A Redding restaurant is putting a different spin on a North State food favorite: Chicken.
Opened this summer in Discovery Village, Mister Peri Peri’s Grill blends flavors from Portuguese cuisine with the peri peri chili pepper from southern Africa to create its signature chicken marinades and dips.
Those fusion dishes — served with custom beer on tap — make Mister Peri Peri’s menu stand out from the dozen or so other chicken restaurants and fast-food places in the Redding area, according to the restaurant’s owners.
And Shasta County diners are picking up on the idea. The restaurant garnered 4.4 stars on Yelp since its opening the first week of July.
Mister Peri Peri’s co-owner and Scotland native Nav Kandola borrowed the idea for the Portuguese Mozambique grill’s menu from a restaurant he owns in the United Kingdom. Recipes call for the flame-grilled chicken to first be marinated for 24 hours or longer in sauces made from the African bird’s eye chili pepper, also called peri peri, Kandola said.
Peri peri pepper an African cuisine classic
The peri peri plant has been a traditional staple in Mozambican cuisine for hundreds of years, although modern peri peri recipes came out of Portuguese communities in South Africa. “The Portuguese then added the pizazz of lemon and kick of garlic” to peri peri sauces, according to the restaurant’s website.
Peri peri fare is among America’s recent food fads. The pepper has been featured in lifestyle publications and on TV shows, including the Today show in 2021. And Nando’s, a privately-owned U.K. restaurant chain that specializes in peri peri-syle dishes, now operates in dozens of countries, including the U.S.
The chili gives taste buds a delayed heat reaction, so diner notice the pepper’s other flavors first, according to gastronomy websites. Peri peri sauces are often served on grilled shrimp and poached or scrambled eggs as well as chicken.
Kadola recommends customers try the four-piece half chicken entree to experience the flavors that are unique to each part of the chicken that are mixed with the peri peri marinade. The entree comes with a drumstick, breast, wing and thigh for $13.95, or $15.95 with a side.
Big with Redding customers is the chicken butterfly entree, Kandola said: Two joined pieces of chicken breast meat for $12.95, or $14.95 with a side.
Wings at Mister Peri Peri’s start at $7.95 for five. There’s also a four-piece boneless chicken thigh dinner for $13.95 ($15.95 with a side) and combination dinners with two or more legs, breasts, wings and thighs, according to the restaurant’s menu.
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Choose your dipping sauce and chicken baste wisely. Flavors include lemon with herb, mango lime, and mild, hot and very hot levels of spice. “The lemon herb is very very popular” with Redding customers as is the hot sauce, according to Kandola, who likes his favorites ― the wings and the chicken butterfly ― hot.
If you dare try the very hot, cool off your taste buds with Mister Peri Peri’s custom beer on tap, created to pair well with the restaurant’s chicken, Kandola said.
Also on the menu are a chicken sandwich, a chicken Caesar salad and the Butterfly Burger: Two chicken breasts served with cheese, tomato, lettuce and mayonnaise. Costs range from $11.95 to $13.95.
Sides feature classic chicken pairings like spicy rice, corn on the cob and coleslaw.
Among the appetizers is a hummus served with pita bread and Mr. Peri Peri’s drizzle sauce for $7.75.
Groups of diners and families can order one of three platters. The smallest is an eight-piece platter for $27.95. The jumbo family platter is the priciest, at $99.95, and includes pieces from three chickens, 20 wings and six sides, according to the menu.
Want to taste before you dive in? Come for $1 Wing Wednesday.
While most Mister Peri Peri’s Grill customers live in the North State, Kandola estimates about 15% are motorists who stop for lunch or dinner while traveling through Redding, often between the Bay Area and Portland, Oregon.
Glasgow man grows restaurants in Redding and around the world
Growing up in Glasgow, Kandola has worked in restaurants since he was 13 years old.
He did just about every job one could do in a restaurant, from dishwasher to bartender. “I can cook Italian, Indian, Persian,” all kinds of cuisine, he said, but restaurant ownership was always his passion.
Kandola has amassed a collection of business ventures in the United States and the United Kingdom, among them Pete’s Brew House and the Sourdough Bread Company in Redding.
In 2024, in addition to opening Mister Peri Peri’s Grill, Kandola opened Salon @ Eleven 50 hair salon in the Target shopping center.
Kandola’s future plans include expanding Mister Peri Peri’s. He said he wants to open similar restaurants up and down the West Coast.
While he travels a lot to homes close to his other businesses in the UK and North America, Redding is where Kandola hangs his hat when he’s in the North State.
“Redding’s a great place. There are a lot of food lovers in this area,” he said.
If you go: Mister Peri Peri’s Grill
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Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays
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Address: 909 Dana Drive in Redding
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Phone: 530-215-3018
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Web: misterperiperisgrill.com
Jessica Skropanic is a features reporter for the Record Searchlight/USA Today Network. She covers science, arts, social issues and news stories. Follow her on Twitter @RS_JSkropanic and on Facebook. Join Jessica in the Get Out! Nor Cal recreation Facebook group. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today. Thank you.
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Redding restaurant Mister Peri Peri’s Grill pairs chicken, custom beer
