El Pollo Inka

So heres my dilemma i like the food at El Pollo Inka BUT I hate the service at this location. The other thing that makes me give them 2 stars this time is one of MY biggest pet peeves. Its probably not to important to some but it bugs the sh*t out of me! I order take out from this location because their service sucks. They now have a sign for 1 parking spot for pick up customers. Thats great EXCEPT that they have a security guard who runs out and makes sure you are going to pick up. I can read, i know what the sign is for. I dont need nor do i like having a security guard run up on me as soon as i pull up, not even a chance to turn my car off and the guys pointing to the sign. Especially when his beat up car is taking up the spot next to it right in front of the restaurant door. So here you are troubling your customers over one spot while this guy leaves his car there for what i would imagine is a 8 hour shift. whatever happened to employees parking in the back?

Can I give a zero?
After sitting in the restaurant for 40 minutes and ordering 2 ¼ and a ½ rotisserie chicken they tell us that they have no rotisserie chicken. Seriously that’s their staple! It’s on all of the advertising, how could you not have chicken at 5 pm and why would take you 40 minutes to realize that?
I have to say my family has been going to all of the EPIs for 30 years and this is highly disappointing because on top of the disappointing meal the manager did not seem to care that we were upset and made no accommodations for us.

Beware!!! Party goers, I had my wife birthday party at El pollo inka on 1425 Artesia Blvd, the month of January, 2016. To say none the least a disaster…, disappointed on the don’t care attitude that the manager gave me when I asked for another Waiter, the food was not cooked right and then they charge for all the soups and no bread, I had to ask over 5 times not exaggerating. I had one server for over 30 people, really!!! I will never go to this El pollo inka ever again, I love the other El pollo inka in 15 400 Hawthorne Blvd. Lawndale, CA 90 260. They are all owned by different owners.

Such a disappointment here, if anything go to El Pollo Inka Torrance location. It’s awesome! And has an A rating, Gardena has a B rating. The bread was stale, they charge you 25 cents per extra bread. The piña colada taste bad, like it was made from the powder and added slushy ice. Customer service ⁴⁄₁₀. Takes long to service. So sad.

Food was great got a soup to go. Was the bomb. Thank you worth the drive from hemet for my daughters birthday.

Food is great. Mixed drinks are really good.
I’ve been coming here for years.
The only thing that’s missing is their service.
The service here has always been bad and probably will always be. I love the food and put up with the service. It’s been like this for over 13 years it’s never going to change.

Eat at your own risk! The restaurant has a B rating as of 12.23.15. Came here with my coworkers for a holiday lunch and we’re seated immediately. We ordered platanos, and the waitress said they ran out of platanos. We ordered cilantro rice with our plates, and the waitress says they ran out of cilantro rice. One of us ordered a hot tea, and the waitress comes back with a hot water and lemon, and tells us they ran out of tea. Another coworker orders a pineapple house smoothie, and the waitress says they don’t have pineapple. We finally asked her to tell us what they do have, to make it easier for both parties.
Upon receiving my ¼ chicken, I noticed they gave me dark meat, I asked for white. When she brought out the replacement, I took a bite of the rice, and it was undercooked and inedible. Upon cutting my chicken open, I noticed it was still pink… see picture below.
Please eat at your own risk, better yet, go to the Torrance location for better quality and conscious management.

Not sure if this one is different from the one in torrance, but I noticed a difference in the quality of their food as compared to the torrance location.
Came here on a friday night, and let me first say WOW! This place was jumping; complete with DJ and jammed packed dance floor. Its good entertainment while eating. For me this was no issue, but I can see how this may be a turn off for some patrons since it is quite loud.
As for food, we started with the calamari. It was chewy, oil-​y, and fish-​y; not impressed. Had the chicken saltado, which was on the salty side and very oily as well. The fries were not quite fried all the way, not good. My husband had the chicken plate, it was ok. nothing amazing. Service was good, waiters were friendly. Food is mediocre at best; my suggestion is to go to the torrance location!

This place has some very unique dishes. The names alone spark excitement. The menus need to be replaced because most of them are pretty old and falling apart. I went with a big group and was able to taste a few dishes.
The «Papa Rellena» consists of seasoned ground beef and veggies stuffed inside a mashed potato ball and deep fried. It’s accompanied by a spicy green sauce and lemon drenched red onions. My potato was lacking ground beef but the flaky crust was delicious. Go easy on the green sauce.
The next dish was the «Saltado de Mariscos.» A mixed seafood sauté with French fries and more red onions with a generous portion of white rice. The picture and description state scallops, but I didn’t see any on my plate. The whole dish had great flavor. A smoky charred element that was really good.
We also got a whole chicken «A la brasa.» Essentially a rotisserie style chicken with crispy skin and a sweet smoky flavor with a large serving of French fries.
Everyone received a small soup as an appetizer which was a nice warm chicken and rice soup. A nice little touch. Cheap food with great flavor.

This is my third time here. I always enjoy myself and the food is simply delicious. Follow that with a full bar and great atmosphere, and you have a patron for life. At this time my favs are the seafood platter and the chicken fried rice.

This is a great place to eat for a lovely lunchtime meal. Quick seating, fast service, along with good customer service. The management was enthusiastic as they provided superior service. They accepted my free drink coupon with a smile. During the evening hours, there is Salsa dancing where you can dance the night away. The food and beverages were tasty leaving your belly full and satisfied. Five Star Rating!

I’ve been a fan of El Pollo Inka for a long time, but I have normally visited the one in the city of Hawthorne.
My husband and I made the decision to have a nice quick lunch before running off to do errands. We both ordered Arroz con Pollo which was our favorite for years, however today it was short of anything good.
I was shocked when I took a bite of cold chicken. Half the chicken was warm, and the other half cold, similar to re-​heated food in the micorwave!!! His was the exact same way. Parts of the chicken was cold like it had sat in the fridge overnight. The rice recipe we use to love was also not used at this store, this rice had a can of Veg-​all with huge lima beans in it. That didn’t work for us either.
Come on Pollo Inka, you charge way too much money for not giving us the fresh hot rotisserie chicken you display in the oven stoves in the front of your restaurant. If I had wanted leftovers I would have ate at home.
You are clearly a rip off, shame on you. Change your ways, or close up.

I think my experience here is always different everytime I come here. Sometimes I’ll have good service, other times I’ll have okay service, but rarely will I have bad service.
I love the lomo saltado. If you ever get it, ask for the beef to be cooked medium rare. Sometimes they cook the beef too long so it gets too chewy, but if you ask for it medium rare, it’s PERFECT. I’m getting hungry as I’m writing this review.
My friends also like the chicken version, saltado de pollo and love it too. I’m not a big fan of chicken so I’ll stick with my lomo saltado.
Parking can be tricky as it is a crowded plaza.
The green sauce is delicious too! It’s really good with the bread and the food.
I think this location is a lot louder than the one on Hawthorne since there is a dance floor and a karaōke on one side of the room. when people sing, it’s pretty hard to hear the people at your table. But it’s fun to see those participating in karoke!

I order the Lomo Saltado, one of the best steak dishes I’ve ever had. As a Latino, I find it very hard to find good authentic Latin food. This place shows the greatness of Peruvian cuisine.
Plenty of parking, lots of tables and beautiful décor. The staff was very friendly, on top of everything.
I drove from Orange County, and I will be back and will bring all my friends.

I am SUPER annoyed with El Pollo Inka. My co-​workers and I came here for lunch on Friday. We initially was going to go to Curry House, but the line was too long, so we decided to come to El Pollo Inka because there was no wait. The restaurant was full, but not SUPER busy. We got seated right away to a table tucked away in the corner. Our hostess brought over our menu and that’s when our wait began. We knew what we wanted to order pretty quickly, so we closed our menu and started waiting. No one came after 15 minutes. We saw our hostess again and asked her who our waitress was, but she did not know and told us that she would find out. Then, we waited and waited and waited again. Nothing. We saw other waiters in our section, but they never made eye contact with us so we were not even sure if they were supposed to be serving us. Finally, one of my co-​workers was able to flag down another waitress to ask us if she can help us find our waiter or at least help us. She told her «Sorry, I am very busy right now and I can’t help you» in a SUPER rude tone.
That was the last straw for us. After waiting for forever for any service, we just left. During our time there, we got no water, no service, no anything. Thank goodness we did not have any meetings at work or anything because if we did, we would have been late. Due to this service, I would never come back here. I read somewhere that El Rocoto has better food anyways. So, I will try El Rocoto next time I would like Peruvian food.

Esperaba un mejor servicio, yo trabajo en un restaurante y se que el pollo que me sirvieron no era fresco. Pero lo peor fue la actitud del señor q nos atendió. Pedí agua de horchata o Jamaica o Sprite o un jugo y no tenían nada de eso. A parte parecía que nos estaba vigilando mientras comíamos, la verdad de 4 diferentes ordenes lo único bueno fue el pollo saltado. Pero muy mal servicio, no gracias no vuelvo a regresar.

Stop by Saturday night for take out …
Good luck trying to get them to answer the phone to take your order ! I never got thru (still decided to drive and order there. Since bf had been wanting pollo inka for weeks)
Food was a really good. I would give it 5 stars. The chicken, rice, soup was so yummy .
Boyfriend had lomo saltao (I thk) he love it too but they forgot to put the fries !!!
Takeout was a little confusing and there’s was no were to be seated. I just feel they need to be more organized ! More costumer friendly too…
They have a dance floor and music that Sat and it was a full house .more older couples (40 & up) enjoying themselves
The little dessert cookies are also really good.

The tallarin de Pollo was delicious and the sopa de pollo was right on, but the bread they served was a day old.
Service by Mina was fast and attentive.
Décor inside is kinda dark because of the walls, I guess at night it becomes a club like atmosphere.
Plenty of lot parking. Hope to return and try their Pollo de la brasa.

No mas celebro algo ahi ni mas la Host malcriada la Mujer de seguridad Otra malcriada y el Manager PEOR separamos una mesa de 15 personas y votaron a la mitad de la fiesta atras xq habian niños cuando hablamos unas hora antes Si se podia y dijieron que Si (manager) despues los baños sucios y cuando le dije a la mesa me ignoro y despues la comida fria. La unika persona que se Porto es una mesera que trabaja desde años con ellos chaparra me olvide su Nombre Pero es la unika NO VAYAN

I’ve been to Pollo Inka with my husband, friends, and co-workers…not all at the same time. Each time the ambiance has been a bit different given that each visit was at a much different time of day… so here goes.
Let me start first by saying that it’s a good place for lunch but I suggest if possible come a bit before noon or after to avoid the lunch crowd. If you’re a fan of salsa music and like to dance, then Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights are the times to visit… word of advised the music can get very very loud and the closer you sit to the dance floor the harder it will be to not only hear yourself think but even hold a conversation. If you sit opposite the dance floor it is little easier to speak with your companions.
As far as the food goes, well it feels like things are just not as good as they have been in the past. I’m not sure when it happened but during my last visit with my husband we noticed that the menu had changed and favorites form times past are not longer offered. I think what was most noticeable was the chicken soup that comes with the diner entrees; it’s extremely watered down and unfortunately so was the chimichurri sauce everyone always put on their food (booooo!!!).
Anyway, this past visit we ordered the ceviche appetizer, which we had conflicting feelings about. We liked that they make it with just enough lemon and good portions of seafood. The shrimp was tasty and fresh we just can’t say that about the fish. It had a very fishy taste and much to contrary belief that is not a good thing.
Initially my husband ordered (and I forgot the name) but a stake that comes topped with and egg, rice and plantains. It wasn’t his night because we were told that they ran out of that particular dish. He then ordered seafood saltado, pretty much lomo saltato sans the lomo. Again, it must have not been his night because it was rather flavorless. The best thing about the dish were the french fries. The rice was dry and the sauce was way too watery it soaked into everything rendering a big pile of mush.
I ordered ¼ chicken plate. It was ok, like my husband’s dish the rice was dry and so was the chicken. It was bland and the wonderful rotisserie taste it used to have was not there, at least not this time.
This place used to be so good and such a favorite, but I guess all good things come to and end sooner or later. Along with the decline in the quality of food the services seems to have followed suit as well. I think our Pollo Inka days are over.

Came here for lunch two weeks ago. I only had an hour lunch for work but since I took a late one at around 2:30, the lunch peak has died down which is good cause they were pretty quick.
I ordered the Beef Lomo Saltado and my boyfriend ordered the quarter chicken. His came out pretty quick and looked kind of disappointing — small shrunken chicken leg — wasn’t very appealing. My Lomo Saltado was okay — the flavor was alright but I definitely had much better though I did like the fries it wasn’t very soggy. They didn’t even serve bread here either so I was pretty disappointed about that too.
The service was alright, it wasn’t busy so our waiter was just standing around. Overall I’m kind of disappointed at the food since I have had this before at a different location and it was pretty decent.

I haven’t been here in some time, but I remember when I first ate here over 10 years ago I thought it was pretty good. Now that I am working in the South Bay again, I wanted to scout out some «go to» places. EPI is located on Artesia, just west of Normandie in Gardena. I believe there is at least one more EPI in Torrance. There are a number of eateries in this strip mall, including California Fish Grill, Curry House, Mama Tofu, a Phở & boba place, and previously reviewed Teri (yucky) Hawaii.
EPI has a number of lunch specials ranging from ¼ chicken at $ 6.50 to mariscos saltado at $ 10.95. All lunch specials include a roll, soup, rice and salad. I ordered the ¼ chicken.
The chicken was OK. The portion was small, but what do you expect for $ 6.50? Unfortunately, it was not seasoned much and didn’t really have a distinct flavor until I put the aji verde on it. Secondarily, the soup was also just OK. It did contain chicken and had a decent flavor, but it was really nothing special. Lastly, the rice and salad were garden variety, except the rice was a tad dry. Despite all the foregoing, the portions of the soup, salad and rice were pretty large for the price: 3 Stars
My waiter Luis was nice, but he moved at a snails pace. Nonetheless, the food came out quickly. He just took a while to bring my check: 3 Stars. The ambiance is a bit dark, but does have some style to it. I believe they is dancing here on certain nights: 3 Stars.
EPI is on my lunch rotation, but I should probably spend a little more money and order the lomo saltado. I just wasn’t in the mood for meat the day I visited. EPI is still a good place for lunch. However, it is not as special as before, because there are so many more options in the area.