El Pollo Loco

I’m not usually one to eat at places such as El Pollo Loco. Especially with my eating habits and their lack of options for me. Anyways. my coworker and I stopped by for lunch (because it’s close to work and I was out of time). I got a $ 5 bowl (just beans and rice), which tasted fine, for the most part, she got the street tacos.
They gave us some salsa with our order: 2 red, 2 green. The green was tasty but the red on the other hand I’m sure was rotten. The containers with the red salsa in them were bloated and ready to explode, which led me to believe they were no good. Sure enough, they exploded upon opening and the smell was awful and so very sour. It was disgusting. Definitely threw those away!
Needless to say, my stomach and my coworkers stomach is upset, 3 hours after consuming less than half of our food. My food had pico de gallo on it, so due to the way I feel, I’m guessing the tomatoes in the pico were bad as well.
Guess that’s why I choose NOT to go here normally. of course the one time I do, I get sick. Thanks, crazy chicken. You can keep your rotten tomatoes and sour salsa, jerks.

Let me start by saying I live near this location. After about 2 years of visiting there on and off I am finally going to right a negative review. While the food itself seems to taste okay. Getting your order correctly and being charged the right price seems to be and on going problem. I realize because most of their business seems to come from travelers that they sadly have no desire to fix these issues. If you do eat there always check you order and make sure you have everything. If you need forks, napkins, sauce, make sure its in the bag before you leave the parking lot. Also check what they charge you, verse what is on the menu you board! It has not been the same on several occasions. In one case I questioned why a $ 5.00 item was $ 7.57 she told me tax! Finally I was told the price had been raised but not changed on the menu board and no one else ever asked them about it!!!
My last visit I drive thru and ordered exactly as it states on the menu– The 500 calorie Chicken Mango Grilled Tostada. I tell the girl again its from the 500 calorie menu, to double check she understands. She tries to upsell me on the meal, I say no. I get to window, and she hands me a salad (no tortilla on the bottom). I thought she was accidentally handing me someone else food. So I said I that’s not mine, I had the Blah, Blah. She snipes back at me «That is what I ordered!» I ask for the manager. Manager comes over and we have words. Girl is yelling in the background «That’s what she ordered!» Manager tells me they don’t make what I ordered any more, they only make those new salads now. He gave me my money back.
That is my last visit to this location. There is another one not to far from me, I don’t have any trouble there.

Where do I begin. I haven’t had El Pollo Loco in a very long time. We were visiting from out-​of town and decided to eat here tonight. We walked in and the place was dirty and not well lit. We didn’t mind about that too much because we were placing an order to go. We walk up and wait a bit in line, no big deal. This girl comes to the register to help us. She was very new and after every item we ordered, she had to ask a guy to help her enter it. I am not really complaining about this but if someone is that new, maybe this person helping should have stayed with her to follow through the complete order. We finally completed the order which took about 5 minutes.
After we ordered we waited and a couple guys ordered after us. The guy who was leaving the girl hanging, decided to help them the whole time. They ordered the large family meal. Keep in mind, we ordered a considerable amount less than them. After about 10 minutes of waiting the ‚“trainer”, we shall call him, called me over and said that they were out of chicken breast. Really??? WTF? THAT’S LIKE SUBWAY BEING OUT OF BREAD. So he offered to replace the 3 piece white with 3 dark meat choices. Which is less than we paid for by the way. I told him fine. I don’t care. I’m a patient person and probably deal with more crap than I should but whatever, it’s just food.
The plot thickens, the two guys who ordered the family meal leave with there order and got THEIR white meat. We ordered first! WTF? I was done after that. We ended up waiting for another 10 minutes to get chicken they already had ready. The guy said sorry for the wait but he didn’t mean it. Do they ever mean it? He sure as hell didnt.
We get back home and the order was wrong. All the sides were wrong.
Seriously, GO somewhere else. I should. have
the carneseria across the street and got food there.
SKIP SKIP SKIP IT.
If the manager or owner is reading this. Revamp your crew or get your crap together. From other reviews I am reading, looks like you won’t be open much longer

I personally think this is the worst experience I have had at a Pollo Loco. and I love Pollo Loco I ordered the chicken bowl looked like ground chicken and Had lot of bones. i would never return to this location ever.

This location used to be great. They would send out coupons weekly, good prices and fast service. Ever since the changed management it has declined. Prices have gone up, slow service and even ridiculous practices such as making me sign for my credit card from the drive thru window! Food still tastes good but everything else could be better

By far the best and only choice for healthy fast food in the area. The food is always fresh and tasty. Only the slow lunchtime service gets them 4 rather than 5 stars.

I have to say I haven’t been to an El Pollo Loco in YEARS! I was in a ginormous hurry & my healthy fast food choices were limited to um one. So I did it. I pulled in & the menu didn’t look anything like I remembered & the food was better than I remembered. I really liked the chicken & avocado burrito I had. It was too big to eat all in one sitting but I did demolish it in a couple of separate sittings & heated up really nicely. YUMMY!

After a desperate search through this gigantic Phoenix ghetto for an hour looking for something to eat, finally ended up here. They have a zillion new items and it is tough to decide, but everything new seems to include mango. The grilled chicken tostada is only 480 calories, but after you add some cilantro lime dressing, I’m sure that number bumps up a bit. I did find the mango, but it was part of a salsa in the far right corner of the plate. The tostada is not a shell, but a giant wheat tortilla filled with black beans, lettuce, pico, and some very large and tasty grilled white meat chicken chunks. It is pretty good for a fast food item, although the fast food prices are getting a bit out of hand as this thing costs $ 6.99. That is way too much for an item purchased in a drive through and not a combo price either. They have this $ 1 off coupon on the back of the receipt, so that should do the trick next time.
UPDATE: Miserable performance on 2^nd try. The tortilla and most everything else was soaked with black bean juice, half the chicken was inedible due to fat and overall it was just a disgusting meal. I did save a dollar though with previously mentioned coupon. Nothing is ever as good the 2^nd time.

Have the chicken avocado burrito. It was great.

The panhandling is out of control at this location.
While in the drive-​thru, a bum, (or hobo, take your pick) will sneakily wait for you to roll down your window as you approach the speaker box. Then, before you can place your order, the asshole interrupts your well prepared sonnet about a number three and a diet coke asking for money. How fucked is that?
This caused me to roll up my window, (like any good American) relying on my overly tinted windows to shield me from his view.
Unfettered by my sly window moves, he simply refused to shoo.
This caused me to roll down my window and bust-​out my best Spanish where I warned him to move away from the vehicle. I even said it like a cop to scare him.
Sadly however, the only thing I know how to say in Spanish is «Cuanto de su hermana?» or loosely translated, «How much for your sister?»
It worked.
He probably thought I had the crazy or something… who knows.
Eight pieces of chicken will cost you ten bucks.
It’s pretty tasty stuff.
PS. I also know how to say «Esta mota es mierda» (This weed is shit)

I’m not usually a one visit and review, hit it and quit it kind of guy. I mean I feel every place has up and down days and one person’s service on one day shouldn’t impact an entire restaurant’s review…
…and then I went to El Pollo Loco in Phoenix off of McDowell road.
See I had just driven all day from out of state and I was starving. I wasn’t just hungry– I mean my appetite had literally taken human form and was sitting in my passenger seat yelling at me to stop whenever we passed an exit that had anything resembling a drive thru.
Still, I persevered. I fought the urge to stop til I arrived at my destination and when I finally exited the freeway after a long drive I was pleased to see an El Pollo Loco located conveniently near my hotel. There was also a Sonic right next to El Pollo Loco. Without blinking I whizzed by the Sonic– biting my thumb at sweet limeades and crunchy tots.
Tonight, I choose the crazy chicken.
I felt a little crazy so I ordered the «Ultimate» Pollo Bowl. Thought I would pair the bowl with a couple taquitos, chips, and a cool beverage. The line was 3 cars deep and I knew I was in for a wait. El Pollo takes some time but I am ok with that. They cook their chicken in slow motion over an massive open flame, or at least they do in the commercials.
After about 7 or 8 minutes I get to the window, pay, and wait 3 or 4 minutes more– again no biggie. I then receive my drink and the bag with my food. I thank the nice person who served me and drive away with my dinner. My mouth was watering as the smell of crazy chicken fills the air. I purposefully turn off the A/​C so nothing impedes the smell’s path from the bag to my nose.
Once I check into my hotel I take the elevator to my room, use the bathroom (long drive, remember?) and set down my luggage. I plop down on the couch and excitedly place the El Pollo bag down in front of me. Out comes the food and I get ready to dig in!
But wait?!
Where are my Taquitos? I can’t find them.
Did they drop out of the bag? Nope.
Did I eat them on the way here? No I did not.
Did I only think I ordered them but it turns out the taquito order was a planted memory by Leo and the «Inception» team? Don’t think so.
Turns out they just didn’t put them in the bag. Well, at $ 1.19 each that stings a little. It’s as if the taquitos mock me from wherever it is they ended up– saved from the impending acidic doom in the pit of my still empty stomach.
Somehow, I was kind of ok with the missing taquitos. I was happy with my chips and pollo bowl. It was a big bowl; I didn’t need those two fresh, hot, savory, delicious taquitos anyway.
I called off the search party, opened my Pollo bowl and reach for the fork so I could ravenously dig in.
But wait?!
Where is my fork?
Is it in the bag? No.
Is it hidden inside my Pollo bowl much like that of a prize at the bottom of a cereal box? Nope.
Is it in pieces on the floor as a result of a taquito temper tantrum gone awry? Don’t think so.
Turns out they just didn’t give me a fork.
Maybe it was my fault. Maybe I didn’t see the part of the menu where you ordered utensils. I ordered a Pollo bowl, perhaps I should have ordered a fork as well? How moronic of me. What a fool I was.
Now I was forced to use chips to eat the Pollo bowl. The number of bites I can take held at the mercy of the dwindling number of chips in the accompanying bag.
Each chip had to be strategically filled so each bite contained maximum Pollo bowl yet was not filled over capacity as it could break and cause a critical spill on the questionably sanitized hotel table below.
The worst part of it all? They forgot the napkins too… so I had nothing to wipe up the tears.
Food was good, it usually is… but in this game of Pollo Press Your Luck I got a double whammy and boy did it hurt. 3 stars for you El Pollo, but it could have been so, so, SO much more. Somewhere my fork and taquitos are sipping mojitos on a beach, laughing about it all, ripping up napkins and throwing them in the air like confetti.
I can deal with it though, I’m a man.
A broken man…
…but still a man.