El Pollo Loco (Nationwide)
food: 4.5/5
experience: 5/5overall: 5/5
El Pollo Loco, where you been all my life?! Oh yeah, around. I seen you. But I did not try your delicious wares until recently.
Not to be confused with the Mexico-based chain with the same name (or Los Pollos Hermanos, for that matter), El Pollo Loco serves chicken and Mexican food in the United States. They used to have almost 500 locations in Japan! All have since closed. Wow. RIP for real. But they're still here in the good ol' US of A for us to enjoy.
I got a coupon for a two-piece meal so I finally had the chance to try their beloved chicken. The breast and wing are my favorite parts of the chicken and luckily this happens to be one of their combos.
Comes with tortillas and two sides. I got mac & cheese and rice. Their chicken is really good, especially for fast food. You can watch them grill it from behind the counter. I just wish their wings were bigger. Look at that tiny thing. The rice and tortillas are aight but that mac n cheese, ho man. It's so cheesy and processed and it's just great really. It tastes like Velveeta or really cheesy nacho cheese or something.
I tried their burritos next.
The chipotle chicken avocado burrito is nice and dense and spicy. It's very hearty and it's got the fresh avocado in there. A decent amount of chicken, rice, and bean distribution. Get it without cabbage as that shit's just filler.
Next up in burrito-y goodness, the ranchero burrito.
Creamy cilantro sauce, shredded chicken, and some other unimportant stuff like rice and beans and shit. The chicken is marinated so it's pretty damn good altogether. I can't taste much sauce but it's still nice and meaty.
They have some other burritos that aren't too special so I'm just gonna leave you with these two winners.
Lastly, their overstuffed quesadilla.
Basically a burrito in the form of a huge crunch wrap, except better. Because it's made with fresh shredded chicken, avocado, pinto beans, cabbage, and plenty of that yummy creamy cilantro sauce. It's almost worth the 1000-calorie price tag. If you want some low calorie options though they have those too. The sub-500 calorie menu is small but delicious. Like their chicken avocado tortilla wrap, which is a half-the-calories version of the above quesadilla.
Made with a tasty whole wheat tortilla. Not too big, just a little wrap, but filling enough. Got cheese, avo and chicken plus a delicious iceberg lettuce salad on the side...
Their chicken black bean bowl is another tasty healthy option. Miss me with the broccoli though.
Got your rice, beans pico, avo, chicken. A well-rounded meal to be sure. And less than 500 calories. Can't beat that. Or actually you can because their double chicken avocado salad is less than 400 calories! Score.
It's just chicken, avo, pico, and corn (got it without). A healthy, light meal.
So technically they do have healthy food. Hence the "health food" tag. I know you don't think of El Pollo Loco when it comes to health food but it's actually a really decent option if you're watching your weight (cue me forever watching it go up).
Of course, they have tamales too, but I can't eat corn. Ugh. Surprisingly though, no tacos. Por que no?
For dessert they have - drumroll... churros! Duh. It's Mexican. I got one to go.
What a letdown. Jack-in-the-Box wins best fast-food churro from me so far. They got the fried crispiness down but look at how flat this thing is. And it's not sweet! More cinnamon sugar, please. Very dissatisfying. At least it's just a buck.
The newest item on their menu: Tapatio fries! Made (allegedly) with Tapatio sauce/seasoning.
Alright so big surprise they just taste like regular fries. Which is okay because they're still pretty good. Better than McDonald's. Just not a bit spicy. But they do have house hot sauce which is way spicier than Taco Bell, Del Taco and the like. That's because they don't water it down with any corn syrup.
If you take the surveys on your receipt you get a buck off any meal over five bucks. Sounds like not much but this can be a more than 10% discount so survey up. I do it every time I come. A dollar off with every receipt? You know what that means. Unlimited trips to El Pollo Loco.
So technically they do have healthy food. Hence the "health food" tag. I know you don't think of El Pollo Loco when it comes to health food but it's actually a really decent option if you're watching your weight (cue me forever watching it go up).
Of course, they have tamales too, but I can't eat corn. Ugh. Surprisingly though, no tacos. Por que no?
For dessert they have - drumroll... churros! Duh. It's Mexican. I got one to go.
What a letdown. Jack-in-the-Box wins best fast-food churro from me so far. They got the fried crispiness down but look at how flat this thing is. And it's not sweet! More cinnamon sugar, please. Very dissatisfying. At least it's just a buck.
The newest item on their menu: Tapatio fries! Made (allegedly) with Tapatio sauce/seasoning.
Alright so big surprise they just taste like regular fries. Which is okay because they're still pretty good. Better than McDonald's. Just not a bit spicy. But they do have house hot sauce which is way spicier than Taco Bell, Del Taco and the like. That's because they don't water it down with any corn syrup.
If you take the surveys on your receipt you get a buck off any meal over five bucks. Sounds like not much but this can be a more than 10% discount so survey up. I do it every time I come. A dollar off with every receipt? You know what that means. Unlimited trips to El Pollo Loco.
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