El Pollo Loco, which is mainly out in southern California and the southwest part of the US, is placing it's second franchise in New England, in my home town.

The next hearest one is about 100 miles away, at Foxwoods Casino in Conneticut, and after that I think I would have to go to Georgia to find the next nearest one!

The site of the restaurant is where they were building a KFC/Taco Bell, but that was right when the big Rat story made the national news, and I guess since it was early in the project, they decided it might not be a good time to try to open a new KFC/TB.

So, my question is, does El Pollo Loco make the grade, as far as food quality goes?

A visit to the company website provided me with the usual corporate philosophy, menu, and various other propoganda, none of which means crap to me, compared to the valued opinion of folks who have actually eaten at their restaurants.

A web search provided me with much more info, and El Pollo Loco made the top of most peoples favorites lists, Vs. similar Mexican fast food chains.

So, I would love to hear your thoughts on El Pollo Loco! We need some variety around here in the fast food market.

Not counting Pizza chains, our only choice in this town for fast food chains is BK and McD's, (and a "Friendly's" that keeps getting cited by the Board Of Health for food storage and cleanliness violations, that I won't eat at) and that isn't what I would really call a "Choice" at all.

Sure, the fries are different, the burgers are different, but it's still just burgers and fries!

Pollo Loco have franchises in various shopping malls in Manila.
Great chicken!!!
Finger lickin good.

I ate their chicken occasionally when I lived in Las Vegas. If you catch a batch before it sits too long and dries out, it's pretty tasty stuff.

We have a couple here. The colors of their buildings are atrocious.

But I avoid fast food like the plague, so I haven't eaten there. Chick-fil-a is as far into the fast food world that I'll venture. And then only as a last resort.

JD

The one in East Oakland is awesome, just don't forget a sidearm.:yes:
The one here overcooks the chicken and will serve you day old as well.


Carl

I've had it, John.

Much better than what KFC seves- that is, what KFC serves nowadays.

The Col., when alive, used to drop by and inspect the food at various KFC eateries- he may have sold the company, but he still held a big role and weilded power in thaste, quality and service control.

That's when the chicken breasts were plump and juicy, and the 11 herbs and spices and batter were to die for.

Now at the KFCs, with the Col. long dead and buried, you get salty, greasy, scrawny bird, you'd think perished from the Avionic Bird Flu.

I think Pollo Loco will be an improvement.

Their claim to chicken fame is the use of a lime based citrus marinade, with the subsequent grilling of the chicken. However, the chicken is steam cooked first, and thrown on the grille for show mostly, it seems, but is supposed to be very good from the reveiws I read.

This town sucks as far as fast food places go. We have 2 BK's, one of which is pretty good, the other one is full of apathetic teens that don't care what they wrap up and stick in a bag.

We would probably take first place for the worlds worst McDonalds, if such a contest were ever held. Absolutely the worst service, food quality, presentation, and employees that if they acknoledge your presence at all, it is with a grimace or look of disgust. Orders are always wrong, cold, missing items, and this is after an outrageous wait for the food.

Wendy's has not decided to open a franchise in our town, although they are in the neighboring towns, and are worth the drive to me if I have the time (20 plus minutes drive) to make the trip.

So, I am looking forward to El Pollo Loco spreading it's chicken wings here in town, even if it is all the way at the other end, a 15/20 minute drive from home. I hope they do good, they are smack dab in the middle of a BK, McD's, and Wendy's area, all right off of a busy highway exit, with loads of traffic coming and going from Home Depot, Wal-Mart, Sears, and a large shopping plaza as well.

Anything is better than another McDonalds!

I ate there once. It ain't bad.

We have to many good "real" Mexican restaurants out here.

Not bad but they are kind of pricey for the amount you get.
Around here you can get much better at the Carnicerias .

For a fast food Mexican place you want Baja Fresh to come to your town. They will kick the Crazy Chicken'ts butt. Then you can try the fried Mahi Mahi fish tacos. The food is really fresh and well prepared.

http://www.bajafresh.com/jump.jsp?itemID=0&itemType=HOME_PAGE

Baja Fresh is quite good, but a whole lot more of a "traditional" Mexican type place. Pollo Loco sells grilled chicken, with some beans and couple tortillas on the side.

I like their chicken. Their 2-piece combo fills me up. I like to smother the beans and rice with their fresh salsa and grab a couple of their hot green chili peppers. I don't consider them to be a Mexican food place although all I ever see working there are Mexicans. At least at the couple I've been to in Mesa. But does that make it a Mexican restaurant?:scratch2:

[QUOTE=birddog;1378925]El Pollo Loco, which is mainly out in southern California and the southwest part of the US, is placing it's second franchise in New England, in my home town.

The next hearest one is about 100 miles away, at Foxwoods Casino in Conneticut, and after that I think I would have to go to Georgia to find the next nearest one!

The site of the restaurant is where they were building a KFC/Taco Bell, but that was right when the big Rat story made the national news, and I guess since it was early in the project, they decided it might not be a good time to try to open a new KFC/TB.

So, my question is, does El Pollo Loco make the grade, as far as food quality goes?

No. But with that being said, I wouldn't mind having one near home, since the closest thing to Mexican food around here is a Taco Bell, and the best pizza in a hundred mile radius comes from a gas station... :smoke:

meh

No, they're not too good. But with that being said, I wouldn't mind having one near home, since the closest thing to Mexican food around here is a Taco Bell, and the best pizza in a hundred mile radius comes from a gas station... :smoke:

EPL is everywhere around here. At least three within a mile or so of my house. They have been around here for at least 25 years.

Definately my favorite fast food. I can't speak for every store in every location, but I don't believe the chicken is steamed first. The stuff they throw on the grill here, is raw. And that's the beauty of it, actually flame broiling.

Kids love the stuff by the way, and it's way healthier than Micky Ds.

- Pete

I've only tried them once. Took a bite out of a chicken sandwich and saw a worm crawling around in the lettuce. At least it was still whole..............

Could have happened anywhere, I guess.

EPL is everywhere around here. At least three within a mile or so of my house. They have been around here for at least 25 years.

Definately my favorite fast food. I can't speak for every store in every location, but I don't believe the chicken is steamed first. The stuff they throw on the grill here, is raw. And that's the beauty of it, actually flame broiling.

Kids love the stuff by the way, and it's way healthier than Micky Ds.

- Pete

The convection/Steamer oven is a new system, and unless your local EPL was built very recently, or sprung for the new faster, more efficient kitchen equipment, you may very well have seen them place the raw marinated chicken right on the grill.

Here is a quote, and a link to an article, in "Foodservice Equipment & Supplies" magazine, explaining the way that EPL will be cooking it's chickens, as new locations come online and older franchises update.

http://www.fesmag.com/archives/2006/08/chain-profile/

"With the new system in the back of the house, which comprises about one-third of the total space, staff now place double the number of fresh chickens, 50 in total, into a four-foot wide by four-foot high automatic tumbler, which revolves at six rotations a minute, and add the herbs and citrus marinade. In half the amount of time as before— in 30 minutes — the process is complete. “This way, we’ve eliminated the variable shortcuts in the marinade process,” says Carley, who adds that a franchisee suggested the idea of this type of system, which is used in food manufacturing plants.

Staff next place the marinated product onto sheet pans and place them into a humidity- and temperature-controlled combination convection-steamer oven, where the chickens cook in about half the time required by the traditional cooking system. Staff then flame-grill chicken in front of the customer. The finished product is then cut by hand and served to guests."

That's a lot different than what you see here. The grill in older EPLs is right behind the counter and you can see the chicken cooking. At lunch hour they will have 30 or 40 chickens on the grill. They pull the cooked chicken off the grill and cut it up on a chopping block with a cleaver. From grill to your plate in about 2 minutes time.

I'm wondering if it will taste as good cooked the way you describe.

- Pete

I miss El Pollo Loco (and Rubio's fish tacos) from when I lived in So Cal. As an outside tech with Pac Bell/SBC, GOOD fast food was a great alternative to McD's and the like...

That's a lot different than what you see here. The grill in older EPLs is right behind the counter and you can see the chicken cooking. At lunch hour they will have 30 or 40 chickens on the grill. They pull the cooked chicken off the grill and cut it up on a chopping block with a cleaver. From grill to your plate in about 2 minutes time.

I'm wondering if it will taste as good cooked the way you describe.

- Pete

You will still see the chicken being cooked on the grill, right up front, it will just be pre-cooked a bit before it hits the grill. I am not sure if they used to do any pre-cooking, but it would make sense if they did. Easier to control quality and cooking temps that way, as well as speed up service.

If they could cook a raw chicken on a grill, and have it on your plate in two minutes, it would have to be pre-cooked, wouldn't you think? The EPL website says they cook the chicken to 185 degrees, which is like 20 degrees more than the Feds require, and to get a whole raw chicken to 185 on a grill in two minutes sounds impossible without pre-cooking.

Either way, I'm looking forward to the debut of the first EPL in Massachusetts opening up right here in my town! Sure will be nice to have some good, fast, affordable food that isn't a burger or a pizza available!

I also learned that the franchisee is a local group, who bought the rights to 20 EPL's to be built in the New England area. This is the same group that owns the Panera Bread chain that is popular in this area (34 locations in a 20 mile radius of me) so they should have the skills to do what it takes to make this a successful operation.

If they could cook a raw chicken on a grill, and have it on your plate in two minutes, it would have to be pre-cooked, wouldn't you think? The EPL website says they cook the chicken to 185 degrees, which is like 20 degrees more than the Feds require, and to get a whole raw chicken to 185 on a grill in two minutes sounds impossible without pre-cooking.



I think you misinterpreted what was said regarding "two minutes from grill to plate." As I recall the set-up, they have a large, and I mean large, grill, on which they placed raw, marinated, butterflied chickens at one end of the grill. As the chickens cooked, they moved progressively to the left of the grill until they were ready to come off and serve. I remember at least one time when I went to get some, I was told it would be 10 minutes before any white meat was ready to sell.

In other words, you order, cooked chicken comes off the grill and onto a plate or in a take-out container in two minutes. Every meal is NOT cooked to order.

Yes that describes the process perfectly. If they gauge their demand properly, there is a constant stream of cooked chicken ready to go. It is not cooked to order.

- Pete

When I was stationed at Pendleton in the mid 80's the Pollo Loco I remember out there had a rotisserie oven with a bunch of chickens cooking behind the glass fronted doors.

There was a place in Ensenada that cooked chicken on a rotisserie in the front window. The rotisserie was made from bicycle wheels. Maybe that's what you remember?

- Pete

Thats the one. Awesome chicken or so I remember.

I think you misinterpreted what was said regarding "two minutes from grill to plate." As I recall the set-up, they have a large, and I mean large, grill, on which they placed raw, marinated, butterflied chickens at one end of the grill. As the chickens cooked, they moved progressively to the left of the grill until they were ready to come off and serve. I remember at least one time when I went to get some, I was told it would be 10 minutes before any white meat was ready to sell.

In other words, you order, cooked chicken comes off the grill and onto a plate or in a take-out container in two minutes. Every meal is NOT cooked to order.

Yup, I guess that done that way you could get yer chicken quick, without it still wiggling around on your plate from being barely warmed by the grill in that short time span.

I still think that the new system will streamline things for them, while providing for a more consistent product quality, while still giving you the flavor and visual effects of being cooked on a flaming grill in front of you.

The only downside I can see is if the chicken is held too long at the pre-cooked temperature before grilling, but there really should be no reason for that to be an issue, I imagine the convection/steamer oven cooks quickly enough that there would be no need to have a bunch of pre-cooked chickens hanging around waiting to be grilled. At least I hope they wouldn't do that!