El Pollo Loco

I usually have a great experience and meal at El Pollo Loco. Lunch was not good today. First, I had to take the chicken back because it was undercooked. Then I had to wait at the counter as they cooked the breast longer while the rest of my meal sat at the table. (they should have brought it to me or given me a different piece). They were very understaffed; one young lady behind the counter and a manager who seemed focused on the drive through and indifferent to customers in the restaurant. Also, there was a measly amount of dressing on the salad. Lastly, the garbage cans were full which is kind of gross. EPL is a personal favorite. I hope it was a blip for this store on this day and is not indicative of a downhill slide for the chain.

This store is so dirty! Will never be back. Yuck, all the tables hadn’t been wiped, floors were full of debris, under the sofa station looked like it hadn’t been swept in forever!

What the heck was I thinking to come here! The coupons make the food look so great and when you get there, it looks like a tv dinner and some of the dishes taste like one. We came because we got the coupons for $ 5 entrees:
chicken enchiladas– tastes like a tv dinner
chicken salad– didn’t come in a tortilla bowl, chicken was very dry, salad taste like from a cafeteria
2 piece chicken plate with tortillas– chicken was dry and small
The only thing they have going for them is their salsas and clean seating area. The workers were nice too, but the food… Well, I just don’t plan on coming back.

Good olé el pollo loco comes through all the time. I always get the family meals here and my entire family is happy when I bring home the delicious chicken and amazing Mac n cheese.
Their customer service is great and I have no complaints on the quality being delivered from this location.
Thank you el pollo loco staff for always being consistent with your delicious chicken.

I used to come to this El Pollo LocoI stopped because they did not given any meat. thought I’d try it again on September 3^rd 2015 and they still give no meat. Will not be back

The way they handle the food is unsanitary and gross. First, they don’t use gloves or anything. Second, the lady, might be the manager, named Christina I think, was using the thongs for everything. She uses it to throw the chicken around, to open lids, etc. Then as she was walking up to take someone’s order (bc they are understaffed), she checks her phone first before taking my order. Phones are so dirty. People take phones in the bathroom. Then after taking my order, she goes back to cut up some chicken without washing her hands. Avoid this place!!! Nasty. I felt sick trying to eat my food. I threw it away.

It was well before ten minutes before close and they had already locked doors and closed the drive thru. When we pulled up to the window they said they already put away their food and they «had» to close early. Wow. Way to follow your business hours.

With relatively few fast late night options in this shopping center, we decided to drive through the El Pollo Loco for a late night meal. They were out of breast and wings, so we ended up ordering a family meal with legs and thighs. Upon opening our package, we were immediately annoyed that they didn’t include plastic silverware with our order. Famished, we decided to just use the tortillas as makeshift utensils for the beans and sides. Upon ripping open a thigh, I noticed that it wasn’t quite cooked inside. I moved onto a piece of leg, only to discover it was nearly raw inside as well. Nearly every piece we got was not suitable to eat due to being undercooked. With the risk of food poisoning, you’d think that a place that specializes in chicken would be extra careful in making sure their food was fully cooked. I threw everything in the bag and drove back to the restaurant. The only reason I gave this review two stars instead of one is because they gave us a prompt refund with no questions asked. This will surely be my last time at this location, which is a shame because I generally love El Pollo Loco as a go to place. (This was my first and Last time to patronize this particular location)

Two stars since it was fast and efficient. I order the corn chowder. Too salty and Bland, hardly any corn and no corn flavor. Will not go back

2^nd time at an El Pollo loco, 2^nd time I got sick. (Different locations, too)
DON’T go here.

I realize «this is fast food» and not fine dining. I get it… but I feel my complaints are legit. Over the years, El Pollo Loco has earned my respect as a well run fast food place. Great food at a great value. I’ve even utilized their catering services throughout the years with great success. There’s a huge difference between having a crappy meal and having a crappy meal at a place you know is not a bad place.
Last week, my mother and I stopped at this location to bring home some dinner. First of all, the young man at the cash register was a mumble mouth. My poor hearing aid-​clad mother thought she had to get new devices… I assured her it wasn’t her ears… the dude talked like he had a mouth of marbles. We had to ask him to repeat himself EVERY… SINGLE…TIME…HE…TALKED… Furthermore, he clearly did not understand the menu offerings… we had to explain ourselves repeatedly and finally found something and pointed it to him so he understood what we wanted to order. FRUSTRATING.
The food… the chicken we were given was way — way — WAY overcooked. We were watching the «cook» put it in the box and we were incredulous that someone would deem it edible. It was BLACK. While we were waiting for our food, two other people came up to the counter with burnt chicken. It took forever for mumble mouth and his buddy to realize that they had a pile of people building up with burned chicken. When we showed him the food, he was unconvinced that the food was even bad. I wouldn’t have fed it to my dog! He tried to strike some deal — 2 new pieces for 3 burnt ones. We flat out told him «No, we think we should get all new chicken». He started throwing attitude our way. My mother, fresh off of a 3.5 hour flight almost went postal on this stupid kid. Meanwhile Señor Grillmaster was flapping his jaws behind the grill, burning more chicken.
I’ve been to several El Pollo Locos around the valley and almost always get great food, great service and great prices. This location will not get our business again.

This place is tragic. Ordered/​paid @ 6:48. Now 7:17 still no food. Cashier said cook was busy & so was the manager. Unacceptable!

My wife and I frequent this El Pollo. The quality of food is always very high. The service is quick and courteous.
When we are in need of some flavorful grilled chicken and fresh made salsa they do not disappoint.
If you have not tried the stuffed quesadillas, they are full of chicken, avocado and amassing sauce.

Got there about 8.30pm yesterday, ordered 8 pieces legs & thighs with 2 sides ‘togo’. After i paid with the cashier he asked me again do you want legs & thighs or mixes with breasts? I said legs & thighs please. He turned arround talked to the cook, i cant really hear what they were talking about, BUT i have clearly heard the cook said IT’S OK. Got my order legs&thighs with they lovely salsa. I was curious while im driving back home, what was that «IT’S OK» about??? Told my wife to look at the receipt & i was charged for breasts instead of legs&thighs. Came back talked to the cashier & the Manager returned $ 2 & she appologized.
This is not about the returned money $ 2 only, c’mon! Its about service & BE HONEST TO YOUR GUEST!
Got home 5 minutes after that, After smelling the deliciousssnesss of the chicken in the car and hungry stomach: got really dry dry dry, small legs&thighs at home :(
The rice, beans was good & the salsa was bomb! Here is why i gave them 2 stars instead of 1.

Was so disappointed. Normally love their food, this particular place what a let down. Traveled here for business, was excited to eat some El Pollo Loco after a seven hour drive only to be disappointed by dried up chicken, tortillas were so hard my teeth could not penetrate them. I ordered the two piece chicken, breast & wing, the wing was so dried up that it was meatless. The Mac & Cheese was so old that it was discolored and looked funny.
If you eat here, good luck.
The staff is friendly.

My mom used to take us to another El Pollo Loco (or else pillows local as auto correct keeps trying to rename it on my phone…) location when I was a kid. I never really liked it. My husband and I decided to give it a try last week and oh man… delicious and cheap. The perfect combination.
I think I’ll eat here tonight! Try it!

This is the nicest El Pollo Loco that I have eaten at in AZ.
As much as I find El Pollo Loco’s secret marinade so addicting, I was taking a hiatus from it because I had hit a bad run of dry chicken and super small pieces at other locations. I also thought I had to sacrifice cleanliness in order to get my chicken fix because almost every El Pollo Loco that I have been in recently has been slightly grimy with a thin layer of chicken grease on almost every surface and a messy salsa bar. Not this one! Light, bright, spacious and clean — shocking.
Two piece meal with rice, salad and flour tortillas — perfection.

My first time going to pollo loco. I was impressed with this particular branch but the menu as a whole. Lots of fresh salad options and the ingredients all seem fresh. Will be coming back!

The food and prices are good. But every time I go in there, there seems to be seedy people arguing over a taco just to swindle back money. Just creeps me out a little bit.

EPL, as I call (ed) it back home, came to Atlanta as only a tease. It opened 3 locations that offered healthier, more inspiring dishes than what say, KFC has. Then out of the blue, all 3 locations closed. WTF!?! I need my crunchy chicken tacos! This had been a crushing blow to my love of Mexican fast food.
So as we were driving around Dobson Dr. near Mesa, I saw a logo that looked familiar. It was time we met again– I saw an EPL! Of course we went in.
I didn’t even look at the menu– I told the friendly cashier I wanted 8 tacos and 2 drinks– she looked at me like a glutton– but she didn’t understand where I was coming from– as I tried explaining, she just laughed.
The dining room– a decent size. The salsa– more flavors than I had seen! The drink machine– served coke! Now, to perfect the experience, I just needed the tacos… And then they arrived!
It was like finding a long lost love and being reunited. It was that wonderful. I should have asked if they deliver across the US– I would even consider it!
It was just so wonderful to be re-​united again…