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Food & DrinkGrub Notes

Peruvian Chicken at Polleria Pablo and OK Pizza at 5th Avenue


OUTSKIRTS, PT. 1: Generally speaking, ordering ceviche in a gas station is probably not a good idea, even if you are blessed with a robust immune system. But exceptions to rules exist for a reason, and Polleria Pablo (3075 Danielsville Road, 706-461-2533), which operates a counter in the back of a small grocery store that adjoins a Petro filling station, is just such an exception.

Sandra’s Salon, a pawn shop and a Sinaloa grocery store share the little strip of businesses near the fork of Danielsville and Ila roads. The sign on the door says the restaurant, unidentified by name, is open every day, but if you ask the folks who actually work the counter, they’ll tell you it’s only Thursday through Sunday. Lunchtime is surprisingly busy, and although Polleria Pablo specializes in Peruvian cuisine, it also cooks hamburgers and cheeseburgers, quesadillas, burritos and some Salvadoran dishes, all of which seem to be popular. The few small tables are fairly well occupied.

The ceviche, which can be ordered with just fish, just non-fish seafood (shrimp, squid) or mixed (you should go for this option), is exceptionally good: mouth-searingly acidic and spicy, with a boiled sweet potato and a boiled white potato, both peeled, served on the side. Such a combination might seem strange, but tubers are a hallmark of Peruvian food, and they both provide the dish with an essential starch and your tastebuds with a slight break from the intensity of the seasoning. Both the fish and the rest of the seafood are firm-fleshed and fresh. You can’t exactly compare the result to a high-end fine-dining restaurant (e.g., the several different ceviches served at Cinco y Diez—R.I.P.), but more because of things like plating than sheer deliciousness.

The other main reason to make the trek out to Polleria Pablo is the fact that it makes pollo a la brasa, a rotisserie chicken dish that is at least a contender for the single best way to eat chicken. A decade ago, when Bruno Rubio of Cali N Tito’s had a chicken restaurant in the space that’s now Journey Juice, on Prince, it also made the dish, and I have missed it desperately ever since. Rubio’s Eastside version of Cali N Tito’s makes something similar, but the skin isn’t as crispy and the rub isn’t nearly as perceptible.

The version at Polleria Pablo can be ordered as a whole, half or quarter chicken, any size of which will quickly disappear. Marinated with soy sauce (evidence of the strong East Asian influence on Peruvian food), lime juice, garlic, herbs and chile paste, then roasted and/or grilled to crisp up the skin, it is good enough that you will keep picking at it long after you are full. A small container of ají amarillo sauce (pale yellow, creamy, starts out mild and slowly crescendos to pretty dang hot) and another of a chunkier red salsa (equally hot, slightly smoky) provide variety. You can also pick a couple of sides, including simple, nicely seasoned beans and your choice of white, yellow or green rice. Get the green. Fragrant with cilantro, it could easily be eaten by itself for a meal.

Polleria Pablo has other Peruvian standards on the menu, like tallarín (noodles with a soy-based sauce, sometimes served with seafood) and lomo saltado (stir-fried beef with rice, tomato, red onion and french fries), as well as desserts including alfajores (sandwich cookies with dulce de leche) and torta helada (a gelatin-based cake). It takes cash only and serves no alcohol.

OUTSKIRTS, PT. 2: In the opposite direction, down Mars Hill Road, in the new shopping center that also houses the Oconee County branch of the Omni fitness club, 5th Avenue Pizza (1260 Mars Hill Road, 706-705-1490) has been open since February. Its NYC-centric decor and claim to having “authentic New York pizza” should be met with some skepticism, but the pizza is fine to good and at least authentically pizza, and there is little competition in the area, Your Pie aside.

The dining room is big and clean, with a bar at the back and TVs tuned to ESPN on the walls; there’s also a nice patio just outside, with umbrella-ed tables. Pizza by the slice is big and well-crisped, with what is indeed a New York-style crust, and could be a better deal than the whole pies, although not all of the specialty options are available by the slice. The “Gourmet,” with artichoke hearts, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, feta and black olives, may run you $4.19 a slice, but depending on your appetite it could be a meal in itself.

5th Avenue also does pasta (including a fairly bland spaghetti and meatballs that comes with a side salad and a lot of buttery, salty garlic bread), subs, calzones, stromboli, wings, full-size salads, garlic knots, “cheese bread stix,” wraps, a bunch of fried appetizers and large desserts from cannoli to caramel crunch cake with ice cream. It also has kids’ meals, a full bar and dollar cheese slices for the month of April when you buy a beverage. The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner every day.

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