El Pollo Loco Beefs Up Menu

IRVINE —  Next thing you know, Fat Burger will be featuring a vegetarian plate.

El Pollo Loco, which is Spanish for “the Crazy Chicken,” has decided to add two steak dishes to its menu. Norman McKinnon, the company’s marketing director, admits that the idea of finding beef at a restaurant specializing in chicken might take some getting used to.

But Irvine-based El Pollo Loco has watched as a growing number of fast-food competitors added chicken items, salads and other reduced-fat, reduced-calorie items to their menu to attract nutrition-conscious consumers. And it has decided to fight back.

“The American public is very health-conscious, but they certainly don’t mind treating themselves,” McKinnon said. “Otherwise you wouldn’t have Haagen-Dazs or Mrs. Fields Cookies.”

He added, however, that El Pollo Loco plans to use only lean beef.

El Pollo Loco’s new dishes are a steak fajita burrito for $2.29 and a steak fajita taco for $1.29. The items will be available starting this week in the company’s 204 restaurants in California and throughout the Southwest.