Even if Business Is Tainted by Raid, Customers Say, the Chicken Isn't

The line stretched to the end of the counter, then out the door, then down the sidewalk. Sweetly spiced smoke rolled into the Wheaton sky. El Pollo Rico was open for business once more.

Shuttered since the middle of last month for employing illegal workers, the beloved Montgomery County eatery reopened for lunch yesterday with some new employees but the same management and -- more to the point -- the same chicken. To besotted patrons, that was all that mattered.

"This chicken place is number one in Wheaton. Look at all the people," said Hugo Cayo of Rockville, speaking in Spanish as he finished his lunch to the roar of exhaust fans. "People were waiting for this day."

Immigration officers seized nine workers at the Ennalls Avenue restaurant July 12 in a dramatic raid on a popular strip mall. Federal agents arrested four members of the Solano family that owns the landmark eatery and a sister location in Arlington County. Such is the allure of El Pollo Rico that the raid captivated the immigrant community and Zagat-toting foodies in equal measure. An "R.I.P. Pollo Rico" page has appeared on the social networking Internet site Facebook.

Several patrons in line yesterday said they had found their way to the Arlington outlet rather than face a three-week withdrawal from their favorite pollo a la braza, or spit-roasted chicken. Cleveland Reed of Bethesda programmed the address into his car's navigation system.

"I'm just glad they got squared away and they're back open," said Reed, sweating in a suit in the 90-degree heat outside the restaurant. "They've got the best chicken around."

On July 30, a federal grand jury indicted Francisco Carlos Solano, 55; his wife, Inés Solano, 59; his sister Consuelo Solano, 69; and his brother Juan Faustino Solano, 57. They are accused of employing and housing illegal immigrants, money laundering and running the cash-only business in ways that avoided financial reporting requirements.

The family patriarch, Francisco Solano, declined to comment on the case or on the return to business yesterday afternoon, saying he was too busy. Earlier in the day, he told television station WRC (Channel 4) that family members were unable to find new workers and were running the restaurant themselves.

The fresh memory of last month's raid -- and the presence yesterday of television camera crews outside the restaurant -- seemed to make some customers uneasy. The line grew once they departed.

Jose Menendez of Silver Spring, a regular who was among the first to patronize the reopened restaurant, said he had mixed feelings about the criminal charges.

"They learned the hard way," Menendez said. "I hope everything is behind them."

Kesha Smith of Gaithersburg, also in line, was less enthusiastic about the family's alleged business practices than about its chicken. "I ain't cool with that," she said. "I pay my taxes."

But she was there to buy chicken, not to pass judgment. And as word spread down the line that the product was as tasty as ever, she smiled in anticipation.