El Pollo Loco

I got the original Pollo bowl combo. Amazing! Chicken you could tell is cooked fresh & perfectly. I saw some other reviews about rude staff, this was not the case at all for me. The gentleman who took my order at the counter was very friendly and so was the other gentleman who handed me my food. Very positive experience, will go again :)

So I read a ton of negative reviews and decided to debunk which where true and or if they fixed the issues. So here are the things most people complained about

“Bad smell, rude staff, cost more,old and run down, wrong order, loud vibrating noises from ventilation,very smoky, slow service, chicken tasted old and was burned, interior very hot, dirty disgusting,”

For starters I decided to go to this location right at opening (10am) I arrived slightly early so investigated the outside, I smelled old grease almost immediately when turning into the parking lot, that was a bad sign, I wondered what I got myself Into. At exactly 10am I walked up and their was an older man and an employee waiting locked out, the manager on duty or the franchise owner opened the door for us about 5 minutes after 10.

To start with the biggest problem most people had was the rude staff, I believe they fixed the issue, when the manager opened the door he welcomed me in, the employee that was waiting aswell , gestured for me to go in first. The lady at the counter was very friendly taking my order , and when I received my food atleast 3 people thanked me from the kitchen. The staff in my experience was great.

Another mentioned problem was a horrible smell, like a sewer. I purposely set next to the bathroom and the inside did not smell bad at all, the only bad smell was old grease and you could only smell it outside. I even smelled the salsa bar and it smelled very fresh.

As far as the cost , I’ve read enough reviews to believe that they do charge more, but I didn’t test this theory myself, I paid $11.53 for a 5/p tapatio wings and a drink.

The build was a little older and could use some touch up, but I don’t hold that against the company, it’s very expensive in California, and restaurants naturally have a low profit margin, I’m not upset at the condition , it was more acceptable . That being said out of the two bathrooms , one was out of order, and the other was locked.

As far as my order it was correct, there wasn’t a lot of room for mistake given I was 1 of two customers , but it was correct, when a restaurant is busy of course there is room for error, after all it’s just humans in the kitchen , I believe it’s the customers responsibility to ensure they got their order, you don’t buy a car with out inspecting it, inspect your meal!

For the loud vibrating noise , yes there was a loud noise , and honestly I wouldn’t have noticed it if there wasn’t negative reviews on it, this is not a 5 star restaurant it’s a a fast food joint, I mean it’s called the crazy chicken not the delicate rooster .

The service wasn’t fast , but it wasn’t slow by any means, it took me about 8 minutes to receive my order.

The chicken was definitely fresh and cooked properly, it was decent , I liked it.

The interior was not hot at all the temperature was nice , I felt comfortable, and I’m a hot natured person. The establishment wasn’t clean but it wasn’t disgusting or dirty, it seemed like they where cleaning while I was enjoying my meal, so I assume maybe they do it in their slow times. So during lunch or dinner rush maybe it’s messy .

My over all experience was decent , everything was as more than mediocre. I personally wouldn’t make a trip here when there’s so many delicious options much closer to my house, but if I ended up here for any reason I wouldn’t be disappointed, I was over joyed when I saw they serve horchata, I’d say if you never been here give it a shot, and if you had a bad experience maybe try again , I feel like they are trying to take advice and improve themselves. Thanks for reading! -Roy

This place is awesome. I love their Pollo bowl, their avocado salsa, and their horchata. Can't go wrong with this location. Lots of neighborhood and university folks go here. During lunch, the office crowd will have it busy. Also, the folks working here are always so friendly and helpful.