Okay, not sure if I feel like describing a normal "Randy B" review: the ambiance, the items I ate with 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 read more

Wow I haven't done fast food in awhile. Twelve dollars wit tax 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. read more

El Pollo Loco - Pollo grande bowl with avocado after eating all the chicken, etc. It should be called a rice and bean bowl with chicken garnish - Mexican Near Me - Salinas, California

El Pollo Loco is the standard for yummy, fast, affordable chain Mexican food. Though commercialized, it's healthier than Taco Bell and less corporate than chipotle. I like to get the original pollo bowl and add their creamy salad dressing-- it's filling and super tasty. The service at this location was meh, but the restaurant was clean, though there's no drive through. read more

Love the new "Street Tacos"! My husband brought a couple home as a sampler, then we had to have more. We've been through all the varieties, and especially like the shrimp, chicken carbon, and Keto tacos. They are served up in a six pack if you want to try several. I liked the colorful, convenient box that held our latest assortment! Streety flavor and fresh, we doused them with guacamole and salsa and devoured them! read more

El Pollo Loco - Pollo Loco Take-Out box - Mexican Near Me - Salinas, California

Unfortunately the customer service is not up to snuff. We ordered five items and only got three. Perhaps the staff are training as they seemed overwhelmed. They weren't friendly either. I don't recommend the keto burrito as it is mostly cabbage and very little chicken. The avocado wasn't sliced, it was a quarter of the avocado just plopped into the middle of the burrito. The chicken in the three piece meal was overcooked. read more

I don't know why I have not reviewed this location prior to now there are two locations in Salinas and I do think both of them are extremely friendly hard-working fast and overall it's good quality fast food. I hate fast food as in McDonald's Burger King etc. however being Mexicana it is hard to find a place that you like and that doesn't make you feel gross after you eat it for example Taco Bell LOL(don't get me wrong I still go there too in a pinch) I couldn't believe that this location has bad reviews. But I did see someone below me say that if you are quick to write a review about bad service then you must equally provide reviews when you get treated great. As I walked up to the restaurant I was standing outside saying goodbye to my mom over the phone, one of their employees Liliana held the door open for me and again I could see her smile through the mask and it made my day. I had just left the store next-door and to say the service was not as superior. Then when I got up to the register Liliana was back at it helping people with a smile. I had a strange request however she did what she could honored it for me and overall made my dinner plans very easy. See I wanted to make some thing similar to what they provide in their tostada salad at home however I knew I wouldn't be able to get the tostada shell is crispy and amazing as the ones that they have she sold me two of them with no hesitation actually with a smile end it almost made me sad when I left her a tip and she seems surprised. We should all tip you guys this shouldn't be some thing someone has to mention service workers live off tips minimum wage is a joke especially in the state of California. Do your part you guys if you want to get service remember the days that these people are having when they're serving us our food selling us our groceries handing us our coffee at Starbucks whatever is going on just make sure you treat people right. Liliana you made my day with your smile friendliness and helpfulness I hope your day is amazing. Good job Pollo Loco! You guys always come through! read more

Will not be returning to this location. The chicken was incredibly dry.... It looks like if it was microwaved/reheated or even old. I had to throw it away due to it being almost impossible to eat. At least the beans and rice were good... but disappointed I payed $33 for dry chicken. read more

El Pollo Loco - Dry chicken - Mexican Near Me - Salinas, California

Ordered ahead to make things easy. Once I pulled up told them I was there for a pickup order, pulled up to get my food and the girl was so quick to shove the food at me, I'm trying to ask for salsa and she quickly says it's in the bag thanks and closes the window. I check the bag surprise surprise no salsa no straw no napkins. After sitting there trying to get the attention of the 3 female workers just standing there talking. One comes to the window. I say the salsa is not in the bag so can I please get a few of each and I want the avocado salsa. She comes back with two salsa again quickly says and we don't have the avocado one thanks and closes the window as quickly as she can. The tacos were burned and greasy. The chicken burritos had over cooked chicken that was gross and hard, and chicken bones inside. Awful experience. I'll go elsewhere next time. read more

Great service and delicious food. Love coming to this location. I always feel welcome

When I was in the mood for some great grilled chicken, always headed for this place. That marinade they use is really delicious. I don't know what it is but it really hit a home run with me. I would always add the beans and a few other items, but their chicken just cant be beat Always cooked just right. Never burned, never greasy, never undercooked. Always done jus right. Never had a bad meal here read more

They forgot my order or gave it away with someone else's order.. I didn't notice till they were three orders past my number and I was the last person standing waiting for my food read more

Monday, 10/8/18- We ordered the 2 Pc Drumsticks Kids Meal w/a side of Mashed Potatoes, 2 flour tortilla's and 2 pc Churros for dessert. I was definitely a bit surprised with the packaging of the kids meal. (See photo) This made it hard to eat. Total $7.41 My son said the Chicken was way, way to hot to eat. He'll realize later on that having your food delivered Hot is actually a good thing! I tasted his Mashed potatoes and they were very similar to the ones at KFC. He did like mashed potatoes and said the flour tortillas were good too. I took notice to how warm and soft they were. Young woman at the register was nice. And she had our food ready within minutes. Fast service but restaurant was empty as well. Only 2 other people eating and only 1 person in line behind me. Store appearance was nice but dirty. See pictures below. My son really wanted to sit inside and eat but the temperature felt like we were in Alaska. Way too cold to enjoy eating his food inside so he choose to eat in the back seat of the car, in the parking lot instead. Not good, not bad. read more

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The restaurant was not clean. The restrooms were filthy. Chicken had a bad flavor, not sure how to describe it....it didn't taste fresh and just tasted odd. Wouldn't dream of going back. read more

El Pollo Loco in Salinas? Just don't. On long car rides I often lose my battle with boredom. A desire to eat healthy loses out to something that's fast and satisfying. I'd eaten once at an El Pollo Loco, a single item purchased at a drive-thru window in a SoCal location, and it was fine. This wasn't fine. The chips here - which make an appearance in many of their salads - are cooked in rancid oil. Do you know what rancid oil tastes like? You will when you taste it, trust. It'll leave you picking out all the little bits of rotten tortilla chips that dot your salad. It'll make you a hazard on the road. It'll make you kick yourself for not having at least gone to Subway which is always reliably mediocre and never disgusting. This was disgusting. The pain was deep when my son later asked what inspired me to go to El Pollo Loco. "In Salinas, of all places" he shouted, "which actually has GOOD Mexican food!". There might be some El Pollo Loco's that are worthy of your business. The one in Salinas is not, and about the other locations? I'll never know. As of this visit, I'm this chain's biggest non-fan. read more

Good Service.. I love this place so much lots of good varieties of chic. I like the cleanliness of this establishment.

Whenever we received bad service somewhere everybody's quick to call to complain or post it on Yelp. If that's the case you got to do the same thing when they give you Superior Service!!! So here I go... MAJOR SHOUT OUT to the Pollo Loco on N. Davis Rd in Salinas!! They were obviously short-staffed, and lunchtime was busy with lhe line literally out the door, but all FOUR employees running the show kept their cool!! They all smiled at everyone, apologize for the delays thanked theor patrons for coming in and all the while, cooking chicken and serving it up in a timely manner considering everything they had going against them during their lunch time rush!! Thank you Pollo Loco crew!! My Tacos al Carbon were the bomb!!! read more

Ordered curbside yesterday. Placed the order a few minutes after noon. I understand that it's the peak of lunch rush so I expected to wait. Half an hour does by and still no food. I decided to go inside and just pick it up and found that my order has been sitting on the counter the whole time. Not a good visit yesterday. read more

Most of the chicken in Pollo bowl was grisly or inedible. It did not appear to be marinated & grilled, like they usually do. you have to ask for utensils and napkins, they don't just give them to you, which is strange. The restaurant was hot inside. I don't know how the workers do it. There was a sign saying help wanted outside. i've been to a lot of El Pollo Loco restaurants. This one was not as good as usual read more

I ordered 8pc family chicken meal thru online. Waited 40mins for my food to get delivered. When I got my food, it was missing the main item, which is the chicken itself. I only got all the sides that came with the 8pc meal. Waited another 40mins for them to deliver the chicken that was missing. This place needs a LOT of training on order accuracy especially if it's ordered online. Orders should be double check before sealing the bag!! I wouldn't recommend ordering online from this restaurant! read more

Good food. Good service. Enjoyed the food. Nice vibe all together would come again. Good on the way to UC SB

Went in about 1030 to pick up 8 pc thighs & legs thinking that you'd get real good chicken. Got home and Bam, dried burnt chicken, shrunk down and stringy! Female employee was nice and greeted me but she just had to give me way overcooked chicken. She had to do it. I ate 1 piece and threw out the rest. I'll never learn I guess. read more

We had a coupon and wanted to try their shrimp tacos. I had the shrimp and chicken salad. The chicken was really dry but the shrimp was ok. Their beans had no flavor. Hubby said his tacos were good. Overall the food was a little boring. But hey, I had a coupon. . read more

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I was there the other day at El Pollo Loco and I experience that the manager was yelling to one of the employees and she was not very Nice or professional about it, she may need to have some training on how to talk to the employees in a better professional manner. Not nice! Please treat others just like you want to be treated! read more

We seldom eat fast food, but sometimes on road trips, they are unavoidable. You just don't have the time to eat at a sit down restaurant and take an hour for your meal. On our way to Cambria, we stopped by this mall in Salinas to have lunch. I remember liking the chicken at an El Pollo Loco that I've been to years ago, so we chose to eat here. My husband has never eaten here before though. We both liked the chicken. The marinade was good and the chicken is grilled, not fried. It's a much better alternative than KFC, Popeyes or McDonald's. You can see the chicken being grilled in the premises. The hubby thought the mashed potatoes with gravy that he chose for his side was the same processed stuff you get at KFC. The coleslaw also didn't have a lot of flavor. I chose the steamed broccoli and steamed corn for my sides. Broccoli was crisp, but my corn was overcooked. Value is good. I ordered the 2 pc. chicken combo (chips + 2 sides + fountain drink) for $7.50. Service was good too. They do have other items on the menu, such as tacos, burritos and enchiladas, but I have never tried those. Don't know how good they are. The star of this place is really the chicken. It's flavorful, moist and delicious. read more

El Pollo Loco - Two piece chicken and 2 sides - Mexican Near Me - Salinas, California

Counters were disgusting and filthy!!! The salsa bar look 10 times worse!!! Trash was over filling!!! Management seriously needs a wake up call!!! I don't know how they can serve food to customers with standards such as these. Very poor service, I used to enjoy coming here. read more

El Pollo Loco - Mexican Near Me - Salinas, California

The two stars are for food quality. The service and food delivery were poor. The chicken was extremely salty. Arrived at 10:45 AM to pick up lunch for a Birthday celebration at work. The restaurant had one other customer dining at the time and three employees that I could see. I approached to order and was greeted by an employee who was limited in his ability to greet and help with questions. During the 5 minutes of attempting to discuss with him my menu options due to them being out of sides - his reply amounted to less than 10 words. I looked at my receipt and it said Lillian waited on me.... Before I left I asked his name, "George". Never a thanks, good day, yadda-yadda! Then I get to my destination and notice they shorted me on the order. Didn't receive the additional side of chicken I paid for and all the food containers appeared to be thrown into the bag. The mac n' cheese top came off while in the bag and it was not only a loss but it got all over other items. This was a good example of an employee who really doesn't give a sh#* about his own person or the company he works for. It's really too bad. Many years ago I frequented El Pollo and the reason I did was that of the healthy fast food menu options. Service was okay back then but this recent experience really shows how its evolved into an I don't care about the customer experience. read more

El Pollo Loco - Shorted for the for the extra chicken - not in bag. - Mexican Near Me - Salinas, California

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I didn't know what would stay in my system after a rough night out so around 2:30pm I'm driving nearby and remember El Pollo Loco. The bartender at our Pit Suite at Moto GP mentioned that she couldn't eat any sugar and that she manages to find something to eat here. I've been before but I rarely go to Salinas so I thought what the heck. A couple doors down there was a Chinese take-out joint and Bagel Bakery... I said screw it, let's do the chicken. The $1 value menu Char-grilled Chicken would have been the perfect snack/lunch but they were super dry but tasted very lovely. I ordered 5 of those, a Classic Chicken Burrito (perfect hangover food), a $1 Cheese Quesadilla and a side order of sour cream. I cannot eat most foods without something white and creamy... so of courst I hit up the sour cream before I even left the building. My stomach thanked me for chowing down a slive of the quesadilla covered w/ crema. The Chicken drumstick... the photo on the menu board looks much bigger than lifesize... just a heads up! read more

I went to El Pollo Loco in Salinas on November 10, 2019 and had a pleasant experience. The cashier was friendly and helpful. The food was hot and fresh. The salsa bar was clean and fresh. I will be coming again. Thank you. read more

Great chicken overall especially when it's fresh, thumbs down on this location for the disorganized sauce area and unclean tables. I would order for takeout. With some work this place could be a lot better! read more

Pollo Loco is awesome. Fast food chicken doesn't get better than this. It's cheap and good. I wish they had these in San Francisco.

A regional fast food chain that specializes in fried chicken with a Mexican bent. I had one of their combos that included a drumstick, a thigh, a soft drink, and a choice of two sides which I took to be macaroni and cheese and refried beans. The food was functional but not especially good. While the chicken was nicely fried, it was definitely a touch too salty. In the case of the mac and cheese, I appreciated the creaminess of the cheese sauce, but there was nothing about it that made me want to keep eating it. The refried beans were actually decent though, and they were obviously made in house. This last observation has led me to believe that I may have had a better meal if I opted for one of their Mexican specialities involving chicken like their burrito perhaps. read more

El Pollo Loco - Mexican Near Me - Salinas, California

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We've only come here a couple of times and it appears this place has nothing but problems. We stopped in yesterday just before 6:00, hoping for a better experience. We walked in yesterday evening for dinner and the trash cans were overfilled and every single table that someone wasn't sitting at was filthy, with some having trays of food left on them that had not been cleaned up. We ended up having to clean our own table to eat. Who knows how long since the trash had been taken out or the tables were cleaned off....and they were just starting with the dinner rush. We were there for about a half hour and in that time not one person came out to clean off any tables or remove any trash --and this is with the dinner rush going on. Seeing the way they keep their dining area clean, I'd be scared to see what their kitchen looks like. Definitely skip this El Pollo Loco. read more

I bought a food here today, March 29, 2017. To go lunch for my family. Not knowing they're going to give me a chicken that are some leftovers last night! I trusted this place and now I don't think I'm going to go back. Wasted my money, time and no appetite to eat. You better serve your customers the chicken that they paid for. I used to like this place. But not anymore! read more

El Pollo Loco - Very dry eh? Scared to eat this s**+ - Mexican Near Me - Salinas, California

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I'm not trying to be mean, but El Pollo Loco is one of the many little good fast food places in Salinas. The chicken and mashed potatoes are BOMB! The first time I came, I hated it so much for some reason. Now I always want to go back for more!! Good job El Pollo Loco team!! read more

I love the food. How ever. My I'm 100% sure my credit card information was stolen here. This was the only out of the ordinary place I used that card in over a year. Attempts where made on my card to make purchases at a convince store as well as ticket masters. Thankfully it was unsuccessful. Also a friend of mine who goes to the market street El Pollo Loco had his debut card information stolen. He hade charges over 2000$. Use cash if you go to these places in this city. Could easily be gang affiliated. read more

Since I love to cook, it's very rare for me to east at fast food places. I was headed past this place, and had gone far too long without food. I was starved. I've seen the commercials, dozens of times, so I decided to pull in and try it out. First, I was impressed with how friendly the front counter people were. I ordered the low-cal salad with chicken, and a chipotle burrito for my son. On a whim, I ordered a small side of their beans. I got my order "to go"", drove home. I was pleasantly surprised with how filling and delicious my salad was-- loved the cilantro dressing. I liked the salsa bar, and all the extras...like cilantro. My son loved his burrito. Average price per person is about $8.00. Last night, I was hungry and decided to go there and buy the chicken. I wanted to know if it's as good as the commercials make it look I got a chicken breast combo with beans and rice. The chicken was moist and flavorful! I don't get all the complaints. This is waaaaaaaaaaaay better than KFC and a whole lot healthier! So, for the times when I'm hungry and need something fast to eat-- I'll head over here. Sure, it's fast food-- but it's not loaded with grease, mayo, processed cheese etc. Great chicken! Oh, and the second time I went there, I had a different person ringing up my sale-- and she smiled and said thank you. So far, so good! As far as complaints that this place is dirty-- I disagree. The general appearance is clean. Yeah, the small sink in the kitchen area could use a good detail scrubbing. Some areas of the kitchen floor could use a little extra elbow grease. Ice was spilled all over the drink machine-- but that's not entirely their fault. The majority of the kitchen area didn't look dirty to me, and I'm very fussy about that! Maybe they've cleaned up their act, since the older reviews were posted? read more

This is right around the corner from where I work, when I'm in Salinas... on my 1st time. Tostada salad combo... So good! I remember finishing the whole thing! That never happens.... On my 2nd time here... I got the same thing... but i got a bit of food poisoning. it could have been an off day... but that gives it a 2.5 for me... read more

I sent my husband here to pick up dinner and bring it back to our hotel room. The restaurant is walking distance. I waited. And I waited. And I waited. I started to worry.... I would have called his phone but he left it in our room since he was only going to run here and come back. I thought I should start calling the hospitals, I was worried. He came back and said that inside the restaurant there were 6 orders ahead of him. He was in the restaurant waiting 30 minutes after he ordered. The food was alright. We both got the small side salads but I think there was really no dressing on them. They were really dry. The chicken taco was good but the chicken avocado burrito was not good. It did not taste like the ones in Vegas. I can't place the difference exactly but I did not notice any avocado in there. It was flavorless and the lettuce inside was soggy even the the tortilla was toasted to a crisp on the outside. read more

This place was a mess. Traveling through the area, needed fast food. Wanted to eat it there. Plenty of tables but they were all dirty filthy. The floors were even worse. I guess the staff that cleans the eating area wasn't doing their job. We had to wipe our own tables off. So many better choices in Salinas. We won't be back. read more

Arrived at 5:30 pm and was advised it would be a 30 minute wait for breasts. This restaurant is ALWAYS ALWAYS behind and does NOT seem to care. The response: "it's Sunday, that's the way it is." Well thanks, but no thanks, I'll be marking El Pollo Loco #3404 off my list and will be dining elsewhere. I'll be taking your survey and reporting to corporate as well. This is BS!l Dropped it another star, because when order was ready I asked for a side of cheese and was told I'd have to be charged for it. read more