Great place for a quick dinner for the family. We went near closing time through the drive thru - they were really polite and welcoming to our questions. Food was packaged well for transport and the place looked immaculate while we were waiting. This caught my eye, because they had a dedicated employee for cleaning. We will be back again! Tip: highly recommend knowing some Spanish when going to through the drive thru. The speaker person only spoke Spanish, but the manager who spoke English came to help with the order at the speaker (my broken Spanish isn't always fully understandable!). Taste of food: the chicken was super moist, melted in your mouth and their frijoles de charros was on point!! The churros are made fresh. read more

See all

The food was delicious the chicken all that was great, but quesadillas was awesome but the beans and the rice was small. I can't feed my tribe overall it was OK. read more

El Pollo Rico - Whole Chicken Meal - Mexican Near Me - Austin, Texas

Our go-to is the half chicken meal. We love making the tacos at home adding avocado, cheese, etc. We normally get the rice and beans as the sides, but this time we asked for double plantains instead. Delicious! Very inexpensive for two! read more

El Pollo Rico - Menu - Mexican Near Me - Austin, Texas

Food was DELICIOUS! I tried it while I was visiting Austin and I look forward to eating there again.

This is not a place to come expecting "healthy" food. But it is a place to expect flavor! Have had the half chicken and papa asada (chicken) - both delicious! They are always quick to acknowledge you and prices are reasonable (papa asada with a chocolate tres leche was $15 today). Clean. Restrooms are locked, so you have to ask at the register for the key. Would recommend. read more

El Pollo Rico - Papa Asada, chicken - Mexican Near Me - Austin, Texas

See all

The food is very flavorful and the prices are reasonable. I've had the pollo and the carne (beef) asadas. Both were very good. The wait time depends on what time you go and how busy they are--like every other restaurant. A common complaint, it appears, is getting the order wrong or items left out. I had that happen my last visit; although this is the first time that's happened. I think difficulty in communication was the problem. It would serve the business well to have at least one person fluent in English each shift. I spoke to two people. We went back and forth about my order and she still got it wrong. Just check your order before you drive away. read more

I don't know why I waited so long. There's ALWAYS a huge line in their drive through. Pro-tip is order on-line for pick-up. I ordered 6 meals and plus desserts and sides. The arrival time was about 25 minutes out. I arrived on time and my order was completed about 10 minutes later. Given the huge line in the drive through and how busy the kitchen was, I was fine with the wait. The staff was efficient and no nonsense. I'm also fine with that. Their prices are great. Many options below $10 and the portions are large. The real stand-out is the food. It's excellent. We shared Tostadas Ricas. Simple, but flavorful and I wouldn't have changed a thing. I had a Pastor Gordita. Hugh portion and delicious. My youngest son had a 2 piece chicken meal. He couldn't stop talking about how tasty the chicken was. My wife had a bowl which was so full the container would barely close. Based on other reviews, I checked the order and noticed they'd missed my desserts. Everything else was correct. I recommend you check your order. This is a much more authentic and better option than larger chain restaurants. Get as much of the green sauce as you can. It's spicy and delicious. Similar to the dona sauce at Taco Deli. We'll be back. read more

See all

This restaurant is hidden in a strip mall. It was highly rated, so I stopped by to get a chicken quesadilla and a beef burrito. The chicken quesadilla was alright, but came with onions that were not noted on the menu. I would have preferred skipping onions if I had known the online menu was inaccurate. The beef burrito was terrible, served with a half avocado inside, very sour, hard like an apple, and unripe. It caused me to throw up. So much for this adventure... read more

Perhaps the best chicken in Austin. At a minimum, the best bang for your buck. I always order the half chicken meal which comes packed with a whole onion that they have grilled with the chicken. The meat is so tender and flavorful you really cannot complain. For my sides I get the fries, plantains and flour tortillas. Fries: thick cut and soft. I personally prefer this style of fries but if you like thin and crispy, these are not for you. Plantains: grilled, plump, tender, sweet and comes with a creamy yogurt dipping sauce that balances out sweetness of the plantain. Flour tortilla: soft and smells like a tortilla The meal comes with a red sauce which is similar to a mild pico and a creamy spicy green sauce which is delicious. Get this. All of this for $12. The quality you get at this price point just can't be beat. This is in my top 5 favorite chicken places in Austin and I love chicken. read more

See all

Quick service, good price for the amount of food you get, workers are nice! One of our go to's for a quick weeknight dinner when we don't feel like cooking. read more

I ordered nachos and bit into a staple. I can't believe how irresponsible the workers are. I hope everyone working the night shift on 12/16/22 gets fired. This is pathetic. read more

El Pollo Rico - A staple that I bit into - Mexican Near Me - Austin, Texas

If you do n't already love El Pollo Rico, do you even eat chicken in Austin? As a chicken-eating person, I've noshed on many a charcoal-grilled piece of chicken and it always satisfies. This is the newest location, and even though they weren't visible to me on the drive-thru menu, I asked for Papas Ricas - the fully loaded french fries - and they knew what I was talking about and I was able to procure them. These fries come with carne asada, sour cream, cheese, onion, and guacamole. Talk about indulgent! It makes the chicken seem like health food in comparison. Get the whole chicken meal to feel good, add on the Papas Ricas to feel like nothing else matters but cheesy, meaty fries. read more

Always fresh and they always get my order correct!!!! Friendly too Tip these guys a bit better next time read more

I've ordered here at least 20 times and at least 10 of these times my order was messed up and entire platters forgotten. We simply continued to come here because of convenience and location, in person, drive they or Uber eats - it doesn't matter, good luck getting your right order. I've tried ordering the "Mexican burger" with pineapple 4 times, all of these times I just get the regular one even after verifying with the cashier that I would indeed get the special burger and not the regular one twice. Half chicken platters missing from my order, entire platters missing and all they offer everytime when you call is to either go back and pick it up yourself or receive a 1 week voucher worth the price of your missing food as they do not do refunds. Go to the other location that's slightly further, too much hassle here. The only thing consistent here is the chicken, everything else varies greatly in what it will taste like as well. read more

Jeezaloo, I'm straight up angry no one told me about this place. The chicken is delicious. Quesadillas not so much. But the chicken is so good I give 5 stars anyway. We ordered whole chicken meal and we were happy campers. I'm planning on doing pollo rico lunch at least once a month from now on. read more

So here's the thing...I LOVE this chicken. The smoky intense flavors coupled with that spicy green sauce! (As a side note: get extra green sauce. They give you 2 cups if you get a whole chicken...not nearly enough) But I've noticed this location has some down sides. They seem to be pretty slow. Even when there aren't a lot of people inside or in the drive thru, they just seem to be perpetually slow. Also (and most importantly to me) they never have limes. They give you lemon with your meal. I know that seems picky but it does change the overall taste of the chicken. IMO lime with this chicken is a must. The beans at this location have some type of sausage in it. From my recollection that's different than some of the other locations as well. Not necessarily bad, just different. The only real bad thing is that the chicken breast is VERY dry. Hence why only 2 of those small cups of sauce are not sufficient. I don't hold it too much against them because as we know, that's just the nature of chicken breast *shrugs*. But one of the best things about this place are the tortillas. I think they're homemade and boy are they good! You get a good amount of them so I usually have leftovers that I use for breakfast tacos. MMMMMM. I go to this one because it's not even a 2 minute drive from my house. But the things I don't like are enough to have brought me to the decision that I'm willing to drive about 15 minutes to go to the small freestanding one on Stassney. That one seems superior. And I like seeing the smoke coming from the building. It says to me that they're chicken is being cooked right then and there and how can you beat that?! read more

Waited 30 minutes (3rd car in line) to order and several minutes waiting for food. After all that, order was wrong ..which I did not find out until I returned home. The food was nasty, obviously cheap ingredients and thrown together ...not sure what took all the time. Do not come here is you want tasty food in a timely manner! Will not return. Gross!!! read more

This place has best yard bird and sides in town Also a must try is the Gordita It's awesome and try it with chocked Nice service also read more

The chicken is very good. The service is...lazy. I pulled up at 9:42 on Sunday night. I've been wanting to try this place and after driving several hours to get home from traveling, it sounded so good. So, pulled up to the drive-thru and asked for a minute to make my selections and was told their "line was already clean" so the only thing I could order was a half or whole chicken. I said "oh, I'm sorry, what time do you close?" He said "9:45, I mean, 9:40." I said "that's a strange time to close". He said, "yep, do you want anything?" Holy cow! So, I ordered the whole chicken for my family. I asked what came with it he said rice and beans and corn tortillas. I said "could I get some flour tortillas?" He said "No, Do you want anything else?" I said "I guess not you told me I can't have anything else". He told me my total and I drove through. While I was waiting, I looked online and lo and behold...they aren't supposed to close until 10pm. Hmmmmm? But, the chicken was good read more

My parents were excited for this place to open up a location on Slaughter, so we all went together for dinner. I don't know, maybe my expectations were too high but I would NOT recommend this place to anyone. The rice had hardly any flavor, the free chips were disgusting, and don't even get me started on my main dish! I order a beef fajita torta with no guac and no onions and it was ... horrible. The fatijas are cut up into tiny cubes, so as soon as you pick up the sandwich they all fall out and you're just eating bread. My favorite thing was the fries but you can get better ones anywhere else. Don't waste your time and just go to a family-owned food truck! read more

Great food and normally pretty quickly prepared. I love the pastor and appreciate the sour cream and guac included with the quesadillas. Have had a couple of issues with incorrect items but since i'm not picky what i got instead was good too. read more

Never ever go here. They can not ever get anything right. We have given them three opportunities and each time it has been a terrible disappointment. If you are in this area look elsewhere. Truly a shame as the El Pollo Rico on Stassney is very good. Not sure if it's the management or what but at each opportunity they have been a huge let down. read more

No wonder there is always a long line at the drive thru! This spot is tasty, consistent, and reasonably cheap for what you get. The chicken and carne asada are both great, as are the sides. Add to that the delicious homemade tortillas, and you've got a real solid spot to pick up dinner for the family. read more

Went there today for quesadillas. Best I've had and good size portions. We went through drive thru and service was great and quick. Nothing to complain. Definitely coming back for quick bites. read more

Save yourself the trouble here. Drive down to the Stassney pollo place. This place is so slow. 20 mins in a drive thru is ridiculous when there's only 2 cars in front of me. read more

My wife and I went there for lunch. Now I know why there were no customers there. My wife ordered beef tacos that came with onions and cilantro. They were tasteless. I had the 1/2 chicken plate with Charo beans. The chicken looked like it was half grown and it was overcooked and dry. The Charo beans were not cooked all the way through. I had tried them before about 3 years ago (in their old location) and their food was good. I will not be a repeat customer. read more

Service is the worst. The guy at the window is rude. Only good thing about this place is the location and the chicken.

One star because the food is at least good but it's not worth the horrible customer service you get from these people. ‍ Just take the extra minute and go to the one on south 1st and stassney. read more

Exceptional for fast food. Great stop for lunch while waiting on my car repair nearby.

This place just opened. I was excited because I love their char-grilled chicken at other locations. Although the food seems to be on par with taste and quality of other locations, the place inside is not impressive. The drink bar wasn't even new and it already had some broken dispensers. The central heating wasn't working. And, they have yet to get my order completely correct (I've been there 3 times). I also find it very annoying that they have an ancient credit card system that forces you to sign the receipt - what?? It's most annoying when your going through the drive-thru. I wish the best for this place, but it needs to utilize a restaurant consultant to spiffy the place up and to motivate its employees. read more

See all

Apart from the projectile vomiting and diarrhea experienced not long after eating here, the chicken was pretty good. Rice was pretty plain. Beans were disgusting and soupy with chunks of something in there. Hot dog maybe? Tortillas were somewhat dough-y. I'd say the worst thing was the green sauce. It tasted like cardboard and something rotten. For real though, this place gave me food poisoning 100%. read more

Third time I come here hoping service will improve but seems to be getting worse. Slow, music blaring so you can't be heard and food takes long to get. I ordered their chicken which is already prepared. Manager needs to get it together. Not coming back to this restaurant. I don't anyone else is because it was dead. Avoid this place. read more

After working for a 12 hour workday I stopped in here for dinner so I wouldn't have to cook there was not one person in front of me and after 15 minutes they came and asked me what I had ordered so I just asked for my money back which took another five minutes just to get my money back they have no clue how to run a restaurant read more

First of all the drive thru took like forever!!! And second they give you 1 salsa with the meal unbelievable and if you ask for more they will charge you!!! I ask for 2 salsas and they charged me .98 cents!!! Are you kidding me what a rip off!!! I will not do business with anybody that charges for hot sauce!!!! Stop being cheap!!!!!!!!!! Oh buy the way I own a business right behind them and I have been in business for 33 years!!!!! read more

Food is great! Service is poor to say the least. Long wait inside, one person was working the front counter very slowly. Manager was wondering about, no eye contact with guests, no smiles or enthusiasm by any of the staff. Heater not working, part of the drink station not working, looks like they opened before they were ready. I hope this is not the company standard. One unhappy customer ask to speak to the manager. The cashier came back and said the manager was busy, seriously? Looks like we can expect good food and poor service by people who do not care. To bad, could be a great operation. read more

Chicken moist and well seasoned, guacamole great, rice was great. The beans would be better if not so watery., and tortillas could be warmer but I went through the drive thru. read more

This place is horrible!! They close when ever they feel like and half the time the chicken is COLD!!!! The self serve area where they have pico and salsa is always filthy, FFFFFFUUUUCCCCCKKKKKKK THEM!!! Who wants to get dicked out for money???! not me. read more

I've been here at least 10-12 times and have never had a bad experience. Not sure what all the bad reviews are about so felt compelled to say this place is consistently good, quick, healthy, fresh, and delicious. I've never had anyone even be remotely rude. Not everyone is having a good day so don't be so quick to judge...maybe make them laugh or show them some grace. Or who cares...you must have enough friends anyway? You seem nice enough. Bye. read more

This establishment took sooo long to get one taco and then they did not know what salsa was. Lady had an attitude and the guy threw food in the car. Very rude and we will not be going back nor recommending to anyone we know. read more

Amazing food, horrible service. The staff is always in a rush to get you out of the drive thru and makes customers feel awful. Went through the drive thru at 4:45 on a Thursday with all the open signs on and no one responded on the intercom. We drove up to the window and there were employees inside so we turned around and went up to the speaker again... nothing. We left and went to the one on Stassney. They were understaffed, but still took our order...Will never go back to this location. read more