Tom Sietsema wrote about El Pollito for a July 2009 First Bite column.

I'm waiting to order the signature dish at El Pollito when the guy in front of me turns around and strikes up a conversation.

"You been here before?" he wants to know. I shake my head no.

"The chicken is like crack!" he blurts out. Even though he lives in the District, he says, "I come here every day."

Now my curiosity is really piqued. Though there are promising signs all around me -- sunny interior, pleasant cashier, short menu devoted to a single subject -- it's hard to beat such unsolicited enthusiasm. And I catch the stranger's fever when I take a seat on El Pollito's roof-shaded front patio and slice into the mahogany-colored chicken on my plate.

I've never done crack, but I have eaten a lot of birds in my life. This stuff, slightly sticky from its marinade and fragrant from its time over charcoal and oak, is plenty pleasing.

Owner Ramzi Louati, who opened El Pollito ("The Little Chicken") in February, won't reveal the eight ingredients that go into his marinade. All the Tunisian native allows is that his head cook, who is Peruvian, helped him refine the early recipe and come up with a menu.

Rotisserie chicken can be ordered by the quarter, by the half or whole; side dishes run from pale, undercooked yuca to fresh and creamy coleslaw. "Everything is made from scratch, twice a day," says Louati, whose 32-seat dining room is open seven days a week for lunch and dinner. The quality of the cooking here supports his claim.

For customers who like rotisserie chicken but not the mess involved in eating it, there's pulled chicken, which finds its way into a quesadilla, a sandwich, a wrap, a green salad and a stewlike dish called the Pollito Mix: shredded chicken and bits of carrot and celery draped over black beans and rice. A lively salsa adds color and zing to the hearty combination.

"My girlfriend lives in the neighborhood," my chatty new friend says as he's handed his order and heads for the door. "She thinks I come here for her, but it's more for the chicken."

Unfortunately for him, El Pollito delivers within only a three-mile radius.

Whole chicken with two sides, $14.

(July 15, 2009)