El Pollo Loco — Restaurant in Arvada

Honestly, I've changed this star rating 3x, all while sitting here in the restaurant. We are long time El Pollo Loco fans, growing up visiting my grandparents in San Diego. We have met and adore the manager out at the one by the airport and were excited to come here after Christmas in Color.

What a disappointment, followed by excellent customer service, followed by more disappointment.

Pro: the restaurant is a great size and a beautiful eating area. one staff member (see below)

Con: the self serve kiosks were being heavily encouraged but the menu on it was so limited we couldn't place half our order. Example: my husband wanted the Carnita quesadilla advertised - but only Carnita tacos were an option on the kiosk. the first gentleman to help me at the full service line was so lazy and incompetent (see below) even after a wonderful staff member helped, the people making the food still made my order wrong. At this point I lost hope and didn't even ask them to fix it.

So I love an item that is on the secret/limited time menu - the chicken cheese roll up. I could seriously live on them. But I also understand that it isn't a common order.

I wasn't surprised when it wasn't on the kiosk, so I hopped in line. The gentleman working the cashier cut me off when I asked for it, insisting they didn't have it. I calmly explained it isn't on a main menu, it's on a side menu and explained what that menu is often called at other El Pollo Locos (ex: secret, limited time, etc). He continued to insist they didn't have it. I asked him to ask someone else. He looked across the back area for a minute, turned back to me and said "we don't have it. Our menu is different than other El Pollo Loco restaurants". I watched him continually hit the same button on the screen and not even take a minute to truly check for what I was explaining. At this point I gave up and walked away.

A few minutes later a young woman with cheek piercings came, apologized for his reaction and told me they absolutely did have them on the computer. I thanked her and she helped my husband order.

ETA: my husband did inform me the original gentleman apologized to him while he was ordering.

My order took forever, and the same young woman brought my food to me, apologizing for the delay informing me the staff in the kitchen were having issues with the order too.

I was so excited to eat, as my whole family was done at this point. Only to bite in and find the cheese cold and unmelted and the chicken some sort of spicy chicken. It's supposed to be grilled so the cheese in melted and the regular delicious chicken.

At this point I gave up again and just threw it away, my family was already waiting for me.

I don't blame the staff, I think this is just poor training? I'm so thankful for the woman who helped us. But this was all so disappointing and I...

We went to this new location after it was open about a week. I used to patronize El Pollo Loco frequently when traveling in the southwest for work. I had convinced my family that it was a "good thing" they were back in Colorado. My wife downloaded the app and received a coupon for $10 off any purchase with no restrictions. When we went in, they wouldn't honor the coupon saying we needed to do an online order through the app. It did not say that on the coupon. So, we did an online order while waiting in the lobby. It would not allow us to use the coupon. So, we asked a clerk for help. He tried to do the order in the restaurant and it would not take it. He called a manager. First manager tells us we already redeemed the coupon - implying that we had gone to another location and used the coupon previously. There are only two locations in Denver now so we were not going to drive across town to use the coupon. Insulting he implied that. He tried and tried to redeem the coupon on our $60 order. It wouldn't go through. He calls second manager. Now we have clerk and two managers trying to redeem coupon. Store manager tells us because we purchased family meal as part of our order that we can't use coupon. Coupon has NO restrictions but we comply and change our order. They still can't redeem our coupon. Couldn't believe the outcome here but the store manager says there is nothing he can do and we can't use the coupon. Doesn't offer to make it right, give part of our order to us free or any consideration at all. Says to try again when we get another coupon! Unbelievable. We ended up leaving and going to Costco and buying their rotisserie chickens and going our own route that day. Haven't gone back and you ruined what was a loyal customers view of your restaurant chain for good. I even tried (twice) on the customer service of the web page to see if they would make it right. They NEVER once responded to any of our concerns. Avoid this place and any new ones that open because their app sucks and they...

My family and I have been coming to this location since they opened. Unfortunately, the manager has been incredibly rude on multiple occasions during our visits. Today was the final straw. The manager got in my sister-in-law’s face and practically yelled at her because she requested salsa. This has not been the first time he has been rude to my family members. He is a poor excuse for a manager and to talk down to females the way he does is no excuse. My family members have been nothing but respectful and he has the audacity to act like they are inconveniencing them. We’ve ordered catering services on multiple occasions and frequently visit ordering large orders from this place. I suggest anyone considering to eat at this place to reconsider as they truly do not care about loyal customers. We will miss the food but my family and I will not be going there...