The restaurant now has four locations in Morgantown.
Luis Neira came to America from Peru when he was 16 years old. He landed a job in 1994 with an IHOP franchise owner, and he worked for almost 20 years managing and opening many new restaurants and eventually becoming director of operations.
In 2011, Luis and his wife moved from Virginia to West Virginia. Luis recognized the lack of Peruvian food options and decided to put his years of experience to work for himself. The couple started with one Peruvian chicken location called El Pollon in Ranson, West Virginia, in 2014, and have expanded to seven locations in multiple states today. They now have four locations in Morgantown—two of them opened just last month—and, in addition to the Ranson store, they also have sites in Carnegie, Pennsylvania, and Destin, Florida.
We caught up with Neira to talk about his story and his restaurants.
How did you originally come to Morgantown?
Louis Neira: We opened the location on Van Voorhis in 2020 because our kids were looking for colleges. We drove around the area and noticed that there were not any Peruvian chicken options, so we decided to give it a shot. After opening a location in Destin, Florida, we were approached by the same developer from the Van Voorhis location about opening a store in Sabraton. We opened a smaller location, which we call an express, in July of 2021.
Then, soon after we secured a new location on High Street, an opportunity became available near Cheat Lake in the development that contains Planet Fitness. We moved quickly and opened our fourth Morgantown location on Valentine’s Day.
Tell us about the new High Street El Pollon location.
LN: The High Street location has a larger menu and will serve alcohol once we get our ABC license, in about 30 days. It is a 4,000-square-foot space, much larger than our other locations.
What’s special about Peruvian rotisserie chicken?
LN: It is tasteful, crisp, and juicy, a result of the seasoning, the marination process, and the cooking process. The main thing is that it is cooked with charcoal—it is the rotisserie oven that does the magic. It takes about an hour and twenty five minutes to cook.
What other dishes are you known for?
LN: If you want something other than chicken, try the Lomo Saltado. It is a famous Peruvian dish. It is seasoned steak pieces sauteed with onions and tomatoes and served over french fries with white rice. If you go to our High Street location, be sure to try the ceviche: fresh fish marinated in lime juice and served with corn and yuca.
El Pollon’s Morgantown menu also includes quesadillas, burritos, wings, sandwiches, subs, and other entrees, as well as breakfast options. The Morgantown locations are open seven days a week, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
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