El Pollo Loco — Restaurant in Orange

This is probably my last time at Pollo Loco. I simply cannot afford it anymore, especially when you factor in disappointments. I wrote another review of a Pollo Loco in Santa Clarita. I had hoped that the Pollo Loco there was an aberration. Sadly it is not. Apparently at some point during the last few years Pollo Loco started to cook Serano Peppers with the beans in it's bowls. So, one of the more filling, yet affordable items on the menu is now completely null and void for folks like me. I used to ask that they don't put Pico De Gallo in the bowl and that was all I needed to do. The food was not overly spicy. But, as I learned the hard way in Santa Clarita, the bowls are now spicy even without the Pico De Gallo. At least this time they told me up front. Instead I ordered the Tacos Al Carbon. Decent but not filling. So I added a salad. For $5.00 you would think it would be a bigger salad. Fricken Covid and The Saudis and the oil companies who found an excuse to raise prices (despite all of them having their biggest profits in seven years) which means shipping is more expensive which means food is more expensive. Pollo Loco used to be an inexpensive and filling choice. It is no longer that. For the prices, it still at least serves better food than most fast food places. Yet, many of us really can't afford anything not on the "budget menu", which, as it stands has only three choices. For me, one of those choices, as I said, is no longer a variable. Otherwise, I found it curious that the employees all seemed stressed and muddled. There were few people there, at least at first. But then again, maybe the drive through was busy. All in all, I found everything at this Pollo Loco to be merely adequate. With one exception: since they do not offer iced tea anymore in the fountains, at least it is heartening to note that they do offer something delicious that (I am guessing) does not have the large sugar content of their sodas. I speak of the Agua Dulces. They have a raspberry combo, which is the one I had, and a lime mango. These two come the closest to juices and I will admit they are...

I went to El Pollo Loco yesterday to pick up dinner because our refrigerator is not working hopefully new refrigerator will arrive by Friday. I needed to get dinner and said I hadn't been to El Pollo Loco in a while because my last experience here a while back food wasn't that good and I was hoping the quality of the food had improved. When I arrived there were about 10 cars in line I was willing to wait I thought the more people that were there increased my chances of getting fresh food but unfortunately I was totally disappointed I got my order the person at the window was friendly I drove off decided I would try a piece of the chicken since I was hungry to eat on the way home I took a bite and was totally totally disappointed the food was cold It tasted like it had been in the refrigerator the meat was dry no moisture. I can tell that it hadn't been cooked that day and had never been marinated it had no flavor. The side orders mashed potatoes and beans were hot they were made fresh but the meat sadly no good. To many restaurants are precooking meat and it is not the same as fresh cooked meat. I didn't want to go back and get in line again to return food, so I drove into the nearest gas station tossed both dinners in the trash can. My husband and I both agreed we will never go to a El Pollo Loco again. I can't wait for the new refrigerator to arrive so I can get back to cooking my own home...

DON'T COME HERE YOU WILL NOT BE HAPPY

I have been to this location three times because I always like to give a spot a fair chance but each time my order was wrong. The first time I ordered a shrimp burrito when I took a bite out of the burrito I saw it was chicken so I spit it out. I'm a pescatarian which means I don't eat meat but I do eat seafood. So that was the first time I almost ate chicken in 3 years. After that experience the next time I went I ordered a salad thinking that they surely can't mess up a salad but low and behold I ordered a chicken salad with no chicken which they got right other then there was no corn in my salad and the tomatoes in the pico de gallo looked really old and mushy so I just picked them out. Lastly today I went and ordered a Mexican Cob Salad again no chicken or bacon which they did correct but my salad was only lettuce old tomatoes again and a few tortilla strips. No beans no cheese no corn so I paid two dollars more to receive a basic salad I feel like I...