Come for the chicken, stay for the chicken
Machu Picchu Charcoal Chicken and Grill owner Rosy Cerna has good Peruvian home cooking for those who can put up with Union Square's ongoing development.
The Charcoal Chicken and Grill is the second restaurant Cerna owns in Union Square. The restaurant opened two weeks ago in a small space at the corner of Bow Street and Somerville Avenue. It's a block closer to Union Square than the original Machu Picchu, which used to be where the grill is now. The flagship restaurant features Peruvian dishes from each of the country's 25 states, but at Cerna's grill, it's chicken all the time.
The grill is all about authenticity.
"We cook it originally from how the Incans did," Cerna said. "The day before, we marinade it with Peruvian spices. We use our salt, pepper, cumin, oregano, but all of those are from Peru. For some reason, we find it's more tasty."
Not only are all the spices flown in from Peru, but so's the grill Cerna's staff uses to cook the chicken. "The material that this machine has helps with the flavor."
The restaurant is a small space, but bright yellow, red and orange paint magnify the sunlight coming in from Bow Street. Peruvian music piped through hidden speakers adds to the place's vitality, but at the lunch hour on a weekday, only two tables were occupied.
"It's kind of quiet," owner Cerna said. She blamed the Somerville Avenue construction and the lack of parking close to the restaurant. "With the construction going on, we have some issues, like power, stuff like that."
Cerna's restaurants have been one of the several restaurants in Union Square to suffer sporadic power outages caused by construction workers digging into Somerville Avenue. The restaurant also deals with noise and dust kicked up by huge machines digging into the street only a few feet from her restaurant's door.
The construction has also eliminated parking spaces near the restaurant, she said Peruvians don't come as much as she would hope. "Peruvians don't live in this area of Massachusetts," she said. "They come over from different towns."
"People complain, they have to park three, four blocks from here to get to my restaurant," Cerna said.
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Cerna said when she moved to Somerville in 1995, Union Square was a quiet part of town, but it's been getting livelier, largely due to efforts by Union Square Main Streets. "The organization has been doing a lot," she said. "I can see more people here."