New Tacoma restaurant will focus on famous flame-grilled chicken with a kick
Galos Flame Grilled Chicken, a new Canada-based chain specializing in the spicy piri-piri, will open its third U.S. restaurant in University Place before the end of the year.
Located in the Market Square plaza off Bridgeport Way, the casual, family-oriented spot will offer a broad menu of chicken by the piece, half and whole, as well as in salads, sandwiches, wraps and rice bowls.
A quarter serving of a leg and a thigh starts at $6.95, a double order $10.95 and a half-chicken $11.95. Family-style options abound, including a half-chicken with two kebabs, four wings and two sides for $29.95.
The prices inch up from there but promise to feed a crowd: a whole chicken plus accompaniments for $34.95 or, heck, two whole chickens, three large sides — choose among fries, coleslaw, rice, a baked potato — and four servings of garlic bread for $61.95.
Snack-sized appetizers include piri-flecked nuts, hummus served with naan, crispy green beans and chicken livers with piri sauce at your choice of heat level ($4.95 to $6.95). Vegetarians aren’t left out, and in a nod to the Pacific Northwest, there’s also a salmon sandwich with a lemon piri mayo.
PIRI-PIRI CHICKEN
This style of bird — traditionally spatchcocked and grilled, never fried — is famous for its namesake sauce, at its core a simple combination of chili flakes, dried or fresh, and olive oil. Some recipes call for garlic and vinegar, or citrus and other herbs like tarragon, oregano and bay leaf.
Galos calls their take on it Portuguese, but its exact origins are mired in the convoluted history of colonialism. The sauce likely took off in Portugal in the 1970s, as many Portuguese citizens living in African colonies, notably Angola and Mozambique, returned home. They brought the chilis — which probably first came from Mexico and the Caribbean — with them. This group, known as retornados in their native tongue, settled in the southern tip of Portugal, the Algarve, where the peppers grows readily to this day.
Historically, the Portuguese would roast a chicken. Marinated in this newfound chili oil, they split the bird and tossed it over an open flame.
Piri-piri, spelled peri-peri in South Africa, thus blossomed into a favorite dish not only of Portugal but also the United Kingdom.
Galos co-owner Nick Athwal hopes to bring piri-piri chicken to the people of the Puget Sound and maybe beyond.
He opened the first Galos Flame Grilled Chicken in Ballard last June, followed by a second in Bellingham. A third is under construction in Seattle’s South Lake Union, but a Kirkland store has been put on hold due to COVID-19 setbacks, said Athwal.
Asked why he wanted to be in the Tacoma area, Athwal told The News Tribune he and his team are seeking the best sites to grow the brand.
He has been working on the concept for about three years, most in search of the right Washington state manufacturer for the sauces, which will eventually be sold by the bottle.
At the University Place restaurant, guests will be able to order at the counter or directly at the table through an online system. Food is delivered to you in under 10 minutes, he said, and takeout will be just as quick.
GALOS FLAME GRILLED CHICKEN
▪ 3556 Market Place W, Suite 111, University Place, galosusa.com
▪ Details: targeting an early November opening with dine-in, takeout and delivery
This story was originally published September 30, 2020 at 5:00 AM.