Fast Food Chicken

[Toliver]

I thought I'd create an umbrella discussion for Fast Food Chicken...

I stopped by El Pollo Loco last night and was floored to see 12 cars waiting in the drive-through line. My guess is that El Pollo Loco must have issued some coupons recently. I was in and out of the restaurant with my order while the drive-through line had only moved forward about 3 car lengths.

I was there for the chicken tamale plate which turned out to good...not great, but good. They're being offered for a limited time only. Tamales are a rare item to find in a fast food joint which is why I was interested in giving them a try.

They come without any sort of wrapper (like the usual corn husks) topped with what they describe as a "Colorado chili sauce" which is mild and some shredded Jack and cheddar cheese. The styrofoam container they came in was far too big for the two tamales it contained. You can also get a Tamale Bowl which is a single chicken tamale on a bed of rice and pinto beans with the sauce & cheese and even sour cream (which, oddly, doesn't come on the tamale plate).

Has anyone else tried the new chicken tamales at El Pollo Loco?

[SeanDirty]

I always think restaurants that sell street food always over charge... i cant justify spending 8 dollars on a plate of food that i can buy for 2 bucks on the street and tamales ive bought on the street here in NYC are pretty frickin good...

The other day i saw this little Mexican lady selling tamale's i asked what she had, she had a pork tamale with mole sauce!! it was the first time ive seen mole in a tamale and it was GREAT! only 1 dollar and it was pretty big...

[CaliPoutine]

I can't wait till I go back to Cali in March so I can eat at Pollo Loco. When I lived there, I ate it at least 2x a week.

I also love Charro Chicken, but there arent too many of those.

[Peter the eater]

I despise KFC. The problem is consistency from restaurant to restaurant. Years ago I enjoyed the chicken and side salads, but I've had one too many negative experiences to ever set foot in a KFC again.

I like Swiss Chalet.

St. Hubert's not bad.

I've never been to Popeye's. I think there's still one on Yonge Street in Toronto near where I used to live -- not a very inviting place.

[Chris Hennes]

One of the things that startled me most moving to Norman, OK this summer was the large variety of fast food chicken places. At last count I have seen: Kentucky Fried Chicken, Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers, Chick-Fil-A, Chicken Express, Church's Chicken, and Popeye's Chicken and Biscuits. I have not gone to any of them (locally, anyway), but this seems like a lot of damned fast food chicken for a little Oklahoma City suburb! Maybe my memory is failing, but I don't remember seeing this many in Pennsylvania.

[Jaymes]

I can't wait till I go back to Cali in March so I can eat at Pollo Loco.  When I lived there, I ate it at least 2x a week. 

I also love Charro Chicken, but there arent too many of those.

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Pollo Loco is really good. I remember when we lived in Tucson, there were concerts in the park each Sunday evening. We'd swing by Pollo Loco and pick up enough chicken, salsa and tortillas for our crowd and any friends we had invited along. Magical evenings, due in no small measure to Pollo Loco.

If you'd like something at least similar before March, there's a thread somewhere here on eG about how to make that grilled chicken at home. And then some salsas and tortillas, and your pollo can be loco, tambien!

[jsmeeker]

Popeyes and Pollo Campero are my favorites.

[brucesw]

Popeyes and Pollo Campero are my favorites.

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The best as far as national fried chicken chains go. I've never liked KFC. Our local institution, Frenchy's, for decades had only one location and there were always long lines so it wasn't really fast. Apparently the founder has retired, however, and the children want more money from Daddy's culinary genius so locations are popping up all over town and the quality has gone down.

I've been sampling alternatives, from chicken and rice places to gas station/convenience store purveyors and Central and South American places serving pollo frito although those are cooked when ordered and take 15-20 minutes at least. That's true also of the Toreore Korean Fried Chicken inside Super H Mart, but it's really good.

A good alternative are a couple of pollo asado trailers/buses. Half a chicken is the smallest order, $5-6, includes half a chicken hacked into 5 or 6 pieces, frijoles charros, rice, 6 or 8 tortillas, lime wedges, salsa, and a roasted onion and 1 or 2 large roasted peppers. Enough food for 2.

El Pollo Loco was here maybe 15 years ago but I think there's only one left. There's another one that's apparently a chain, El Regio; I've seen 4 or 5 around town and tried one once. Smallish pieces and pretty bland compared to the trailers/buses I frequent.

[CaliPoutine]

I can't wait till I go back to Cali in March so I can eat at Pollo Loco.  When I lived there, I ate it at least 2x a week. 

I also love Charro Chicken, but there arent too many of those.

←

Pollo Loco is really good. I remember when we lived in Tucson, there were concerts in the park each Sunday evening. We'd swing by Pollo Loco and pick up enough chicken, salsa and tortillas for our crowd and any friends we had invited along. Magical evenings, due in no small measure to Pollo Loco.

If you'd like something at least similar before March, there's a thread somewhere here on eG about how to make that grilled chicken at home. And then some salsas and tortillas, and your pollo can be loco, tambien!

←

Thanks, I'll have to look for that thread. El Pollo Loco was the restaurant that got me eating corn tortilla's w/ butter. I used to always get flour until the 1 time I ordered corn. Now I have to buy my corn tortilla's in MI as I can't get there here in my small town.

[gingerbeer]

What about Nandos? Nandos in South Africa and Australia is delicious, but for some reason it's disappointing in the UK.

I am ashamed to say that I love KFC.

[Jaymes]

I can't wait till I go back to Cali in March so I can eat at Pollo Loco.  When I lived there, I ate it at least 2x a week. 

If you'd like something at least similar before March, there's a thread somewhere here on eG about how to make that grilled chicken at home. And then some salsas and tortillas, and your pollo can be loco, tambien!

Thanks, I'll have to look for that thread.

Here it is: El Pollo Loco

[Toliver]

Popeye's has come out with a chicken bowl similar to what KFC has.

According to their website, the new bowl consists of their red beans & rice topped with pulled chicken (not batter-fried like KFC), their Cajun gravy, cheese and parsley. You have the option of adding sour cream and Louisiana brand hot sauce.

They've also added chicken sandwiches (depending on the restaurant's location).

KFC has added a new version of their chicken bowl where instead of mashed potatoes, you start with their seasoned rice.

Has anyone tried the new Popeye's chicken bowls?

[Lilija]

Yikes, those chicken bowls sound like way too much of a good thing. Beans and rice and chicken and gravy(!) and sour cream and CHEESE!?

I do love some Popeye's chicken, though. I really like El Pollo Loco, too, when I can get it, every time I used to visit my dad on Guam, or friends on the west coast, I would try to have it. It was always such a treat, though I probably haven't had any in 15 years.