El Pollo Loco — Restaurant in Lake Havasu City

My original review from 3 years ago was 5 stars that simply said "My favorite chicken! Always fantastic. This was based on my experience at other locations. I am a big fan of El Pollo Loco's food, I really enjoy it. I have lived all over the West, and have enjoyed El Pollo Loco everywhere I have been, until moving to Lake Havasu. This is the single worst run business bar none, it is almost incomprehensible how bad the employees perform and how little they care. It is made clear that getting an order correct is of no priority, and your business means nothing to them. I have ordered from this location many, many, times, and it is not hyperbole to state that they literally NEVER get the order correct, and they do not care. If your order is mostly accurate, I consider it a win, and be prepared to spend money for a substantial portion of the order that you will not receive, and then be met with arrogance, ignorance and a bad attitude if you try to get the order correct. When I first moved to town they got my order incorrect three times in a row, I complained to the GM of the location, and she brought me free food as an apology. I appreciated the gesture, but did not go back for a time because the hassle of constantly missing multiple items in every order was just a pain. Recently I missed the food and gave it another try. My first order I placed on the app and picked it up at the drive through, and it was missing items when I got home. The next time I pulled over and checked the sealed bag in the parking lot before leaving, and identified 3 missing items. I went through the line again and was met with a snarl and a free churro. When I got home and opened up the Shredded Chicken Nachos, we discovered it had no chicken, no guac, it was missing 2/3 of the ingredients, it was chips and queso for $15.00 . When I called to alert them all the woman had to say in an annoyed, unpleasant fashion was "Really"? Our last attempt was missing an entire large order of chips and Guacamole, no bottle of water that was ordered, and we received a taco with no chicken in it, basically onions and cilantro in a tortilla. When I called and said the items were missing the woman just said "OK". I asked for a refund for the two missing items, and they took my number and promised a call back in 10 minutes which has still not happened to this day. There is a large woman who gets the orders wrong 100% of the time and seems to be perpetually angry and annoyed at being there. I miss the food, but I will NEVER go to this location again, they have made it clear they do not have the ability nor inclination to read a short list and put those items in a bag, and could...

This was one of my go to places when I eat out as I really enjoy consistence in food but something is wrong now, The Manager they use to have (maybe still there bit wasn't tonight, older balding gentleman) was spot on, whoever that had tonight 6/28/2019 is not up to par.

First the order and initial service was Good, put orders in but when I got my pollo chicken bowl the Avocado was already dark green on the edges and had the Red Veins on the inner part. I thought no problem, asked for a fresh avo and got it. Then when I sat down I realized I didn't have any forks, Had to go up to the Cashier and ask for some since they had none available at the counter or near the Salsa Bar. I started to notice the staff was just grouped up in the kitchen, talking, gossiping and well not really working. Things started to make sense to me then, I felt that everyone was stoned while working that shift tonight.

Sat down with the person I was with and she complained her Taquitos were overcooked, I looked over and agreed they were. As a Former Chef I unfortunately have problems eating out at Restaurants as I start to spot problems the normal consumers don't see, and this is why I prefer to eat at chains that have consistence. Well we continued to eat and I noticed that all my chicken was dry as hell, now as I mentioned before I can see why. Most people with chicken rather just over cook it to prevent them under cooking it because they do not know how to cook it, and this was sadly the case.

Whoever was cooking the food, should probably never cook food. Served turning Avocado, dry chicken, burnt taquitos. Staff just going through the motions and not critically thinking at all. Almost forgot to mention, The Cook with the black hair and beard took his break and sat in the dinning room blasting music on his phone, how obnoxious.

The Owner needs to be there more or better Management. Not sure since I'm not 100% familiar with the staffing they got going on but sadly I'm not sure I'll be back. Nothing irritates me more than on the rare occasion going out to pay someone to cook for me and get served sub-par food. I'll stick to Culvers or my own kitchen for...

This place is new for LHC, and as a former CA resident and crazy chicken fan, I'm not overly impressed. The food was fine, but incorrect - Chicken Avocado salad with no avocado. The fajita chicken burrito was good though, and huge. I had to cut it up. Easy to find in traffic, fairly easy access. Indoor was clean, but noisy. Ordering was simple, but they don't show the whole menu. When asked about unlisted items, the server only said, "yes, other items are available" but never offered that list. There is a drive thru, but I think it's in a tight turn, online ordering is available for pre ordering. No WiFi at all. No special views, just the local traffic passing by. Food prep area is in plain view and appears clean. They use RF notification to tell you when your order is ready so you can go sit and wait for your receiver to buzz. Edit: After a 2nd visit... Daughter ordered a classic burrito with certain add ins, including tomatoes. Server told me no tomatoes available... In a Mexican themed restaurant... The food came out with tomatoes in the salsa that it's made on site. DOH!! Server education here seems to...