El Pollo Norteno — Restaurant in Santa Maria

sigh Where to start. Honestly if you can pick a different mexican restaurant than this place I would highly recommend going elsewhere. Went for lunch this week and waited to talk to someone, anyone for 7 min. Mind you, ok so they are busy, NO literally no one else around. The cashier saw us standing there but continued to empty trash before wondering over to take our order. Was NOT professional at all. I felt like we were an inconvenience for him. How DARE I come to eat at his restaurant! Very dismissive, not helpful and just overall rude human interaction from start to finish. Should of turned around and walked our right then but I thought 🤔 maybe he's just having a bad day? We all have those right? Ok so got a chicken torta and the tri tip chicken combo,.... ugh I should of left when I had the chance. Hubby liked the Torta, but mine... not the business. Tri tip was dry and had NO flavor. I felt like I was eat beef jerky. The chicken was also flavorless and had little to no meat on it. I basically got poorly seasoned chicken bones. They serve your table with plastic eating utensils and meal was on paper Dixie plates and Styrofoam. Place looked like it hadn't been swept in a few days and tables weren't clean. There's no menu for the kiddo's so don't even ask him and NO they will bot make you a cheese quesadilla. HOW DARE YOU EVEN THINK OF ASKING SUCH SILLY QUESTIONS! 😆 I was bummed for sure. Hubby liked his torta at least? Idk how other people are getting better service than what I experienced. Maybe different cooks and staff working? Better people working? If so, could you let me know what days so I can try what other people are talking about? 😆 🤣 😂 It's not good. The man was miserable with existing and the place was nasty dirty. Owell, never...

Used to be my favorite place to eat. Would always brag about how it was the best chicken place hands down . Been coming here since 1988. I've had the worst experience this year there website says they close at 830 the last couple of months they have there sign on that says open but I've been coming here at 8 they say they ran out of food . But poor employee ethics to milk the clock and push loyal customers away. Be loyal to your employer turn off the. Open light and close and for a Saturday to run out of food poor management it breaks my heart to see this place go down . This will be my last time giving a dime to this place. Who closes at 8 on a Saturday night runs out of food when there's taco stands taco trucks open till 10pm . Around the corner. Pollo norteno you lost your#1 customer and your best food critic...

The food was exquisite. Ive been here 18 months and This is the first time I have found REAL Barbeque. It's so good that it rivals that found in my home state of Texas. I realised today that the legendary barbeque my home state is famous for has a lot of Mexican influence. As I was in line I noticed the cashier taking orders in Spanish and I was thinking to myself how nice that they had a cashier who could accommodate the language barrier, when my turn came and another man seamlessly took over for the cashier and took my order. As I walked away with my drinks I turn and notice the original cashier back taking orders. It turns out I was the one who needed the extra attention. Thank you for the excellent dinner, friendly service and the lesson in humility. I will be back and I'll bring my whole...