This restaurant has been reported as permanently closed. Click here if it has reopened.
Delivery
No
Payment
Credit Cards Accepted
Parking
Parking Lot
Good for Kids
Yes
Attire
Casual
Alcohol
No
Reservations
No
Cuisines:
Latin American,
Barbecue,
Peruvian
Price Point
$
$ - Cheap Eats (Under $10)
$$ - Moderate ($11-$25)
$$$ - Expensive ($25-$50)
$$$$ - Very Pricey (Over $50)
WiFi
No
Outdoor Seats
No
*This restaurant has closed. If this restaurant is open or has reopened, just let us know.
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08/08/2015 - Linda
Won't let me give zero stars. I see no one's written lately so I thought I'd join in. We were visiting Washington, D.C. from California recently and wanted Mario's pizza since I had had it often as a child living in VA and cousins were in walking distance of the place. We pulled into the Pio Pio parking lot accidentally (as Mario's own lot wasn't clear from the main road) and since it was 11pm and Pio Pio was closed we figured it didn't matter. Predatory towing wasn't on our radar. Now it is. We saw the guy and stopped him and payed an extortion fee for him to drop the car a few feet from where he grabbed it. If I lived there I would campaign against Pio Pio since they obviously get kickbacks off of people towed from their lot during non-business hours. Seriously? I wouldn't buy food from them if they were the last place on earth.
07/16/2011 - Melissa Pittard
Agree with all that was said below regarding Pio Pio and the towing company. Just happened to me. Got my small child a cone at the Carvel window, came back less than five minutes later, and the van was gone, and I was stranded there with two small children. We will never patronize Carvel or Pio Pio again.
02/24/2010 - Not Jeff Goldstien
Jeff Goldstien, you are a jackwad, and the owners of Pio Pio most certainly get a cut from the attitude ridden tow company that jacks cars, leaving people stranded. You call people yuppy scum? Sounds like you are either a tow driver, or the owner of Advanced Towing or Pio Pio. Every person towed is one less customer that will ever set foot in that restuarant. More than one if you count word of mouth. And this "whinind" as you call it is the only power that we, the victims of this nasty jacking scam have. Pio Pio is evil and insensitive, and so are you JEFF GOLDSTIEN (if that is your real name).
07/18/2009 - Stop Your Whining
There is no scam. The restaurant doesn't make money on tows, the tow company does.
If you park on private property without the owner's permission you will get towed. This is true throughout Arlington and in most urban areas where space (and, thus, parking) is at a premium.
Most of you are just yuppy scum who float your way through life without paying attention to what's going on around you (like no parking signs) and then b-tch and moan when something bad happens. TAKE SOME RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR ACTIONS!
As for the senior citizen, if the "dark parking lot" was so dangerous, what were you doing there in the first place? It's simply not true. You were a few dozen feet away from a well-lit restaurant that's open 24 hours. And on a major street with cars passing by every few seconds. Don't try to scare readers into having sympathy for you.
Here's the bottom line: don't park where you're not supposed to and your car won't get towed. What a concept!
06/30/2009 - jeff goldstein
This place has the best chicken, I'm addicted to it. Parking is never a problem for me because when I park there I patronize their business. If you illegally park there and patronize another business you deserve to get towed. So stop whining.
10/13/2008 - Pauline
Beware of a wolf in the chicken house. I pulled into Arlington’s Pio Pio chicken restaurant’s parking lot last night by mistake. The restaurant was closed and their “no parking” sign was broken on the north side, as were their other related signs. The lot was adjacent to Carvel’s parking lot. I was first in line and stepped up to Carvel’s window to place an order. Before the order was filled, perhaps a total of two minutes, I saw my car being lifted by a tow truck. I ran toward the car and yelled for the driver to stop. He ignored me completely and raced out of the parking lot – with me running behind the truck.
I am a senior citizen of Arlington County and was left stranded in the dark parking lot - a very dangerous situation. Fortunately, the clerk at Carvel came out and assisted me with getting the phone number for Advanced Towing Company of Arlington. Carvel’s employee told me that this is a common occurrence and that the lot is constantly watched. She said Pio Pio often closes early and that this is where their money comes from.
I’m on a fixed income and my small ice cream cone ended up costing $100 in towing. I would certainly never give my business to such an unscrupulous (and cruel) establishment.
10/12/2008 - MenuPix User
DO NOT PATRONIZE THIS RESTAURANT! They have a huge scam going with a tow truck company. Parking perimeters between them and Carvel next door are unclear. I parked incorrectly long after they had closed. Then I saw a tow truck towing my car. I'm a woman and was standing there with two toddlers and noone to call. The Carvel server said, 'Oh, that's how they make their money." ($120) THIS IS CRIMINAL!
08/06/2008 - MenuPix User
Evil business... Pio Pio watches neighborhood patorns like a hawk and requests that their cars be towed for parking near their restaurant for five minutes, even when Pio Pio is closing for the night and their parking lot is empty. No wonder no one was eating at their restaurant. I am an Arlington restaurant and I will never patronize them!
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