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Showing posts from November, 2025

El Pollo Loco ~ regional chain : Colorado Springs, Colorado

Latest visit: Nov 2025 (Fillmore St.) First visit: Apr 1998 (Santa Clara, CA) HQ: Costa Mesa, CA; Founded: 1980 (Los Angeles, CA) Now here's a blast from the past. My first experience with El Pollo Loco was in Santa Clara while there on a consulting assignment. Since that time, I've visited El Pollo Loco's in West Hollywood, San Antonio, Denver, Phoenix, and North Richland Hills. The latter arrived in NE Tarrant towards the end of our stint there. It was also not very good, and that location has been long closed. Other than that fateful visit, our trips to El Pollo Loco had been a success. I never penned any notes about any of those trips. They just recently opened up here in the Springs (turns out to be their 500th location!), so Mrs. RJG and I decided to give a try again. Let's see how it went. Even before leaving the house, we'd read that the parking situation was no bueno. We got there at 10:45 before the crowds, and had no issues. However it's obvious that ...

Canon City MUGS ~ Canon City, Colorado

First visit: Nov 2025 We try to visit Canon City at least once per annum, though this year we've only passed through. We decided it was time to visit our favorite Colorado getaway which is Westcliffe, and made a point to have some lunch in Canon City on the way. We don't really have a regular eating spot in Canon City, though we were pleased with Bunkhouse Burgers that we tried for the first time last year. In reviewing restaurants, the town sports a number of fetching bars in downtown, that feature fine food. But it was lunch time, and neither of us felt like a libation. Especially since we knew we were going to splurge on ice cream at Sugarlump in Westcliffe. Up came Canon City MUGS, a place that has a dual personality, and that aspect is not reflected well on Google Maps. Essentially what you have here is two distinct restaurants, shared by an open door and the same kitchen. One serves primarily coffee, breakfast, and lunch. The other is a classic sports bar setup with TV...