El Pollo Loco — Restaurant in Lake Forest

SEPTEMBER 25th, 2025: When I first arrived, a kind gentleman held the door for me to let me in and he allowed me to place my order before his. THEN, gracefully I was greeted by Emma (I’m not sure if she’s the manager or front-line employee but either way I know that she is such a light, a kind soul, a wonderful spirit and a fantastic person!!

Much more than an El Pollo Loco employee, she’s an Angel in my humble opinion. She not only helped me to place my order for the NEW Queso Crunch Burrito Bowl, she gave me a discount coupon which granted me $3.49 off of my order! She said that’s “her favorite magic trick”: Being kind and offering her kindness to those who she serves and in her life. The warmth in her conversation and spark in her spirit truly brightened up my day and lifted my heart!!

I’ll spare her personal business, but I’m thankful that Jesus brought us together this day!

She even blessed me with more coupons to take with me and to use in the future. I hope nothing but kind and wonderful blessings for you, too, Emma! What a great gift!

Now as far as the bowl goes, I’d give it a 3.5 out of 5. It’s a nice chicken bowl with an added crunch from the tortilla strips and the seasoned rice adds a great flavor to it as well!

I do know that it’s a limited time item but I would order it again. The bowl may have earned 3.5 stars, but partnered with the Exceptional Customer Service I received from Emma on this day, it bumps my overall rating to a 6/5 stars!!

Thank you El Pollo Loco and Emma for this wonderful and blessed experience. I’m looking forward to stopping by again soon!!

AUGUST 15th, 2025: I wish I took some photos of my food, but I ate it so fast because it was so good, I forgot! Haha

I drove up to this location at a little after 1pm and there was no one in line. I wish I would’ve gotten his name, but the guy who took my order and my payment was very sweet and kind. I ended up trying their Shredded Chicken Nacho combo with Salsa Fresca minus the Guac and a Hawaiian Punch.

I drove around to the window and as I waited for my food, the guy who took my order was busy taking another order, and (i believe) the manager came and asked “Is this her food?” to him to make sure I wasn’t waiting much longer. Thank you! (I should’ve gotten your name too haha) He handed me my food with a smile. He thanked me and I thanked him and the other guy for their help!

My gosh, I can only speak for myself when I say, those nachos were good!!!! The queso topped with the seasoned chicken, tortilla chips, salsa Fresca, pinto beans was just the quick stop meal I needed on this busy day. Not only was it good but it was filling too!

I’ll definitely order that one again. This is my second time at...

On 3 different occasions I picked up Pollo Loco at the Foothill Ranch location while I was moving to Rancho Santa Margarita where I now live. Each time I told the person at the drive through window what salsa's I wanted to go with the meals. The first time I got the food home and noticed I only had 2 regular salsa's When I had orderd 6 regular and 4 of the avocado salsa's, I figured it was just a mistake. The second time I made sure to speak very clearly thinking the guy had just not heard me. I get home and same thing, 2 salsa's. The third time, I make sure to speak clearly and when I get to the window I repeat my salsa order to the guys face and ask him if they are in the bag. He looks me right in the eye and says "Yeah, they're in there" I open the bag right in front of him and take everything out, 2 salsa's. I ask him why he's not giving me what I ordered and he says "You only ordered 2 - 2 piece combos". As if that's a good reason not to give me what I asked him for. Not only that but he lied to my face. Had I eaten there at the resturant I could get as many salsa's as I liked but taking it home I'm stuck. Thanks for ruining 3 meals for me. I love Pollo Loco but I won't go back to this location, terrible...

It was busy, 12 pm on a Tuesday, the line to order was almost to the front door.

Even during that time, it only took 15 minutes from when I walked in, to when I had my food on my table. That’s fast food lol.

Parking is a bit crowded, trying to find close parking is a bit challenging during peak hours, but that would be at any restaurant.

The cashier was really quick, working two registers to get customer’s orders going. She was still friendly and funny. Zero complaints here.

Food was good, my chicken nachos were tasty, the chicken was juicy.

Today they did run out of black beans for some reason, so they gave me pinto beans. The cashier told me when I was ordering, definitely not a huge deal.

Drive-thru was also busy, but the staff was moving quick, they were moving!

Good atmosphere, I sat down and ate in peace! Lots of tables and chairs...