El Pollo Loco

Critic's Review

I'd never been to a Pollo Loco before. Sign up for their mailing list and you get free Guacamole. And then they keep bugging you to get it before it expires. So I decided to try the place.

At first I just ordered the Guac. They give you a whole bunch of "rewards". A couple bucks off their meals. But you can only use 1 reward at a time, so I wouldn't get anything else. I wanted to try the chicken so I also ordered a chicken taco "al carbon", which means cooked over fire. I placed the order online and it said it would be ready in 6 minutes.

I got here around 10 minutes later and found that picking up a web order was a real pain. The counter people are very mechanical. They're looking at their screen, packing in-store orders and calling out numbers. The fact that I was standing there seemed of no consequence. I shouted once that I was picking up a web order but it got no-one's attention. It wasn't until all of the in-store orders were filled that someone acknowledged me; it seems my order had been on the counter the entire time. 20 minutes after my "Ready" time.

They also seal the plastic bags, so you can't easily check to see if they got your order right. I had to rip the bag open at a table to check it.

When I got home I laid it all out.

I tried the guacamole first. Good guac; just enough salt. The chips were a bit stiff if not semi-fresh. I'd park the guacamole for a snack without the chips.

There's no salsa option for this item; you can add cheese for 49 cents or sub out white meat or shrimp for $1 which seems like a lot for a $2.39 item.

What's worse than cilantro? Iimp cilantro. This was kind of bland on it's own; adding in some of the guacamole made it more palatable. The chicken had a nice taste to tit, which is Pollo Loco's entire claim to fame.

Conclusion

As fast food goes, this was not bad. I think I'll try another store with one of my other rewards down the line to check out the sides.