Pollos Asados Los Norteños reopening Thursday

A medio pollo plate with half a grilled chicken, onions, a jalapeño, rice, tortillas and an optional side of charro beans from Pollos Asados Los Norteños. A medio pollo plate with half a grilled chicken, onions, a jalapeño, rice, tortillas and an optional side of charro beans from Pollos Asados Los Norteños. Photo: Mike Sutter /Staff File Photo Photo: Mike Sutter /Staff File Photo Image 1 of / 39 Caption Close Pollos Asados Los Norteños reopening Thursday 1 / 39 Back to Gallery

San Antonio’s hardcore chicken fanatics may have to change their Thursday lunch plans because Pollos Asados Los Norteños is officially back in business after a lengthy closure.

The popular restaurant at 4642 Rigsby on the Southeast Side will open its doors at 10 a.m. Thursday.

“We’re expecting a big crowd, so we’re opening an hour earlier than normal,” owner Frank Garcia told the Express-News on Wednesday. “I’ve been getting phone calls and texts every single day the past seven months from people trying to find out when we are opening. Everybody is so excited. I already had one person tell me they’ve told 100 people.”

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The restaurant has been closed since Sept. 29, when the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality filed a lawsuit against it for violating the Texas Clean Air Act. Since then, Garcia has installed a new enclosed outdoor grill space that’s significantly larger than the former space and outfitted it with a new filtration and smoke-scrubbing system that was large enough to fill up a long-haul trailer bed.

“It’s been very exhausting and stressful, but we received the help we needed from the city,” Garcia said. “We obey by the law, and that’s what we’ve been going through every detail to do. … We want to keep the city, environment and the neighbors happy.”

The billowing smoke from the grilled chicken always has been the restaurant’s signature: It could be seen, and smelled, from blocks away. But it created a rift with neighbors, who cited health concerns about the air quality, and became an issue with city and state officials. Garcia said that during a test run of the new system, they fired up the grill, starting it with the charcoal and oil, and no smoke escaped.

“I’m pretty sure once we fire up the whole pit, there will be something coming out, but it will be legal and under those environmental limits,” Garcia said. “It shouldn’t be different than any other restaurant that grills meats.”

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Pollos Asados Los Norteños was so popular with area diners that the restaurant cooked between 750 to 800 whole chickens a day on mesquite charcoal, while a line of customers often snaked around the building. The most popular order is a half chicken served with tortillas, rice, grilled onions and jalapeño and green and red salsa. The menu also includes grilled burgers and fajitas.

“The employees are ready to get back to work,” Garcia said. “We’re ready to serve San Antonio again.”

Pollos Asados Los Norteños, 4642 Rigsby, 210-648-3303. Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sundays. Closed Mondays. Facebook: PollosAsadosLosNorteños

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