Health-scored at 98 out of 100, El Pollo Loco on Midway Drive in Point Loma, San Diego fire-grills whole citrus-marinated chickens on open-flame grills and hand-cuts them to order — a cooking method the chain has run since its 1980 founding on Alvarado Street in Los Angeles. The marinade formula layers herbs, spices, fruit juices, and garlic into a citrus-and-char flavor profile that no deep-fryer can replicate, a grilled-whole-bird technique absent from the assembly-line protein prep at Chipotle Mexican Grill across Midway Drive. Guacamole, salsas, and dressings are made by hand in-house each morning rather than arriving in sealed pouches, covering a menu that spans chicken meals, burritos, tostada bowls, and Mexican street-corn sides. Catering delivers family-meal bundles and party trays by the 8-, 12-, and 16-piece chicken count, scaling the Midway District, San Diego kitchen to group orders that overlap with the taco-tray catering at Del Taco on the same strip. The double-chicken burrito — stacking both fire-grilled thigh and shredded breast with avocado and creamy cilantro dressing in a single flour tortilla — is the menu's most protein-dense build, aimed at the Pechanga Arena pre-event refuel crowd.