Review: El Pollo Loco - Shredded Beef Bowl

El Pollo Loco's Shredded Beef Bowl is a hefty 22-ounce(!) seasoned rice bowl filled with pinto beans, Romaine lettuce, their new shredded beef, shredded Jack cheese, chipotle cream, pico de gallo salsa, flame-grilled corn, and cilantro.

It's a bit cheaper than a similar Chipotle bowl at $5.49.

There's a lot of ingredients in El Pollo Loco's Shredded Beef Bowl and the container reminds me Taco Bell's Cantina Bowl. If it's heavy, a lot of the weight consists of rice and beans. They're hearty enough, but bland.

The lettuce is a bit of a head-scratcher for me, it adds a bit of texture but seems to be mostly filler. Usually, it's rice or lettuce and not both.

The corn was pretty nice; not fresh off the grill, but with nice grill marks. It adds a bit of sweetness to the bowl.

The salsa was pretty standard, a little soggy, but still pretty good. It adds flavor that the rice and beans lack.

The chipotle cream adds a bit of heat and I didn't notice the Jack cheese. It didn't seem like they put very much cheese on. Enough Jack to taste would have been better.

I've complained before that the shredded beef was way salty, but it works out pretty well here as most of the other ingredients (like the rice and beans) counterbalanced the saltiness quite adeptly. There wasn't an abundance of meat, but anymore would have been overly salty. The seasoning of the beef needs work though; it reminds me of a school cafeteria meal they served back in elementary school.

Overall, El Poll Loco's Shredded Beef Bowl was just okay, but a fairly good value considering the amount of food you get. It's better than the Original Pollo Bowl though.

Nutritional Info - El Pollo Loco Shredded Beef Bowl - 22 oz
Calories - 780 (from Fat - 240)
Fat - 27g (Saturated Fat - 11g)
Sodium - 2200mg
Carbs - 100g (Sugar - 4g)
Protein - 38g