El Pollo Loco

We love The Stand Santee the food is always fresh. There are plenty of food options so if you're…read morecoming with a group I'm sure there is something for everyone. Ray and the rest of the team always makes sure to walk around and talk to customers and see if you need anything. I would give their costumer service and attention to detail 5 Stars.

Great restaurant. Food is always great and Ray is always so helpful! Customer service is always…read moregreat

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Boxed Meal Catering Menu - Sandwiches, Salads, Wraps, with Chips, Pickles and a Cookie

Bad Hombres Good Mexican Food

4.2(604 reviews)

0.6 mi

Food is great but the drive through line takes forever. Even if there are only a few cars ahead of…read moreyou it can take upwards of 30 minutes.

Went golfing at Carlton Oaks and found this place nearby. Lots of people ordering food inside and…read moreat the drive-thru. Mexican restaurant run by non-Mexicans with tasty and generous amounts of Mexican food. We shared the nachos carne asada with half no cheese because of my dairy free son. Lotso food and tasty meat. Chips stayed crunchy all the way to the bottom. Also had the machaca burrito and taquitos. Yummy. Great service. Friendly and very accommodating! Plenty of inside table seating. Glad they have a self-serve soda fountain. Next time we're in Santee, we'll be back.

Surf and turf fries, and tacos

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Surf and Turf Fries

The Chicken Shop

4.5(566 reviews)

0.6 mi

Fried chicken and fried shrimp are amazing. Juicy and syays…read morecrispy and hot for what seems like forever. I drive from mira mesa to santee just for this. Stay away from the sides not so good. But will do if you don't plan ahead with your own.

Here's a polished version you could send as a review or message to the shop:…read more My dad is obsessed with your fish and chips -- tender, crispy, and always freshly made! We've really enjoyed coming in, especially on weekends with the family. The only reason he says he won't come back is because there's no malt vinegar available. He mentioned that most fish and chip shops usually offer it, and for him it's part of the full experience. I even offered to bring our own, but he's still pretty set on it. Just wanted to pass along the suggestion because we genuinely love the food and would love to keep bringing the whole family in. Hopefully malt vinegar is something the shop might consider adding!

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Pepper Farm Deli

Family-owned & operated

The food and service are awesome!! Everyone who works here is so sweet and friendly!…read more And the food is wonderful--very fresh and a lot of healthy options. I'll definitely be back soon. Thank you for an excellent dinner and they good music playing too

The service was great, and I always appreciate being greeted when I walk into an establishment. It…read morewas pretty busy during lunch, but our food came out much faster than expected. The restaurant itself is on the smaller side, with only a few tables indoors, but there are additional tables available outside. My wife and I decided to try a couple of their sandwiches--the Cubano and the Greenbird. Both were absolutely amazing! The flavors were on point, and we really enjoyed both sandwiches. I'm definitely looking forward to coming back and trying some of their other sandwiches. Highly recommend giving this place a try!

Delicious Soft Serve Ice Cream

Lox

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Sizzle Shack Burger

4.8(151 reviews)

4.7 mi

The food was great. We ordered the California Burger, the Regular Burger, sizzle fries, and tater…read moretots. The burgers tasted fresh. Fries were nice shoe string fries and tater tots were nice and crispy. Pricing was great too. Will definitely come back!

Hands down the best burger spot in East County! My husband and I come here at least once a week,…read moreand it just keeps getting better since they first opened. The burgers are always fresh (they grind their meat on-site) and flavorful, the fries and tots are crispy and delicious, and the milkshakes are a good sweet treat. Their breakfast sandwiches are also seriously underrated! One of the best parts is how friendly and welcoming the owners are! You can tell this is a true family-run business because the whole family works there and treats customers so well. The restaurant is always super clean and has a great atmosphere. Just a heads up, there are no bathrooms, but honestly the food and service more than make up for it. We're so happy to have this place in East County!

Dining room is clean and has great promo materials

Cheeseburger Salad With Ranch!

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Bacon Cheese Fries

Luna Grill Santee

4.5(352 reviews)

0.3 mi

Excellent service, tasty meals and good music! We come to…read morethe Santee location all the time and Robert & Mai are always super friendly. Highly recommend!!

Amazing food! ready in record time! Really friendly staff…read more Affordable and tons of healthy choices! Love this place!

Atmosphere

Grilled Chicken kabobs, Mediterranean Salad, hummus & pita, beef kabobs, desserts, rice, wraps and sauce.

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Apple Walnut Wrap

Board & Brew - Santee

4.0(219 reviews)

0.3 mi

Let's be real--places don't run this smoothly by accident. That's Lisa…read more She's the kind of Director of Operations that people wish they had--sharp, organized, and clearly ten steps ahead at all times. Everything feels seamless, and that's not luck... that's leadership. -hope she gets a raise! Wishing her all the health and the wealth!!

Solid sandy and don't forget about their brew. 3.00 dollar June, too bad it was a little early for…read moreme. Spice Roast beef is a winner, a tad underseasoned but still hit the spot. My girls had the Baja chicken and it looked great. Add dirty chips, it's a complete meal.

TUB O'TUNA

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In-N-Out Burger

4.1(297 reviews)

0.5 mi

Some days the burgers are extra delicious, others- way off. Consistency issue for sure here, but…read morewhen our order is made correctly, it's great. Have had perfectly wrapped protein style burgers, other times it's a few small pieces of lettuce on top and bottom. Same with whole grilled onions. Either perfectly cooked/sweet (like a real "grilled" onion), or hardly grilled, borderline raw. The employees always say if your order isn't great to go back in, but if you can go back and they'll fix it, but once you've been in the drive thru lane forever- silly to go get off the car and go inside. Nice to sit at their patio when it's a warm night. Employees are all nice and attentive.

Great news for the location is they continue to be very busy and good for meeting a quick need…read more To management - please review how the protein style burgers are made and appear. Also, missing were the cheese and grilled onions I requested. However they appeared on the other two burgers which were supposed to be a number 1. It would also be nice to find a way to keep a to go order warm for a drive home (10-15 min).

10-2024

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Image

Anny's Fine Burger

4.0(904 reviews)

0.3 mi

This has become our go-to burger spot. A bit of a haul from La Mesa, but after reading their…read morewrite-up in the Union-Tribune, we headed east to Santee. Great burgers (if you want it medium, make sure you impress that upon them), great people (thank you Lisa and Grace!), good prices, cold beer and a casual outside area where we can hang out with our dog. The trip east is incredibly worth our time!

I did not feel like cooking tonight. -!: I had been helping my Mom care for my Dad after hip…read moresurgery also. She either cooks or I cook and bring him delicious, nutritious, and creative meals to help him feel satisfied and happy with great-tasting along with healthy meals that he needs to heal during the recovery process. I was originally going to head to In and Out Burgers in Santee, but after driving there I quickly changed my mind. The drive through was so long, it made me reconsider. I decided to tryAnny's Fine Burgers. I ordered a regular burger with lettuce and tomato plus onion the way my Dad likes, oh and pickles too. I decided to get one also prepared the same way. I normally do not eat red meat because I am a chicken, shrimp, and fish lover but on occasion I will make an exception if a restaurant knows how to make good burgers. I ordered for both of us, but I had to quickly eat mine so I could write this review and satisfy my raging appetite . The girl behind the counter was so friendly and helpful. She brought me a plate and my bag of food. I opened the wrapper and my eyes were in awe because this bigger was large in size and looked fresh. I bit down thinking there was no way I could eat it all. But, I did! I devoured it in five minutes! It was fresh, delicious, and juicy! They seasoned it to perfection . So glad they do not overly salt their burgers. I also ordered a homemade lemonade and a side of fries for my Dad to enjoy. I better go now as I need to deliver this deliciousness to my Dad! Oh I almost forgot, they keep the place so clean and I love the music in the background . Drake was playing! This is on my favorite burger list! You need to try this hidden gem in Santee, California.

Burger and fries

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El Rancho Cantina & Grill

4.2(565 reviews)

2.2 mi

I live very close to Old Town San Diego and like trying many different family style Mexican…read morerestaurants. In fact over the many years I've lived here, I've tried most of them. Today I found myself in Santee running an errand and stumbled across El rancho cantina and grill. Since I was hungry I figured I would give it a shot and while am I glad I did! I ordered the chicken mole with flour tortillas and it was the best mole I've ever tried. And I've tried a lot! I'm still thinking about it and I literally licked the plate clean, if you don't believe me see the pictures! I don't make it to East county very often but I'm already thinking about making the trip back for more food, I was planning to order the chicken chimichanga but decided to go with the mole instead and wow!

Horrible customer service! We stood there waiting over 10…read moreminutes. The hostess and server saw us walked by us multiple times and did not acknowledge us. They are not even that busy right now. I will never return to this restaurant. Absolutely horrible customer service.

Bar

Fajitas

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Menu 1/2025

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Melanie T.

8 years ago

We love El Pollo Loco! For some reason especially this place in comparison to the other ones. It's really clean and the staff are friendly (even though sometimes they are not but that just mean they probably are having a bad day so let it go peeps) We always go for the family meal so that we can have extra to take home plus the value is there. You can't go wrong will grilled Chicken, salsa bar and tortillas. I wouldn't recommend doing the drive through though, they won't give you the amount of salsa that you need so i always opt to buy inside. read more

PATRICK H.

11 years ago

This is the second time I have gone here this month and got no service in the drive through line. I waited for 5 minutes no response. I drove through looked inside and the guy with the headset smiled and waved. Do you job. Wtf. Manager please do something about this I like your food. Check your camera it is 1pm july 22 white Chevy Truck with blue wheels. Your cappy employees are costing you business. Thus is rediculois. I'm going to chick filet. read more

Elisa H.

135

2 years ago

Follow Up to "Automative Reply from Pollo Loco Corporate" OLIVIA. Link stated to follow up with corporate offices, not a person. I cut and pasted my feedback left for Santee, CA Pollo Loco. Why follow with a Pollo Loco Corp link? Obviously nothing going to improve. read more

Joyce H.

116

11 years ago

This has to be one of my fave fast food restaurants. Tender seasoned grilled chicken with their fresh salsa is a must have for me. And the staff is really friendly as well. read more

Jacklyn L.

8 years ago

This place is my favorite location to get a good chicken taco. The chicken always taste great the and the drive thru always moves fast.

Zoe Z.

135

247

291

7 years ago

Place I don't know why it doesn't have that many stars the food's good the service is always really good there's never a long line

Scott B.

9 years ago

food poisoning twice from this location!!!!! beware!! the manager alberto lies over and over! beware!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! read more

Dominick D.

7 years ago

Best chicken I've ever had the waitress was nice and the seats were comfortable and clean and the service was excellent

Reg A.

10 years ago

I've eaten here about 5 times dine-in only and have not had any problems. Excellent customer service.

Mina G.

5 years ago

Delicious avocado tacos. I really like their food.

El Pollo Loco - mexican - Updated September 2026

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