Capital Chicken to expand offerings at new Richmond Highway location

A Richmond Highway storefront that’s been vacant for over three years is getting a facelift and will soon be the new home of a popular Peruvian chicken restaurant.

Capital Chicken, currently located beside the parklet at Mount Vernon Plaza, plans to vacate its space at the shopping center when its lease expires later this month and relocate to the former 5 Ten Foodmart property at 8339 Richmond Highway, which closed in February 2020.

Carla Alvarado, who co-owns Capital Chicken with her husband Kevin, said they’ve had their eye on the site for years and were glad to be able to secure a location “on the strip” where they could still maintain their existing customer base. The couple has already repainted the exterior in bright colors, put up storefront signage and laid concrete for what Alvarado says will be an outdoor patio. Next steps will be to clear the area around and behind the restaurant — they own the property up to the fence separating it from the annex of the Original Mount Vernon High School — so they can provide outdoor entertainment options in the future, like “chicken and movie nights.”

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As far as the interior is concerned, Alvarado said they’re remodeling it in a more modern style and will have a wraparound ordering line. While the menu will remain the same, some new items may be introduced in the future. The owners are in the process of applying for an ABC license.

One new element that patrons can expect to see will be a restaurant mascot — Pedro Pluma. “Pedro” is the name of Alvarado’s father, and “pluma” means feather. The Alvarados plan to make the restaurant family-friendly and to support local school fundraisers.

Capital Chicken, which originally opened at Mount Vernon Plaza as “Limon Pollo a la Brasa” back in fall 2016, is anticipated to open at its new location in July “if not sooner,” according to Alvarado.