Long story short (kind of):

My BF and I went to El Pollo Loco for dinner the other night because it was close, cheap, I didn't want to cook, and they had salads. I ordered a Chicken caeser salad with no chicken and all sauces on the side, a side of veggies and a side of black beans. I asked the cashier/general manager if they were vegetarian (ive had a bad run-in with black beans before) and after she hesitated, she told me they were.
We got our food and I mixed my veggies and a fork full of black beans into my salad. My first bite tasted off, so I tried a bite of the beans itself and I became quite suspicious . Thanks to the convenience of my blackberry I was able to find more than one website that confirmed that the black beans contained ham (I think they used pork/bacon grease in the lard or something).
Obviously I couldn't eat my food so my BF and I asked for some form of compensation for giving us false information leading to me not eating. She told us no and said that it didn't matter(the general manager I remind you) my BF proceeded to tell her "shes a VEGETARIAN, eating something with meat is kind of a BIG DEAL" and then we left.

When I got home I wrote El Pollo Loco, 1 complained about the service and 2 the inconvenience of being given false information that surprisingly can be a big deal.
Someone wrote me back this morning 'assuring' me there is no ham. I replied with links to various websites I found stating that the beans were NOT vegetarian and to provide me with the ingredients of the black beans and other products that would appear to be vegetarian. She wrote me back again this afternoon just to say "they used to contain lard, I hope this was enough information for you and please continue to eat at El Pollo Loco"
No ingredients... nothing!
This was the first time I even thought about eating at an El Pollo Loco since I was maybe a kid, so its not like I plan on going back. But I do expect some professionalism and if they're going to have to do a lot better job at defending themselves because I don't believe them.

I hate that you can't trust what seems to be 'vegetarian-friendly' food.

I found this website www.vegetarian-restaurants.net that give you information on vegan/vegetarian foods in chain restaurants.

that sucks!! hate people who lie!! SPECIALLY about food. sheesh... it's not that hard to tell the truth. Just suck it up and admit it already.
thanks for the link, btw.

Write in to the Consumerist. Seriously. If your story is run EPL will definitely perk up their ears. It's a major blog with tons of foot traffic, 98% of the time as soon as they pick up a story the offending company sends the wronged person apologies/gift cards/etc to make up for it and retain their image.

The site is consumerist.com. You are a consumer and deserve to be treated fairly (and not deal with corporate double-speak about the contents of their beans)!

Thanks Judy! I think I will write on consumerist!

Mistakes happen, but the way it was handled was just terrible. I personally got good service at El Pollo Loco. The manager used to give me discount cards or coupons because I ate there so much (not any more!). Judy's advice sounds good.

Ugh I'm so sorry this happened. I hope you can get some sort of resolution and thanks for the heads up!

Oh and just a hint - restaurants are supposed to have allergy cards that list all of the ingredients. I've asked before just so I can read with my own eyes what menu items contain.
Of course human error and changes could modify but it's at least a good place to start.

I'd take Fat Chick B Gone's advice. If there's an question in my mind, I try to get the allergy information.