Pollos Mario
63 Main St, Hackensack, NJ 07601
(201) 487-5004
Northern NJ, in addition to having a significant Mexican population, also is home to a large group of Colombians. Colombia gets a bad rap because of all the narcotrafficantes, but it has a rich and varied cuisine like Mexico or Peru, so if you have the opportunity to try Colombian food, you should. Pollos Mario, on Main Street in Hackensack, is a Colombian restaurant that specializes in Pollo a la Braza, Colombian-style roasted chicken.
Storefront
Dining Room
You can watch futbol on el televisor plasma.
The menu has pictures of all the dishes, which I think is great.
Lolo Drink. A type of sour fruit that tastes vaguely lime-like. I liked it a lot.
Papaya Drink
Empenadas. The condiment on the side is Aji Picante, a type of salsa made with jalapeno peppers and a number of other things.
Bistec a Caballo. Colombian Style Smothered Steak with Eggs, Yuca and Potato.
Colombian Rice and Beans
Pollo a la Braza, the main event. This is incredibly moist and juicy chicken cooked on a rotisserie with a secret spice blend. I can identify clove and cinnamon as part of the mix, but theres a lot of other stuff in there.
Colombian Breakfast, on a return visit — Pollo Mario serves breakfast until 12 noon every day. Huevos Mario, similar to “Western” or “Denver” style eggs, with potatoes in a spicy tomato sauce, and a Arepa Con Queso, a griddled white corn cake with cheese. Rachel had the Huevos Rancheros. Don’t forget the spicy green Aji sauce on the side to spice it up.
No Colombian breakfast is complete without hot chocolate.
Colombian-style Chorizo sausage, a more cumin-flavored version of the Spanish type.
Cafe con Leche.
Off The Broiler 
[…] Like Pollos Mario in Hackensack, Los Almendros in Bergenfield is one of the number of Colombian restaurants popping up in the local area. Almendros is two months old and serves a variety Colombian, Peruvian and Central American dishes. […]
[…] independent and well-established Pollo a La Brasa restaurants, such as the very popular Colombian Pollos Mario mini-chain and any number of other Latino-owned roast chicken places in Union City, North […]
We’ve had Pollos Mario but it just does not taste the same, the cooks are under paid and inexperienced newly arrived migrants.
For truly 100% Colombian seasoning, you have to check out Sancocho’s Cositas Ricas Pa’ Todos. It’s located at 4907 Bergenline Ave in West New York NJ.
The food is beyond great, the place is very cool and the prices are extremely competative.
I actually went to Sancocho’s recently — it hasn’t been open very long, only a few months. I stopped in and had the empanadas, it was excellent. Nice clean modern store as well. Right next to the Bergenline Avenue light rail station.
Funny I read the intro about Colombian Narcos and the bad rap but rumor has it that Pollos Mario was originally a money laundering business for the dealers, go figure.
The food is ok, the chicken is probably your best value there, everything else is a bit expensive for Colombian food.
This site got me curious so I did a few online searches and ended up in the website for the Department of Labor.
It looks like the laundromats were at one point converted into modern day slave shops, read, no bs…
News Release
U.S. Department of Labor
Wage and Hour Division
Release Number: 05-65-NEW / BOS 2005-011
Date:
Jan. 20, 2005
Contact:
John M. Chavez
Phone:
1-866-4-USWAGE
U.S. Department of Labor Obtains $225,000 in Back Wages For 43 Queens, NY Restaurant Workers.
NEW YORK, NY — Following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor, three restaurants located in the Jackson Heights section of Queens, N.Y., have paid 43 employees a total of $225,009 in minimum wage and overtime back wages. At issue were allegations of violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
“Both this action and our new Overtime Security rules reflect our commitment to protecting overtime rights,” said Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. “These restaurant workers were not receiving their rightful pay, and we took action to restore over $225,000 to them. Overtime rights will be further strengthened by our new Overtime Security rules which increase pay protections for millions of workers by updating and clarifying the old regulations.”
Included in the investigation by the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division were Pollos Mario Restaurant, Pollos a La Brasa Mario, and Cositas Ricas. The department found that the three restaurants, which operate under common ownership, were paying tipped employees $20.00 per shift regardless of the hours worked. The Wage and Hour investigation also found that employees were often required to work in excess of 40 hours per week without being paid overtime wages.
The FLSA requires that employees be paid at least the applicable minimum wage, time and one-half their regular rate of pay for hours worked over 40 per week, and that accurate records of employees’ wages, hours and other conditions of employment be maintained.
Once informed of the apparent minimum wage and overtime violations, management officials of the restaurants agreed to pay employees the back wages they were due and to come into full compliance with the FLSA in the future.
The investigation was conducted by the New York City District Office/Brooklyn Area Office of the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division. Information on the requirements of the FLSA may be obtained by calling the department’s toll-free help line at 1-866-4USWAGE (1-866-487-9243). Information is also available on the Internet at http://www.wagehour.dol.gov.
best place to eat colombian food.
There service is great and the food doesnt take long to come out and its prepare fresh out the oven!
Actually, you should have went 2 blocks down to Villa de Colombia (www.villadecolombia.com) for incredible Colombian Food in Hackensack. Try it out sometime!
woww Que rico ver comida Colombiana desde Cali Colombia, les felicito por su Restaurante y ojala pueda visitarlos algún dia
muchos besos