El Pollo Loco — Restaurant in Riverside

My word. Where to begin with this review. I post a lot of reviews. I'm in the top 10% of food reviewers across the board. I'm not super picky but I have standards, just like the next person. My experience with my boyfriend today was god-awful. We ordered two simple meals through the app for a pickup order. We got two grilled chicken entrees, two broccolis, one cauliflower rice and one regular rice. Our meal comes with tortillas and chips and salsa. When we entered the restaurant, we went right up to the register and we're immediately greeted by the cook who makes the chicken. After that, we waited and waited and waited. We noticed our food in a bag on the counter, along with our drinks. We were the only ones in the entire place. No one eating inside, no one in the drive thru. The person that was supposed to take our order was standing about 20 feet from the register, and she noticed us but wouldn't put her phone down and ignored us. She wasn't standing behind anything, so it was really awkward just standing there while we could perfectly see her and us the same. After literally 5 minutes, she finally puts her phone back into her pocket and pushes her mask up from under her chin right under her nose. (Why wear one if you're going to wear it incorrectly?) She slowly walked to the registers and asked if she could help us. Obviously. My boyfriend explained that we had a to-go order, and he pointed to it on the counter. She walked over to it and goes, "yep." And then proceeded to take a step back. She wasn't even going to hand it to us. We immediately walked out and went right home. When we opened our food, the chicken was so dry. So dry that the meat was shriveled and hard, making the chicken look so small. It had the consistency of beef jerky and it was cold. They forgot our chips as well. I've seen other reviewers mention that they didn't get chips either. Shame. My boyfriend and I came to a mutual decision to never go again. What I don't understand is how they messed things up, they clearly aren't busy. But the girl was busy on her phone. I felt like we were interrupting her. Glad she finally put the phone down to do her job. High class staff you got there. I think we'll be going to the KFC next door from now on. Avoid this place. Take your money somewhere else. I...

My otherwise positive perception of El Pollo Loco worsened today when we chose this location for our lunch. I honestly feel that I would pay extra money on top of what we already spent to:

A.) Take what I ate out of my system B.) Go back in time C.) Eat somewhere else

Quite a bit of the chicken was bland and dry/leathery. The coleslaw tasted sickly sweet, and more like Mayo that happened to have vegetables in it. The salsa always tastes like it’s been left out for hours. The rice was ok, and so was the green sauce, tortillas, and Mac and Cheese.

While I can’t exactly complain about the pricing, because that’s not something the business can change on a whim, I certainly can complain about the value. And that’s including the -$10 coupon offered on the app.

When we arrived at the drive through for this order, we were told several times that we’d need to wait a moment. After more than 5 minutes of unhelpful silence (no estimate or apologetic explanation), we gave our order and asked for plates. Of course after we checked on the road, there were none given.

My overall impression is that the workers inside were dreary, understaffed, and uninterested. It ultimately showed in the service and the food.

(Reference: Check...

My husband and I came to EPL for a quick lunch. The first thing I see when we walk in is 2 kiosks to place an order. Our government has really mest things up. No more cashiers. You have to wait a while in order to get any help because there are only 2, maybe 3,employees. That's what happens when the minimum wage goes to $20. This is also giving cashless society vibes. You have to pay with a card at the kiosks. There was no signage telling customers what to do if they were paying cash. For this reason, I gave it a 1 star. The food was good but there is no longer any good customer service. I do not want to go to restaurants and have to order on kiosks. That means people's jobs are being taken away. Their positions are eliminated because of the machines. My way of opposing this is by not continuing to buy from these places. As much as I like EPL food, I will not contribute to this. Not everyone will agree with me, and that's ok. I know their overhead and bottom line have a lot to do with...