El Pollo Loco

I love Pollo Loco, but today they let me down. I picked up an order to go. I ordered a 16 piece mixed. And when I got home I noticed I got older meat. It was a bit dry. I should of walked away when I noticed two cars in the parking lot. It just wasn’t being pushed out fast enough leaving me the only customer to get older chicken! The next Time I will go on a busy Friday evening or Saturday when I’m sure to get freshly grilled chicken.

El Pollo Loco (or EPL as I often call it) is a mashup of KFC and Taco Bell. That sounds like a putdown, but it isn’t meant to be; EPL is much, much more than the sum of its parts. Let me explain.
In case you couldn’t guess, grilled chicken is the order of the day. They offer it in burritos, tacos, rice bowls, and more (a la Taco Bell). If chopped chicken isn’t your thing, you can also get chicken combos featuring legs, breasts, thighs, etc with side items such as mac & cheese, mashed potatoes, and so on (much like KFC). Thankfully, the quality and taste is significantly better than either of those stores in my opinion, and that’s why I say the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
EPL offers decent variety, and there is good value here. The place is always clean, and the service is usually quick and efficient. As far as local fast food restaurants go, this is a solid stop for a meal.

I love El Pollo Loco, but this place…
My chicken bowl was pretty good. My wife’s burrito was small for the price and contained very little chicken. What chicken there was was like jerky. The dining room was a total disaster and there was no one cleaning the tables. Have to say it was a hugh disappointment.

Chicken is great. Sides are ok. Had the cheese enchiladas: they were just ok. They give you lots of Jucy chicken. I’ve been back 4x. My friends think I am crazy, but I do no think so.

It’s chicken with a twist. I think they have excellent sides and the chicken does have a kick to it.
Sign up for their birthday club to get a free 2 piece meal.

If you are looking for good quality healthy fast food that is well priced and tastes good, this is the spot.
The chicken here is really good, the sides are solid, there are lots of healthy choices on the menu, and the manager Grant is great and is always upbeat and positive.
My wife and I typically get either the Double Chicken Salad or the Double Carne Asada Salad, both of which are great and a terrific value. I usually get a piece or two of chicken on the side as well cause it’s just so good! I agree that the tostada bowl it comes in is mediocre, but I don’t really care about that as everything inside is really tasty and fresh and that’s what I eat anyway. In fact, everything I have gotten here has been good and a good value.
This isn’t a mom & pop Mexican restaurant, it’s fast food, so know that before you go. But the flavors and quality and value are great, and it’s my favorite option for a quick healthy meal.

Called this location to see how late they were open then drove over there 5 min later. Pulled into the drive thru and was told they would be right with me. Waited for over 5 min then someone came on and I ordered and they said sorry we dont have any chicken. I asked why arnt you closed then if you only sell chicken and your out. The answer was uhm I dont know. Why couldn’t she have told me when she asked me to wait that they were out of chicken??? The service here is lousy, wont be going back.

I’ll be frank. I went here because my friend had coupons. It was my first visit. It was good we got there slightly after 12pm because by 1230, the order line was pretty long. I had the 3 piece of chicken set meal. Since this is not deep fried but bbq chicken, the meat is a lot softer. After awhile i realized i missed chewing. How crazy is that? I know it isn’t healthy but i love the chicken skin! All the flavors are there and worth every calories. I don’t mind coming here again… but maybe with coupons :)

My first visit to El Pollo Loco was on a Saturday evening (first mistake) when they were moderately busy but had only one person taking orders. I like real spicy and ordered their Spicy Chipolte Burrito along with some french fries as a side. My companion had ordered the shrimp tostada salad and we sat down at a booth for some good conversation. I had loaded up on small cups of condiments including their supposedly spicy salsa. While the conversation was good we couldn’t help but notice that people who ordered after us, including a party of four people, received a whole table of food. When, I finally said that I would leave if I hadn’t already paid for the food, it was practically thrown at us by the server.
Right away it was obvious we should have ordered something else, like maybe the chicken, because my spicy chicken chipolte wrap had almost no flavor. Plus, I was hard pressed to find the chicken except for what looked like a piece of slimy chicken fat that I managed to take out before eating it. I poured on plenty of salsa and finally finished the burrito, but it left me very unsatisfied. The fries were obviously frozen, were like match sticks and horribly greasy and soggy.
My companion mentioned the shrimp salad was decent but the tostada shell was dried out and tasted stale. I ate a small piece and it was like eating dust. Maybe the folks at this store ought to make sure that anything over a week old shouldn’t be served. Maybe I’ll just order the chicken next time and get it to go so I don’t have to sit forever waiting for the food or watching people eating their food who had ordered after me.
My advice, use the drive up window and don’t expect anything spicy.

Ordering a skinless chicken breast I was brought out a breast with skin on it. Who orders a skinless chicken breast and gets one with skin? Obviously the manager on duty doesn’t grasp the concept of the word skinless. I should not have to tell them how to prepare their food. I should however get what I ordered. This place has really gone down hill.

Ultimate chicken tostada was amazing. Loved the cilantro ranch dressing. Ate the shell with the green avocado jalapeño salsa – very delicious. Service could have been quicker, but the employees were very helpful and friendly. Definitely going back.

Yep. This is the chicken I use to have back so long ago when I lived in San Pedro. But back then they only had the chicken and fixin’s. The menu has grown some, for the good, too. The Chicken Avocado Burrito is a must if you are not going to have one of the combos. Need to come backore often to try some of the other things they have on their menu.

Love the food! I’m originally from California where theres a pollo loco in every city and coming to slc I missed it so much! The staff is outstanding and the food is always fresh!

This place has good grilled chicken with few different sides the other chicken fast food restaurants don’t have, but I have to say the quality of the food is not very inconsistent.
I have been to El Pollo Loco a few times now, sometimes an hour before closing time and sometimes during the busy lunch time. When I went during lunch time the chicken is fresh and the skin is crispy, but every time when I go an hour or even an hour and half before closing, it just seems that they are so focused on closing, all the quality of the food, the cleanness of the restaurant and the salsa bar is gone. The chicken skin is soggy and the meat is dried out, and the salsa bar looks like it’s been through hell.
They also seems to have a tendency of forgetting people’s orders when they are focused on closing, and I’m not talking about waiting for ever before you get your food, it’s waiting for ever watching all of the people ordered after you eaten and left, then find out that they have lost your ticket and didn’t even make your order. This happened to a couple once when I went, then it happened to me the week after when I went again.
This restaurant closes at ten, but you if are looking for a late dinner, say around nine, and you decide to go to El Pollo Loco, just be aware that it is a crapshoot for the quality of the food, and make sure they didn’t lose your ticket after you’ve been waiting for five minutes or longer for your food.

I was impressed with the variety of foods that they offer. Chicken is good. The sides were OK. Not to different from KFC. They have a variety of tacos, burritos and salads to choose from. The restaurant was a little unclean. Trash was overflowing. I’ll probably be back to try some their other dishes.

My favorite fast food chicken.

I absolutley love the chicken here. The sides are okay, but nothing great. Some are good (bbq beans), some not so much (the fries). The green avacado sauce they serve on the side is super tasty. And as some of the other posters have mentioned, the place always seems to be messy, tables in need of wiping, etc. Something needs to be done about that. But for me at least, it all comes back to the chicken. And I must say, I really, really enjoy it.

Very pricey for fast food, but you can’t miss their sweet potato fries and their sweet corn cake. That’s the only reason we ever go to El Pollo Loco’s as we find the rest of the food to be somewhat lacking.

This place is a below average eating experience. While I love it’s sister company «Pollo Tropical» on the east coast, this place just falls short of being great or even good.

If you like chicken, but are getting fat from the deep-​fried Colonel’s chicken, this is the place for you!
I don’t do the chain thing much, but Utah deserves to know how truly good there chicken is.
Give it a chance, take a drive, and stick to the chicken.
I order a bunch of assorted pieces, tortillas, and as many of their fresh salsas they will give me.
Sooooo good … even for a chain.