El Pollo Loco Opens Restaurant in Santee

El Pollo Loco, the fire-grilled chicken restaurant chain, opened a location in the heart of Santee on Friday. 

At 2,926 square feet, this restaurant at 9714 Mission Gorge Rd. employs 45 new hires from the community and is open seven days a week.  Dine-in and take-out service is from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. and drive-thru service is extended until 11 p.m on Fridays and Saturdays.

The company describes the new restaurant as "the first El Pollo Loco restaurant in the city of Santee and the 25th to be owned and operated by El Pollo Loco franchisee business partners, Bill Engel and Chris Pingel of Peg/Lion, LLC; the second largest franchisee in the El Pollo Loco system."

The restaurant features large windows to allow natural sunlight into the dining area and customers can view the kitchen from the dining area. El Pollo Loco’s signature dish is chicken marinated in a proprietary blend of lime, fruit juice, garlic, spices and seasoning then grilled on an open flame by the restaurant’s "Grill Masters."

A focal point of the dining room is the self-serve salsa bar which features a variety of handmade salsas that guests can use to customize their menu selections.

“The city of Santee and its residents have been so welcoming to us and the El Pollo Loco brand," said Bill Engel, partner, Peg Lion Enterprise. "We look forward to personally greeting our customers, continuing our commitment to serving healthful, great tasting food while contributing to this community in meaningful ways.”

The newly remodeled restaurant was previously a Burger King. The bid for constructing the remodel was $2 million, according to documents.

Through El Pollo Loco Charities, the new Santee restaurant said it plans to give back to the Santee community by "volunteering in local neighborhoods, hosting fire-grilled fundraisers in which a portion of the restaurant proceeds benefit a local organization, or sponsoring organizations in need." 

An El Pollo Loco press release contributed to this post.