El Pollo Loco — Restaurant in California

There hours are posted that they close at 10 pm I just went to this place at 9:00 pm we were in the drive thru and my 5 year old tells me he has to go to the bathroom so I get out with him cause he’s jumping saying he can’t hold it my mom stays in the lane to order while we get out and run to the door and it’s locked at about 9:04 there are a bunch of people inside the store and they see my son shaking holding his private so they open the door for us but since I am polite i say to the workers “my mom is in the drive thru line ordering and my 5 year old has to use the bathroom he’s about to pee on himself can we just use it real quick then go back in the line” the women see my son shaking and she yells with an attitude “no where closed no” The person that opened the door told me to just go but instead I just left. He used the bathroom somewhere else and we came back to the line with my mom just at the window and I told them how that wasn’t right and this guy came to the window with food in his mouth apologizing saying how there are closed and it’s a policy not to open the door when they are closed buttttt how can you be closed when the sign says 10 and it’s not even 9:18 yet and they had more then 6 people already inside. He’s says the people inside already made there purchases and that’s why there were able to stay inside buuuttt where in the drive thru and had people behind us so obviously they where open that wasn’t a good enough excuse. The women who turned me away could have at least had the decency to apologize herself instead of sending someone else but that goes to show how disrespectful these big chains are. They don’t care at all about the consumers, I can see turning an adult away but a toddler shaking having to use the bathroom is just wrong. This has happened many times already and makes me want to blog about all the places NOT to eat or shop if you have a toddler if more people stood together I think there would be better customer service. There food isn’t even all that you can remold the place all you want but if you still have disrespectful people who don’t care you will never excel. Well it might not be much but I will NEVER eat here and I will defiantly promote to my friends and family not to...

Went through the drive thru around 8:15-8:30. Ordered hot chocolate , chicken chipotle avocado burrito combo with no avocado and no cabbage, and order of churros and pozole. Right at the drive thru as taking my order they were laughing over the mic. Get to the window wasn’t greeted. My food gets handed , didn’t receive any salsas, no straw for my drink , one churro versus 2 & I cut the burrito and sure know that there is avocado, I asked for no avocado because I’m allergic. Called them and told them and explained to them about my burrito , they were arguing and saying there wasn’t any avocado , I told them I can show you , wouldn’t waste my time by lying. Then my husband goes and they remade it , I get home cut it again and sure you know it , gloves weren’t changed which is unsanitary because they’re we’re fingerprint marks with avocado all on my burrito. Called again and asked for a refund and to speak with the manager , and she said their isn’t any avocado on the burrito and she knows because she made it. For starters again I wouldn’t waste my time if it wasn’t major I’m allergic & I feel as a customer your order should be made as asked. She than got to saying ok yeah we can give you a refund. Told me to come back. I will not be back tonight I will call back in the morning and show both burritos to the GM or a different manager . I’m just overall upset because our order was wrong and missing items. The people on drive thru and manager was not professional at all....

Ordered online. Went to pick up my order, which, according to their website, I could only choose in-store. When I arrived, it was 9:08 pm. The doors were locked. I stood there outside the doors hoping someone would notice me. I see a girl look over at me and look away. It was obvious I was not going anywhere. There was a man at the counter they were serving. I kept checking my phone as to my order status. The website stated the store closes at 10pm. So, why were the doors locked? Finally, the gentleman customer inside came to the doors and they unlocked it for him to exit. I advised the girl who opened the door that had an online pickup order. She walked away leaving the door unlocked and I entered. I asked, did you receive my order? No response. A couple minutes later, she came back to the counter and asked my name. I showed her the order confirmation on my phone. She walked away again without saying anything. Eventually, I got my food. I asked why the doors were locked if they closed at 10. She told me they close the dining area at 9. So, if you place an order you should know this. It doesn't matter if the website only let's you choose in-store or not. Go to the drive thru so they can't ignore you. Of course, they'll still be rude and display no manners or courtesy, but that goes without saying for pretty much every El Pollo loco Employee I have ever encountered. I give exception to the California Ave location in Bakersfield, because some of them are super nice...