El Pollo Loco — Restaurant in Lynwood

If I could give this location a negative review it would be a negative five star. I have a debit card that I use which is only a debit card. The employee at the window kept saying it was declined, even when my husband old her it was my debit card. So as not to hold up the others behind the car in the drive through I ended up going inside to wait an additional ten minutes to get the attention of an employee. (No hello or welcome) I asked to speak to the manager on duty and also be close to the employee at the drive through window. I had the manager confirm it was the same card and without trying it she told me I have insufficient funds and that was why it was declined. (Becoming offended because she would loudly say such a thing without running the card. I responded by asking her to run it again at the register) When I inserted my chip'd debit card and entered my PIN and it went through without a problem she tried to tell me it's because the window machine runs it as credit and will not give the option of running it as debit. (A change of story but I know this to be incorrect) I let her know I have previously been through the drive through without issue at other El pollo loco's when I tell them it is a debit card even at the very same location once before. She then tried to tell me oh it must be the machine it sometimes acts up. (Which if that was the case she should not be accusing people of insufficient funds and when fault is found an apology for my waisted time is appropriate instead of a begrudgingly filling an order that I paid for). We get our food, the tortillas were dried out, the salsa was vinegary, the meat was hard and burned and the beans...

Drive thru service here is horrid!! There is always something missing from my orders or they ran out.. whether it was black beans, salsa or even one they ran out of chicken. -__-' Once, even the chicken was missing from by double CHICKEN plate, I drove back from home to get that fixed and they tried to give me a cup (container) with chicken and I refused it and told the lady I wanted a new plate. So she went to ask the manager, to which she responded with a "why?" Which I overheard and told her that because now my plate was cold from having to drive all the way back from home. Also, they need to stop putting order ICE IN THE SALSA, it's dangerous and can crack a tooth if not noticed. The ice is in both the self serve trays and in the drive thru container so no b.s on "it might have fallen in". Worst of all!!! (I don't get disgusted easily) I asked to use the restroom to wash my hands prior to eating, when I walked into the restroom there was feces (poop) literally all over the trash, floor and toilet. I quietly went to the lady at the register and notified her of the issue. She stood there talking to the other girl discussing on who let the homeless person in the restroom (I guess that's who did it). I proceeded to take a seat to wait for my food and noticed no one had done anything about it. I got my food and ate (still). I finished my food and no one had done anything about it still.

I left and have never or will ever step foot in that pollo loco ever again, neither will I go through their drive thru ever again. Or at any pollo loco...

The purpose of this review is not to bash this location but rather to help them realize what state they are in. My friend and I always bet $10.00 on what the staff will mess up next time. And we both win as they mess up alot. Manager, take note. Drive through order handler never listens, only speaks the pre-determined text. At times when she listens, she only hears us and does not really register what we are ordering. From the intercom to the payment window, the order changes drastically, they claimed I did not ask for a drink when she is the one who asked if I wanted coke or something else. The tortilla in a plastic bag resided under the chicken pieces and was oozing in chicken juice. The drink had 95% ice, 2% coke and 3% air, ok, ok, it was oxygen. The chicken lost weight thus the pieces we bought came in slim version as it seemed like they were on diet. Start working on the above until I make up the rest of the list from bullet...