Restaurant Name: Pio Pio Restaurant
Type: Columbian / Peruvian
Address: 5752 International Dr. (at Kirkman) PH: 407-248-6424
Date and Time of Visit: Monday Feb 8th, at approximately 5:30 pm
Service: Professional, helpful and courteous. Drinks refilled promptly and without asking. Menu recommendations made and helpful guidance offered. Followups performed at regular intervals. The bill arrived promptly when requested.
Location: At the end of a small strip mall, Pio Pio has an unprepossessing exterior that will deter anyone who is afraid of stepping off the beaten path. But for those brave enough to find it, Pio Pio provides excellent food at a great price.
Atmosphere: This small restaurant boasts a modest but clean and comfortable interior. Small tables covered with crisp white cotton tablecloths and paper liners are preset with thin, sharp steak knives - a good sign of things to come.
Food: Pio Pio offers meat, as the steak knives attest. And what meat! Upon our arrival, our waiter instantly recognized us for the first-timers that we were and - very politely and kindly - told us what we should order. We were grateful for the advice. Chicken and steak strips. both with side dishes of rice and beans and fried plantains, made up our simple but excellent supper.
The chicken was perfect rotisserie chicken: crispy flavourful skin, nicely browned, and inside was tender, moist meat that my daughter and I could not stop eating. The steak strips cooked with peppers and onions were a nicely balanced medley of spice and beef. Sharing our meals highlighted a dilemma. Eat the rich peppery steak first and you might find the chicken a bit too light for your taste, but eat that meltingly tender chicken first and you might find the steak too rich (trust me, it isn't!) in comparison. A pleasant problem indeed.
In many meat-oriented restaurants, the side dishes suffer a distinct lack of attention and often remain untouched as useless plate-dressing. Rest assured that Pio Pio doesn't make this mistake. The accompanying beans were tender and meaty (oh the irony!) without being overly salted, and the rice was fluffy, very fresh and (miracle of miracles) very hot.
Our food total for 2 adults and 1 child came to $25 with taxes and a generous tip.
In Summary: Pio Pio is a hidden gem that provides excellent value and some of the best chicken I have eaten yet. It has become a must-do on our family's list. Another option to consider is takeout: on our evening there, we saw a steady stream of cars pull up and people running in to pick up orders. I can't imagine a nicer way to end a busy day.
Type: Columbian / Peruvian
Address: 5752 International Dr. (at Kirkman) PH: 407-248-6424
Date and Time of Visit: Monday Feb 8th, at approximately 5:30 pm
Service: Professional, helpful and courteous. Drinks refilled promptly and without asking. Menu recommendations made and helpful guidance offered. Followups performed at regular intervals. The bill arrived promptly when requested.
Location: At the end of a small strip mall, Pio Pio has an unprepossessing exterior that will deter anyone who is afraid of stepping off the beaten path. But for those brave enough to find it, Pio Pio provides excellent food at a great price.
Atmosphere: This small restaurant boasts a modest but clean and comfortable interior. Small tables covered with crisp white cotton tablecloths and paper liners are preset with thin, sharp steak knives - a good sign of things to come.
Food: Pio Pio offers meat, as the steak knives attest. And what meat! Upon our arrival, our waiter instantly recognized us for the first-timers that we were and - very politely and kindly - told us what we should order. We were grateful for the advice. Chicken and steak strips. both with side dishes of rice and beans and fried plantains, made up our simple but excellent supper.
The chicken was perfect rotisserie chicken: crispy flavourful skin, nicely browned, and inside was tender, moist meat that my daughter and I could not stop eating. The steak strips cooked with peppers and onions were a nicely balanced medley of spice and beef. Sharing our meals highlighted a dilemma. Eat the rich peppery steak first and you might find the chicken a bit too light for your taste, but eat that meltingly tender chicken first and you might find the steak too rich (trust me, it isn't!) in comparison. A pleasant problem indeed.
In many meat-oriented restaurants, the side dishes suffer a distinct lack of attention and often remain untouched as useless plate-dressing. Rest assured that Pio Pio doesn't make this mistake. The accompanying beans were tender and meaty (oh the irony!) without being overly salted, and the rice was fluffy, very fresh and (miracle of miracles) very hot.
Our food total for 2 adults and 1 child came to $25 with taxes and a generous tip.
In Summary: Pio Pio is a hidden gem that provides excellent value and some of the best chicken I have eaten yet. It has become a must-do on our family's list. Another option to consider is takeout: on our evening there, we saw a steady stream of cars pull up and people running in to pick up orders. I can't imagine a nicer way to end a busy day.
