A WHOLE WORLD OF <i> POLLO</i>

Mexico’s roadside chicken stands may have kicked off the L.A. grilled chicken mania--but they are not alone. When Denny’s, Inc. acquired the then-small Pollo Loco chain in 1983 and made it into big business, clones popped up all over town.

El Pollo Blanco, Rico, Supremo, Gordo, Mejor, etc. are a welcome change from the deep-fried cluckers, but today there is a whole new pecking order. Thai, Indian, Jamaican, Persian, Armenian, Japanese and even Cajun chickens are starting to hit the grills.

These birds are doing more than just following the flock. Often made from family recipes, the chickens are prepared with marinades that include ingredients as diverse as fresh garlic and ginger, coconut milk and fresh lemon juice. In place of the familiar tortillas there is pita, rice, or nan (Indian flat bread). Tasty and unusual, these exotic chickens are worth crowing about. Herewith, the best of the birds:

THAI

Spicy Charcoal Pit’s ribs made Los Angeles magazine’s Top 10 ribs list about six years ago. The chicken should be very high on anyone’s Top 10 list, too. Marinated for 10 hours in coconut milk with great quantities of fresh garlic, coriander, Thai seasonings and the zip of chili, the chicken is cooked to its succulent best over live coals.

Order just chicken or the Chicken Plate with a mound of delicious shrimp fried rice. The mealtime takeout business is brisk but advance call-in orders are welcome; or eat at one of the cloth-and-glass-covered tables in the small dining room. In addition, the restaurant offers a full menu of Thai specialties.

Spicy Charcoal Pit, 7363 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood (213) 850-9260. Open Monday-Saturday, noon-10 p.m., Sunday 3-10 p.m.

In bustling markets all over Thailand, charcoal-grilled chicken is hawked by vendors. The “Heavenly BBQ Chicken” at Gary’s Thongsai is the version Gary’s mother makes. (She is the chef at the family’s other restaurant, Talesai.) The bird is marinated in slightly sweet, very garlicky coconut milk, slowly cooked, then finished over live coals. A sweet sauce comes with the chicken and you may add fire with a sprinkling of home-roasted ground pricky fa chilies. For a change from the suggested shrimp fried rice, try the more authentic sweet sticky rice, popular in Southeast Asia.

Orders may be called in, and there is a small dining room.

Thongsai Thai Cuisine, 627 N. Vermont Ave., Hollywood, (213) 666-4009. Open 11 a.m.-11 p.m., daily.

Thai’n I looks like a Siamese version of a pollo place; the narrow strip of a shop has a spiffy logo and a cook busily grilling chickens and ribs in open view--a more refined version of the Thai marketplace stalls. Their succulent chicken is grilled to order. Thai-style ribs and constantly changing daily specialties vary your options. Try a side order of spicy beef with string beans and chili if you really want to call your taste buds to attention.

Thai’n I Thai Barbecue, 17544 Ventura Blvd., Encino, (818) 783-THAI. Open Tuesday-Saturday, 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and 4:30-9 p.m., Sunday, 4:30-9 p.m.

INDIAN

You might taste chicken this good in a private Indian home, one with a really fine cook. Yogurt for marinating the Dahi -grilled chicken is freshly made in the shop. The garam masala, a spice blend used in many Indian dishes, is freshly ground so none of its aromas are lost. Only fresh ginger, garlic and green chilies are used--never dried or powdered.

Beef and lamb kebabs, are also cooked on the open grill; they are equally fine. Dinners are served with a corn-and-shredded-carrot salad flecked with tiny black onion seeds and nan --a chewy, roasted Indian bread.

Chutney’s lives up to its name by offering a serve-yourself bar of varied accompaniments. There is very hot fresh chili and mint chutney, sweet chutney and cool chopped cucumbers and tomatoes. Side dishes like potato-stuffed samosas, pakoras and dosa are on the menu.

Chutney’s, 2406 S. Barrington Ave., West Los Angeles, (213) 477-6263. Open Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m., Friday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Sunday, 4-9 p.m.

Tikka means pieces. In Northern Indian cuisine, skinless marinated chicken pieces are cooked in the fiery clay tandoor oven. Tikka’s in Van Nuys charcoal grills its yogurt-marinated and gently spiced chicken on the bone. They hope soon to gain the approval of the National Heart Assn. with their fat-free, skinless (and marvelously flavorful) grilled chicken tikka . Manager Nizar Premji’s mother, who oversees the marinating, explains that this family recipe is East African-style and a bit milder than its Northern Indian counterpart. Nonetheless the chutneys, which she also prepares, have plenty of kick. There’s a fresh green tomato and chili chutney and a deep russet-colored tamarind sauce along with a sliced tomato and onion mixture. Saffron-scented rice and nan are served with the chicken combination plate.

Tikka, 16101 Vanowen St., Van Nuys, (818) 781-5744. Open Monday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Sunday, noon-9 p.m.

JAMAICAN

I’m not sure whether Janet’s Jerk is the original, but it sure is original in Los Angeles. The traditional dry marinade for pit-broiled meats-- jerk --has been around Jamaica for more than 100 years.

Janet’s husband mans the huge grill turning the chickens, ribs and “jerkburgers” to perfection. Janet blends the dry jerk marinade, a blend of curry-like spices reflecting Indian and African influences on Jamaican cooking. She also bottles her own jerk sauce made with fresh chili peppers. Rice and beans are cooked island style in creamy coconut milk and the ginger beer alone, made with fresh ginger and pineapple juice, is worth a drive across town. Where else can you load up on fried plantains, roasted yams, fried festival bread and (ah!) jerk chicken?

Janet’s Original Jerk Chicken Pit, 1541 W. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Los Angeles, (213) 296-4621. Open Monday-Saturday, noon-9 p.m., Sunday 1-7 p.m.

MIDDLE EASTERN

“One becomes a chef, but one is born knowing how to roast” is a proverb attributed to Brillat-Savarin. Someone at Zankou Chicken must have been born knowing how to roast. Whatever the secret, these crisp-skinned, golden birds bear no resemblance to supermarket barbecued chickens.

An incredible fresh garlic paste accompanies each order. One spreads this over the hot chicken then carves off slices of meat and crispy skin to eat between small pieces of pita bread.

Zankou’s also serves juicy shawarma, shish kebab and lule kebab on a plate or in a sandwich. Though commercially produced soujouk sausage is available, Zankou’s makes its own. A nice selection of meze , like stuffed grape leaves, hummus and moutabbal , a paste of toasted eggplant and ground sesame seed to spread on pita, goes well with the chickens.

Zankou Chicken, 5065 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, (213) 665-7842 or 665-7845. Open 10 a.m.-10 p.m., daily.

The “little chickens in parts” described on the Kabob House menu are Cornish game hen pieces on a skewer. After several days marinating in lemon juice and oil, seasoned with turmeric, onion and other spices typical of the Persian cuisine, the hens are grilled to order. Unfortunately, the plain boiled rice and cold pita bread accompanying the hen are not particularly enticing.

The Kabob House, 8870 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, (213) 855-9791. Open noon-11 p.m., daily.

HAWAIIAN

Why are 100 gallons a week of Bob Yee’s specially blended teriyaki sauce sold to neighboring restaurants? No one, it seems, can duplicate it. Bob, a Hawaiian of Chinese descent, discovered the sauce as a kid at a Japanese-style burger place in Honolulu. After years of experimenting, he recaptured the particular teriyaki flavor he loved as a child, and it has won him a following in his own fast-food stores and sauce business.

Order Aloha Teriyaki’s Chicken Platter. Two large boneless chicken pieces are glazed with the sauce while charcoal broiling. The pieces are then chopped, lightly glazed and served with rice on the side. A crisp salad, dressed in Aloha’s homemade seasoned rice vinegar and sesame oil dressing perfectly compliments the glazed chicken.

Aloha Teriyaki, 4834 Rosecrans Blvd., Hawthorne, (213) 644-2330. And: 1100 Pacific Coast Highway, Hermosa Beach, (213) 376-3552. Open Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-8:30 p.m., Saturday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.

ETHNIC MIX

The owners of Crazy Jayne’s, which has just opened, believe it’s time to capitalize on the grilled chicken explosion. According to Kerry-Kramp, a partner and a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Jayne’s hopes to make their chicken an “addiction” with “high-profile flavors.” They serve grilled chicken prepared in three styles: a Cajun barbecue style served with corn bread, an Oriental sweet-and-sour style, served with dim sum and a fresh-tasting Mexican style, marinated in fruit juices, and spices and accompanied by tortillas and pico de gallo salad.

Jayne’s also serves three chicken salads: American style, Chinese style and taco salad. And among their three chili offerings, one is made with chicken.

Crazy Jayne’s--The Chicken Addiction, 3500 West 8th St . , Los Angeles, (213) 381-5263. Open Monday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Sunday noon-10 p.m.

Burum is a chicken aficionado who always eats the drumsticks first. She is the co-author of “The Cook’s Marketplace.”