El Pollo Loco

The first time I came here I was disappointed with the taste, portion, and price. I got the chicken meal with two sides and a drink. The chicken was verrryyy dry and not enough flavor (similar taste to Rotisserie chicken from walmart). The broccoli was good but rice was non authentic like the do it yourself ready in 3 min Spanish rice. Although my complaints, i finished SUPER full and satisfied. The portion looks small but It filled me up. Since I wasn’t too happy about the price, I tried looking for other options on the menu. Today I got the kids meal for 3.99 and it’s just like the adult meal except one less side item. I saved $ 3. My side item was mac and cheese and it is extremely saucy. I’m a huge texture person so I wasn’t pleased. I would come back again for the kids meal

I normally give 5 star to pollo loco but not to this location! We went to get a total of 32 pcs chicken and the General Manager~Fabiola told us that we are getting all the chicken that they cooked for their customer! Wow! So that means. we are not the customer? Maybe this person doesn’t want business. I’m just saying that that’s not a nice thing to say to your customers. Also, they forgot to put the tortillas! NOT GOOD!

Been to other locations and the chicken was moist and juicy like the commercials, tonight I got 3 piece white combo the wing was so fried out a coyote would give it back! The breasts too were ver dry as if they were sitting in the grill for many hours.

Really good tostada salads. I’ve never seen fresher lettuce. The place is very clean.

I don’t normally eat fast food but when I do it’s El Pollo Loco. Why? Well a few reasons. Healthier options than many fast food places. They have a bomb ass super awesome dressing on their loco salad. I could bath in this stuff. And they have fruit punch! I love me some fruit punch. I also love their mashed potatoes and on a good day their chicken is delicious. Though I have had days where it’s a tad dried out and the meat portion is skimpy.
But that dressing and fruit punch keep me coming back.

Normally I would give this place 5 stars because their food is awesome — total flavor blast but not TODAY…
TODAY — was the day they screwed my order up so bad I was forced to jump on here and put them on BLAST… YEAH!!!
I ordered a Ranchero Burrito.
Paid.
Drove out and was on my way…
Plain and simple.
Decided to eat my super flavorful burrito on the way to my destination as I usually do when I stop by there… But not TODAY… TODAY — I opened up the foil wrap to disaster — broken ass, half opened burrito with everything pouring out all over the place making a mess of my lap and seat… But hungry I was — so I chowed down what I could from that scrap pile of dogshit and threw the rest out (not literally)…
What a disappointment — so I’m not going back to that fuckin’ shithole after THAT. …and you motherfuckers want $ 15 an hour for THIS shit?!! You bitches are fuckin’ worthless. Biggest pile of rancid dogshit I ever got from there — what a way to taint the good name of El Pollo Loco with some lousy ass, worthless fuck that can’t even make a proper burrito…
If you’re wondering why I didn’t roll back there and smash that slop fuckin’ burrito into the Manager’s face as I demanded a refund — it’s a real hassle to break a u-​turn on that street and go back without creating more frustration so I just left it as is and decided to do THIS instead…
…and that’s it.
Fuck that place and fire that worthless piece of shit fuckin’ burrito maker…

El Pollo Loco is a decent counter-​order Mexican restaurant that’s definitely better than fast food. The food is usually pretty good, but $ 8 – 10 for a burrito is pricey. However, they do have a great deal on tacos for Taco Tuesday. I really like their salsa bar that offers 3 types of salsa as well as onions, cilantro, spicy carrots, and limes.
This isn’t the type of place that I long to go to, but sometimes my girlfriend and I will go there and split a burrito. They also have beer and sangria. Make sure to join their email club so you can get a free meal on your birthday.

Today was the first time I came to this location and probably the last. They messed up my order, didn’t think it would be that hard to get it right but apparently it is.

Food is as good as any Pollo Loco I’ve been to. Very busy at this location. I really wish that they keep the salsa stocked a little better though. I’ve been here several times and they seem to run out quite often. Also it’s a little ghetto in this neighborhood. But is surrounded by several other fast food locations and is close to the 5 freeway. Also customer service is a little slow every time I come to this location. Management needs to step it up a little bit.

Stopped in for a quick cup of soup and salad, very good tortilla soup (spicy) at a great value.
The place is clean and the service was fast and friendly.

Alright, so I feel pretty weird giving a fast food joint 5 stars, but for what it is it deserves it. I rarely eat fast food since I live next to so many great places to eat and I cook quite frequently. The wife seen a coupon in the mail and remembered this spot was around the corner, seemed like a good deal so one lazy day of not cooking nor wanting to get ready to head into OB we decided «what the hell».
We had 4 pieces of chicken, two side salads, churros, and some macaroni, corn, and potatoes and tortillas. The chicken, corn, and potatoes were all descent (better than KFC for sure), but the side salad had some bomb ass dressing. The macaroni you could tell was fast food, but it was the kinda fast food you don’t care to feel guilty because it’s actually pretty damn good. The flour tortillas were not to be desired for, but the churros were fresh and better than the ones sold at Kobeys or any other «quick bite» place that sells them. Lastly we had two salsas to go with our food, the red Fresca sucked, but the green cilantro-​ey one was really tasty.
Overall my expectations were pretty low, and we were expecting it to be terrible, and have to end up cooking the barbecue chicken breast marinating in the fridge, but all that food for only ten bucks it was worth the gamble. Definitely glad we took the risk!
I did read some other spiteful reviews regarding the drive thru. Our cashier was Viviana, and she took care of us with a smile and also asked if we needed any extra utensils or sauces.
I’m overall pleased with this experience and would not mind stopping by if in a pinch.

All of the employees greeted us when we walked in and was super friendly! I hadn’t been there but only once a few years ago so it took me a minute to decide what I wanted. The guy working was really helpful and offered some good items.
I got the shrimp avocado tacos and mac & cheese. We also decided to try the chicken tortilla soup and my bf got a chicken plate with rice & beans. Everything we got was great and tasted fresh!
The gentleman that took our order even came to our table to ask how everything was. We had such a great food experience and employee interaction, that we went back 2 days later!

So I’m always a fan for el pollo loco! I stopped by for a quick bite after work! All the selCtions are pretty gooD but went for something quick and easy, the tortilla roll. Melted cheese and chicken in a full size tortilla! Very filling! I also tried to order a fried chimichanga but was told the fryer was closed and they were no longer seeing any fried selections. I understand about getting out early but I’m sure im not the only one who may want a fried selection on the menu. Makes me wonder how much money the company maybe losing annually to this. My tortilla roll was served cold and the cheese was not melted. Kind of bummed but I will survive!
On a side note the girl at the drive thru window was awesome, great smile, and wished me well!

Let me first start out by saying… I LOVE El Pollo Loco, but I would never, ever return to this location. I’m not sure if they had just experienced a rush, but the restaurant was filthy. There were nearly no clean tables, at least one table had an old tray with food on it, and the floors were trashy. It was quite stuffy inside, and the customers here were even shady looking too. The place overall gave me the willies. I was eating my food as fast as I could in order to get the F out of there.
They actually started cleaning as I was in the middle of eating. The lady who cleaned the tables spilled the cleaning solution next to me, but kept moving. The man who looked like the supervisor later walked around and yelled to the other worker that there was a spill that needed cleaning. Little did he know, she was the one who did the spill. She cleaned it up; and the smell of the ammonia or whatever solution they use was strong. Kind of sucked, because I was eating next to it. I got up and the floor was kind of slick, but they did have a caution sign in place. The supervisor who was walking around brought me the tortillas they forgot. Unlike the Mission Valley location, this place lacks sliced jalepeños and their salsa bar is strangely located next to the registers.
Their was some weird looking guy who had a big order and I noted that the location had a drive-​thru, so maybe they were busy… The employees WERE super friendly and helpful. That is definitely a positive. Still the place was REALLY gross. Damage done. I’ll never return here again. The location in Mission Valley is the best!!!

I have to laugh at some of these reviews. One person gave this place (it’s fast food, remember) one star because they had to wait 10 entire minutes for their order. Sorry, but I just think that’s frikking awesome. This is the point we’ve fallen to in America, where 10 minutes is too long to get some crazy chicken in a bag. My oh my.
Is 10 minutes that long? 10 minutes is how long it takes to fill a gas tank. Or, how long it takes a Kardashian to read a stop sign. How long would it take a person to cook the same meal at home? I would bet it would take 10 minutes just to drive to the grocery store.
Another gave one star because the workers aren’t smart. Is this really necessary? Are all the McDonald’s employees down the street getting their McDegrees now? I love when Unilocalers criticize the mental capacity of fast-​food employees. Who is the dolt buying the food and shoveling it into their mouth? I’ll give you a hint: It’s the person who knows nothing about health or standards.
Oh yeah — the review. I’ve yet to experience any issues with this EPL location. I often grab large orders for people at work and I’ve never had an issue. And my compliments for the upkeep of the clean salsa bar. That’s not an easy task.

Good chicken, fuckin morons working here. On a positive note, ventilation is working tonight so I don’t have to worry about suffering smoke asphyxiation or mesothelioma… I agree about prior negative comments about the cleanliness at this location and horrible service.
On the other hand, I just got back from their location in National City, which has surpassed the Pt Loma store as worst outlet in the chain – nice cockroach roaming around the floor… surprised the morons working here didn’t throw it on the grill and serve it to the customers in the restaurant… don’t know what it is with the San Diego locations of a chain I used to like in Orange County – maybe El Pollo Loco goes out of its way to search for undocumented day laborers to work at their restaurants to keep costs down while offering them zero training… keep an eye out for next month’s special: the cockroach combo platter with cotija cheese.

1 star only because I have to. All I can say is terrible!!! Aside from the crappy drive-​thru service (took the guy like 5 mins to take our order) the food was a disaster. Ordered the Baja Shrimp Tacos combo and the best part of the meal was my sprite. The shrimp was half cooked and it seemed as though the tacos had already been sitting out due to my tortillas being soggy. The chips were stale and the salsa lacked flavor.
This place opened a few months back, but I honestly feel they should close!!!

Nasty. I have gone to El Pollo Loco for YEARS… now, no more! Beware of their soup! (See image.) There are huge bone chunks, fatty mystery globs, and altogether disgustingness. I emailed the company through their corporate website and never heard back. Terrible customer service. Adiós El Pollo Loco. No mas!

When I’m craving grilled chicken on my way home from work, this is my go-​to place.
My only gripe is the chicken doesn’t always look that «grilled» when I get home. Other El Pollo Locos have a brown and slightly crunchy skin, but the skin on this chicken is loose. Yuck. On the plus side, it made the choice of taking off the skin and eating «healthier» much easier.

I have a love/​hate relationship with this location. I love the chicken — it’s a really good stop for some flavorful, typically moist roasted chicken. The spices that they use on the skin add a nice kick to the flavor of the overall meal.
My favorite sides are the fire-​roasted corn and the corn cakes (actually, that’s my husband’s favorite side, but we usually order it to round out our meal, so…) The fire-​roasted corn is surprisingly delicious. There’s a bit of a kick that you might not expect, and you can pick out the flavor of the roasting in there. It’s also a bit saucy, which I like. The corn cakes are good, if a little misleading. They’re not «cakes», but a pile of what I can only describe as a deconstructed piece of corn bread. It’s mealy, but in a good way, and a tad bit sweet.
The other sides, like their steamed veggies, rice, beans or mashed potatoes are nothing special. In fact, they seem a lot like the sides that you can buy from places like KFC. They lack flavor, usually seems stale, and aren’t worth the money.
So, you may be wondering, «Why the love/​hate relationship? Where does the hate come from?»
I’ve never been to a fast-​food restaurant — one that specializes in a very specific item (chicken, in this case) — where they’ve run out of chicken *on more than one occasion* early in the evening. Not only that, they’ve also run out of sides before. I just can’t understand it — how do you run out of *chicken* at a chicken restaurant? Not once, not twice, but *three times* that we’ve experienced? And it’s never like, «Oh, we have some finishing cooking, it’ll be ready in x minutes, if you don’t mind waiting.» No, it’s always, «We have no chicken. At all.»
It’s a drive for us to get here, so I hope you can imagine how frustrating it is to pull up only to hear «Sorry, we have no chicken» as our greeting. So confusing!