El Pollo Loco — Restaurant in Los Alamitos

I am a returning customer of Pollo Loco since the 1980's, so obviously I like the grilled chicken dishes. Today the restaurant eating area was very cold inside. Several of the ladies, including my wife were complaining of the cold interior. So one of the husbands and I, went up to the counter to complain. The tall manager ( about 6'4" ) heard us talking to a crew member and said he would take care of it...and within minutes, the temperature dropped down to what is normal for us senior citizens. I later got a chance to talk to the manager, at the soda dispenser. He shared that he was going to Utah to open a Pollo Loco location there...he was very personable. Now, as to the food. I ordered the Avocado Quesadilla. The website shows it split in two, on a plate, the coupon I was using to order it, showed it served open in two places on the plate. The way it is served is completely enclosed. So it is not served per the photos. But, how did it taste ? ok...not my favorite..but ok. Be careful of the whitish sauce toward the ending bites of the Avocado Quesadilla, it will leak onto the food tray and onto the table and almost onto my shirt. My wife warned me it was dripping. My wife had that the regular two piece grilled chicken meal with beans and rice sides with tortilla. I tasted her meal. I liked it better than the Avocado Quesadilla...but that is my personal preference..she took a bite from my Avocado Quesadilla and said she like it. So there you have it. We will continue to return for another meal, and try their other entries, when we get more coupons. I would give it 3.5 stars. But, had to go to 3 stars, due to the...

Going to this location specifically gives you a 1 in 3 chance of getting good service and getting your order correct. The other 67% of the time, you'll end up with poor service and an incorrect order.

The good staff (33% chance of encountering) experience goes like this: -Responds to you quickly at the drive thru and takes your order or lets you know it will be a second. -Repeats your order, makes sure it's correct -Is friendly when you get to the window -Gives you your food correctly

The bad staff (67% chance of encountering) experience goes like this: -Makes you wait 5 to 10 minutes before acknowledging you and taking your order, even with no cars ahead of you. -Does not repeat your order, does not give you the price when you finish ordering. -Barely addresses you when you get to the window, simply takes your payment. -Flirts with other employees. -Gives you dirty looks while you wait. -Doesn't give you your order correctly. -Gives you a hard time if you ask for them to correct your order.

Good staff, I'm sorry for the review.

Bad staff, please get other jobs where you can care about what you do just a little bit more, so that you don't kill El Pollo Loco by driving people away from the chain through your bad service. Minimum wage jobs suck, but so does becoming un-hirable by getting fired from a...

Ordered delivery twice and both times it's a horrible experience. The first time, months ago, the driver took off with my food! El Pollo Loco doesn't know what to do and offers no solution. No refund. Then last week, I try for delivery again to see how it goes. Driver forgets my drink. Says the guys and EPL say there was no drink, when it's on receipt nobody bothered to look at. I call up and ask for the drink to be delivered. That can't be done. Once again, nobody knows what to do. Manager says that I can just come whenever I want in the near future for free burrito (never mind my drink anymore, lol). There's no way they would honor that, the manager knows that and knows that I know, so he is stumped. I tell him that it's going to be very inconvenient for me to drive over there at that time, which is why I placed an order for delivery, and that he needs to have my drink ready for me. He proceeds to hang up on me, mid sentence. Unfreaking believable! I go in, get my drink, and respectfully and colorfully let him know that's not what you do when your a leader. They need to train their managers better on how do deal with bad deliveries, rather than just say "well, it's a 3rd party delivery service" and provide no practical help or solutions. It's great here, I come here all the time, but DON'T...