YKO Chicken BBQ

Reviews

• Edward S.

  star star star star star 29 May 2026

  YKO serves up some vicious chicken. This is some chicken that has been held close to fragrant wood charcoal. The only toughness is in the beautiful intensity of its African spices and chili heat. The tender and juicy meat has thoroughly absorbed the smokiness. On the side are some seasoned rice with soft cabbage leaves and golden hot morsels of sweet plantains.

• Amelia J.

  star star star star star 24 May 2026

  I was super excited to try this place since I love spicy chicken, and already tried Nando's and Pili Pili, and was curious how this place was different!
  
  I came on a rainy day and ordered a whole chicken without any sides. It was $17, which is reasonable, although you can buy a full chicken for maybe $10-13 sometimes on sale. It only took maybe 15 minutes of wait time, and it comes in a foil bag so it stays hot!
  
  The taste: it was delicious! I wish I could find out the exact recipe, but the spices go really well together, and some of the oil goes to the bottom of the bag, which is perfect to dip pieces into. The chicken was really tender and NOT DRY (I find pili pili a bit dry). The charcoal taste was infused into the chicken and was to die for; just thinking about it now makes me salivate! The heat creeps up on you slowly, but it's not overly spicy.
  
  I don't even mind paying more for the deliciousness, since I can't figure out exactly what spices they use, plus no method to get the charcoal taste at home (I need a bbq lol)!
  
  I got a bissap juice to try (small jug is $4) as the menu said it is homemade; the hibiscus taste went really well with the spicy chicken! I'll try their homemade ginger drink next time, and probably one or two sides.
  
  Inside there are a couple of tables, but it was really hot, so I didn't eat inside. It seemed like a popular watering hole as there were a couple of groups of people of African descent.
  
  Overall, super satisfying, spicy chicken...worth it to drive here and try out! :) It would be better if it was slightly cheaper, but you're paying for authenticity I guess!

• Joshua-Ray E.

  star star star star star 19 May 2026

  I'm from Toronto and there is only one place that rivals this chicken: O Patio. But it's spicy and it's so good.
  
  You have to try

• Jen N.

  star star star star star_border 18 May 2026

  Amazing rice and plantain. The chicken is also good. Try to order in advance because it can be a wait.

• Lauren D.

  star star star star_border star_border 16 May 2026

  Repeatedly my boyfriend would tell me the same story, about this amazing chicken spot on Charlotte and Rideau St.. He was so passionate about the chicken that despite me hearing the story for the millionth time, I felt his grieving process was warranted. Ever since, I have been searching high and low for a similar BBQ'd chicken spot in Ottawa, worthy of mending his broken heart.
  Keeping true to this mandate, I brought home BBQ one night, anxious for him to try it and be amazed! Only, while we sat there enjoying a great meal the same whimper and reflection of this once amazing BBQ establishment emerged. To which I pulled out my iPad and did some investigating (apparently this had never dawned on him)...
  
  What I found, was that not only did the place still exist, it was blocks away from my house, and they now have two locations; one in Montréal. Ha, winning!
  
  Entering Yko's you will notice a very empty restaurant, a few tables for dine-in guests, some paintings on the walls and a small take-out counter. There was no heat in the restaurant during my visit and considering it was -8C, everyone seemed rather uncomfortable waiting in line. I ordered the Chicken Combo (1/2 chicken). This plate comes with 1/2 BBQ chicken, rice, and fried plantain.
  The chicken was good, contained a good amount of spice/heat and had authentic charcoal BBQ flavour. The rice was my favorite part of the plate, it was nicely spiced and was anything from boring.
  Although we enjoyed our meals, the chicken was not as flavourful or as juicy as I would have expected (considering the stories my boyfriend goes on about).
  
  With that said, I will try there chicken again, the meal was good (a little expensive, but good) and I really want to know if the heat comes back on. As for my darling boyfriend, the search for the best BBQ chicken in Ottawa continues, since the flavour of the chicken on this visit wasn't as good as remembered. Although i'm slowly coming to realize this might be a challenge I won't win...