El Pollo Loco

Horriable service, gets my order wrong everytime and manager is rude about her employees mistakes. I will now drive a farther distance for a different el pollo loco so I wont have to deal with this horriable location any longer!

I love pollo loco but at the specific location, Customer Service was great but this doesn’t cover up for the horrible charcoal taste of the chicken… I make chicken at work… And the taste of this chicken was due to the fact that they didn’t clean the grill before making my chicken… Also the chicken was dry and they barley put any on my tostada bowl. I guess the beans and rice will do. Im greatly disappointed, I couldn’t even finish my meal.

Does management consistently hire every rude, incompetent imbecile that applies, or is it just a coincidence? I literally have to check the entire bag 100% of the time because 99% of the time my order is wrong or they’ve lied about putting salsa in the bag.
Tonight the staff lied and I didn’t check the bag, completely my fault for thinking she could do her job. I would be more angry but I almost pity the girl– you know who you are.

Came for dinner and the chicken was really dry! Also the Pico de gallo salsa was missing the Pico ! Also the night manager seemed rude, like it bothered her to ask for plate and utensils!

All I have to say is out of chicken, how are you out of chicken? Then the manager acts like I have the problem!

Went to the drive thru to pick up food for someone. I ordered two pieces of chicken and three side salads with extra dressing. The employee decided to tell me that what I was ordering was not healthy and I shouldn’t get extra dressing. Ummm excuse me?! Really?! Who asked you? Not that it was any of his business, but the person I was buying for will make a new salad a few days later and use the extra dressing because it’s their favorite.
The guy was trying to help, I guess. Although, I don’t remember asking for an opinion on eating habits. Is that something el pollo loco promotes? Do they insult all of their customers? Or was it just me??? Although looking at the other reviews, seems like the whole store is shitty. Oh well.

I had a horrible experience tonight. I went threw the drive thru and ordered a ultimate pollo bowl. They said they were out of rice so I said extra beans will be good. When I got home, I saw juice inside the bag so I opened it up and the bowl literary looked like bean soup. I called them twice and no answer so I decided to drive back to get a refund. They gave me my refund. I’m really surprised they served me this disgusting bowl.

The worst El Pollo Loco around. Horrible service and do not ask for the manager to help. She is rude and will not help you «genuinely». I will never go there again until they have new management. Boston Market next door is a much better choice.

They ran out of chicken … Seriously? We went to the location and they told us they ran out of the breast for the chicken salad. I’m sorry what? You make the chicken fresh right? Or is is precut and you ran out of the baggies? If you pride yourself on fresh flame grilled chicken you shouldn’t run out.

I love El Pollo Loco, but I hate this location.
All of my visits have been fine, although a little irritating, especially when I order the 8 – 12 piece family meal and EVERY SINGLE TIME they have to check if they have enough chicken… because a chicken place doesn’t have enough of the main thing that they sell? I have also always noticed a tinge of bad attitude literally from every employee that I’ve come across… and I can definitely understand, I’ve worked in fast food before and I know it can get annoying, but IT’S YOUR JOB… your customers are paying their money to buy shit from your store which pays your wages.
I went through the drive-​thru tonight and ordered a 2 piece meal with an extra side and an iced tea. When I pull up to the window, the lady working says «how do I say this nicely? there are ANTS in the iced tea. Do you want raspberry iced tea?», to which I reply that I would like to take the drink off of my order (because, um, gross… I do not want any drinks from a fountain that ants have been crawling on/​in). She says that she can’t modify the order and that she’ll «just go to the front to get your drink» (referring to the fountain that’s in the dining room) and all I can think is WHY DIDN’T YOU DO THAT IN THE FIRST PLACE? because it would have taken you no more than 30 seconds to do so. So not only is this store dirty, but the employees are lazy, which would probably explain why there are ants in the drink fountain.
So, she hands me my drink and then my food, at which point I ask for GREEN salsa. She walks off and then returns with a bag of red salsa… I see this and say «I’m sorry, can I get the green salsa please?» Yes, I apologized to her as if it was my fault that she couldn’t hear and/​or understand me the first time. She just stands there and gives me this look like she just fucking despises her life and her job and she would rather have all her hair pulled out than to turn around, walk 3 feet, and get me the green salsa that I asked for in the first place. She turns around, goes to get the green salsa, comes back and hands it to me with this completely deadpan look on her face, does’t say thank you or have a good night or ANYTHING that you would typically say to patrons that just paid to much to buy food from your crappy restaurant and all I can think is… Uh okkk, sorry you had to do your job.
Not going back here. There are a bazillion restaurants out there that don’t treat their customers or restaurant cleanliness like a they’re a burden.

It’s simple: The food is good. The customer service needs A LOT of work. I try not to leave bad reviews for businesses, and I have tried to like this place, but the customer service has not improved at all. They rush you, and are quite rude. Granted this is just going through the drive thru. Maybe it’s different when you go inside. I know they can do better.

Manager could be better (not giving change right after transaction then blaming another co-​worker when it was YOU manager who was the cashier, manager Josefina is NOT ok). Also not wearing gloves when handling food. Like eww.
Workers are doing their best though.
Moist delicious chicken.
Delicious and fresh salsa.
Use the time (estimated 15 minutes) for family bonding.
There’s a promotion right now to share your picture in social media for a chance of a gift card.

The employees are always rude, from the managers to the cashiers. It’s disappointing that the quality in their customer service can’t match the taste of their food.

My co worker wanted EPL. I refuse to go to this location because they don’t care about customer service or if your order is accurate. I will drive 15 min out of my way vs this down the street location. She was picking it up so I had no say. They of course forgot the ranch dressing for the tostada salad we requested it with. And then she asked for 6 green salsas they have us 2 red 2 green. I HATE HATE HATE this location I wish corporate would give me a call !!!

Convenient. I always use the drive thru. Always a fast pace customer service. It’s perfect for a fast food restaurant.

My family wanted El Pollo Loco chicken for dinner so I decided to go to this location because it was close to the Costco I get gas at. I decided to take drive thru.
I was 3 cars behind the Order Menu, yet I waited 16 min to take order. What’s worst is I tried to order a family meal (that includes chicken) but the lady on the intercom said that they cannot serve chicken because they have no chicken ready… HOW DO YOU NOT HAVE CHICKEN? Amazing. Now I have to wait another 15 min just to get out of line.
I was furious but my family wanted El Pollo Loco CHICKEN so I went to the location on Grand Ave and Mauna Loa. It took less amount of time to get my food here than just to take order at the first location. And what do you know, they actually had chicken.
If I want El Pollo Loco for dinner, I will NEVER come to this location again. Word to management: Please improve your drive thru service during the evening/​night shift and don’t run out of chicken when you’re still open…

I stepped into this joint without reading the reviews first and felt that this place served up a mean lime fired chicken salad. Was greeted when I walked in and the food came out like any other EPL. My 2^nd time the chicken didn’t taste as fresh (possibly from a slow Black Friday day).
This location does fall a little short on cleanliness (than the newer locations) and the salsa (made fresh daily) I had put on my salad tasted like it was ice blended tomato juice — yep that cold, that threw me off. Other than that, I don’t know where the complaints are coming from. In fact, I quite possibly have seen
Will be making this part of my biweekly lunch activity unless I find something horrendous.

Man… Idk if I’m just having a bad day or this put me over the top, but 2 out of the 3 things I ordered were wrong and the 1 thing they did get right was cold.
I ordered 2 tacos and the lady who took my order asked if I wanted the combo, I said no, but when I added a side of fries she asked again if I wanted the $ 5 combo. I assumed this meant it would be cheaper to order them together so I obliged. She gave me my total (without reading back my order) and I drove forward. Weird that she didn’t ask what drink I wanted but I guessed there wasn’t one with this particular combo. (You guys should get a screen so that customers can verify their orders)
When I get to the window she asks me if it was a Sprite I ordered. I didnt even order a drink, but I definitely didn’t order Sprite. And when I got my food there were chips instead of fries. What the hell? Why would I want a crunchy taco with chips? Theres enough crunch in the taco! I just continued to drive since I was short on time and when I got to my office I ate 2 cold crunchy tacos with cold cheese drizzled on top.
Yuck. Disappointed with the money I just wasted… but if this holds any value… the chips were good.

Crunchy Chicken Tacos are better than you think, just saying.
The $ 1.99 price on them, is a bit concerning, and make me stray away form them usually, but when you get the — they are good. The cheese is usually melted, and the chicken taste so so good. The shells are usually nicely fried with a nice crunch to them.
Other than those, I usually grab a 2 or 3 piece meal, ultimate pollo bowl, or one of their burritos. I can say I am not really a fan of their sides, except for the Mac & Cheese. But for some reasons when their sides are paired with their food, it works. The actual chicken flavor is one of a kind, not the best, just not really matched anywhere else.
Good place for lunch, but stray away for dinner.

This El Pollo location is a very convenient stop off the 57 at the Arrow Hwy exit. It is only a block West of the Freeway exit on the South side of the street. It’s easy to get both off and back on the freeway making it a great stop when traveling.
It’s very difficult to maintain healthy eating habits when I’m driving my car on long road trips. I never have the time to stop at sit down restaurants and most fast food restaurants emphasize heavy greasy food options such as burgers and fries. El Pollo Loco is a very welcome deviation from the norm with its emphasis on grilled chicken, tortilla soup, and healthy salads. Yes, it’s possible to pick something fattening off the menu, but there are a number of healthy options to choose from. On this trip, after getting stuck in Friday evening rush hour traffic, I really needed to make up some time and opted to go through the drive through. It is a very strange drive through as it goes around 3 full sides of the restaurant, but the line wasn’t too long and I was quickly on my way with a skinless chicken breast which was not only healthy, but easy to eat in the car.
Healthy food, delivered quickly by a smiling employee, and very little time wasted off the freeway? This El Pollo Loco wins my seal of approval.