POLLO LOCO -- YUM!!! We always loved El Pollo Loco when we lived in Los Angeles. We came often to enjoy their delicious chicken served up at a price starving Navy types could afford.
Happily, that has not changed in the 23 years since we were last here! :) The chicken is as juicy and flavorful as we remembered, cooked up hot and fresh after being marinated in a delicious citrus and spice marinade. Black beans are still delicious too!!
They have added more choices to the menu, and for a limited time they even have Chile-Lime shrimp. That we will try another day -- today it was all about the pollo!!
I got the 2 piece breast and wing with 2 sides (rice and black beans) which was my fave back in the day. I always wrapped mine into corn tortillas and drowned them in red salsa -- but with the new salsa bar I tried all the salsas!! I have to say my fave was the Salsa Roja from the salsa bar - smoky and hot without overwhelming the flavor of the chicken.
The salsa bar is a great addition to this chain. There are 4 kinds of salsas, red and green, with varying levels of heat from very hot to mild. Each salsa is made fresh daily, and you can taste that's true.
The place was a bit dirty when we were there, with unwired tables and trash under the seats and the salsa bar. Staff walked by but never came back to clean, which was odd because it wasn't busy. Clean the place and you get 5 stars from me because 5 star food + 3 star cleanliness equals 4 stars.