California

I know they are known for their chicken but I absolutely love their shrimp tacos and birria burrito. Everything is seasoned so perfectly. I never make it out the parking lot with my food. I highly recommend! FYI, they are busy on Sunday. read more

I've been to this spot no less than 7 times and let me just say, they are CONSISTENT. As a vegetarian who loves rice and beans, this is the highlight for me at all Mexican restaurants and this spot transports me back to The City (Mission St). The flavors are so there and they don't skimp. I've been to so many spots who either look at me strange when I ask for a rice beans and cheese quesadilla or they give me a ton of rice and light beans, but here, it is always balanced and always good. I've stated before, to me, the rice and beans are the foundation of any good Mexican spot and this place has it. My friend, like me always gets the same thing, 2 steak vampira tacos and as shown in the photo, you are not searching for the meat. The staff is super pleasant and you won't wait long for your food. This little spot is located inside the Food Barn market and they have about 8-10 tables in their area so you are able to sit and eat. As stated, I've been a number of times and will lost definitely return. Friend plans to order the chicken which you will see many people ordering so it must be delicious. read more

Pollos Asados Don Rafa - Quesadillas w/rice, cheese, and refried beans - Mexican Near Me - San Pablo, California

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Food is always consistent and good. I highly recommend the carne asada burrito and their tortillas with beans. The quesobirria pizza is a hit with the kids. read more

Best in the bay from the burritos to the birria pizza and the chicken. I've had every single meal on their menu and never fails to disappoint. I love this place! plus excellent service can't beat it. read more

Dam, Dam, Dam this place is so fire. The burrito is hella juicy and they steak hella flavor. Not going to lie it looked Skitch when I rolled up but I'm telling you it's a hidden gem. They got the salsa bar out (red one was my favorite and the staff hella coo. I am definitely coming back here. read more

Pollos Asados Don Rafa - Super Steak Burrito - Mexican Near Me - San Pablo, California

From some blogger on IG filming racks of birds being flipped over a grill while adhering To a metal rack, dripping smoking juices. That's the motivation I needed! My yelps peeps get around! I was surprised to see a few solid reviews. Yep it's darn good chicken in da hood. Service is quick and easy in this place located in a grocery store. I was early 12 pm I can imagine this place gets crazy bout dinner time. In addition to a whole chicken I had to try their grilled shrimp burrito sans beans n rice. Yep! Spot on!!! And even tho there wasn't the extra carbs to add bulk this sucka was still huge!!! Salsa de gallo was a nice accompaniment. But really didn't need it. We had been craving Authentic Mexican for a while. This ticked all the boxes baby! I don't know that I can bring my self to go to pollo Loco which isn't far away read more

Pollos Asados Don Rafa - Mexican Near Me - San Pablo, California

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Their chicken is delicious. Their chicken burritos are great too. It's inside a grocery store but don't let that fool you.

Great grilled chicken with great sides. I always get the whole grilled chicken with refried beans, the order also includes freshly made tortillas and chiles toreados. read more

OMG - I Love this place! We order from here all the time. The prices are so good and the food is yummmmmmyyy! Highly recommend

Carne asada super burrito is the best in the area! So delicious. Pollos Asados uses ingredients and Cooks that make their food taste muuuuuuuch better than others! read more

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Generous servings. Ordered chicken and a side of beans came with the order. Location is inside a grocery store.

Holy smackaroos, I did not know there was such a place so far up North. We got the medium birria pizza (aka quesadilla) which was composed of thee layers of tortilla, cheese and birria marinated meat. With a small and medium "pizza" you get an 8oz birria dipping sauce, with the large you get 12oz. Also some salsa and sour cream on the side. They gave everything in very healthy portions, including the meat! The birria meat was so good and really brought out some tasty subtly savory flavor. Combined with the grilled tortilla and cheese, it made a wonderful pairing. To add it all off, the birra sauce really brought out the meat flavors so much more. The dipping sauce made a considerable difference so don't leave the place without the dipping sauce! Get ready, it's gonna get really messy. Share it with someone you love and don't mind making a mess around. The medium was just enough food for two chubs like us, though we were beyond full. But where is this place you might ask? Well...when you're driving by look for a super generic grocery store, I think its called "Food Barn" or something generic like that. We didn't see any official Pollos Asada Don Rafas sign outside but I think its there. Parking was no issue so just park in their lot. Make your way in the grocery store entrance and look right. Don't expect any Vons/Safeway grocery store, its not that kind of grocery store. But if you're reading this review, you probably wouldn't care because you're here for the amazing food. Their food court is a bit bare so just grab a seat or do whatever everybody else is doing these days and take-out. Would I visit again? Heck yea! I know I just finished my birria pizza but I'm craving it now! Good thing they're closed right now, or else I'd be ordering a birria taco from them or something! Looking forward to when I can stop by again, maybe try something new, I'm sure it'll be just as amazing. read more

Pollos Asados Don Rafa - The first slice of birria quesadilla goodness. - Mexican Near Me - San Pablo, California

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The Pollo Asado and Birria tacos are good! Service is fast and always polite. This is more of a take out option. They do offer eat in but it's small. read more

Our go-to spot when we're craving Mexican - NEVER DISAPPOINTS! Best flavor in Richmond/San Pablo area. Service is also lovely. Our faves are the steak and shrimp burrito w/ red sauce inside - SPICY AND SO GOOD! The birria pizza is our kids fave. Shrimp tacos are also great. Roasted chicken is moist and full of flavor!! UPDATE: I just realized I've already rated this spot that's how much we love it here LOL read more

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The best chicken ever the best asada burritos ever the meat is so flavorful the smoke when you walk in there when they're cooking the chicken it's inside the grocery store but you know it's a Hidden gem and it's the best they're the best read more

Sooo...these Birria tacos or pizzas have been advertising everywhere so of course, I had to try it! I found this place on IG and saw they had a Birria pizza version! I was looking for Pollos Asados Don Rafa and could not see it from the street. It was actually inside the market!! I was wondering why there was big crowd in the market but it was mainly for this Pollos Asados Don Rafa restaurant. Their customers were all waiting for their food or in line to order. Expect the crowd and people not really following the social distance requirement. :-( I actually called ahead for pick up and ordered two large Birria pizzas and a few Quesa Birria tacos. They actually forgot one of the pizzas when I arrived so we had to wait. That was disappointing. I did not think one was enough but I think it is!! It's huge with tons of Birria meat! They are very generous on the meat. I was expecting a little more cheese, cilantro and onions in it but it was more meat! Who's complaining though?! It was pretty good if you like a lot of meat. Haha Still worth the price. I would rather have my Quesa Birria tacos. Easier to eat. When I came home, I just added more cheese, guacamole and salsas! One slice was plenty. How do I describe this? It's like a quesadilla but not, tons more meat. I like the crispiness of the shell with the dipped oil. Will have to try this place again one day but they need to be a little more organized and have people follow the social distancing. [4th/100] read more

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Really good grilled chicken....quesadillas of birria were great. More selection of food to choose from great spot for lunch

1st review of the year and craving quesabirria's. They say you need to travel to the ghetto to get real good Mexican food. No offense the location is a remote rural area but I choose quality over quantity. If you plan on visiting Pollos Asados Don Rafa is inside Food Barn. Lots of choices on the menu, and their rotisserie chicken looked delicious but I really came for the quesabirria's. Upon waiting you're able to see the staff diligently taking their pride in making the dishes. Of course I waited till I got home to eat, but I can tell you this- my first bite was Amazing!! Falls into one of my favorite tacos joints. read more

Pollos Asados Don Rafa - Mexican Near Me - San Pablo, California

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Pollo Don Rafa's is a must have if your live or visiting the Richmond/San Pablo area. The burritos, or fish tacos are a must have. read more

** The following review reflects my delivery experience DURING the COVID-19 pandemic. ** This pandemic has been painful for everyone, especially the small business owners who fight for economic survival every day. You may have noticed I've written a lot of reviews and provide careful thought about the places because I take take this dire situation seriously. Since the lockdown started, I've written well over 200 reviews and usually give 4 or 5 stars gladly. That's why it pains me to give my experience with this Mexican place two stars after two attempts, so let me explain why. I found this spot on Door Dash about a month ago and ordered a couple of things they ended up doing quite well, the $23 Pollo Entero and the $14.50 Menudo Roja. A whole bird chopped into individual pieces, the pollo was nicely grilled as the char didn't offset the surprising tenderness (photo: https://bit.ly/37p8jQa). The menudo was well stocked with tripe and shin bones (photo: https://bit.ly/3jhxjeC). There was a heaping side of frijoles charros, fresh pico de gallo, and eight tortillas. It was quite a feast for Jamie W. and me and one that stuck in my memory. This week, I tried them again and ordered the Pollo Entero again. The order was unusually delayed and when it arrived, I didn't get the Pollo Entero. Instead, without forewarning of any sort, there were six Chicken Tacos (photo: https://bit.ly/34e9Dn0). We were upset because we had absolutely no desire for a Taco Bell-level extravaganza. We weren't having a beer party with a lot of bros. I called the restaurant and told them I received the wrong order. The woman on the phone was flummoxed and had to go talk to her superior. When she came back, she told me the Door Dash driver said it was fine to replace my order. I told her that no one talked to me about a substitution and that I would like what I ordered, the Pollo Entero. She then admitted they were out and repeated that the driver said it was fine to substitute my order. Again I repeated my complaint and then asked for a refund. She left the phone for five minutes and told me that she won't do that because the driver said I was fine with the substitution. I again repeated that no one talked to me and asked her if I could speak with the manager. She left me waiting for another five minutes at which point she just hung up the phone. I then texted the driver to tell him my order was wrong to which he gave me a canned text about how I should seek a refund through the app. I then texted him to find out if it was true that he approved the substitution. No response. I just added that I wanted to know in case I order from the restaurant again. No response. So the driver didn't care I was unhappy. And the restaurant didn't care I was unhappy. No one wanted to take ownership of my predicament, and I ended up throwing out most of the tacos since I can't eat that much starch and dry chicken bits. Guess I'll look for the Pollo Entero elsewhere. FOOD - 2.5 stars...the Pollo Entero was 4 stars and so was the Menudo Roja, but the Chicken Tacos brought this rating down AMBIANCE - n/a...don't know, probably won't find out now since they don't want my business SERVICE - 1 star...too bad since my first experience was good enough for repeat business but alas... TOTAL - 2 stars...I'll leave it at 2 stars based on my first experience -though I suggest they reach out to DoorDash as my feelings for both businesses diminished considerably RELATED - In the mood for Mexican? Here's a collection of other places I've tried and reviewed: https://bit.ly/2QQ9Lmv read more

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I don't write reviews every day, but I felt the need to after this experience. $15 for a single burrito and $70 for four, and the service was far from exceptional. Despite being fully staffed with seven employees, they couldn't even get us some chiles asados. The restaurant is located inside a store, so they could have easily bought some from there if they truly wanted to make the effort to satisfy their customers. read more

Food was great, service was quick. Huge menu with lots of yummy options. The ambiance was okay it has a quick to-go feel but there are plenty of tables to sit and eat. My daughter had the Chicken grilled outside on charcoal so good! I asked for it well done and it was even better. Hubby had the Birria Caldo which he loved, had lots of meat and super flavorful. I had the order of two Taco Birrias and it was also very good and flavorful. I recommend and will be coming back. Photos attached! read more

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Three birria tacos, one shrimp burrito, and extra consommé... and my teenage son was still talking about how we got "so much food!" the next day. We ordered delivery via third party, and the food was still warm when it arrived in Oakland. The birria were flavorful and the cheese at the ends was generous and crispy! The burrito was delicious and so filling that I only ate half (after eating a birria taco). I was going to happily save it for my lunch, but my son ate my entire other half instead of the few bites I offered. The shrimp were big any juicy, and the burrito was flavorful and well-balanced. I did not have to use extra hot sauce, which I usually do at most places. This was the best Mexican food we have ordered- 100% would order again-soon! read more

From my house to this spot - it's about 35 mins on a good day. That's how good it is. We always go for the chicken and we've also tried the shrimp taco and a birria taco. Gosh darn - so good. Next time, got a birria burrito - it was big and super delicious & definitely recommend to anyone. Lots of flavor. It's in a market and even though there is always a line - it goes pretty fast. When you order a whole chicken, you get beans and salsa with it but wait....you get tortillas they are making as you order! So good. read more

Pollos Asados Don Rafa - Mexican Near Me - San Pablo, California

Pricey but yummy! This is actually my first time ever going to a taco truck and I'm glad I did, they take your order and get right on it. The picture below is 4 tacos and the sauce is a extra .50 read more

Pollos Asados Don Rafa - Quesa Barria - Mexican Near Me - San Pablo, California

A year later, the food is still great! This is still my personal favorite for Mexican food. The staff are the kindest people, and special thanks to Josue who let us pick up the food late due to unforeseen traffic on the Richmond bridge. They want you fed and happy! This is definitely one of my happy places, and I visit regularly despite this place being extremely out of the way for me. read more

I started ordering from here during the shut down and I'm really glad I found them. I get the shrimp tacos and birra quite often and now I get the whole chicken twice a month cuz I hate to cook. I prefer them to the cheaper Costco chicken because it tastes fresher and well seasoned. The beans are wonderful. read more

Solid spot for super burrito & birria tacos! The consume was flavorful along with the tacos. Super burrito good size, with everything you need. Good amounts of sour cream & all that and the carne asada in my burrito was the most flavorful I've ever had in a burrito. ALMOST too seasoned, but it was still good. Definitely one of my top picks for Mexican food in the area. read more

Pollos Asados Don Rafa - Mexican Near Me - San Pablo, California

Excellent Grilled Chicken! Beans are really good as well. The quesabirrias here are some of the best in the area.

I ordered through Uber Eats. The burritos were hot, fresh and delicious. I will definitely be ordering again. I would have given 5 stars but I had to drop one because I ordered two Mar y Tierra burritos but unfortunately mine only came with asada and was missing the camarones ::sad face:: My wife's burrito on the other hand was full of plump, delicious shrimp! I was of course a little disappointed, but my burrito was still tasty so hopefully it was just an oversight this time. read more

Hole is the wall, literally tucked into the back of a supermarket. They hVe roasted chickens and an assortment of Mexican dishes like Vampiros and quesabirria. This time around we ordered a quesabirria pizza and it came with the caldo de consome, salsas and crema even. Some radishes and lime on the side as well. Pizza was enough to serve quite a few people so think family or small party. My favorite there are the vampira tacos. Good service although can get slow do to volume of demand sometimes. Great time to practice some grace and patience. read more

Pollos Asados Don Rafa - Quesabirria Pizza - Mexican Near Me - San Pablo, California

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Went for lunch, clean counters, visible menu items, kinda of pricy my opinion! 15$ for a average super burrito. Service was ok, don't expect friendly service. Food was good, but not for the Price! My opinion, their Supposedly Super Burritos are regular ones! read more

Pollos Asados Don Rafa - Super Chicken Burrito - Mexican Near Me - San Pablo, California

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The birria pizza is too good. That's exactly what you want... quick, fresh and tasty AF! The salsas are way too watery but I had my own, no prob. Still get 5 stars! read more

Pollos Asados Don Rafa - Birria Pizza - Mexican Near Me - San Pablo, California