Pio Pio Ballantyne | Review

If you're in the Ballantyne area and craving Latin American for lunch or dinner, but want to eat more up scale than Viva Chicken, then Pio Pio Ballantyne is a great alternative. The second branch of the Pio Chicken line in Charlotte, the restaurant is located at 9816 Rea Rd. Charlotte NC 28277, inside the Blakeney Shopping Center near Ballantyne.

Overview

• Atmosphere: Sit down family restaurant
• Food: Great chicken, very moist.
• Alcohol: Strong sangria; Latin American beers
• Uniqueness: One of a kind in Ballantyne

What is Pio Pio?

Pio Pio Ballantyne is a casual sit down family restaurant mainly serving Peruvian style rotisserie chicken. If somebody at the table isn't quite feeling chicken, then they offer beef, pork and even fish alternatives. Unfortunately, their seafood isn't the famed Peruvian ceviche, but a more cooked inland style. Most meals come with a side of rice and beans. Lunch options, such as their chicken sandwich come with a side french fries.

What to try at Pio Pio Ballantyne

Chicken Sandwich

If you want to stay safe, then their chicken sandwich is certain to win you over. The chicken is pulled from their rotisserie chicken and is well cooked and moist. The choice of bread is a soft ciabatta roll and the plate is served with a side of fries.

Tacos

Other options that I've tried and would recommend are the tacos. Pio Pio gives the option of having chicken or beef, and I opted for the chicken given their restaurant specialty. The meal comes with three small corn tortilla tacos and a side of rice and beans. The chicken in the tacos was a little drier than I prefer and I am not an overall fan of corn tortillas. However, the flavor of the tacos were still excellent and would not mind trying the tacos again except with beef.

The rice and beans were adequate, but it should be forewarned that the beans are very wet. Some would think the beans were more soup than beans. Overall, not much an issue.

Montanero Combo | Grilled Steak and Sausage Platter

For someone who wants to go further beyond, then it's the Montanero Combo they need. It's a Columbian platter serving up a thin steak, sausage and pork skin. Alongside the meat, it offers the standard rice and beans with the addition of a fried egg, avocado and plantains. It's a wide variety of food and flavor that matches up well with one another. Again, the beans are very wet. More soup than beans, but still flavorful.

Drinks

Pio Pio Ballantyne has several interesting drinks on the menu:

• Sodas: Inca Cola, Manzana
• Juice: Sour Sop, Blackberry
• Alcohol: Sangria

The sodas are South American favorites. Inca Cola is Peruvian while Manzana is Ecuadorian. Personally, I prefer their juices. They offer the choice to either have them served as regular juice or mixed together with milk, in a milkshake-esque combination. I would recommend trying their juice with milk at least once. It smooths out some of the sharp sweetness in ordinary fruit juice.

If you are in the mood for a more adult beverage, Pio Pio offers several South American commercial beer brands. However, in Brewery happy city like Charlotte, these mass production brews aren't very appealing.

Their housemade Sangria, however, is probably one of the best in Charlotte. It's very smooth without being overly sweet. Buyer beware, just because the Sangria is smooth, doesn't mean it packs a strong punch.

Dessert

Dessert is rather limited at Pio Pio; your options are either tres leches or flan. Probably for the best as their are several great options right outside the door like Jeni's Ice Cream. Overall, you won't be visiting Pio Pio for sweets.

Conclusion

If you are looking for Latin American, then Pio Pio Ballantyne is a must try! Most items on the menu are great, but chicken is their real specialty. I would recommend pairing your meal with either a Sangria or Fruit Juice milkshake.

‍

‍