El Pollo Loco — Restaurant in Oakland

El Pollo Loco – International Blvd, Oakland, CA

Every time I come to this El Pollo Loco, it’s always super slow. They clearly prioritize the drive-thru over inside customers, and there’s only one person making food while others are just standing around. I’ve had to wait up to 30 minutes for my order, which is way too long. The customer service isn’t great either—there’s definitely a feeling that some people get served before others, especially if you’re not part of the same ethnicity as the staff. On top of that, they allow homeless people to hang around, and the bathrooms are always smelly and not cleaned regularly. Another annoying thing is that you have to get your own drink from the machine and then keep getting up to ask for a refill, which just adds to the hassle. All of this has made me never want to spend my money here again. It’s a shame because the food is good, but the overall experience isn’t worth it. Something needs to...

The chicken was rather small and dry for an El Pollo Loco, and they had happened to run out of mac & cheese (it'd take 15min to prepare again), which my husband had really wanted. Their flour tortillas have also downsized since the last time I've been to this chain, and are now about the same size (only slightly larger) as the corn tortillas (so just go corn for better taste & texture). The tortilla soup is always a solid option; I love it, though it could be somewhat pricey for soup at $3 something a bowl, when their chicken meals are so affordable. We'd ordered half a chicken and were allowed to request 2 legs & 2 thighs instead of the leg, thigh, breast, wing combo listed on the menu.

Lastly, this store was actually quite clean and inviting for what one might expect on International. Parking was difficult though. There were definitely way more cars in that parking lot than the number of group in...

I love El Pollo Loco. But this location ALWAYS finds some way to screw something up. They ALWAYS put in a different salad dressing than you ask for. They ALWAYS put in a different salsa than you ask for. This time they put in the right salsa, but it was this watery flavorless crapola version of what the salsa should have been. They have shorted the number of chicken pieces previously. They have completely forgotten the tortillas or shorted on the number of tortillas previously. They've given us the wrong salad previously. This location reminds me of a Gordon Ramsey episode, where a customer sends a burger back for not being cooked properly, 3 times, and every single time the worthless kitchen help sends the burger back out exactly the same way that they sent it...