Restaurant of the Week: Oporto

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Closed

Oporto, 8220 Haven Ave. (at Foothill), Rancho Cucamonga

Oporto is an Australia-based restaurant chain that opened its first U.S. location in (why not?) Rancho Cucamonga. A quirky way to launch, I suppose, but we would expect no less from the Aussies. The website promises coming locations in Ontario and Glendora. We appreciate their laser-like focus.

The Rancho Cucamonga restaurant is in the former Pei Wei location, much missed by some of us, in the Chaffey Town Square center at the southwest corner of Haven and Foothill. Oporto opened in February. I went in with a friend recently for dinner.

They specialize in Portuguese-style chicken, unbreaded and unfried, served either as whole chickens or in a variety of sandwiches, in which the chicken is pressed and served as one, two or three stacked “patties.” It’s a casual, order-at-the-counter place, with an overhead menu of similar-looking sandwiches whose variations can only be read when standing directly underneath it.

We had a single Bondi meal (one-patty sandwich, fries, drink, $5), which has “chilli” sauce, and a double Otropo meal (ditto, but with two patties, $7), which has pineapple, bacon and “creamy mayo” sauce.

Well, it was no Pei Wei, but the sandwiches were tasty, and served on above-average buns. The crusty fries were different, enjoyable, but salty. I would go back and so would my friend. (*Correction: She says she wouldn’t.) The food is very different from Chick-fil-A but of comparable quality. There’s plenty of seating indoors and a large patio.

Throw another chicken on the…oh, never mind.

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