El Pollo Loco

I waited in like about 10 minutes only to have them tell me they are out of chicken, I told the girl in the register that they should have a sign to notify people they are out of chicken and all she said was «I know «good thing there’s a jack in the box across the street

Living in Diamond Bar means that, on a Friday night, the hottest spot in town is Target. However, it also means I can walk to THE BEST El Pollo Loco ever.
My case in three points
1. Come in here any weeknight after 6 and this place is packed. The grill is always busy, and, as a result, your chicken is always hot and ready to go. Young, old, it doesn’t matter, just about all people groups come here, which means it must be pretty darn good.
2. The service here is on point. They always show you your chicken order prior to you picking it up. They offer large salsa cups if you ask and, they keep their salsa bar in tip top shape.
3. On top of the good service and fresh food, the last thing is that El Pollo Loco, in general, is pretty damn good. Plus, with all the coupons they always send this spot is frequented quite often by the family.

Love coming to this pollo loco for lunch, everyone is so friendly all the time. I’m basically here twice a week. Great customer service.

Super good ultimate pollo bowl. Super good ultimate pollo bowl. Super good ultimate pollo bowl. Super good ultimate pollo bowl. Super good ultimate pollo bowl. Super good ultimate pollo bowl. Super good ultimate pollo bowl.

This location is pretty well kept compared some other El Pollo Locos. The salsa station is fairly well kept up clean and well stocked. The staff is friendly and upbeat. The lunch hours can make this place get a bit hectic. This place is exactly what you would expect from a well managed EPL. The parking can be limited near the store front but there is parking off to the side which is often never full.
Pro:
–Clean and Well kept
–Friendly and up beat staff
Con:
–Limited store front parking
Overview:
I think I will continue to come to this location to grab my EPL fix. Great place, great staff, great tasting food.

My father came today at 430 and they didn’t have a chicken and we wanted a family dinner meal and they told him it would be 30 or 40 minutes WhatEver ! If you guys are not selling chicken at 430 for dinner time Change your name to El loco employees My father got us KFC instead!
Thanks KFC !

This place has gone to hell in a handbasket I just saw Manager female that was dressed like she got out of the dumpster it is Monday at 1:45 so you can see who that is on your records Kevin is the only professional in there this place is going to hell in a handbasket

This El Pollo Loco is not very flexible always acting like its hard to accommodate substitutions.
Poor service, they stopped me from walking out the door and asked me to bring my food back, they opened it and took one piece of chicken out because they said they gave me an extra one on accident, I was furious. Most of the staff here are rude also.
DO THEY KNOW THEY CANNOT TAKE BACK FOOD ONCE YOU GIVE IT TO A CUSTOMER ACCORDING TO LAW?
Not going back, that’s for sure.

I came here during their busy lunch rush and I was very impressed with the cashier Jesus. He greeted every customer with a warm, sincere smile. He kept the line moving and thanked each person at the end of their transaction. What a gem!
I tried the chicken, shrimp, avocado tostada salad for the first time. I always order the tostada salads, but this time around, it seems as if the amount of rice and beans were a little skimpy. The shrimp seasoning was good and had a little spicy kick. All four pieces were delicious… just wish there were more! If you like cilantro, try the cilantro dressing. I always ask for an extra container and they give it to me, no charge. Yay!
Would I order this again? Yes!

We just catered a party through the Diamond Bar location Food was really good and fresh but what they advertise in their pictures is not what you get. They gave us chips and salsa for 8 people instead of the 70 people we were trying to serve. What a joke next time I will have the Taco Guy come. But the topper is I called and told them how upset I was and they said the chips are actually free and I should have ordered more. If I would have only known to buy more no big deal. But how embarrassing for me to not have enough chips for my guest. If I would have been the manager I would have asked for the customers # and tried to make it up to them. But I guess a sorry is all you get for spending over 300.00. Whoops El Pollo you may have just lost a customer of 20 years.

Hello Unilocalers! I live 3-​blocks from the el pollo loco, but I commute to the el pollo loco in Walnut. I alway have to wait at this EPL, 2– the management always gives me a hard time if I want to substitute something for someone else, 3-​this el pollo loco seems to be slightly higher priced & 4-​the customer service is the worst. The employees act as if they don’t exist while your waiting in line & even the manager doesn’t greet you. It’s like your an invisible customer. I use to spend hundreds of dollars at this epl, but I took my business elsewhere. From a serious Unilocaler! Have a great day!

Two stars because all their chickens are dry and overcooked. Yesterday, I asked for juicy and they gave me chicken that is burnt. I had it replaced for ones that were not burnt. Again, j had to drink water to swallow every bite of chicken in my mouth. I live close by, and I don’t know why I even keep coming here. It’s been like this for over a year. The location on Valley and Grand does a better job. Anybody knows how to overcook chicken, but it takes skills to carefully cook chicken in lower heat to keep the juices. It’s so crazy it gets dry!

Seriously it is so cold in here I can’t feel my feet! They also have two radios playing at the same time. The one above my head and the loud one playing back by the grills. Two different songs! I feel like throwing up it is so stressful! Aaaaagh!

Decently priced and good sized portions. All around good place to grab some lunch if you are in a hurry or on break from work. Also a healthy alternative to other fast food places.

What is this? It dosnt look like Pollo Loco chicken? It looks like they didn’t cook it all the way or its like a diet kind of chicken with no flavor, the skin is the main thing I eat! It tastes like it’s diet chicken also!

The best pollo loco in a 50 mile radius. Staff is attentive and they always get the avacado salsa right.

I’m glad to see el pollo loco really starting to think out of the box and bring out new types of food choices other than the typical chicken legs to see how their customers react to it. For example torta sandwiches, and enchiladas. This has to be one of cleanest el pollo loco that I have been to this location gets a A in my book.

Came in for dinner as usual n saw a new item: Mexican S’more!
I personally think it’s better than regular ones. There’s cracker crumbs, melted marshmallow & chocolate fudge wrapped in warm chocolate tortilla. Oh soooo gooood!
Can’t forget to mention the service is always good at this location :)

I have been coming to this El Pollo Loco since I was a child. Today, was the worse experience ever and lead me to conclude that I will NOT be coming back to this location unless it changes the employees and management.
This is what happened… My family and I ordered the 12 piece family deal and I understand there are other people waiting for their meals before us as it is during the rush. So of course, we are very patient and getting prepared for the salsa, avocado sauce, cilantro and other toppings as well as the drinks.
As we were waiting for the food to be ready, I noticed that an employee put the beans in the container and smashed the to-​go cup without replacing the container and wiped it with a used towel. Second, the employee was finishing up with another customers order and then when she was getting the mashed potatoes for our order… oops she hit one piece of chicken with her arm and fell down on the dirty metal heated area… and guess what she does? She doesn’t touch it with her hands, but another associate saw the incident and got very close together to block the view of the customers and started laughing and used a knife and placed the chicken back on the tray… Ladies?! You think I didn’t see that!
So, I got up out of my seat, and Yes! I pointed out everything they did and guess what? The beans… I asked her to place it in a new container and she placed the beans back into the location where the uncontaminated beans were and mix it and place it into a new container?! Seriously! Oh that isn’t it… the employee picked up the piece of chicken that was contaminated with her hands and throws the chicken in the trash and then she expects the cook to put one to replace it! No way! That should have been 12 new pieces of chicken as she touched the surrounding pieces when she picked up the piece of chicken. On a side note: I asked her why didn’t you use gloves when handling food? Of course… her immaturity level had to argue back and asked her fellow associate, which she didn’t know the answer as well.
Later, I asked to speak with the management and oh… management did not even come to me to apologize or even the employee! The employee denied what she did… wow…that was my last straw. I do not like businesses who are dishonest and not apologetic for their wrong-​doings. What kind of business and customer service is this! So I asked for a refund instead and walked out.
I love El Pollo Loco, but this kind of business at the location where I live is the most disappointing throughout all these years that I have been here. I hope that the corporate gets the tape from what this specific employee did on 11.05.13, she is the cashier as of right now. Too bad I didn’t get her name because I definitely would have let everyone know. This employee needs to be fired and should NEVER work in the food industry!
**To the employee who did this: Ask yourself, would you have served this to your family and friends for what you did? Put yourself in my shoes. I protect myself and my family from getting any sort of food contamination.**

I normally don’t like reviewing fast food chains and I think every El Pollo Loco tastes the same — you’re going for the grilled chicken and a menu where you either pay 1 – 2 bucks for a value meal or 5 bucks and more for something else — there’s little else in between. Even at that, an El Pollo Loco always beats a Taco Bell or Del Taco for me.
What I really do like about this particular El Pollo Loco (and why I come back to it as often as I can) is it has one of the consistently best customer service experiences I’ve ever seen out of a fast food chain… the employees here always greet you with a smile AND almost always make sure to tell you to have a good day when you leave. Little things like that can really brighten up what could easily be an unforgettable experience.
As far as I can tell, the manager who runs this place is pretty much hands on with everything and I think he runs a tight, clean, (and friendly) ship.