This review was carried over from another account and originally written in 2018. I have been coming to this location for several years and I have seen the changes, some good, some bad.  First, I want to say that under the previous management I always received A-1 service, enjoyed the punch card system often, and LOVED the tortilla soup and the fresh salsa bar.  Unfortunately, every single one of these things is no longer offered.   There are still things to love and comment about though.  First, the fried chicken has never been anything special here, ever.  Usually dry.  Stay away from it, it's better elsewhere.  The best kept secret in chicken fast food is their grilled and marinated chicken.  OMG!  Every bite is so flavorful, a worthwhile experience.  The entire reason to come here.  Second, they finally got rid of the small white oval plates and serve your food now on big round colorful plates that add a lot to the presentation.  But again, the things that made the meal interesting, like the fresh pico de gayo are gone.  I find more often than not, with this food I always want more and that says a lot but the price prevents me from making larger orders.  The new corn salad is also really nice, light and fresh. Lastly, I don't think it was necessary to put combination locks on the restroom doors.  They were always clean whenever I needed to use them and now I go in with the door lock and the trash can is knocked over, not really clean and it makes you wonder if they just added the locks to reduce the cleaning schedule or what??!!  One other good thing by default, at least they offer both forks and knives here, at the other store in Plainfield they don't offer any knives at all.  Are they scared their customers will use them as weapons? I don't see the salsa bar ever returning unfortunately but I hope they will again serve the tortilla soup, soooooo good on winter days. read more

Overpriced and overrated. The chicken was dry, basic, and choked with salty seasoning. Elizabeth has way better options for your money, skip entirely. read more

Love the chicken, seasoned very well both grilled & fried. The sides can be a little better so just on the tasty chicken I gave it 4 stars

Tried it. Only had fried chicken. No baked/grilled chicken. Different. Pricey for what it is. Okay if you need something different. Good service. I am not sure whether I like it or not. I'll have to revisit. I may like the grilled better if they still carry it. I'd like to like it. Nice to have a more Home cooked Boston Market with a twist kind of feel to the meal. read more

I happened upon Pollo Campero mostly by chance. I was actually going to the nearby Walgreens and saw the restaurant. Curious, I went in and wanting to open myself up to a new experience I ordered some food. I had no idea that this was part of a chain until I read up on it later. As I write this, New Jersey has loosened up its Pandemic Lockdown rules slightly. Diners are allowed to eat in some restaurants now (or in outdoor seating). Inside Pollo Campero there is plenty of seating but I only saw one couple eating at a table. The rest were empty had had signs on them about social distancing. Amusingly enough, the stickers on the floor that help you space apart form others have chicken feet outlines instead of human feet! Pollo Campero uses the format of a typical fast food chicken joint. You can buy individual pieces and sides, large meals and drinks. I was particularly happy to see you can get both grilled and fried chicken pieces. Sometimes you want a bit of variety. Their side choices include rice, a corn salad, maduros and mashed potatoes. There is one downer about this particular branch of Pollo Campero, and that's the staff. They aren't rude. They aren't bad at their jobs or anything, but man....they look really burnt out and exhausted. I found myself kind of worried about them as they put my order together (but it was accurate and filled quickly, so take this with a grain of salt). Not feeling comfortable enough to eat inside a restaurant yet, I took my order to go. In general, I will say the fried and grilled chicken both have a very different taste than any other chain (including KFC, Jollibee and Popeye's). I would say there's a bit more of a citrus type hit in the flavor but I did not find myself falling in love with it. It's *good*, like a solid "B" but it didn't knock my socks off. The sides were also a solid "B". The corn salad was probably my favorite, with the maduros in second place. The mashed potatoes were good, but KFC's is much better. Want to hear the funny part? The two items that *did* impress me were two of their *drinks*. If you go to this chain, try the Horchata and Hibiscus drink. Both are delicious (though the Horchata edges on being a tad *too* sweet). I enjoyed both drinks and would go back just to get them if I was in the area. I enjoyed Pollo Campero's food, but it isn't anything I plan on going out of my way to get again any time soon. read more

Food is great but not happy with the staff ! It seems every time I go in to order food I have to wait for them to find an employee that speaks English ! I am Hispanic and understand very little so I choose to speak in English and theirs always a wait when I come ! Unacceptable! Also u do wait very long for ur food ! The food is very good tho an the chicken is always made fresh just need some help with front desk and language read more

I order from this place all the time for my clients and they had a free survey give away for the chicken. I did the survey and picked up the chicken. I didn't know this place was more of a fast food chicken spot like KFC or Popeye's. Of course there was no seating inside just takeout. It was very clean in there as well. I gave the cashier my survey coupon and they got my chicken but the when I got to the car the roll was missing. I didn't bother to go back in to get it, besides it was free anyway. My clients rave about the chicken so I am looking forward to trying it on my cheat day. All the other food I tried like rice and yucca fries are good. read more

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I grew up eating Pollo Campero and I went there the food was great as usual the only problem was the service they seemed moody and they seemed like they were in a bad mood. The place was a bit dirty and there was no trash can but other than that it was good. 3/5 read more

Pollo Campero - Fast Food Near Me - Elizabeth, New Jersey

I tend to avoid franchises. I try to help mom and pop places because i know how hard it is to run a business. My co-worker had jury duty here nearby and suggested we come here for lunch out of the blue. Driving there was a bit sketchy but nothing really bad. The parking lot is shared with a supermarket. Parallel parking in the hood add to my anxiety. Anyways, We enjoyed the horchata, empanadas, fried chicken, fried yuca and fried sweet plantains. I didn't really enjoy the chicken tacos. It lacked flavor mainly because they used flour tortillas. The attendants brought our food out and they even checked up on us. It had a chik fil a feel to it. I'd come back here whenever we want cheap quality food. read more

Pollo Campero - 3 chicken taco special. Side of yuca and spicy chicken empanada - Fast Food Near Me - Elizabeth, New Jersey

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I had the Peruvian verde empanada with the creamy cilantro dipping sauce. The empanada was just ok. The crust and filling had a commercial quality to it and the flavor was mediocre, especially seeing how there were so many ingredients inside. It definitely isn't your authentic empanada you can get from the mom and pop restaurants down the street for $1 less. I've yet to try the chicken but I will be sure to leave a review when I do. read more

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I'm so satisfied because the food is excellent Fast service I can recommend to anybody Anytime read more

3 stars is the highest rating I give to fast food places and this one here deserves it. The Hispanic twist this fried chicken gas is amazing! Funded in Central America it gives it the right seasoning I love. You can order from rice to fried yuca. You can have a fountain drink or horchata. Bread roll or tortilla. It's a little pricier than a mcds but so worth it the extra buck. read more

I love their food,I have had so many issues with this restaurant. The cashier ordered extra food for me, and then blamed me. She never said I am sorry nothing now I am considering never coming back. The manager refunded me $13.33 and when he saw me last week he tried to make it right, but I really believe nothing is ever gonna change and I need to go somewhere else. read more

I'm back at Pollo Campero again. More Empanadas and Campero Beans. Still yummy and I'm still recommending this spot. read more

Pollo Campero - Pollo Campero - Fast Food Near Me - Elizabeth, New Jersey

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I had been wanting to try their food for years and finally did. I ordered a 3 pc of two fried PCs of chicken and one baked. I wasn't a fan of the spices and seasoning on the grilled chicken but the fried chicken was great. I don't like that the ingredients aren't on the menu to read, and the cashier and I had a language barrier so she didn't understand what I was trying to ask her. But overall the fried chicken was ok. I can't say I'd go there often, but it wasn't nasty. And the place was clean. read more

For a relatively fast food place this place is great. I don't like the fried chicken as much, but their grilled chicken, yuca and maduros are absolutely great. The chicken is normally very juicy and tasty. Also, the empanadas are delicious, especially the spicy chicken ones, I would definitely recommend. One thing to keep in mind, is that the pieces of chicken are on the small side, so maybe a 1/4 chicken is not enough if you're really hungry. All in all, a very good place to get chicken, very clean and friendly personnel. read more

The place was a lil loud not very clean either , chicken wasn't cooked right my salad was decent !

This place is amazing, excellent food and the workers were very friendly, plus good service.

I ordered the "spicy grilled chicken" tacos. The chicken looked and tasted like left over chicken breast shredded from whatever they baked or fried before. Hard and chewy. Nothing spicy or grilled about this. Plantains were good but cold. Step down from Taco Bell I think. Although I did not tried the fried chicken. I wouldn't go back. I understand this is a spanish place but the girl at the counter seem scared to speak English. read more

Three people behind the counter and a manager. It's 8pm EST on a Friday night. No chicken available, no clean tables, horrible attitudes that reflect in the neglect of the establishment. Four orders waiting including ours. Nothing but laughter and manager playing with a bowl of someone's food? What is wrong with this business? I've never seen anything like it. Please avoid this location at all costs. 30 minutes, still no family meal on our table...... check out the fork that was brought out to us.. no quality control? read more

Pollo Campero - An employee actually hand picked these and brought them over? - Fast Food Near Me - Elizabeth, New Jersey

I've been a fan of Pollo Campero for a few years now, especially, this location. I would place large orders for meetings held at the Bayway Refinery and, more often than not, these orders ranged between $90-170. They had a punch card that offered a free 8pc meal after 6 meals. I'm on my 2nd card and 9th punch and never used either; until I attempted today. Thankfully, I called in advance to save myself embarrassment... ...they no longer accept these cards even though the cards do not have an expiration date. They apologized and said it was under new management. But, it's not like the name changed or it's a KFC. You would think if someone has spent, at the very least, over $500 ordering for meetings, that you would honor the punch card. Why? Because that means I will continue to order from your establishment in the future. That when other people ask me for a recommendation for places to order, their name will come up. Clearly, they didn't care nor did they consider that gravity of my request. So why should I consider your establishment for anything but a poor review? read more

They need to train their people better. I go there occasionally the chicken and rice and beans are good. Today while waiting for my order, a gentleman who was eating in the restaurant brought his dish to the counter say they gave him the wrong piece. The guy behind the counter took the piece off his plate and put it back with the other chicken. Guess who got that piece? I know because it had food on it. Grossed me out. I won't be back. read more

I really like this Spanish chicken fast food idea. Wish there was one nearby me. Food is really good.

My first time here, I decided to come here for lunch. When I went up to place my order the girl at the counter was difficult to hear over the music and all the people. She also spoke extremely quick and it was difficult to understand her. The food was pretty good. The chicken was my favorite. Just wished I had know there was a choice of fried chicken or grilled chicken would have actually preferred the grilled chicken. Overall a pretty good place the people taking orders just need better training. read more

These people In here need customer training. Looks like a high school class. All workers dragging there feet being lazy. Got my chicken order wrong 2 different times. Hot mess in this location! read more

yesterday was mi first time dinning in the restaurant. Service was ok but the most importantly, the food isn't the same as the flavor from Guatemala or any other central american Pollo Campero.. So it makes me miss my the actual taste, apparently there is an ingredient missing that the United states won't allow us to bring here.. Anyways other then that its ok.. read more

For fast food, this is definitely not fast. I had to wait almost 30 minutes for my food to be ready. A fast food restaurant that markets mostly chicken needs to have the chicken ready at all times. That's the point of food warmers... The cashiers were also not very professional or hygienic. No gloves, no hair nets...then touching their face and the food. Gross. I wouldn't be surprised if I found a hair in my food. They said it was an 8 minute wait when I ordered, then 10 minutes later they said it was still 15 minutes... Thoroughly unimpressed! I will not be coming back here again because it's so slow, and their service isn't great. As a cherry on top, my sides were cold because I waited so long for the other food. read more

The worst chicken ..I ordered the ten piece special waited for 30 minutes and to my shock it was undercooked ...I will not eat from here again. read more

This place was a joke, took us forever to get out to go order and when we or him the chicken looked like they were eating it while we waited. I DO NOT recommend this place to my worst enemies. I will include a picture of a piece of chicken for your entertainment since there is nothing we could have done but laughed. read more

Pollo Campero - Fast Food Near Me - Elizabeth, New Jersey

It's crazy the owner never even contacted me at least to apologized. Not a great business at all their service it's SUCK'S!!!!!!!

My brother and I wanted to try something different, since during this quarantine we been cooking at home. We heard good things about this restaurant and wanted to try it out for ourselves so we went to the Elizabeth,NJ location. There was an advertisement(online and in store) for a free meal for first time customers if the app was downloaded. So we did just that and boy oh boy IT WAS A PROBLEM! They gave my brother and I such a hard time with the ADVERTISE free meal! They talked about us in Spanish! Not knowing that my brother and I understood EVERY word because we are Cuban and Black American! We didn't just come in there for a free meal, we PURCHASE dinner for our ENTIRE family and spent $80(we have the receipts)!! I came in there with the excitement of trying something NEW and left feeling so disappointed as a new customer! I honestly feel like if we LOOK like we were from the Hispanic descent,we would of been treated a WHOLE LOT BETTER! I normally don't write bad reviews, I rather just not give the company my business. Hopefully this review will reach the manager and maybe, JUST MAYBE the next customer will not have this problem! read more

I was a regular customer until they stopped selling tacos but thr food is still pretty good

Let's start with the positives. The lady working the cash register was extremely friendly. She even allowed me to sample two of the sides prior to making my decisions. That was a great start. Unfortunately it quickly went down from there. 1. Not exactly fast food. It took a while to get my chicken. 2. The employee who brought over my food gave me the wrong plate. Prior to realizing I had the wrong order, I took a fry. I realized it was the wrong order so I made mention of it to the Employee who brought me my dish,who then promptly took the entire dish over to the correct guest.. I don't think I would've been happy to be the individual receiving a dish that someone else had put their hands into. 3. I did not see anyone wearing gloves who was serving. That is out right disgusting. What's more disgusting is that one of the employees brought over the utensils which are not plastic and we're not wrapped and touched them in their entirety, including the part that goes in your mouth, with her bare hands. As for the food mediocre at best. I will say that the chicken was rather juicy, the fries without any taste whatsoever. All in all a disappointing lunch read more

So conflicted with if I want to say 3 or 4 star, I'd say 3.5 The chicken was really nice and juicy, full of flavor. I loved the Horchata. Yeah it's a fast food place, but they bring out the food on nice ceramic plates so it feels more like a dine-in restaurant. The only thing is I ordered 4 pieces of chicken, and when I sat down, I waited 30minutes for it. Isn't it fast food? The dips were AMAZING though, give me some more of that...please. read more

The chicken tender is very delicious. I like them very much.And the sweat sauce is very good！My friend like fast food too .He like the cheese burger and ice coffee。Ilike the ice tea. read more

i went yesterday to eat ,,,,,,,,the first think that happen went i get in the smell of old burn oil well i was there i orden mi chik first i order i whole chicken the lady in cashier dont know what i was talking about,,,,,,,,to make this story short i birp all nigth very slow service and this not spanish,,,,,,,,,,is only fried chicken whit mexican twis read more

The food is delicious! The ingredients are fresh and of high quality, and while the menu is simple, it offers a variety of tasty treats. I've had fried chicken, grilled chicken, the burrito bowls, burritos, fried plantains, yucca fries, rice, beans, and more. I've never had a single negative thing to say. The prices are LOW, and the service is great. Everyone's very friendly. They offer punch cards, where after 5 meals purchased, you get a free combo meal. They also have incentives like discounts for police officers and hospital employees. The atmosphere is fun and relaxing, and they place great Latin music. You just want to dance while waiting for your food. Definitely a great find. read more