Love the bean, rice, & cheese burrito! The beans have a little kick to them. The chips are also really really really good. read more

El Pollo Loco - BRC Burrito® - Fast Food Near Me - Oceanside, California

* Please note this is from our meal on May 26. I couldn't find the photo in my phone until now which is why this is a delayed post. * Positive: staff is still great! Still love their restaurant decor! Negative: the Mac n cheese just keeps getting more and more runny. This time it was almost void of noodles. My son called it cheese soup. Kids love the Mac n cheese so much here we get two, but this time both were mostly just liquid like watery cheese and a few noodles. Surely someone saw this before hand. Husband and I still ate some of it, it was actually yummy with the flour tortillas, but more as a dipping sauce than Mac n cheese. We had some box Mac n cheese so we made that for the kids which defeated the purpose of ordering out, you order out to avoid cooking :P. Positive: chicken has improved. There for a while it was burnt n so dry. Once the pieces were super yellow and had fatty yellow substance all over the pieces. We laid off the pollo loco for a while. This order the chicken was yummy again, so yay! For the cost I really wish quality would be more consistent. The workers have always been consistently great. Restaurant has always been clean and very cool decor. We stopped wasting money on their salads because they took away the ingredients that made their salads yummy. So I hope to not get the yellow chicken or soup like Mac but truly we just never know what we will get because quality just has not been consistent. read more

El Pollo Loco - Mac n cheese was mostly liquid with a few pieces of noodles. Like cheese soup - Fast Food Near Me - Oceanside, California

They always forget items. Very frustrating. I live near here and come often and sometimes it's okay people make mistakes but almost every time is concerning. besides that this location is fresh fast service and has a clean store. read more

We love the grilled chicken here whenever we don't know what to eat. The chicken is always fresh, delicious, and never dry. The staff are friendly and attentive, helping us choose from the many options on the menu. The restaurant is clean, and the décor is tasteful and pleasant. read more

El Pollo Loco - Grill chicken - Fast Food Near Me - Oceanside, California

Terrible, terrible, terrible! The amount of times I have ordered here and gotten home without some part of my order is in the double digits. Obviously the workers here just don't care about doing their job well. There is absolutely no consistency here. The chicken is dry tasteless. Save yourself the disappointment, don't go here! read more

Food is good and a bit expensive for what it is! The best deal I get is the 3 tacos Al carbon with Soda and chips and a chicken soup bowl for 13 dollars! Is a very good amount of food for your money! Service is always fast and friendly! Ambiance is clean and plenty of sitting! Is also nice that they still have the soda machine for self service good ! read more

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I went to El Pollo Loco to buy lunch for my entire family and spent close to $60. Unfortunately, when I got home, I realized they completely forgot both burritos from the kids' meals. I didn't check the bag before leaving (which I probably should have), but by the time I noticed, I had already driven all the way home and had hungry kids with no food. I had to drive all the way back, wasting time and gas, and went through the drive-through to let them know what was missing. Over the intercom, they didn't seem to care at all. When I pulled up, they tried to tell me my total -- I had to explain that I was there because my food was missing. They handed me the burritos without saying sorry, without any acknowledgment of the inconvenience, and without even attempting to make it right (no coupon, no free item, nothing). Now I'm stuck eating cold food because I had to go back just to get my kids' meals. The lack of basic customer service was extremely frustrating. Mistakes happen, but not even offering an apology made this one of the worst customer service experiences I've had. It truly felt like "here you go, bye," and that was it. read more

My go to place for good grilled chicken lunch or dinner. Love the double chicken bowl salads with the cilantro sauce. Their mash potatoes awesome, but lately they have been very skimpy with the gravy. Always have to ask for more because it is dry mash potatoes. Service is nothing over the top, but they do give a military discount. Thank you for supporting your military community! read more

This is my (first time) ordering and eating the El Pollo Loco's New Street Corn Double Chicken Chopped Salad. This salad is huge and there is a generous amount of Street Corn with large pieces of the (Grilled Chicken, Feta Cheese, Iceberg Lettuce, and shredded Purple Cabbage, and Pio Pica Salsa) with creamy Cilan dressing. The price is $9.99. I also ordered a side of the small bag of Tortilla Chips with spicy green sauce. The price is 59 cents. For my beverage I ordered the regular size One FUZE Raspberry Iced Tea. The price is $2.99. The subtotal was $13.45 but this total was reduced to $11.47 with the $2.99 Discounted Coupon. I placed my order with Estrella for this New. Street Corn Double Chicken Chopped Salad. It was on sale. I gave Estrella my coupon for $2.99. That's a great deal for me to save money tonight for my dinner. The sales tax is 87 cents. My total bill was $11.45. I did charge my bill to my credit card account last night. This Street Corn Double Chopped Chicken Salad with the creamy Cilan Dressing has really healthy ingredients and I felt really good eating it. The Tortilla Chips were large size chips which are very crispy and lightly salted. The One FUZE Raspberry Iced Tea has real raspberry flavor and this drink was very refreshing. I also saw Estrella while I was eating my dinner , Estrella was wiping down every single table , sweeping the whole floor, picking up all the trash and placing them in large trash bags. Then Estrella put new trash bags into these two trash containers for their customers dining inside their El Pollo Loco Restaurant last night. Their El Pollo Loco Restaurant floors are very clean and whenever, I have eaten inside their restaurant, I always see one of their employees cleaning their (tables, wiping down all of their chairs, sweeping their floors and taking out their trash) and of course Estrella was wearing latex gloves to do her cleaning work today. Estrella told me their cashier this cleaning procedure is done every single day at their El Pollo Loco Restaurant. Because their restaurant is very busy every day with a lot of walk-in customers. I also talked to Jessica who is one of their managers today. Jessica was very personable to me and she also spoke to me in a respectful manner, when we were in conversation tonight about the way she trains every one of their employees who are very experienced in their cooking skills in preparing and cooking their popular marinated grilled chicken meat and in cooking their assortment of Mexican Dishes. I enjoyed talking to Jessica there manager tonight. Jessica is a really nice person. I also received excellent customer service from Estrella and my food order was served to me in a very fast manner. It had only taken about 10 minutes to prepare and cook my New Street Corn Double Chicken Chopped Salad. Also I used El Pollo Loco's their women's restroom last night at 9:30 p.m. Their restaurant closes at 11 p. m. every day. Estrella this really friendly cashier, she told me their manager (Jessica) has hired a janitor since when their El Pollo Loco Restaurant first opened up their business several years ago. This woman janitor cleans their women's restroom (once a week) because that's their standard cleaning procedures. El Pollo Loco's women's restroom was really clean. The bathroom floor tile is a light tan natural color and is supposed to look that way, but their floor was spotless, there was no dirt on their floor, the bathroom sink was really clean, the silver chrome faucet was very shiny and not dripping at all. The toilet seat covers were full. Their was a full supply of foam soap in the soap dispenser and both of these women's toilets were also very clean. I talked to Jessica their Restaurant Manager yesterday evening and I told her about this woman Yelp Elite 2023 Reviewer who took a lot of photos of this women's restroom's (dirty floor, cracked floor tiles, and some trash) that was on their restroom floor. This woman a Yelp Elite 2023 Reviewer she also has posted her photos and also shot a video of (no paper toilet seat covers) at this other restaurant diner. Jessica said to me, if there is an issue with their women's restroom or anything that a customer isn't satisfied with, Jessica told me she prefers to have their customer talk to her in person to discuss that issue with her, so Jessica the manager and their customer can come up with a solution that will work out for both of them. I agree with Jessica their manager. In my opinion that person who's a Yelp Elite 2023 Reviewer, she did the inappropriate thing to make that other restaurant diner look really bad to the public. This woman Yelp Elite 2023 Reviewer, she got angry at me for defending this other restaurant diner and she also lied about my comment to her. That other restaurant diner has corrected this issue. read more

El Pollo Loco - Regular Size FUZE Raspberry Iced Tea. - Fast Food Near Me - Oceanside, California

Worst burrito I've ever had. Also super awkward parking situation relative to the road. Always congested from pickups that can't maneuver around too well. read more

How unfortunate it is when restaurants make drastic changes especially to something great on their menu. I haven't been to El Pollo Loco in a long long time to the point I forgot why I stopped going. My favorite meal was the chopped chicken salad with that "oh so special" lime green creamy thick cilantro dressing....mmmm so so good. I loooved the combination! I would add it to other meals and order more to save for later. I was in the College area for my DMV appt. and decided today is The Day for some Pollo Loco. I ordered my usual for my late lunch. I took it to go but I was really hungry and started to dig into the salad in my car. Okay so...my memory was coming to with each bite...this creamy cilantro dressing had a runny watery consistency and not as flavorful and rich as before. Bingo, I remember now! Basically, El Pollo went loco when they changed their ingredients and the consistency of their now so called creamy cilantro dressing. This is why I stopped going. :-( If isn't broke don't fix it! In other words, if there's no complaints about a food item then why change it. El Pollo Loco, you get only 1 star for the quick service. read more

visited this location today. Ordered their "Taco Tuesday" special. The taco was a soft taco inside a crumbling hard taco shell. The filling was a chicken flavored mush, with handfuls of lettuce. Del Taco does it better read more

First time trying these and loved them! Poblano chicken stuffed quesadilla with cilantro salsa. Salsa was on point Will order again ! read more

El Pollo Loco - FIRST TIME TRYING THESE AND LOVED THEM! (Poblano Chicken Stuffed Quesadilla with Avocado Salsa) CILANTRO SALSA WAS - Fast Food Near Me - Oceanside, California

The food was as expected, good as always. They should give you more than two tortillas within a three-piece combo. The front counter order taker girl was super rude about getting extra salsa. Other than that their chicken is always good. read more

I love el pollo loco as a healthy lunch option. I usually wait until I get the coupons in the mail. I then get only the 3 piece combo for $5 or family combo. Chicken is nicely grilled and marinated. Not sure how they make it so good. I only get the thighs, legs and wings. One time I got breast and as expected a little dry in the center but healthy. Chicken bowls are good for quick lunch, not too much chicken in my bowl is my complaint... so get a double chicken!. Otherwise great lunch options! read more

El Pollo Loco - Chicken bowl - Fast Food Near Me - Oceanside, California

This location was my go-to months ago. Idk whats going on now but thinks have changed greatly. I had gotten a salad and borderline choked on this sharp, thick piece of scissor-cut plastic. El pollo loco doesnt give a custome condiments in plastic like this either so it has to be from some bag the cooks were working with in the back. Besides that though, quality has also gone down which bums me out, salsa seems watery tasting at times and things get forgotten frequently. I dont know what happened to the favorite spot :( Update: did you guys try calling me? read more

El Pollo Loco - not a piece of salad - Fast Food Near Me - Oceanside, California

I truly would like to give this fast food restaurant (at the corner of Hacienda & College in Oceanside) a much better review than 3 stars. It is better than the Vista store, for sure. We got to the Resturant shortly after 9pm after Bible Study. The food was good. Customer Service is what stunk. And it wasn't even the counter service, because that was fine also. It wasn't stellar, but it was courteous and the food was put together quickly. It was It was the attitude of the folks in the kitchen, which I will go into more detail later on in my review. The three stars are because I really had no complaint about anything else, but the kitchen staff and a minor point about the bathrooms which really did not affect the overall rating. My husband got the chicken Tostada and I got the shrimp & chicken Tostada. We used coupons for both and they needed to be rung up separately. We both also got chips and guacamole and Iced Teas. Customer service was friendly and the food was readied in very good time. No problem there. Would like to see the pre-Covid salsa bar set up like before. But oh well!. No biggie. The Resturant was clean, and tables were wiped. The bathrooms were also clean and neat. My minor complaint is the trash bin was place directly in front of the toilet seat liners making them harder to find. The trash bin can be moved, but it really needs to be placed somewhere else. What I had an issue with was that the Resturant lobby was playing some early to mid 60's classics and my husband and I were enjoying listening to it as we ate. About 9:30, the kitchen turned the volume way up on their Hispanic Music station and it was clashing with the still playing 60's music in the lobby. We asked the counter person if he could get the kitchen music to lower their volume. They tuned it off. OK, so we went back to eating and listening to the music and discussing the songs as they came up. Then one of the kitchen staff (at least we think he was a part of the kitchen staff) came out and locked the doors and he could easily see we were still there (we set up front and he walked right by us). Moments later the kitchen started up again (granted it was 10:00pm, but we were still in the lobby. And the drive through was still in operation till 11pm. We endured it, trying to figure out if it would matter if we complained again. The lobby music was still playing and both music programs conflicted horribly. It was too much and we're still eating. It ruined our enjoying our food. Some Uber driver walked in through the front door about 10 mins later, and one of your managers came out to find out why since the doors were locked. That is when we mentioned the loudness of the music stopped for the second time with his apologies. That experience ruined our meal and put us in an awkward position of needing to complain twice over the same thing in one visit. And why should we have???? read more

Quality of food has gone down so bad that at times the food is not edible to consume. The chicken is bland. The customer service is just horrible that it makes you not want to come back. Overall I will not be coming back to this location. read more

Ordered a family meal with sides of rice and mac and corn tortillas. they said flour tortillas over the intercom and then i corrected them politely and said can we have corn tortillas instead please. they practically tossed the bag and later realized we did not receive mac n cheese but corn instead. read more

The staff and food quality at this EPL are amazing. I avoid the one by my home and go the extra distance to this one because it is much better. read more

I haven't been to a El Pollo Loco in forever.... I think the menu is. New‍..... They have a chicken, avocado & bean burrito that is soooo good.... Never had it before BUT I definitely going to get it again... fresh chicken, large slices of avocado & pinto beans.... It huge & sooo yummy read more

El Pollo Loco - Yum - Fast Food Near Me - Oceanside, California

Strictly Drive Thru. Always a wait very unprofessional service. Five stars for the chicken One star for rising cost of the menu. But that's across the nation. I enjoy the green salsa and the Spanish rice. read more

When did EPL go away from serving breast with the bone in? Ordered a couple breasts from Door Dash app the other day. What I received was the toughest driest boneless chicken I've had in recent memory. Very disappointing if this is the direction they are going. Used to be a favorite. This was legitimately very bad read more

For a quick dining option it's quite healthy and I appreciate that. Staff is friendly and the wait is really short. I've only ordered a double chicken salad bowl so can't speak to other items on the menu read more

El Pollo Loco - Seating and order counter - Fast Food Near Me - Oceanside, California

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I've tried to give them the benefit of the doubt too many times but after my order yesterday I have to give this review. The people here are very nice and while orders in the past had errors about a third of the time, they are better as of late. But for the past three days my order of the same dish has been ice cold and yesterday's was almost inedible. For three days I ordered the spicy shrimp street taco meal. On Monday it was cold. As in COLD. The beans and rice were somewhat warm but the tacos were ice cold. Figuring it was a one time thing I ordered the same on Tuesday. Again, ICE COLD. Stupid me ordered the same dish yesterday and not only were the tacos cold again, instead of cabbage in the taco, someone actually used cole slaw. The tacos were ice cold and soaking wet. Disgusting. Management - train your employees better. read more

El Pollo Loco - Fast Food Near Me - Oceanside, California

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I usually try not to review chains like this because they're typically all the same. But I want to review this location for a reason... I haven't had el pollo loco in years. And I used to hate it then because I was a kid who only wanted chicken nuggets a from a giant glowing "M." But then I really wanted some "quick street tacos." And my friend said El Pollo loco has them and there is a drive thru. So I went and tried it... my tacos weren't bad at all but my fiancé's nachos, which o payed double chicken for had no chicken. I'm not kidding. Like nothing on them. We didn't make a big deal because we didn't want to drive back, but thank goodness I ordered a large side of beans because then he just used that. Then I have gone back twice since then and they have messed up my orders & overcharged me and tried to tell me different. Example, I ordered three tacos again, a chicken bowl, & a large side of beans. Not hard right? No. I got my tacos and there was no salsa that I asked for. Not even on the side for myself to put it on, and no side order of beans. Then I went back through the drive thru since the dining room was open. I told them and showed them the receipt. They just gave me salsa and a small side order of beans. I had told them I payed for large and they said that was a large. I was like I'm sorry is there another size then like extra large because I ordered a large a week ago and it was twice this size. Then they said no that's our only large size... even though I know it wasn't because I still had the large size sitting in my trash at home.. lol it was not the same at all. Anyway, not wanting to fight with them I just said whatever okay then, and as I drive away with my window still down, I hear the woman at the window call me a "p**a" to her coworkers behind her. Lol like I may look white but I know fair amount of Spanish and I definitely know what that means. Lol anyway. Just don't expect them to get your order right, and if you try to correct them and get what you paid for, you're apparently a (*)itch. read more

If there's an options to give 10 stars I will do it, this restaurant is always clean, good vibe, the food is great, the service excellent, 5 stars for for Irma, who was patient with me when taking my long takeout order, this is my place to go at least once a week read more

I get it working in fast food industry might not be the greatest job but at least provide the consumer with edible food. I ordered a chicken avocado burrito and a churro. The burrito had a big hole/ tear right in the middle of it, the chicken was hard and chewy, the chips were stale and the churro was cold and likely old by the way it tasted. The worst el pollo loco I've experienced in regards to the food quality. Two stars for the friendly service. read more

El Pollo Loco - Burrito with a nice hole in the middle - Fast Food Near Me - Oceanside, California

While driving to Valley View Casino (the actual casino, not the venue), Karen and I wanted something fast and yelped this EPL. Its located off the 78 and College Blvd, right next to a Wendy's. The configuration of this lot is weird. If you turn into the parking lot too early, you'll find yourself in a small area of the parking lot, trapped between the 2 drive thrus of EPL and Wendy's, and there's no way to get out. Try to skip the first driveway and park adjacent to Wendy's and walk over. Be cautious of the drive thru patrons, as we found out NONE of them stopped for pedestrians. The inside of this EPL is clean and has a good set up for groups, if you are lucky enough to get tables adjacent to each other. The bad part is when the sun goes down, there's not much in terms of hiding the glare of the sunset. At 6:30 pm, there were plenty of chickens on the grill, and the line at the drive thru was long. I ordered the 2 pc dark meat combo and was given a number for the staff to deliver my meal. What service! I don't have to get my own food. You'd think being peak time my chicken would be moist and tender. Granted, it was piping hot, but it was over cooked. The thigh was pressed so hard against the bone, the skin was actually chewy. Thigh meat is usually juicy, and this was a bit on the dry side. Obviously they accounted for the dinner rush and made most of the meat ahead of time, sitting on the fire to keep warm. Nonetheless, I will still give this place 4 stars. The order came correct, the place was clean, and even the ladies' room was impressively clean. I even bookmarked this place in case I needed a stop for my next casino road trip, or just needed the coordinates for the Starbucks drive thru located across the parking lot. read more

El Pollo Loco - Cramp parking! Park next door to Wendy's instead - Fast Food Near Me - Oceanside, California

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El pollo fit bowl is amazing wow what an incredible tasty salad very good will get it again

Most times, the food was good but a couple times they gave you dry chicken. I will go back there because it's the only fast food place that sell you grilled chicken. KFC, Chick-fil-A, Jack-in-the-Box or McDonald's all give you fried chicken. not healthy. But hope they are not giving you dry chicken. read more

I love this place, I used to come here every day after going to school at Miracosta and now that I'm not in school I still come here probably once a week. The service is always really great the people are really nice and professional, also very speedy even when there's a line in the drive-through and never takes very long. The ONLY reason I didn't give this place 5 stars is because this has happened to me twice now: I'm starving, and live about 15 minutes away, so not right around the corner. I always go through the drive through and never really check because they rarely mess up my order.. but today I ordered two legs and two thighs... and one of my legs is a wing, the tiniest amount of meat on it... I'm so sad!! I wanted to stuff my face but now I only got three pieces when I payed for four... read more

El Pollo Loco - Fast Food Near Me - Oceanside, California

Nice & friendly staff everything is ready good & seasoned love eating there favorite food read more

Went to grab lunch today with the coupon we receive in the mail that I have used forever. They would just take the code off the coupon. The drive thru Rosa decided to tear off my coupon which has never happened in over 5 years that I have been coming here using coupons. I guess El Pollo DOESNT want us to eat here anymore or is it because I'm not Hispanic it happened to me. Just saying. read more

This review is for El Pollo Loco on College Blvd. at the 76 Hwy across from McDonalds. My wife and I needed to do separate orders because Pollo has never allowed multiple coupons or discounts in the same order. She went first getting a salad without pico on it cashier processed order while wife was getting app on phone to scan for credits cashier completed order without scaning said she could not rering order to get credit very blunt and straight forward rude about it. Scanned app before doing second order which included a small salad our orders were prepared satisfactorily within 5 minutes.I went back to counter to request a knife and additional dressing for my salad the manager told me to get in line and have cashier charge me for it an additional 49cents so I returned to him with the salad asking him just to put a spoonful on it and rudely got turned down asking to exchange it for some thing I could eat angrily he threw it in the trash can and slid a container of corn across the counter at me. If this is a new policy for Pollo Loco to tack on to their already inflated prices for what we, having been in retail for 60 years, consider to be customer service then I feel the public should be aware of it. we did not go to Pollo for more than a year because of a related situation but returned recently because they do have great salads and healthy food and this location is very convenient for us. We will not return to this store until some changes are made. read more

I would totally eat here way more if it was a little bit closer to be, maybe North of Oceanside BLVD, oh yeah and bring the Wendy's next door with you too. Swap out the 8 McDonalds in Oceanside north of the 78. Yes that's the highest concentration of McDonalds in San Diego. Smdh I consider El Pollo Loco healthy, at least in comparison to what I get at basically every other Mexican, Taco, Tex mex place around. Pollo bowl, pico, roja, extra avo salsa. Plenty of carbs in rice and beans, consistent and decent chicken, onions, cilantro, pico. When I say extra avo green salsa I'm talking like 4 scoops, plus an extra on the side for my flour tortillas and a soda. $5 and change. It's no nonsense, hard to screw up. It has color contrast, texture, flavor, a hint of heat and I can shovel it into my pie hold pretty darn quickly. I mostly come here after night time bike rides when I don't feel like getting weighed down by a burger, sandwich or my typical burrito. I love the avo salsa so much I'll literally go to Wendy's if they are out (and since I go close to close they won't make a fresh batch). It kind of becomes a soupy mess, but whatever. I like it, a lot, thinking about it now as I type this. Had it lastnight and might get it again today. You have to admit that flame grilled chicken is way better than other fast food. The service is pretty good, plenty of staff keeping it clean, recently upgraded bathroom fixtures, Reminds me of a Starbucks, but just a little better. The décor has been upgraded with some flair, color and there is plenty of seating. The only real draw back here is the parking lot, it's small and the drive thru can block the spots. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to put a Wendy's RIGHT NEXT to it, basically crowding the whole plaza. Now it doesn't get that busy, but I come near close. Unlike most places that are eager to kick people out, even near close, here they are more welcoming. They have the best lids for sauce and drinks in the fast food industry, unlike Taco bell who has the worst. I know what you are thinking 5 star a fast food place, but I personally have had nothing, but wonderful experiences here and until I do it's money in my eyes. read more

It was my first time visiting this location today. The establishment was very clean and welcoming. Connor served me and was exceptionally kind. As soon as I walked in the door he had a big smile on his face and he welcomed me from across the room. Even though I couldn't physically see the smile through the mask, his eyes told me he was smiling. He just really stood out as an employee who enjoys his job and enjoys his customers. Oh, and speedy service and great food. read more

Chicken is great the grilled chicken I mean so juicy and I devour that you every time

It's not just gourmet and fine dining restaurants I like to visit (and to also review and occasionally semi-professionally photograph), it's any eating establishment where I have a meal. I've been coming here up to a couple times a month since they opened this Oceanside location in mid-2016. It's among the few fast-food chains that have many healthy meal choices. For an inexpensive meal, fresh food and quick service, it's terrific. The customer service here is very good overall; the staff always accommodating and pleasant. That's my experience over the past couple years. read more

Angel went out of his way to help me out with my order and had a very pleasant attitude. Appreciate him and love El Pollo food