El Pollo Loco — Restaurant in Lakewood

That avocado salsa, though.

I could bathe in it. I could dab some behind my ears as an eau de toilette. I could start an IV drip with it. The avocado salsa most likely contains preservatives that I try to avoid, but I don't care. It's a surprise the toilet doesn't turn neon green after I've had El Pollo Loco.

My, my. A makeover has done wonders for you, El Pollo Loco. With a more attractive décor & seating, this location looks more welcoming. However, I don't like moving the salsa bar from a center island to the left of the restaurant next to the soda. Reason being the crowd that forms, pushing & shoving for cup after cup of pico de gallo, house salsa and that, oh yeah, avocado salsa. The former center island was great because customers can stock up on salsa from both sides, reducing the wait. Now, I literally have to taser hapless victims to get my year's supply of salsa.

During my last visit, the order machine broke & customers had to give back their receipts so the staff could complete the orders. Being an easy going fella, I wasn't in a hurry & didn't mind waiting a little longer for my food. When I eventually gathered my food, I was given 2 free pieces of chicken due to the wait. Woohoo! I just came up, baby!

Besides that aberration, service has been good when I've visited. Because the small salsa cups aren't enough for me, I ask for the large salsa cups. For those wanting to dine in, plenty of table seating.

Parking is in private lot shared by Church's, UFC gym, Thai Villa & other busineses.

Trying the new menu items, such as the bowls & burritos, with mixed results, I know I can't go wrong with El Pollo Loco's chicken. That's what keeps me coming back. And go back I will, coupon held in my tenderlovin hand. Just please don't get mad at me if the staff has to restock the avocado & pico de gallo salsa after me...

Pollo Loco has lost their touch with this store that we have been to. We ordered two double Chicken Tostadas thinking it will satisfy our craving for a Tostada Salad but we were wrong. It seems like the Tostada shell has become shorter, the chicken not a double and was very dry, lettuce was not crunchy, the pico de gallo sauce was in a small container and tasted as if it was in the fridge for so many days. We ordered to go from the app and that was 15 minutes prior to our arrival. When we came it the order wasn’t even ready we had to wait for it to be prepared. The restaurant wasn’t that busy on a weekend around 4:30 pm in the afternoon. We just decided to eat at the restaurant. Maybe the owners of this branch should look into how the chicken is prepared including the rest of the...

This was a horrible experience. My family has been coming to this location for years & this was the first time there has been an issue. We waited at the drive thru for several minutes with no one in front of us. No one took our order. Eventually a employee walked up to the drive thru & started yelling into the mic at the person on the other end. She had to call her name multiple times before there was a response. After she took our order we pulled up to the window. The lady at the window told us that we confused her with how we ordered & was rude. We got salads without enough dressing & when we asked for more, she told us it would be an extra change. Very happy with this experience. The least she could have done was give us some stupid dressing & tell us to have...