El Pollo Loco

Zeroooo stars !!! Half our order was missing HALF and we still paid 15 $ for two little tiny tacos and 3 side salads wowowowowoowow 15 $ when I got home I was so pissed … So we ate what we had and were surprised to find a huge chunk of plastic in one of our crappy side salads, so none go here this place is horrible and ALL there prices went up !! So it not even worth it like it used to ! Horrible Experience !!!

[Sidebar: El Pollo Loco is spanish for «The Crazy Chicken». Wondering, are the chickens crazy because of GMOs?]
Review:
Moved to Encinitas about a year ago and was excited to find this Pollo Loco only a few blocks from my house.
But the excitement stopped there.
Was a regular at their Carmel Mountain Ranch location. Which was superb.
But the Encinitas location is just a train wreck.
Have been to their drive-​thru twice a week for the past year, so probably 100 times total. On at least half the occasions the order is wrong. I find myself having to open up and inspect my order before I drive away. Many times, they leave off the avocado. Which is strange when avocado is the main selling feature and part of the name of the food item. (e.g. «Chicken Avocado Salad»)
On serval occasions I have ordered a double chicken bowl, or a double chicken salad. Only to find that, after paying the premium price, they didn’t give double the chicken. So I handed it back to the drive-​thru window person, and they act all surprised (like it’s never happened before, even though it’s semi regular with me) and they walk it to the cook for correction.
The shrimp avocado tacos (over $ 7 with tax) …each taco should have 4 shrimps on it. But often they don’t. The last time I ordered, one taco had 3 shrimps and one had 2. Was already passed the drive-​through window when I discovered this, so I had to park and go inside to deal with it.
Their manager Jose Baragas had a bad attitude. He fake smiles and then he huffs and puffs and definitely isn’t happy when he has to come to the register to fix something that’s been rung up wrong – customers should not see a manager’s frustrated ‘tude… perhaps the employee who made the mistake should see it, but not the customer. Even worse is when he makes the customer feel bad for his employee’s messup – perhaps he does this intentionally so that in the future customers are afraid to bring things up, G*d forbid he should actually be summoned once again to do his job and fix an internal mess-​up.
About the store’s policy
1. Never have they offered anything extra as a good gesture or as an «‘I’m sorry». A dessert, the soda, or even a small bag of chips. Nadda.
2. Corporate doesn’t care. Those big signs, inviting you to call corporate to report issues, because they want to make things better, that’s all bullsh*t. I phoned twice and left a voicemail describing the recent problems, along with the store number, employee name, & receipt info… plus my name, address, phone number, and email. and guess what. They never responded.
Encinitas has only 4 other drive-thru’s… Two McD’s, aTaco Bell and an In-​and-​Out Burger. I try to avoid processed foods. So Pollo Loco is the healthy choice. I really want wanted this location to work for me. And I kept going there even though they suck, cuz it’s the only healthy drive thru place, and wishful thinking that it’s going to improve soon.
My rating…
1 star for things being correct the other 50% if the time
1 star for being a healthy alternative to processed fast food joints
Total score = 2 stars

Two stars because of the food… customer service was horrible! We just went and ordered a family meal by the drive through. Well our family meal didn’t include plates, so we asked for paper plates and the lady seemed upset because we asked for the plates… She brings the plates and no forks… We asked for the utensils and she makes a face… Are we supposed to eat with our hands? Just so you know the meal includes beans and rice… Not sure how we can eat those without a fork or spoon.
Anyways to top it off we asked for some salsa and we get the looks and deep breath and bad face again. It’s Mexican food! You need salsa! We love the food at Pollo Loco but the service was very bad :(

Worst meal ever served. I went through the drive thru and bought the 8 piece family meal. When I got home and opened up the box, I found that most of the pieces looked like they had sat out all day. All of the pieces were tiny. They have a new way of cutting chicken where one breast is cut in two and that counts as two pieces. Even worse, some were burnt and were so dried out that I had to throw them away. Had I opened the box while I was there, I would have asked for my money back and left. Any store that would serve you something like that can not be trusted to feed my family. The worst part is I paid $ 23 to throw away my food.

I like it but I agree with the other reviewer who mentioned they overcharge a little, In my case the cashier asked me if I wanted a chicken *breast with my 3 piece combo…” Ummm sure” after all I get 3 pieces so one of them could definitely be a breast if she wanted. I am pretty sure I was charged extra for it. Also I wanted a cup for *water but I see «drink» was included in the combo deal. I didn’t order a drink. I wanted water.
I will eat there again but you can bet I will add the total before I place my order.

Run down Taco Bell meets kFC. They screwed up every aspect of our order. Food was OK, but not great. Chips were completely stale, you could break a tooth on them. Salsa bar was not looking very fresh and some of the ingredients were depleted. We are visiting from out of town and definitely would not visit one of these again.

I left today and felt I had to write a review. It was the best service ever!
1. Best service. Manager was super friendly taking my order and helpful describing new menu items.
2. There is an actual person who is called the service expert (I think that is what his name tag said) and he offered to get me water. He offered to clear my tray, and then offers me some mints, wet naps and a toothpick! Theeeen I was offered a sample of their churros!
3. The bathrooms were very clean! That wins always in my book.
Lastly, I love El Pollo Loco. Even if it is fast food, good service means a lot. And this El Pollo Loco really does have it.

Okay, so the experience here is definitely meh. But I still actually go here about once a week because I work near by, and it’s right by Target, and it’s fast. They are seriously, very fast at the drive thru.
I think they’re so fast because they get my order wrong about 75% of the time.
No kidding. I’ve learned to always check my bag before I leave the drive thru window, and even then I only catch it about half the time. One time I ordered a salad, and it was soooooo delicious. And I knew it wasn’t what I had ordered, but I didn’t care because it was so good. The next time I went there I ordered the same salad, but then they gave me the right order, and I was so disappointed.
Here are my tips for if you go to this location:
1. Always check your order before you leave — especially if you want a specific type of salsa. For some reason, no matter what type of salsa I ask for, they always give me the avocado salsa. Every time. So check your order.
2. Just because they repeat your order correctly on the intercom, does not mean it will be correct. If you have a really specific request, either skip the drive thru and go inside, or repeat the specifications once you get to the window.
3. Always ask your receipt. They generally won’t give you a receipt, so make sure to ask for it. That way you can know if they actually rang you up for what you ordered or if it’s something random.
4. CHECK YOUR ORDER BEFORE YOU LEAVE! Just do it.

I haven’t eaten at an El Pollo Loco in years. I remember them being like a weird run down version of taco bell. I was pleasantly surprised with the new décor and updated menu.
Southwest chicken bacon salad. Iceburg/​romaine blend with pico, cheese, corn, bacon, crispy onions and chicken breast. Skipped the BBQ ranch dressing and used hot sauce instead. The chicken was actually a whole piece of breast with crispy skin. It was seasoned nicely, cooked to the right temp and pulled right off the bird. The lettuce was definately from a bag and wasn’t cut fresh but this is a fast food establishment.
There was at least 7 different salads to choose from and all of them looked pretty good.

Purchased a burrito. Got an open tortilla with stuff on and near it. Apparently no management or training.

It’s hit or miss with this location. I like chicken thighs so sometimes I will go through the drive through and just get one as a snack.
Sometimes the thigh is juicy and yummy, and sometimes the thigh is dried up and crunchy.
Last week I went in right when they opened thinking they would be juicy and yummy and they weren’t. I’m wondering if they used the chicken from the night before?
I’m leaving it at 3 stars for now because I went in yesterday and they were juicy and yummy.
Hit or miss.

They are overcharging on all the meals
Apparently this is a common thing for el pollo loco… They get you for about $ 1 per combo. Combo says 6.99 you get charged 8.75. Nobody seems to notice. Then when i ask the manager he gets pissed, pulls a dollar out and tosses it at me like i did something wrong… Wtf

Picked up family meal for bon fire in Ponte beach. It was yummy. I would go back.

Tacos al Carbon tortillas SUCK! All corn tortillas SUCK! Don’t understand why they don’t hear us complaining. One bite and the tortilla falls apart! Why? Tortillas are the most important part of A TACO!

I only picked 1 star because there was no option for a zero star
These dumb asses r in the chicken business and they didn’t have chicken breast This is the second time!!! Maybe u should think about getting out of the chicken business?

Had the Pollo Bowl and really liked it. Great taste, lots of chicken, moist and tender, and good price-​$ 5 for the bowl, drink, tortillas. Place was bright, clean, and food was fast.

OUT OF CHICKEN???
I just went to else pollo loco to pick up dinner. It’s Tuesday at 5pm and they are out of Chicken and it will be a 20 minute wait.
How can they not plan for a dinner rush!!!

This El pollo Loco is unbelievable. the manager, Ruby, went around and checked the customer’s tables and could not have been nicer. What an asset she is!
The food was perfect and fresh and the place was very clean. i have not been to a El Pollo Loco in a while and now we will come back more often. i am not a big fan of fast food but this was so fresh and non-​greasy that, quite frankly, i was stunned.
Also saw a person on the driveway helping to take orders for the drive thru in advance.nice.

Do I enjoy giving 5 stars? Yes. Do I enjoy giving one stars and writing detailed reviews about really bad service? No. With that being said, I was went to this particular El Pollo Loco location and was in the drive thru.
As soon as I pulled up to order, some girl barely greeting me, asked what I could be helped with. Then it was dead silence. Someone else picked up and this time it was a guy. So here goes me… «Can I get a Cheese quesadilla, and…», I never got to complete that order. Mister taking my order, was very quick to cut me off and say «Would that complete your order man?». Uh… No and whatever happened to being polite and not using «man», «dude», «buddy», when talking to strangers? So repeat the above scenario about 4 times. Each time I would say something he would be in a rush to complete my order for me.
When I pulled up to the window, the guy, Isidro, was there and he started repeating my order back to me, but stopped at the first one only and told me the total.
As I was driving off, I reached in the bag to check if everything was in there… Well, nope! I was already on my way and didn’t want to drive back to deal with way worst customer service.
I wish, these chains would see that the need to really be strict in their hiring process. I always compare any fast food, drive thru service to Chick-​Fil-​A. They seriously are the most polite, courteous and well trained workers in the fast food industry.
I most likely won’t go there again, but if I do and the experience gets better, I’d love to update this review.

Ares, 5 yr old: What does El Pollo Loco mean?
J: It means, The Crazy Chicken.
A: Uncle J, you talk Spanish? /​furrowed brow
J: ¡Si!
A: Wow. I want to learn.
As much as I enjoy them and the chicken is great, I feel a bit like they’re overpriced. Am I missing something especially when I can spend about $ 5-​$ 6 on a while rotisserie chicken at any typical grocery store.
A friend then asked me once, «Wait, wait, wait. You live in the awesome „get your mexican chicken on“ state-​and area, and your going to El Pollo Loco? Just sayin’»
I am a fan of EPL in some ways since I might not want a whole rotisserie chicken as tempting as they are, but where else can I get a nice thigh and leg and get a comparable kid’s combo of two legs (which are giant to children), teach them how to roll a tortilla and reward them with a kids toy from their kids combo. «Berto» and its like do not have toys.