Is Portland Really Ready for Another Rotisserie Chicken Spot?

Grab the Wet Naps: La Lena is a new rotisserie chicken restaurant setting up shop on SE Hawthorne in early June, and it comes from Angeline Perla and Adam Warren, a chef with an eight-year tenure at one of Portland’s foundational restaurants, Navarre. La Lena promises incredibly priced Peruvian-style rotisserie chicken meals for the whole family for around $30 (that includes Peruvian fries, salad, and potent sauces), with a focus on takeout and delivery. And Warren will be working with recipes from the family of his soon-to-be-wife, Perla, who hails from Lima.

Portland’s rotisserie-chicken fever seemed to reach its peak in 2016, with the opening of Pollo Bravo, Arrosto, and Pollo Norte’s second location. These rotisseries joined already popular spit-roasted options Polli-tico and Chicken and Guns, and the latter has plans to open five locations in the next five years, backed by a Bunk co-founder.

In some Latin American cities, rotisserie chicken stands seem to appear on every corner. Is Portland on the same page? Or are restaurateurs in danger of beating the trend to death? Sound off in the comments or via the tip line, to profess your undying love of roasted-and-basted fowl or to declare your anxious hunger for something original.

• La Lena [Official]
• Peruvian Rotisserie Chicken Spot La Leña Will Roost on SE Hawthorne in June [PoMo]