El Pollo Loco

This has to be one of my fave fast food restaurants. Tender seasoned grilled chicken with their fresh salsa is a must have for me. And the staff is really friendly as well.

The store manager here deserves some praise. It truly saddens me to see how bad society has gotten. Just because you’re a «customer» doesn’t give you the right to be disrespectful to people and treat them like crap. He had apologized to every single person in line for being short staff due to a few call outs, yet he still got verbally abused by «very important people.» The food here has always been fresh & the staff is always very helpful. Thank you.

I’ve been here several times. The staff is beyond friendly and attentive. The manager must be amazing as this speaks volumes in the service they provide. Elvia is super polite and I am more impressed with them. Each time they exceed expectations.
I really try at all cost to avoid any establishment with a drive thru and this place keeps me coming back. The food is great and the service even better.
I wish all food establishments maintained this level of service.

I usually hit up the drive-​thru in the evening after work. The customer service is genuine and they’re efficient in getting people through fast. The food is fresh and full of flavor. All of the salads are yummy. The cilantro dressing is delish. Their BRC (beans, rice, cheese) burrito is a good size for the price too.

Love this place! CLEAN and well managed! The food is tasty to say the least. The manager made rounds asking our thoughts. Music was great! Must come and enjoy their awesome food!

I am a firm believer that great customer service can change anyone’s opinion.
My boyfriend REALLY wanted el pollo loco so I picked it up.
When I got home, he let me know that his order was completely different than it usually is.
I drove back to el pollo loco ready to raise hell to either fix the plate or get my money back. The woman at the drive through seemed annoyed that I was complaining. (I was actually looking forward to being bitchy after that)
To my surprise, she wasn’t the one that helped me.
Eric (I think his last name started with a D or F? Sorry! I only glanced at the name tag haha) was compassionate and understanding from the start and did absolutely everything he could to ensure we had a great experience.
He even let us know the best times to avoid the dinner rush so we are able to get the correct pieces/​cuts.
Thank you Eric! You definitely changed my mind about this location (:

I have come here several times with co-​workers and my wife. Food always comes out fast and is really tasty. The staff has always been pleasant to me and others. Eat with confidence.

If there was an option for negative stars I would leave it. I went to el pollo loco Santee last night after a long day at work and spent $ 21 on a family meal. The experience with the employees was fair. … However I asked for red salsa in a large container and the cashier agreed, but at the window the manager took over and they gave me a ton of sippy cup containers without communicating to me my request wouldn’t be honored. (That’s not the problem)
I get home and discover my beans weren’t cooked they were hard to chew and swallow. And my chicken was undercooked and rubbery in some places, my wife and I both had immediate stomach pains afterward and needless to say I spend the remainder of the evening in pain and in the bathroom hoping the pepto would kick in.
CHECK YOUR FOOD PRIOR TO LEAVING.

This is the second time I have gone here this month and got no service in the drive through line. I waited for 5 minutes no response. I drove through looked inside and the guy with the headset smiled and waved. Do you job. Wtf. Manager please do something about this I like your food. Check your camera it is 1pm july 22 white Chevy Truck with blue wheels. Your cappy employees are costing you business. Thus is rediculois. I’m going to chick filet.

We have take out often… no tortilla nor churro today when we arrive home.
For the first time someone forgets to follow their protocol, it’s bad for the business. We were just handed a bag of food, where they always show you what you ordered before they are bagged… right in front if you. My husband had to go back to the restaurant.

Had a late night meal here through the drive through. Ordered 2, 3-​piece meals and guess what I got. .a dry chicken breast that looked like someone had already eaten, dry and old. The other meal was the same but the wing was as small as a chicken leg gone anorexic. The rice was good and the beans. .well all I got was soupy bean water. They did bad and if they saw what they were giving their regular customers they should be reprimanded. Not going back to this place or any other Pollo Loco.

The absolute worst El Pollo Loco I’ve ever been to. I’ve been there twice. Once right after they opened the new restaurant and just recently hoping they improved cause it’s close to my home and I love El Pollo Loco. First time my order was wrong and the chicken was so over cooked it was dry and tough. No surprise second time same thing but worse. I wanted to wait a number of months and see if they improved. NOT!!! WORSE the second time. What a shame management didn’t train the crew better and do checkups to catch this. I won’t try a third time at this location and will let my friends know not to go there.

First of all, whether I’m going through the drive-​thru or dining in, I always get the best customer service here! The employees are always so friendly and helpful!
What I love:
I love their chicken. I could eat it all by itself, but it’s even better pulled off the bone and put in a tortilla with beans, salsa, onion and cilantro. Yum! I love their green, avocado salsa and the pico de gallo salsa. My kids love the Chicken Roll-​up, which is basically a chicken & cheese quesadilla rolled up. It’s easy to eat and doesn’t make a mess! The guacamole is good, but a tad too salty. The Mexican Ceasar Salad is awesome. They have really decent prices too, so I can feed my whole family inexpensively. Plus, kids love it. Win-​win-​win.
What I don’t love:
Their regular salsa that you get in the drive-​thru is really bland and to me, just looks and tastes like smashed tomatoes. While super tasty and delicious, the Skinny Chicken Quesadilla is a fail. It’s a little too skinny because it has so little cheese, all the ingredients fall out when you pick it up. Next time I’m gonna see if they will make it into a burrito instead because it did taste really good.

You know, I’ve had great experiences here before. But what the hell happened this time?
Customer service wasn’t amazing but it wasn’t awful either.
Ordered the shrimp and chicken bowl (6.99 by itself).
Literally got FOUR tiny MORSELS of shrimp. Tf is this??? And that avocado… Wow. It’s obviously NOT fresh and been sitting under a heat lamp. Parts are black and still have spots of the peeling on them.
Ordered CORN tortillas. Got flour. Eh
I am very unsatisfied with this visit after spending over $ 15 on fast food (ordered other meals)… It’s highly unlikely I’ll return.
On the plus side, on my last visit, Carlos delivered exceptional customer service. He executed a great use of manners and respect. Props!

The cilantro dressing is a home run here. Fast friendly service. This location is well run, clean, organized!

I recently visited this El Pollo Loco and they exceeded my expectations in every way.
I was greeted by a very friendly associate as I walked in. My wait in line to place my order was minimal. My order was taken correctly. The food was great. The Salsa Bar was very clean, neat, and orderly. The dinning area was very clean and orderly. An associate followed up on me a few moments after being seated and refilled my drink.
This is by far, the nicest El Pollo Loco experience I have had in San Diego. I highly recommend it!!!

The new location looks beautiful, and they inside looks so much nicer than the BK days. I’ve only had EPL a couple times and it’s always expensive overcooked dry chicken that tastes like it was soaked in Sunny D. Same deal here. Salsa bar was a mess and half of them were nearly empty. Side salad had no dressing, just some flavorless dry white cheese/​sawdust crumbles. I did like the soda machine.
The one thing that was totally unacceptable was a bucket of cleaning disinfectant (full) left out on a lower dining table. It was there from the time I entered until I left. As I left I heard someone complaining of their chicken being raw. It just reinforced my thoughts of never returning.

Just had a pretty disappointing experience customer service wise at this location. Ordered a family meal and had a coupon for a free half chicken with the purchase of the family meal. When I gave the cashier the coupon she actually looked put out/​annoyed by it. I’m sorry you had to punch a few extra keys on the register but if you work at a place that issues coupons you should be prepared to take them.
I saw another girl begin to prepare my to go order, when she brought the salad out of the cooler I asked her to make sure there are no tomatoes (also mentioned to the cashier) because my husband is allergic. She pointed to the salad and said, «There’s no tomatoes… see?» I said «Ok, thank you» and stood there while she was gathering the rest of the meal. After she had everything on the counter, she grabbed some bags, called my name and then went to take someone else’s order… leaving all of my food scattered on the counter. I realized that she wasn’t coming back and I was on my own to gather and bag my food, so I put purse down so I could reach across the counter to start bagging my stuff.
As I reached for that salad I noticed that the avocados were kind of brown. The girl walked by and I asked her to replace the avocados (I wouldn’t even had noticed if I didn’t have to bag my own stuff), she started to argue with me about how they weren’t brown, but she took the salad and asked someone to replace them. She then brought the salad back, pointed to it and said with an attitude, «Are these ok for you?» At this point I had enough attitude from these girls (and the avocados were still brown) so I said. «No not really, but you aren’t going to fix it so I might as well just stop complaining», to which she replied, «Ok, thank you».
Seriously? LOL This location just opened, I am really surprised at the lack of customer service. With service like this I don’t know if I’ll be back anytime soon.

Do I drive to El Pollo Grill or do I try out the new El Pollo Loco? I think I will try out the new El Pollo Loco! Packed up my son Billy and drove down here to get some lunch. Went through the drive through and ordered 2 chicken breasts a la carte and a side salad. Total was $ 7.45. Not too bad. Here is how it tasted…
Side Salad ($ 1.99) — It was pretty tasty for being so plain. Lettuce, tortilla strips (I removed them) and a great tasting cilantro dressing. It served its purpose.
Chicken Breasts ($ 2.50 each) — I love flame grilled chicken. I think I prefer it over all other kinds of chicken (rotisserie, fried, baked etc). The chicken breasts were decent sized and they tasted great. The marinade is a typical Mexican style grilled recipe. A little citrus, a little garlic, a little pepper etc. This is chicken you can pick at and strip down too. All that was left were bones by the time I was done. I was very impressed and seeing is they are only $ 2.50 per breast, for $ 5.00 it was a good amount of food for the money.
Is it better than El Pollo Grill? Naw… but its close… El Pollo Locos skin doesn’t get as crisp as El Pollo Grill. The meat itself is pretty darn tasty though and I am a fan! The benefits to El Pollo Loco are that the price point is great and this place is way closer to my house. As long as I am sticking to this low carb diet, I will probably be back a lot. It hit the spot!

I like the Crazy Chicken and this time around I decided to try one of their under 500 items, specifically the Mango Grilled Tostada with tossed chicken, sliced avocado, black beans, and cotija cheese. (
)
The salad was good, but when they advertise as a «tostada,» I expected a crispy tortilla on the bottom, not a cold soft tortilla. I was a little bummed, but I made the best of it, and ended up rolling up the wheat tortilla in the form of a burrito. (
) The chicken was all and tender, but lightly flavored (
). All the other ingredients, including the greens, sliced avocados, and sliced mangoes were fresh and tasted good. I liked the tender black beans that were layered at the bottom of the so called tostada (
). The cilantro dressing was mildly sweet and tangy. It was a good choice for this meal. (
). Oh yes, the meal needed more Cotija cheese… could barely taste it.
Service at the counter was very good, humorous in fact. The shift manager came by a few times to make sure I was good and needed anything. I did comment about the tortilla not being crunchy, and he said that’s the way it comes. Again, why would you advertise it as a «tostada» when the word specifically means: a fried tortilla…
I would suggest they change the name, so that it’s accurate.