Review: El Pollo Loco - Roja Wet Burrito

The El Pollo Loco Roja Wet Burrito is only available for a limited time and features El Pollo Loco’s trademark flame-grilled chicken stuffed inside a burrito along with pinto beans, pico de gallo salsa, fresh cilantro, diced onions, and melted Jack cheese. It is then grilled and covered in Colorado sauce (a red chili pepper sauce) before being topped with more fresh cilantro and Cotija cheese.

The price of admission? An even $5.99 for the burrito.

I ended up trying the Roja Wet Burrito because I was in an enchilada-eating kinda mood and figured, "Close enough!" Haha...

At $5.99, it's a little less than a Chipotle Chicken Burrito but is also a little smaller but the heft of the plate was substantial and similar. I think both are pretty good deals for the amount of food you get.

The Roja Wet Burrito comes with a size of shredded cabbage topped with a dollop of sour cream and scoop of guacamole (but no chips!). They're quite useful for balancing the saltier bites of the Roja Wet.

The burrito itself is nice, grilled and fat in a good way. It was full of juicy marinated chicken, beans, onions, cheese, and cilantro and the flavors were varied but complementary. Everything was fairly fresh and recently prepped; the veggies were fresh, the beans were cooked to doneness but not mushy, and the chicken was flavorful and juicy. The melted Jack inside helped to hold everything together as I cut into the burrito making it a little easier to search for that perfect bite.

The Cotija cheese was a bit dry and had that salty parmesan funk. It was mostly salty and I'm not sure it pared too well with the Colorado sauce which had a more subtle flavor. I think I would have like some shredded Jack shredded on top for a milder, meltier cheese (but then again, I was fiending for an enchilada).

The sauce brought a slight vinegar tang with a spicy kick. It was actually fairly thickened and substantial; I'm used to such sauces being of a somewhat watery consistency.

The only real knock on the Roja Wet were that the ends were too much tortilla; because of the way the burrito was folded the bites of the end were all tortilla.

Overall, El Pollo Loco's Roja Wet Burrito is a pretty fine wet burrito and good enough to rival any fast casual chain and even some local taquerias. I still want that enchilada though.

El Pollo Loco Restaurant Locator

Nutritional Info - El Pollo Loco Roja Wet Burrito (19.8 ounces)
Calories - 925 (from Fat - 405)
Fat - 45g (Saturated Fat - 19g)
Sodium - 2290mg
Carbs - 77g (Sugar - 8g)
Protein - 53g