Crazy Chicken Cravings

by Pa Rock

One of the nice things about getting older is that many of those cravings that drove my life when I was younger are now just pleasant memories - and as I get older, even the memories of cravings begin to fade away.

But, every now and then some craving reaches out from nowhere and just overwhelms me. (Usually it's food!) I don't know where today's craving originated, but as I was getting ready to leave work and head home, the urge to splurge on some El Pollo Loco ("The Crazy Chicken" for those of you too lame to learn basic Espanol) reached out and hit me right in the gut! To get Crazy Chicken I had to drive half-way across Phoenix, literally, but that gave me plenty of time to obsess on the treat that my eyes, nose, mouth, tongue, taste buds, and digestive tract would soon enjoy.

El Pollo Loco is damned good chicken - the best in the Phoenix area. It is a chain that, unfortunately for me, tends to be located in the busy downtown areas of the city, rather than out in the desert where I live. As I drove to the location at 51st and McDowell (I live at 115th and McDowell), I had plenty of time to work my taste buds into a frenzy. By the time I got there I was picturing drumsticks the size of turkey legs and corn-on-the-cob to-die-for!

My order was $20! Yes, that's a lot for takeout for one, but it will last me through at least three evening meals. For the twenty dollar bill I got eight pieces of chicken (legs and thighs - and yes the drumsticks were smaller than the imaginary ones that I was savoring!), a pint of pinto beans (seasoned at about two alarms - out of a possible five), four small pieces of corn-on-cob (wonderful beyond words!), and a couple of large flour tortillas (it's a cultural thing - and I could have had corn tortillas), a large, unsweetened raspberry tea, and several containers of hot sauce. I pitch the sauce because El Pollo Loco is plenty zesty as is.

So that was my craving, and it is now completely sated. And the next time someone tries to tell you that seniors don't get cravings, you can tell them for me that Pa Rock still does!