Charo Chicken - Review #2

Charo Chicken 17612 E 17th St Tustin, CA 92780 (714) 832-1300 Listing on Yahoo! Local Listing on Ask.com's Citysearch Official Site

Enter starting address: Address City, State and/or Zip

UPDATE: This location has closed.

No More Mr. Nice Guy

I think I'm known on this blog as being the nice guy, maybe too nice, often perceived as being afraid of pointing out anything negative about any place I eat at. I will freely admit that I am generally positive in my reviews but it's not exactly out of fear of offending somebody or some restaurant as it is that I realize that one bad item or one bad service experience at a particular restaurant may very well be a fluke, an isolated incident, a random occurrence per se, that is not representative of that restaurant's overall way of doing business. If you get something that tastes bad or you have a problem with the service then there's nothing wrong with bringing it up to the management and getting it cleared up but I do think there's something wrong with not saying anything about it to them and then posting it all over the Internet. The restaurant may have a hard time living down something that was an isolated incident.

Or if there is a food item you didn't like there may still be other items on the menu that you would like if you just gave them a try. I have seen people write off a restaurant based on not liking one item. Sometimes I have seen these people go later, with some degree of persuasion, back to the same restaurant and try something different and then be converted to the place but some of these people dig in their heels, refuse to go back and miss out on things they would've enjoyed. I've also seen people go back to a place they had previously written off, order the thing they didn't like before instead of trying different stuff, then entirely write the place off forever. Yes, it defies logic, but we humans can be funny people and I am not without my quirks.

This leads me to the fact that I recently found a coupon in the paper for Charo Chicken advertising that they are now serving Carne Asada and Barbacoa Steak (or Chicken) as meat choices in addition to their obvious: chicken. I clipped the coupon and a week or so later I went to the Irvine location excitedly waiting to try the new options. The clerk there though told me that the two new meats were only available at a couple test restaurants. So I ordered a Moe's Favorite Potato (I conveniently ignore the fact that they now call it "Moe's Famous Potato") and thoroughly enjoyed it, as I always do, and saved the coupon for later use.

A week or two later I picked up my slowly disintegrating coupon from my desk and headed to the Tustin location. This was one of two or three test restaurants so they had the meats so I ordered a Carne Asada tostada and a Barbacoa Chicken taco. The problem was the Carne Asada was too tough and dry to chew. I had a few little nibbles as it slowly dawned on me that I was engaged in a lost cause. I nibbled at the non-meat portion of the tostada then just dumped the whole thing and moved on to the taco. The barbacoa chicken in the taco was definitely more edible but I don't think chicken should ever be served in dry, crisp taco shells. Bad combo.

I have in no way been turned off of going to Charo Chicken. I do still love their Moe's Favorite Potato and the service has always been good but I'm thinking maybe they better stick with chicken as their signature meat. Has anybody else had an experience with the carne asada at Charo Chicken? If somebody can report a good experience I am entirely open to going there and trying it again.

Charo Chicken - Review #1

Date of Visit: May 22, 2006

Charo Chicken
333 Main St
Seal Beach, CA 90740
(562) 594-0909

Listing on Yahoo! Local

Listing on Ask.com's Citysearch

Official Site

Enter starting address:
Address

City, State and/or Zip

Charo Chicken from the street
As I said in a comment on another entry I've been to numerous Charo Chicken locations in the last ten years dozens of times. Charo Chicken is the charbroiled chicken chain with a Mexican tinge. They are similar to El Pollo Loco but with a little less of a big corporate empire feel to them. I went on this occasion right before seeing JAWS at the Seal Beach Bay Theatre, which is directly across the street.

My favorite item there happens to also be their founder's favorite item and it's named after him and the fact that it's his favorite item: Moe's Favorite Potato, "an open faced potato with aromatic touch of our famous lemon garlic butter, topped with pieces of juicy Fire-Grilled chicken breast, guacamole, mild pico de gallo salsa and cheese." It's great for when you don't have the time to deal with pulling chicken meat off of bones and the ingredients are wonderful separately or mixed together.

Charo Chicken gets a four Speedy Gonzales rating and will likely be reviewed here again:

---

UPDATE (September 24, 2008): Here's a picture taken more than a year later of the Moe's Favorite Potato. It's slightly blurry so I'll add a new one when I can since I order these things all the time:

Salad Wars

This entry focuses on Mexican-oriented salads from various fast food joints and will be updated from time to time:

Baja Fresh

Chipotle Glazed Charbroiled Chicken Salad

Price: $6.45

Official description: "Warm chicken tenders, romaine lettuce, chipotle glaze, roasted corn, poblano and red peppers, grilled pineapple, sliced avocado, anejo cheese and cilantro. Served with a savory flauta filled with cheese, roasted corn and chiles and a side of Chipotle Vinaigrette dressing. Try it with charbroiled steak or savory pork carnitas."

My take: I like that this came with a flauta on the side (actually one flauta cut in two), because usually a salad, even a big one, on its own doesn't make a full meal for me. There were a lot of different flavors in this salad that each stood out while blending well with all the other ingredients. On my review of Baja Fresh I gave them the lowest rating I've given any restaurant so far (a neutral two and a half Speedy Gonzales rating) but this salad earns its own four Speedy Gonzales rating:



Official Site

---

La Salsa

Chipotle Shrimp Salad

Price: $6.95

Official description: "Grilled marinated shrimp, Romaine, Jack and cheddar cheese, black beans, corn, salsa Mexicana, half of a fresh avocado, topped with a chipotle vinaigrette dressing and corn tortilla strips."

My take: I took one bite of this and my eyes started watering because of the super spicy chipotle dressing. After that first bite the spiciness toned down to a tolerable degree but if you like spicy shrimp, a lot of avocado, and a lot of lettuce this is for you. La Salsa's Chipotle Shrimp Salad earns a three Speedy Gonzales rating:



Official Site

---

El Pollo Loco

Tropical Pollo Salad

Price: $4.99 (with coupon)

Official description: "El Pollo Loco's new Tropical Pollo Salad is prepared fresh to order with crisp, hand-tossed Romaine lettuce topped with a warm, juicy citrus-marinated, flame-grilled chicken breast. Crowned with fresh mango and papaya salsa, tortilla strips and cilantro, and drizzled with pineapple mango dressing, it's a refreshing taste sensation unlike anything else found in fast food restaurants."

My take: The papaya/mango salsa is a plus, but for some reason the chicken in this seemed much more mass-produced than is usual for El Pollo Loco and there was too big of a lettuce to toppings ratio. Overall spiciness was less than the La Salsa salad but more than the Baja Fresh salad. El Pollo Loco's Tropical Pollo Salad earns a three and a half Speedy Gonzales rating:



(The Tropical Pollo Salad appears to have been discontinued.)

BBQ Ranch Chicken Tostada Salad

Price: $4.99

Official description: "The new BBQ Ranch Chicken Tostada Salad combines plenty of El Pollo Loco’s juicy flame-grilled chicken breast with crisp Romaine lettuce, BBQ Black Beans, corn poblano, crunchy tortilla strips, freshly chopped cilantro, Cotija cheese, Ranch dressing and El Pollo Loco’s new barbecue sauce-- all in a crisp tortilla shell."

Official Site

---

Rubio's

Chipotle Ranch Salad

Price: $5.69

Official description: "Grilled chicken, salsa fresca, fresh guacamole, cotija cheese and crunchy tortilla chips atop crisp lettuce with smoky Chipotle Ranch Dressing."

My take: Not as obviously intriguing as the other salads but it filled me up well and they mixed some pepitas into it even though they aren't an official ingredient for this salad so that was a nice touch. Rubio's Chipotle Ranch Salad earns a not very enthusiastic yet still solid three and a half Speedy Gonzales rating:

Baja Caesar Salad

Price: $5.69

Official description: "Grilled chicken, chile lime pepitas, salsa fresca and cotija cheese atop crisp lettuce tossed in creamy Cilantro Caesar Dressing."

My take: The salad with the ethnic identity crisis makes its debut at the big fish taco chain. The "Caesar Salad" was invented by a man named Juan Cesar from Tijuana, Mexico, but it seemed so complementary to Italian food that Italian eateries started serving it and it was easy to think that "Caesar" was referring to Julius Caesar. Now, even though it was created by a Mexican living in Mexico, Caesar salads are being served by Mexican food establishments that put even more of a Mexican spin on them to make them seem a little less Italian. While El Pollo Loco adds tortilla strips to theirs Rubio's adds chile lime pepitas and both add salsa. Like its sibling salad from the same chain, Rubio's Baja Caesar Salad earns a not very enthusiastic yet still solid three and a half Speedy Gonzales rating:



Official Site

---

Sharky's

Tostada Salad

Price: $5.99

Official description: "Grilled vegetables, romaine lettuce, organic rice and beans, cheese, tomatoes, guacamole, sour cream and pico de gallo. Add mesquite broiled chicken or steak for $1.99."

My take: Actually my co-worker, David R., got this one when we were on a lunch break together. He said that on my rating scale Sharky's Tostada Salad earns a four Speedy Gonzales rating, and that on his own "Yip!" rating scale it gets a four out of seven Yips!:

NuMex Caesar Salad

Price: $5.99

Official description: "Romaine lettuce, tomatoes, roasted peppers, tortilla strips, roasted pepitas, cotija cheese, red chile croutons, tossed with a poblano-caesar dressing."

My take: Not particularly inspiring. I should've ordered this as a smaller side item and not the full-meal size I got. As a side it is only $2.99. A slight step above completely plain, it still earns a three Speedy Gonzales rating:

Naked Chicken Tostada Salad

Price: $7.99

Official Site

---

Arby's

Market Fresh Santa Fe Salad

Price: $4.99

Official description: "A fresh bed of mixed greens topped with crispy chicken tenders - made with 100% all-natural chicken, shredded Pepper Jack and Cheddar cheeses, roasted corn and black bean salsa, red onion and grape tomatoes, served with tortilla strips and Santa Fe ranch dressing on the side."

My take: This is part of Arby's relatively new Market Fresh line of salads and sandwiches. It's got a nice blend of flavors that interact and complement each other effectively and earns a four Speedy Gonzales rating:



Official Site

---

Jack In The Box

Acapulco Chicken Salad

Price: $4.89

Official description: Jack In The Box's official website does not even mention this salad but you can still get it. It has lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, shredded Jack Pepper cheese, blue corn tortilla strips, cilantro-lime dressing, and two lime wedges.

My take: This is one of my favorite Mexican-based fast food salads. Every one reviewed in this entry is good in its own way but Jack In The Box's Acapulco Chicken Salad is the best overall and earns a four and a half Speedy Gonzales rating:



Official Site

---

Carl's Jr.

Chipotle Chicken Salad

Price: $4.59

Official description: "Charbroiled Chicken, parmesan cheese, fresh salsa, and chipotle dressing."

My take: Very spicy and the taco shell it's in almost tastes like a Krispy Kreme doughnut. Carl's Jr. Chipotle Chicken Salad earns a three and a half Speedy Gonzales rating:



Official Site

---

Del Taco

Chipotle Shrimp Salad

Price: $4.99

Official description: "Lettuce, lime, corn, tomatoes, chipotle sauce, shrimp."

My take: Here's an enigmatic item. Recently I've seen some, but not all, Del Tacos advertising two new salads: a Caesar Salad, and a Chipotle Shrimp Salad. A couple weeks ago I decided to try one so I went to what I think is the Del Taco nearest my Irvine domicile only to find they had neither. So I decided to go to the next nearest one and figured if they didn't have either salad I would just get a bean burrito and leave. Well, the second location had both so I ordered the Chipotle Shrimp Salad. Fast forward a couple weeks and now it seems like Del Taco is widely advertising their new Caesar Salad but not advertising the Chipotle Shrimp Salad. So it could be that this item failed in the test market and is no longer available. I still liked it. It capitalizes on two current crazes: chipotle sauce and shrimp. And I think this is the only fast food salad out there with breaded shrimp.



Official Site

---

Charo Chicken

Chipotle Shrimp Salad

Price: $4.99 as a bowl or $6.49 as an entree

Official description: "Juicy fire grilled chicken breast, lettuce, tomatoes, tortilla strips, cheese and your choice of House Oil & Vinegar, Cilantro Caesar, or Ranch dressing."

My take: Decent salad from a place that isn't really about salads. The Cilantro Caesar dressing was a plus.



Official Site