Haute Sauce : Pollo Inka’s Winning Recipe: Good Peruvian Food, Decent Prices

Rosa and Salomon Jaime realized they had a recipe for success when their first Pollo Inka restaurant became so packed every night that people who couldn’t get inside would order takeout and eat in their cars.

Despite expanding into three spaces in the Lawndale mini-mall, the couple still couldn’t satisfy the crowds clamoring for pollo a la brasa (rotisserie chicken), lime-marinated ceviche and lomo saltado--strips of beef cooked with french fries, onion and tomato, served over steaming white rice.

Word of the good food and reasonable prices spread. And now, 10 years later, the family business has blossomed into eight Pollo Inka restaurants--seven in Southern California and one in Miami.

“I’m very proud,� said Rosa Jaime, who immigrated to California from Peru in 1971. “We are in a country where there are people from around the world. We want to make our food and culture known here too.�

As consumer demand for restaurant fare increases nationwide, diners are becoming more adventurous, seeking out unusual cuisines such as that served at Pollo Inka.

“Americans are looking for something new, beyond Mexican, Italian and Mandarin Chinese food,� said Caitlin Storhaug, spokeswoman for the Washington, D.C.-based National Restaurant Assn. “Ethnic dining in this country is very popular.�

South American food may not be as well-known as other cuisines. But by operating in Los Angeles, with its close cultural connection to Latin America, Pollo Inka and such restaurants probably have an edge in a competitive market, said industry expert Richard Martin.

“We [Los Angeles] natives cut our teeth on Hispanic food,� said Martin, West Coast bureau chief for the trade journal Nation’s Restaurant News. “We’re familiar with dishes made with rice, beans, corn and spicy seasonings.�

That familiarity has paid off for Pollo Inka: Anglos make up about 80% of Pollo Inka’s clientele, fueling the small chain’s success.

The restaurants are all independently owned. At the moment, they are not big moneymakers, bringing in a total of between $4 million and $5 million last year, according to the owners’ estimates. But family members are intent on keeping prices low to attract more patrons.

The Jaimes hit upon the idea of opening a restaurant just as the El Pollo Loco chain was starting to catch on. If Mexican grilled chicken could attract a following, the couple figured, why not Peruvian-style pollo a la brasa? Besides, Rosa Jaime’s family had owned restaurants in Peru, and it seemed like a natural choice.

“I love to cook,� said Rosa Jaime, “and I like to have a cookbook in my hand.�

The determined couple sold their home in Gardena for the initial investment and moved in with one of Rosa’s sisters.

After opening Pollo Inka in 1987, Rosa spent two years in the kitchen, inventing and refining the seasonings for the restaurants’ many dishes. She trains the chefs at each restaurant to ensure consistency in the food.

Pollo Inka’s menu offers diners a wide sampling of Peruvian food. In doing so, the family broke tradition with pollerias in Peru, which sell only chicken.

The first Pollo Inka benefited from the help of Rosa Jaime’s large family. Despite holding full-time jobs, her seven siblings and their families helped out whenever they could.

The local Peruvian community in the Lawndale area formed a devoted corps of customers.

“In the beginning, it was nothing fancy,� Salomon Jaime said. “We started with paper plates. As the people started to come, we added a decoration here and there . . . plates, tablecloths,� he said. They decided to open every day from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., and later on weekends, when they offered traditional Peruvian music.

Like many immigrant entrepreneurs, the Jaimes brought valuable business savvy and capital to their enterprise.

The couple had a small garment shop before they opened Pollo Inka, and Rosa, the eldest of the eight children, had helped out in her mother’s restaurant in Peru for several years. She has, in turn, passed her knowledge on to her siblings.

“The one who leads us is Rosa,� said sister Elizabeth Cabral. “She always has new ideas.�

As the lines of patrons continued, Rosa Jaime’s brothers decided to open a second restaurant with hard-earned cash from a variety of jobs, including stints as a shuttle driver, hotel bellhop and waiter.

Cash upfront is a common method of financing in the restaurant business.

“It’s hard to get bank financing for restaurants because of their high failure rate,� said editor Richard Martin.

Juan, Antonio, Victor and Luis Escobar and their mother, Maria Atoche, established their Pollo Inka in nearby Gardena in 1989. They used their experience at the first restaurant as a blueprint for their operation.

The brothers also started small, expanding and adding bigger tables and decor as their customer base grew. They kept the same menu and the same hours. They chose a location with ample parking--in short supply at the Lawndale business.

“At lunchtime, you don’t want to waste time looking for parking,� said Luis Escobar, noting that noon is their busiest hour.

They put in a dance floor and added salsa to the musical entertainment. Today, at 5,000 square feet, the Gardena restaurant is the largest of the chain.

The initial operations were located in the South Bay, because of the Peruvian population centered there. Another sister, Shirley Arroyo, opened a small Pollo Inka in Hermosa Beach in 1991. Torrance came next.

As the clientele expanded beyond the Peruvian community, however, the family ventured outward. A Glendora operation followed in 1994, and last year, family members added restaurants in West Los Angeles and Anaheim. Just this year, the Jaimes joined with a partner and opened a small chicken-only eatery in Miami. All the partners have provided their own start-up money.

The West L.A. operation, located in a tony neighborhood on the edge of Brentwood, is perhaps the riskiest venture so far. Owners Elizabeth Cabral and Graciela Villamizar (another of Rosa Jaime’s sisters) have kept the restaurant’s prices in line with the rest, despite their higher rent. Yet this location potentially offers the chain the greatest visibility and profit.

The Jaimes’ story is not uncommon. Restaurants are a popular choice for immigrants who want to invest in a small business.

“They provide immediate access to the commercial market,� Martin said.

But it’s not enough just to know how to cook. Though many immigrant entrepreneurs are diligent and hard-working, business smarts are essential, said Gerald Breitbart of the California Restaurant Assn.

“It’s hard to get a restaurant going when you don’t know how to manage money,� Breitbart said. “No one particular ethnic group has a lock on failure.�

Indeed, while Pollo Inka charted its upward growth, many Peruvian restaurants opened and closed.

Rosa Jaime is currently developing a franchise plan for a Pollo Inka Express, a drive-through eatery specializing in chicken, Boston Market-style. Blueprints have already been drawn up for a Lawndale operation.

In addition, the family is finally considering the possibility of granting franchises for the restaurant business. Until now, they were reluctant to open it up to outsiders.

“When it’s family and you have problems . . . well, it’s family,� Rosa Jaime said.

Despite all her ambitions, most days will find Rosa Jaime at the cash register of her first restaurant in Lawndale. While Peruvians are only a fraction of the clientele elsewhere, there they still make up about half the customers.

Their loyalty is evident on days when Peru’s soccer team plays in international matches, shown on big screens. Excited Peruvians fill the restaurant, with its paintings of Machu Picchu and other scenes on the wall. And of course, plates of pollo a la brasa abound.