Fast Food Review: Grilled Chicken Sandwiches at El Pollo Loco

There’s a phrase that I know will be familiar to many of the writers and readers of Geekweek: it’s “cheap heat.”

For those not in the know, this is a term often used in pro-wrestling circles to describe something a villain does to get boos from the crowd that haven’t truly been earned by his performing abilities as a bad guy. Confused? Okay, here’s an example: “heat” may be attained when, let’s say, Ric Flair cowers in a corner for mercy rather than standing up and fighting his heroic adversary toe-to-toe. That’s a legitimate, character-based way to earn your hatred the old fashioned way.

“Cheap heat,” on the other hand, is some otherwise unentertaining performer getting on the microphone and insulting the local sports team. The crowd will boo, but it’s got nothing to do with the specific persona of the guy in the ring.

Fast food has its own version of cheap heat: call an item “spicy,” then make it so by throwing a bunch of jalapeno slices on it. Yes, it’ll burn the tongue...but will the spiciness actually compliment the item at hand? In the “negative” corner, there was a chicken jalapeno burrito that Taco Bell briefly put out a couple years ago, and it was pure pain to consume. But the ingredients in it besides jalapenos were superfluous; only the pickled pepper slices could be perceived by the tongue.

 

I’ve had the new Jalapeno Grilled Chicken Sandwich twice, at two different El Pollo Locos, and can’t entirely say whether it qualifies as cheap heat. Reason being, individual El Pollo Loco stores can vary greatly when it comes to spiciness: even the salsa bar at a given branch might be five times hotter than the one at the branch you ate at in another part of town. So I’ll put it this way: the second time I had the sandwich, it felt like cheap heat. The first time, however, it was perfect (as perfect as such things get, anyway).

Both it and the Guacamole version come stacked. Bite down, and bits of lettuce and salsa are likely to fall out the sides and onto your tray – if you like to eat while driving, reconsider your tactics here. The chicken breast piece is boneless, but feels like a full, actual chicken breast, scooped off the skeleton.

Guacamole version adds not only guac (which, BTW, is better than the Taco Bell or Del Taco variants), but also El Pollo Loco’s in-house white, mildly cheesy sauce that looks like sour cream but isn’t. If you’ve ever ordered chicken tacos there, you’ve likely encountered it. There’s salsa on the sandwich too, and this can vary in spiciness like anything else, but if it is spicy, it’s the only spicy thing on there.

The Jalapeno sandwich, comes with a slice of pepper jack cheese that is warmed enough to sweat, but not enough to melt. A minor error in judgment on that, I’d say, but the taste is still acceptable. Then there’s chipotle sauce...mmmm...chipotle....seriously, this particular chipotle sauce may be the best fast food version I’ve had, with the smoked peppers distinctly hitting the palate. With just the right number of pepper slices melting into this sauce on top of that nice big chunk o’ breast, you get yourself something that wouldn’t be amiss on a real restaurant’s menu.

And of course, the salsa bar has gotten more diverse over the years, allowing you to customize the flavor a bit...on particular, I’d recommend some of the red chili salsa on the side with the Guacamole sandwich (yes, there’s an avocado salsa, but it’s overkill in this instance).

Though I often don’t see the point of going to El Pollo Loco and ordering anything other than a 2-piece chicken meal, I can see the potential joy these could inspire. Just caveat emptor on the jalapenos. Investigate – and if necessary, minimize – before savoring.

Because if you don’t, your sports team probably sucks!

 

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