El Pollo Loco

Isaias wow what amazing customer service!!! Super friendly and made my day a million times better you really never know how much you can turn someone’s day around, I locked my keys in my car before this and was having a horrible day until I came here so thank you! So 5 stars for customer service and the amazing loco salad

Never had a problem with this place until last week when I enter threw drive there a cashier joslyn s rude no customer service after I repeated my order 5 times new Spanish and English she still tried to over charge me and pocket the change she acted like she did speak Spanish but I could hear. Huge accent. Will not buy from this place again sad how one employee can ruin a customers out look on the place

Took my friend here who has an ebt card as he requested to go there. We get there and he places his order to be told he can’t use this card there?! There is a sign in their window saying its accepted.
When I asked why they don’t take it when the sign in the window states they do we are told its for the grocery store across the street?! Such false advertising

This place sucks came threw drive threw and they didn’t have no more rice. They took the sweet corn off the menu. I don’t think I’ll be coming here again. I waited 15 min to just cancel my order and go across the street to burger king.

Mexican made healthy? Don’t mind if I do!
Gavin was in the mood for a quesadilla so I found myself in ESSJ (East Side San Jose) to satisfy his hunger and craving but the 2 we went to were cash only so I resorted to this plaza. I gave him two choices: Mi Pueblo or El Pollo Loco. I secretly screamed inside because I know I can pick something that wouldn’t destroy my macros here.
AND it’s hella inexpensive here.
The Ultimate Double Chicken Bowl was what the guy recommended to me. It’s not super filling but that’s the point of intuitive eating (or understanding your body). Just because I have not hit my macros, it does not mean I will eat until I hit my numbers. If I’m no longer hungry, I’m satisfied.
— chicken was tender albeit underseasoned
— rice was al dente
— avocado was fresh
— Gavin enjoyed his cheese quesadilla (he didn’t want chicken in it)
Not bad for our dinner. $ 9 got us both full!
Sketchy area but I’d come back for this joint. I’ll minus the cheese next time!

Can said that today was a great experience here. Coming here almost every week for POLLO but today the cashier was rude.

Not understanding the low reviews… especially those involving long waits (never been an issue, and it ain’t the McD’s drive through everyone!).
Clean Facility. Friendly staff. Chicken cooked to perfection (and not expensive, to boot!). Their tacos el carbon are awesome. Really like this location, and will continue to be a regular stop!

Good food great price but SLOW! Only one cashier and 1 food prep person once your order is complete. The chef wears dark sunglasses while cooking!!! Is he on Americas most wanted?

The Baja Shrimp drew me to this chain, and this is the first time I’d ever been to any of their locations. The closest I’d been to a place like this was Pollo Tropical in Florida.
Since this location was close to Lake Cunningham skate park, it was convenient. Of course, going to this place for tacos when my regular taqueria is down the road doesn’t exactly make sense. It was all about the shrimp.
I ordered the two Baja Shrimp tacos in a combo meal, and my buddy ordered the Chipotle burrito combo. It seems that they were $ 7.49 and $ 7.99 respectively.
Surprisingly, there was enough food. The combo meals include some so-​so tortilla chips without salsa. We were both happy with the food. There were 4 decent-​sized shrimp in each taco, which seems much more than what Taco Bell would give you for a similar price – and you get good flavor. They had the raspberry flavored iced tea that I like also.
The employees were friendly and the service was reasonably quick. Nothing was exceptionally clean.

I’d like to add, another user said the drive thru location takes too long, but this location has NO drive thru— make note anyone who plans to drive here in lazy clothes. Lol

This is one closest to my house. First of all I love the franchise — I think their grilled chicken options are the best, and you should pretty much avoid the other entrees on the menu.
I just wasn’t feeling this *location*. Might have to do with all the cars that come in for Mi Pueblo, or the general busyness/​sketchiness of the area. Saw someone here sit with a homeless person and exchange what looked like used cell phone chargers for some reason — not judging, but yes, it was a bit out of the ordinary.
Might have been having just a bad day, because the food was good, just didn’t have the stomach to finish. It was perfectly prepared, even! A large side of mashed potatoes (with gravy); French fries; mac & cheese — all delicious. I just wasn’t feeling the chicken today, but it was good.
Service was again, okay. The guy at the counter could use a little more friendliness. There’s also a decent horchata machine (a little too sweet for my taste).
B– deserves another chance

We’re not planning of coming here today. It just so happen we need to use chase ATM. I saw their big Sign dat they welcome EBT CARD.
So da lady slide my card, it took like 30 seconds, card denied. Da cashier said maybe wrong PIN number. I said NO, n I checked my balance Diz mornin I have available balance in Diz card.
She nicely asked, if I want we could try again, it took a while, did u press ENTER? I said Yes but card denied again.
Oh men, Diz is so EMBARASSIN. I told da lady, I’ll be back, let me call my friend next door.
We tried his EBT, it did not work either. And then da cashier finally came up, awww, R U GUYS IN DA PROGRAM? U have to call them to allow u to use ur EBT @ da restaurants.
SO WE END UP PAYIN CASH. SCREW EBT CARD SIGN!!!

For a fast food joint, this place is nice. I must disclose that I’m not a big fan of chicken and when I do eat chicken, I prefer it fried. With that said, this is the best non-​fried chicken I’ve tried. The skin is slightly crispy around the edges, the meat is juicy and tender, and the spices can be tasted from the skin all the way down to the bone. It is good grilled chicken.
The sides are average tasting. The rice is a bit bland; the black beans have a more robust bean flavor than the pinto beans. I saw someone else with mashed potatoes and gravy and that looked good but I don’t know how it tasted. Unfortunately the tortillas are placed in plastic bags so they tend to get a bit soggy. They do have a nice selection of fountain drinks, to include horchata.
This is a fast food place so you order at the counter, get your own drink and bus your own table. Because it does take a few minutes to get your order, they do bring the food out to your table. If you are in the mood for non-​fried chicken, I think this place is a good place to go.

I called to ask if they deliver. They said yes but for $ 136 worth of purchase. Fail delivery

Came here yesterday looking for something to eat around here most of your choices is Mexican food from tacos to burritos so I decided to try el pollo loco since I don’t think I have ever tried it. My sister preferred the Baka shrimp tostada and I ordered the chicken salad tostada. The food came out and it seems like they under serve everything the rice was minimal along with the salad part. It was basically not even half full and my sisters shrimp tostada never really looked anything like the picture. Restaurants these days in San Jose have been a tip off where employees are cheating you out on food and charging a lot. When I expect to order food it should be satisfying along with good tasting. The food was ok. I could of went to mi pueblo and bought some tostada and made my own for half the price and been satisfied anyways I will see if I will be back, but it won’t be my first choice if I’m in the area

Clean location. Nice new ambiance (always a plus to enjoy a new location). Good parking. Courteous and fast service. Yummy grilled chicken! This place is a win

Your drive thru takes too long! I’ve been sitting in line for half an hour. Thank goodness your chicken actually taste good otherwise I’ll be crazy to do this all the time.

Thank you so much to the staff of this El Pollo Loco for making everything better for my boyfriend and I today. There was a mix up today and some family ended up with our food. But the staff was extremely nice and understanding. We ended up getting what we ordered and the manager gave us a coupon for 50% off our next order when we come back next time. We really appreciate that.
What really shocked us was that the family that ended up with our order did not even say anything. If I ever got someone else’s order, I would have the decency to go back to the counter and tell the staff that it was not mine. I guess honesty in rare nowadays… sigh.
My boyfriend and I were starving. We had to wait a little bit longer for our dinner because of the mess up. We are no longer upset with El Pollo Loco for this mistake as they made it right. We were just not happy with the fact the family that ended up with the food did not say anything.
Let me suggest that the EPL staff find a better system for delivering the food to the customers so that mistakes such as this do not happen again.
On another note, this is indeed our favorite El Pollo Loco restaurant to go to in the San Jose area. It is indeed the cleanest and most spacious. The food is consistently good here. Also, the location is great as across the street is the Emma Pursch Farm Park that we love to go to afterwards.
Pros:
–Food is consistently good and reasonably priced
–great staff
–conveniently located
–spacious restaurant
Cons:
–rarely there are mixed ups on orders and confusion

Super delicious chicken. This is one of the busiest El Pollo Loco’s in the area. Super friendly staff and love love love their spicy avocado salsa is sooooo good. Will be back.

Nicest EPL around the area. The manager was extremely helpful. The food is the same as the others, but I like this area a lot more. Good staff.
Siempre en punto!