El Pollo Guapo — Restaurant in Glastonbury

Let me start by saying, I have never written one of “these type of” reviews before, but my experience at the Glastonbury El Pollo Guapo location today lead me with no choice. I got a meal that was overpriced, mostly had “filler” ingredients (95% rice & pickled red onion), and such a small portion I left the restaurant still hungry.

I’ve been a customer of their before EPG even had any storefronts and were just the Mercado food truck at the Farmers Markets. When they opened the Wethersfield location I was amazed by the quality of food, value for the price, and good service.

Today I paid $40 for lunch for two people, and considering that price it was incredibly disappointing. We ordered chips, two bowls and two sodas. The food portions have gotten pathetically small, even if you size them down to a lunch size. My bowl was 95% rice and pickled red onions on top of that. For having increased your prices so astronomically, the quality of the food should have followed suit, not gotten worse.

Clearly the restaurant has sold out. The owner Roy used to be seen in the kitchen all the time, ensuring your food was fresh and presented well but since they started opening these new locations they’ve totally lost their touch. Now you’d get more for your money at Taco Bell. I guess if you want an absurdly overpriced bowl that is heavily salted to cover for the lack of flavor, full of rice and pickled onions, and has about only one forkful of chicken, I would never recommend this restaurant to a friend.

Clearly El Pollo Guapo has cheaped out, and I left the restaurant feeling like I just left an overpriced fast food chain, not a high quality family founded restaurant that values high quality food and good service to its customers. The high quality and fresh food they used to...

First, I want to preface this with the fact that I gave the Wethersfield location 5 stars (Wethersfield location has moved to main st. Newington). This location is run by unprofessionals that forget the customer should not be questioned on matters of taste. I told them the first tacos I got were ice cold, they told me they were not 3 times, they also used assumptions and gave me the wrong tacos. If I was wrong, then why were the reordered tacos deliberately piping hot like they should be? Also, the music in the dining room was inappropriately loud, just like the overly tinted windowed camry that pulls up to me at the stop light on park street in Hartford. My experience was a nightmare and I can only recommend this place to a 12-17 year old who doesn't care how their food tastes as long as the music is loud enough to annoy everyone but them and the unprofessional workers in...

This is hands down one of my favorite (if not my favorite) restaurants in Glastonbury. Possibly ever. Everything is amazing and consistent and delicious. Their staff is even top notch. This is the kind of place where you go to try a little of everything and you get it and you think "oh god I got too much food, I'll take some home" and then you start eating and then you look down and it's ALL GONE. Then you mourn the loss of the leftovers lunch you were excited about tomorrow. And maybe go back and get more anyway.

Seriously though, the chicken is seasoned and cooked to perfection (definitely handsome), the rice bowls are immaculately created, the sides complement the hell out of the main dishes, and even the desserts are good (heat up that chocolate chip cookie for like 8 seconds in the microwave, you will not regret it). I just... I just...