Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the opening of the City’s first Pollo Campero family restaurant.  Pollo Campero is opening in the heart of the City’s Latin American community  -- Corona, Queens and along with a Sunset Park, Brooklyn location, scheduled to open in two weeks, 250 jobs will be created.   Top executives of Campero USA Corp and New York franchisee PCNY LLC along with local, state and federal representatives and the Queens business community joined Mayor Bloomberg. 

“Today, the long wait is finally over,” said Mayor Bloomberg.  “Pollo Campero’s arrival in New York City is a gastronomical and economic development treat of substantial proportions.  Not only we will all be treated to delicious fried chicken, but hundreds of jobs are being created for hard working New Yorkers.  Pollo Campero is tapping into New York City’s fastest growing community.  And by opening in the most diverse City in the world, Pollo Campero is simultaneously expanding its operation to communities from around the world. 

With approximately 500,000 Central Americans in New York, PCNY, LLC chose the City to expand Pollo Camperro. The first restaurant, located on Roosevelt Avenue at 104th street in Corona, Queens expects to serve up to 5,000 customers during its first few days alone.  This location and the second Pollo Campero will create 250 jobs. Hundreds of additional jobs will be created as more Pollo Campero restaurants are opened throughout the metropolitan area.  The Queens restaurant is located at 103-16 Roosevelt Avenue at 104th Street in Corona and is the largest Pollo Campero production facility in the world.  The Brooklyn restaurant is located at 4506 Fifth Avenue at 45th Street in Brooklyn.

“The decision to become a franchisee for Pollo Campero in the U.S. was not difficult to make, considering the size and vitality of the Hispanic community in the Greater New York area,” said Neil Colley, Managing Partner of PCNY, LLC.  “And with the quality in product and service that this brand provides, we expect to build a large customer base from New York Hispanics and non-Hispanics alike.”

“We are very proud to be the first restaurant of our kind in the U.S., a brand created and developed in Latin America, featuring the favorite dishes of many Latin American countries and offering top quality service and product to our loyal customers from home and our new and valued customers in the U.S.,” said Juan Jose Gutierrez, President and CEO of Campero USA Corp.

The first Pollo Campero restaurant was founded by Don Dionisio Gutierrez and his father Don Juan Buatista Gutierrez in Guatemala more than 33 years ago.  Today, the restaurant operates worldwide in Ecuador, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Mexico and the United States.  Pollo Campero serves over 75 millions orders per year, and employs over 6,000 employees.  In the U.S., Pollo Campero restaurants are selling as much as $1 million monthly in food.  Pollo Campero made the decision to expand into the U.S. market after selling 3 million “to go” orders through Central American airport locations to travelers who were delivering orders Pollo Campero fried chicken to their U.S.-based friends and relatives craving a taste of home.  The first U.S. restaurant opened in Los Angeles in April 2002.