Known for its citrus marinated chicken, El Pollo Loco usually doesn’t do beef. But it made an exception for its latest menu item.

It’s called Shredded Beef Birria, and it’s available in burritos, crispy tacos and quesadillas for a limited time.

“I think our customers will love a little bit of switch-up,” said Heather Gardea, vice president of research and development for the Costa Mesa-based chain.

Birria is a stewed meat dish that originated in the Mexican state of Jalisco, according to El Pollo Loco and other sources. It is often made with slow-cooked goat meat, but beef is also common.

El Pollo Loco considered creating its own birria with chicken, Gardea said in a phone interview. But her staff preferred the taste of beef.

“And we thought it would be much more true to why people fall in love with it.”

Southern California’s love of food trucks spurred El Pollo Loco to try birria.

“We saw a big rise in popularity in all of the U.S., but mostly in the Los Angeles area, where street food flavors were really becoming popular and mainstream. We wanted to see where we could play within that.”

The dish was two years in development, Gardea said.

“When we first started working on it, we think we were far too early. People weren’t that familiar with the birria.”

Introducing beef to the kitchen required a little reorganization of the make line.

Shredded Beef Birria comes in specially designed boxes that cost around $9 depending on location. They include a cup of consomme for dipping and a bag of chips.

Gardea’s personal favorite is the quesadilla.

“I love that it’s portable, super packed with the shredded beef. I love the fresh avocado that’s in there. It allows for it to dunk it, and because of the fold it holds all the beef consomme in there.”

Early response to birria was enthusiastic, she said.

“I’d love to see it come back as an annual thing, but I think our guests will make that decision for us.”

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