El Pollo Loco to debut fish tacosEl Pollo Loco to debut fish tacos

Lisa Jennings

Just after announcing that steak would soon be dropped from the menu to focus on its chicken, El Pollo Loco said Thursday that new fish tacos will roll out as a limited-time offer starting Saturday.

PREVIOUSLY: New CEO outlines plans for El Pollo Loco

The 412-unit, Costa Mesa, Calif.-based grilled chicken chain will debut the seafood-centric tacos in two varieties. Both types include crispy beer-battered Alaskan pollock in warm corn tortillas topped with shredded cabbage and fresh cilantro, served with a slice of lime.

The Classic Baja Fish Taco also features a yogurt sauce mixed with a house salsa; and the Spicy Avocado Fish Taco is topped with a yogurt sauce made with El Pollo Loco’s signature avocado salsa.

Both are priced at a recommended $1.99 each. A combination meal is available featuring two tacos and a small drink for $5.29.

El Pollo Loco’s fish tacos are the first in what is traditionally the season for seafood-focused limited-time offers as the Lenten season approaches. The chain will offer the fish tacos through mid April, which is just before Easter this year.

Fish tacos also continue to be a hot menu item. A report by market research firm Technomic in December found that the number of fish taco dishes on restaurant menus across the country in the first half of 2010 rose 22.5 percent, compared with the same period in 2009.

El Pollo Loco tested the fish tacos in select units in Southern California last year.

“Limited-time menu offerings like our fish tacos give us opportunities to provide our guests exciting new ways to enjoy the taste of El Pollo Loco,” said Mark Hardison, El Pollo Loco’s vice president of marketing. “We’ve topped our beer-battered fish tacos with sauces prepared with our signature salsa recipes for a refreshing twist on a Baja favorite.”

Contact Lisa Jennings at [email protected].