CLOSED
This week’s restaurant: Pittsburgh Broasted Chicken and Subs, 669 Indian Hill Blvd. (at Holt), Pomona.
This restaurant opened a few months back north of the old Food 4 Less in a strip mall that is also home to Christy’s Donuts, a nail salon, 98 Cent Plus and a Vietnamese sandwich shop. The space’s previous occupant was the shortlived Sushi 4 U, which I liked to imagine was run by a Prince acolyte.
PBC, as I’m going to call it for brevity, was empty when I ventured in for a mid-afternoon meal this week. The interior appears clean and bright. You order at the counter. I think the owners are Korean American.
I got the 2 piece dinner plus a soda ($6.69). (It was only after ordering that I noticed “lunch specials” on the menu. D’oh! It’s tough trying to absorb a new menu while someone is waiting for you to order.)
They gave me my choice of pieces, so I went with a breast and thigh. You also have a choice of four styles: original, plain, lemon pepper or cajun. (Begging the question, what is the difference between original and plain?) I went with lemon pepper. The dinner comes with a side of slaw, potato salad, macaroni salad or baked beans; I went for the slaw.
The dinner was made to order and came out after 15 minutes. The meal was served in a basket that was heaped with potato squares, kind of like Wendy’s fries except in cubes. They were pretty good. The slaw was standard. There was a roll too.
As for the chicken, it was impressive. I have limited experience with broasted chicken — who doesn’t? — but the mysterious process of broasting somehow involves both pressure cooking and deep frying. As they say on this Chowhound thread, don’t try this at home. You can read a more official version at the official broasting website. Scroll down for an apt quote from a “West Wing” episode.
The PBC version of broasted chicken had crispy skin and very moist, flavorful meat, even if the lemon and pepper were too subtle for me. (Maybe lemon pepper, original and plain are all the same.)
The meal was a good deal for the money. All in all, a pleasant surprise.
PBC has also been reviewed by the IE Restaurants blog and by the Student in Pomona blog, which rates it No. 1 in Pomona, even above (gasp) Donahoo’s. Heresy!
I wouldn’t go that far, but if you like chicken, you ought to give PBC a try. The restaurant doesn’t deserve to be empty.
