El Gran Pollo Owings Mills — Restaurant in Owings Mills

I called to place my order on the way to the restaurant and Javier answered the phone asking me to hold. I held for 12 minutes before hanging up. Called several times (80 to be exact on the way to restaurant to a busy tone. When I got to the restaurant there were two people inside, both waiting on their food. When I got to the register to place the order I told Javier in a quiet and pleasant tone that he left me on hold. His response was "it's busy. The next time I won't answer your calls at all". He picked up the phone, looked at the caller ID, and started searching the log. He asked if my name was Mary (assuming that was the last person who also tried to call in. I said no and he started laughing. I told him that response was very rude and that I expected him to be more professional. He just continued laughing and then walked away. Came back and asked if I'm ordering because he's busy and has things to do. I told him that I wanted to have a conversation with him. He laughed again. I asked for his supervisor and he said he is the supervisor. I asked for who is over him and he said no one was over him and he walked away again. He then called a lady from the back but spoke in Spanish thinking I didn't understand what he was saying. Jessica came over and I spoke with her. She apologized and said it was busy. Which busy is understandable but Javier's response was not. Jessica was very helpful and gave me the information needed to make calls to report my interaction with Javier (if that is really his name). Let's see how the owner handles this one.

Update: I called back today to speak with the manager/owner. The man who answered the phone said he didn't know who that was and asked me to hold while he asked his manager. I asked what was his manager's name and he said he was told he can't give names. He then came back to the phone and said again that the manager was not there. I asked to speak with his manager and he said there's no manager in. This was after him telling me he was putting me on hold to ask his manager about the owner. When I reminded him that he told me he was putting me on hold to ask his manager his response was "I don't know I'm new and I can't give out names". I asked to speak with Jessica and he said it was too busy and hung the...

Update 6/25/24 They have rearranged the order and pay lines and put in new signs. Much easier to order for a first time customer. On subsequent visits I have tried so many items and every single one has been good. Shout out to the alfredo pasta and also the anticucho (beef heart).

Older post: I tried the mixed meat with two sides and everything was delicious. I did not need any sauce for the steak, the seasoning was perfect. My only issue with the food was I had the red potatoes as a side. The potatoes had carrots with them, which is fine. My issue is they gave me 60% carrots and 40% potatos when all I wanted was potatoes. If the side dish is called "red skinned potatoes" then at least 60% or more should be potatoes. (Update: you can ask for fewer carrots and they are happy to oblige).

The agua frescas were really good. I had the horchata and it was very tasty. They also had tamarindo and marañon. Marañon is one I never tried before so I had a small one and it was very sweet but tasty. It was made with cashews and I had never seen it available before. Usually if there are three choices, most places have hibiscus as the third. (Update: they rotate drinks).

The staff was friendly and the location was clean. The bathroom was clean and well stocked. I would have preferred real silverware as part of the dining-in experience, but otherwise I left with with a very good impression. Giving five stars based on the taste...

The guy at the register forgets to ring up one of my drinks. No biggie, I asked how much it was and he told me it will be $1. I handed him a $5 bill and told him to keep the change. Please be mindful that this was an additional tip to the original transaction. At this point, I tipped 30% of the entire total and asked for ONE extra sauce... With an attitude, dude said "no, I already gave you one"... This rubbed me the wrong way considering I've been there before and was afforded more sauce for smaller transactions. If this was a matter of charging extra for extra sauce, I would have gladly paid. Nonetheless, the experience wasn't worth the hassle of a second transaction, a 30% tip AND a 25 min wait for food that was already prepared. I won't be visiting for a while, especially when Miski is around the corner and doesn't mind giving extra sauce, nor has an attitude about it. Yea, I get it... its just sauce but the guys attitude about the sauce was enough to lose a customer. Business is business, right? Hopefully after a few months, this store will get their staff in order because currently, your ratings are going down. Maybe then, I'll visit for a more...