Great food went well highly recommended Great quality of…read morefood Great customer service

I visited Carlitos for the first time after seeing several posts on social media. We were greeted…read morepromptly upon arrival, and I appreciated that the menu was small and straightforward. When we asked about the spice level, the staff clearly explained what to expect. The drink selection was a pleasant surprise, offering a variety of sodas including Jarritos and Jamaica. I ordered the chicken sandwich with jalapeños, mac and cheese, and a Jamaica, while my husband chose a sandwich with fries. The food exceeded our expectations. The chicken was extremely crispy and flavorful, and I was pleasantly surprised to receive an extra small chicken strip on the side. The house sauce was delicious, and the staff generously provided plenty of it along with honey and ranch without us needing to ask, an appreciated touch. The mac and cheese was creamy and felt like my mom's homemade one. The fries are more like cross cut fries and come extra crispy as well, which I like. Service was friendly and efficient, and the staff even shared the story behind how they decided to specialize in chicken sandwiches. While the restaurant itself appears a bit run down and parking was somewhat confusing for first time visitors, the quality of the food and the welcoming service more than made up for it. Overall, I would definitely return. In my opinion, these are the best chicken sandwiches in Salinas.

In a very Mexican part of town in Seaside near Monterey. I don't live in this area but I knew, as…read morewhen I was driving looking for this storefront, most of the surrounding businesses were all Hispanic based. I kinda had a feeling I was gonna like the digs here. They grill here. Over this massive open charcoal/wood grill. 2 cooks back there, engulfed in a waft of smoke and fire. They must have put a fresh batch of meat on that grill as that grill top was covered every square inch. They only grill 2 meats: chicken on the bone and carne asada. They also grill whole red onions and serrano peppers to go with those char grilled meats. 1/2 Chicken Combo ($15/4*) Upon receiving, it almost looks burnt. But upon tasting no bitter burnt notes just extremely well manufactured char. The chicken is marinated in something. Probably a seasoning salt and maybe a touch of lime. Nothing is spicy or peppery just a salty, charred chicken flavor. I liked it but I think I like El Pollo Locos version a tad more. As that is more slowly rendered where the skin gets crisp and there's more of a buttery nuance in El Pollo Locos version. I hate saying I'm siding with a big corporate but chicken-wise they've got the edge. Now where this place beats any chain are in the sides and details. First the freshly charred onions and serranos that go with most meat orders are damn perfect. Soft and easy to break apart, inherent flavors intensified from the grilling and the char-y notes that you can control cuz you can add as much of the burnt layer or as little. And the rice, beans and salsas here are real Mexican cooking, nothing fast and ready made. Fresh from scratch with ethnic soul. Carne Asada Combo ($27/5*) This is a full pound of freshly grilled Carne Asada (thin and marinaded meat), no rice or beans just warm corn tortillas, salsas, pickled onions and those charred onions and peppers. Upon receiving I felt like a kid who got his first gift from Santa. First they gave me the warm tortilla holder and all the condiments. I could have made a meal with those alone. Then the biggest pile of freshly grilled steak I've ever seen get served to me at one time. The aroma was intoxicating and was superseded by getting a taste. A little heavy handed on the seasoning but damn did that grilled meat flavor hit you like a bat. Slightly smoky with charred hits and THE most juicy and tender carne asada I've ever had. Usually the preparation can yield tough and overcooked meat but not here, there is some wizardry involved. I was putting whole pieces of meat in a rustic cowboy taco and you could still bite through the taco effortlessly. That's some serious mojo they are messin' with. I actually found a combo for the perfect steak taco here. Warm tortilla base; cut up and throw some charred peppers and onions; throw enough carne asada on there to your heart's intent; a few dabs of their tomato salsa with the charred flecks; then finally a generous sprinkling of their pickled red onions to gild the lily. THE BEST carne asada taco I've ever had. And I've had hundreds if not thousands. Trust. We just finished a substantial hike and was on route to a camping weekend. Had enough leftovers that we didn't have to cook on the first night, just heated things in foil over camp fire. They conveniently catered and we relished and feasted. A fiver relationship if I ever heard of one.

Food was excellent and fresh. The service was quick as it…read moretakes for you to order. Ambiance was a clean place with a few tables. The take out orders were many. We will be back.

All the food here is delicious, especially Joann's fried chicken. The service was impecable by…read morePaul. Thank you!

Amazing and legit Korean fried chicken!! This came highly recommended and I can see why! The…read morechicken is made fresh and tastes extremely well. I got the combo half order of the soy garlic and it disappeared so quick. Paul was the only server there and he's a one-man army!! Word of caution, their spicy levels are legit. I normally have a high spice tolerance and I got my chicken spicy (vice mild or very spicy) and I was fighting for my life for a bit! The chicken tastes so good and you're fighting the spice at the same time.

usually, my comments here about the food being really good in the service severely lacking- today…read morewas quite the contrary in every sense To be honest, if the young man at the register, Giovanni was not so friendly and genuinely helpful and caring then I would've wrote a very different review. We like to come get some food from here on a Friday night when I absolutely don't feel like cooking after working a 10/11 hour shift we always get the same thing usually on Friday nights the wait is pretty long so if I remember, I'll order ahead but most the time I just order in person... I had went a week ago or so and the food wait was about 35 minutes It was about 25 minutes last night. I went into this location yesterday June Friday the 19th at about 8:45 to 915 I was greeted with a genuine smile from the young men at the front counter Giovanni. He had a super good personality. He was super friendly, and you could tell he was actually doing his job according to his training. What compelled me to write this review o this young man (Giovanni )definitely wet behind the ears as he seemed a little shy, but not shy as in lacking customer service just shy about providing such good customer service ... it made sense because while I was waiting for my food, I asked him if it was super busy and he said yes well actually this is my second day so it seems very busy. The fact that it was his second day and he was the friendliest person in the establishment is saying something about the team. But I'm not even gonna get too much into that besides just giving this young man his flowers . Because the young man that was calling people's names around that same time was horribly rude. He slammed my food on the counter at me and then when I asked for the pickles I had ordered he said they were in the bag when I got home, they were not. He looks super upset that I had asked for honey and ketchup . Usually they just put it in the bag so I don't know why he was upset that I asked, I was super frustrated and if the management cares, they should definitely research who is working as the food color yesterday and talk to him because I know I'm not the only one who noticed his attitude I would like to add -I do you think if you are going to prompt your credit card machine, to give a tip you should also have a tip jar for people that are paying cash that would like to tip the employees that way. I'm a tip in cash type of girly. The food was super lacking This experience. The noodles from the mac & cheese were very overdone and it just wasn't the normal stuff that you usually get here - there was about five french fries in my bowl and (surprisingly )overloaded with chicken. However, I ordered a rice plate that comes with two chicken tenders, and those were the saddest little tenders I ever seen shriveled up in that box. I wish I would've took pictures, but to be honest I was just over it by the time I got home. They should've put some of that chicken that was overflowing to compensate for the lack of french fries into that plate where those sad little strips were located. It wasn't horrible, but it just definitely wasn't the same and I know you can't hit it out of the park every time. I know we will be back ...I really wanted to write this review for that young man Giovanni, I know reviews matter and I hope someone says something to him that he was mentioned or he sees it himself.

Well, the honeymoon phase is over, but the food is still bangin. No more big backs lined up down…read morethe sidewalk, so the food comes faster. The restaurant itself is eating down quickly. The outside seating area was dirty and looked like the place has been there a decade. The service was surprisingly troubling... employees were calling names of people that had already been called and picked up their food, and looked frustrated and lost. I guess it gets confusing when all your food looks the same. The LED sign is blinking out. The general cleanliness and maintenance is falling behind quickly. Food is , but service is ‍. Maintenance is , but yeah - I'm going back

Food was very good and tasty, service was great and got our food very quickly. Definitely worth…read moregoing here!

We came here on a Sunday after church. Not knowing what to get besides chicken wings…read more There was only one server but he was doing a great job with the multiple tables. He also would crack jokes with customers, and I appreciate that. The restaurant is located where the old fish house was next to CVS on the south side. Has some old school decor but the chairs and tables are sturdy and that's what matters to me. Plus I love a collection of decor. We started with drink. My husband got the watermelon agua fresca and I had water. The agua fresca took awhile to come out but it was so worth it. Fresh and tasty! We got the Thai spicy cauliflower, chicken wings, Tom Kah Gai soup, and Thai house fried rice. Let me just say: everything was delicious! The soup knocked it out of the park for me while my husband fully enjoyed the chicken wings. Everything had great flavor! I highly recommend this place if you never been or on the fence of going. It was definitely worth the visit!

It's now called POLLO & PAPAS. Expensive, you can get better…read morechicken elsewhere. The menu advertises chicken meals and chicken by the piece. As I waited for my order of chicken soup (to warm up from the fridge) I over heard a customer who wanted half a chicken and they were informed by the cashier that it would only be legs and thighs since "chicken was too expense to buy it whole". The place looks dingy, dark, unappealing. I only came here because this is where I was sent to order chicken soup to drop off for a family member. It took about 20 mins to receive my order, they first had to check if they had any chicken soup. It came with tortillas and rice and the fixings of onions cilantro and lemon.

Service was quick they do not charge extra for using debit card. Food is delicious tooread more

I love the box meal; the chicken is in very generous proportions. The fries are also really good…read more If you go during the month of St. Patrick's day, they have a green lemonade would recommend. My dad, me, and my sisters would pick up there often. The workers are nice and usually not busy later in the day, from like 10 pm to closing. The drive-thru is really quick, and the food is very warm when given to us. I have not gone in before, but the vibes in the drive-thru are good and chill.

Everything was good till i found a hair on my coleslaw lid, hopefully there isn't hairs IN ITread more

Okay, not sure if I feel like describing a normal "Randy B" review: the ambiance, the items I ate…read morewith detailed descriptions, etc. After all, no El Pollo Loco transports me into Chicken Heaven. But, I will say... You can't go too wrong with a 2-piece, white meat, combo meal with 2 sides, nor the 380 cal Double Chicken Avocado salad with light cilantro dressing -- both are tremendous and filling. (Single piece Thigh is $3.49 each, forget that!) Bottom-line, one of the more healthy fast food options out there. Location Specific: Salinas, CA (1259 N Davis Rd) ======================================== * Ample seating inside (pretty clean!) * The service is pleasant and efficient. * Walk-up only, no drive-thru * Located in a large outdoor strip-mall surrounded by all types of stores * Located 1 block away from Costco

Wow I haven't done fast food in awhile. Twelve dollars wit…read moretax for a LOT of rice and beans, a little chicken, cheese. A decent amount of sour cream and avocado. This is my leftover rice and beans that I plan on tossing at the next gasoline stop.

I went back for the Seaside roll & the salmon lover roll. It's so good. :)…read more The seaside roll was fried shrimp tempura with albacore , lemon and some bright orange sprinkles. It was good . The salmon roll had a lot of salmon. It was also so so good. Yay

For a cold night, hot black or green tea is available. If you can't stand the heat of soon dofu,…read morethey will water it down but that's not the same (I wish they offered to crack an egg in to dilute the spiciness instead). Their bulgogi was the dish I enjoyed the most. There was no wasabi inside the nigiri that was part of the Half and Half combo. They don't have dolsot bibimbap for dinner.