I’m an unrepentant fan of the original Pollo Loco 2 piece meal with pinto beans and salad or slaw and was devastated to see my local closed. I guess I’ll have to go to the much less consistent Sunset/Crescent Heights outlet.
But on a more positive note: what will go into its old ready-for-a-chain space? What should?
Stopped eating the chicken when they were bought by Foster Freeze. But still loved the beans.
Hmmm… What should go in place of Pollo? Have to think on that. But the original Zankou Chicken down the street was always pretty delectable.
Agree. Once they started pre-cooking the chicken I was done.
I wasn’t aware of the change, nor that Foster’s Freeze bought them. When did that happen?
if I had to place a bet…it would be Chipotle or 5 Guys…or a starbucks (but cant remember what is near that area)
there’s a starbucks across the street. chipotle up the other street.
5 guys would probably work, as would a fatburger.
Yep. Plus there’s a relatively new Zankou Chicken (where I never go anymore since discovering Ta Eem Grill).
I’d dearly love it to become a Five Guys. (or Smashburger, or best of all, a Habit!) A Del Taco even more so, but alas, it’s not a drive-thru space. Guisado’s perhaps? Panera Bread? Pokenometry? Finally a decent pizza in Hollywood? A Dog Haus? Or, ooh, a Mr. Baguette? So many exciting possibilities.
But yeah, prolly another Starbucks, one across the street notwithstanding.
Yes please!
About 5-6 years ago I started noticing a couple of Pollo Loco drive-thrus were selling Foster Freeze items. In particular the one on La Cienega south of Olympic. It might be a merger or buyout, not sure. But the chicken wasn’t the same.
I looked it up. Neither merger nor buyout. Just an agreement dating from 1994 for Fosters Freeze to sell/co-brand inside some Pollo Loco outlets.
Ownership-wise, according to Wikipedia, American PL outlets were purchased from Mexican family ownership by Denny’s (!) in 1983. American Securities Capital Partners acquired it in 1999 and sold it to Trimaran Capital Partners in 2005.
To my palate at least, the chicken has never changed, and at our (former) location it’s always been flame-grilled in-house.
doesn’t appear to be an ownership thing; they are actually now a publicly traded company.
El Pollo Loco enacted a master franchise contract with Fosters Freeze in 1994.[6] Mark Hardinson, the director of marketing for the grilled-chicken chain, stated that sales increased from three percent to six percent at El Pollo Loco’s co-branded locations that served Fosters Freeze’s soft-serve desserts.[6] There are 92 Fosters Freeze branches, not including the 163 El Pollo Loco restaurants that serve Fosters Freeze products. Over half of El Pollo Loco’s serve Fosters Freeze products.[6] The corporate office is currently located in Rancho Cucamonga, California, a suburb of Los Angeles,.
Only downside to a Guisado’s is that the corner is already heavily weighted with Mexican, with King of Grill and Tacos El Gavilan. Would love to get some new-and-needed diversity there. Korean, Vietnamese, Chinese, Italian, are all needed.
Ahhh… I see. Big business as usual. I had a friend who used to go to the La Cienega location constantly, but had a couple of ummm… experiences. I’m trying to play nice, so I’ll leave it at that. My brother loves the place though 
.
Slauson Tracks on the weekends for the real El Pollo Loco. That area also has some of the best tacos in LA, Momo and Los Poblanos.
Mmm, I have to try that. It’s true, I’m one of those who doesn’t venture south of the 10 often, but Pollo Loco Autentico looks worthy of pilgrimage.
One of the owners a few years ago decided the chicken took to long to cook on the grill, so they started to bring in chickens that were par-cooked to save time then finished on the grill, that is when they lost me.
I was just going to write this. As far as I know, most locations simply char/mark par-cooked chicken rather than grilling from raw at this point.
South LA is a hotbed of street food, and garage/backyard restaurants. Still unknown spots that Bill Esparza has not covered.
Also speaking of Slauson area, Don Lencho on Normandie does an kick ass grilled fish!! It is truly one of the gems in South LA.
Egg Slut Hollywood!
Okay, I’m (almost) never in this area, but Panera? Am I the only one that thinks it’s really bland and meh?
I do, however, like El Pollo Loco (but haven’t been in yrs). The burritos aren’t bad, and the cilantro salad dressing is (was) marvelous.