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This article is about the business. For the flagship restaurant location in Albuquerque, see Los Pollos Hermanos, Albuquerque.
"The finest ingredients are brought together with love and care, then slow cooked to perfection. Yes, the old ways are still best at Los Pollos Hermanos. But don't take my word for it. One taste, and you'll know."
―Excerpt from the Los Pollos Hermanos TV commercial[src]

Los Pollos Hermanos was a fast-food restaurant chain that specialized in fried chicken operating across the southwestern United States. The name, pronounced [los ˈpo.ʝos eɾˈma.nos], is ungrammatical Spanish for "The Chicken Brothers." Founded by Gustavo Fring and Max Arciniega, the restaurant chain had fourteen locations throughout the southwest and was Gustavo Fring's major business concern. Los Pollos Hermanos was a subsidiary of Madrigal Electromotive, a German conglomerate with an ownership stake in the company. The restaurant also provided money-laundering and logistics for illegal activities.

Ownership[]

Gus owned fourteen Los Pollos restaurants in the American Southwest between Albuquerque and Nevada ("Mandala",  "Bug")The flagship restaurant has had many visitors from employees of Gus' other business, namely Walter WhiteThe Cousins, and Mike EhrmantrautHank Schrader has also staked out the restaurant to monitor Fring. When Gus wants to talk to one of his employees, he texts them "Pollos" to have them meet at his restaurant or chicken farm. Employees must answer the phone with the restaurant's motto: "Los Pollos Hermanos, where something delicious is always cooking." ("Hermanos") Los Pollos Hermanos advertised its chicken as "slow-cooked to perfection... one taste, and you'll know."

History[]

See also history of Los Pollos Hermanos, Albuquerque.

Founding[]

Following Max's death at the hands of the Juárez Cartel, Gus became sole owner of the business. He used this legitimate business to aid in his shipment and distribution of drugs, specifically crystal methamphetamine.

Breaking Bad[]

Season 3[]

A Los Pollos Hermanos commercial extols the chain's signature chicken. Back at the lab, Walt and Jesse hand off a batch of blue crystal meth, which ends up at Gus' chicken farm. The meth distribution process continues as Victor supervises workers as they submerge plastic bags of blue meth into specially-marked tubs of fry batter put into Los Pollos refrigerated trucks for shipment across the Southwest ("Kafkaesque").

Later, in Gus' office in the restaurant, Mike and Gus examine the gunmen's passports. "It's cartel, all right," says Mike. "Probing for weakness," replies Gus. "What about Pinkman?" Gus asks. "I'm making inquiries," says Mike ("Full Measure").

Season 4[]

Mike Los Pollos Truck

Mike inside the Los Pollos refrigerated truck ("Bullet Points")

Mike huddles inside a Los Pollos Hermanos refrigerated truck as it travels down the highway. The truck stops: Mike knows something's up. Mike hunkers down as two gunmen blast the truck with machine guns. When they open the rear doors, Mike shoots them dead and jumps out. He winces as he touches his ear -- a bullet took a chunk out ("Bullet Points"). Later, Mike meets with Gus in his office and explains that Jesse is becoming a liability. Walt may not like it, Mike continues, but something has to be done.

Hank tells Marie that he's resumed the Gale Boetticher case. Looking through police photographs taken in Gale's apartment, Hank notices a napkin from Los Pollos Hermanos, with some letters and numbers - perhaps a serial or model number for some product - inked at the bottom. Reflecting on Gale's dietary habits, Hank wonders aloud to Marie, "Since when do vegans eat fried chicken?" ("Shotgun").

Hijacking Los Pollos trucks[]
4x4 Los Pollos truck driver

The Los Pollos truck driver dead as a result of the cartel's ambush

Reminiscent of Mike's earlier experience, Cartel thugs ambush a Los Pollos Hermanos refrigerated truck. This time they pump it full of exhaust. After the two guards traveling inside the shipment suffocate to death, the thugs enter the trailer -- but take only a single marked container of fry batter ("Cornered").

Inside the house Jesse and Mike are waiting outside of, the second meth head, far more belligerent than his cohort, brandishes a shotgun. While trying to talk the tweaker down, Jesse notices the stolen Los Pollos Hermanos batter container. Mike enters the house and distracts the meth head. Jesse bashes him over the head and disarms him. Mike picks up the container lid, which has a message in Spanish written on it. This message is translated as "Ready to talk?" ("Cornered").

Hank's investigation[]

Hank later meets with Gomez and ASAC George Merkert at the DEA. He describes Gale and his murder, and hypothesizes that Gale is Heisenberg's former cook. The letters and numbers scribbled on the Los Pollos Hermanos napkin found in Gale's apartment, Hank explains, were the parts number for an industrial air-filtration system that Gale took delivery on. A system, Hank notes, perfect "for the biggest meth lab north of the border." By coincidence, its manufacturer is owned by a German-based conglomerate that also has a stake in Los Pollos Hermanos ("Problem Dog").

Hank theorizes that a vegetarian like Gale wouldn't eat at a chicken restaurant, and further that he'd only go to Los Pollos Hermanos for a meeting, perhaps with Gus. "What do we know about this Gustavo Fring?" asks Hank, questioning Gus' supposed affinity for law enforcement. "Maybe he's our guy." Merkert suggests that Hank is "really reaching." Hank concedes that he thought so too at first. But one thing troubles him, says Hank, pausing for effect as he reveals photographs of a fingerprint on a Los Pollos soda cup and prints from the crime scene. "What are Gustavo Fring's fingerprints doing in Gale Boetticher's apartment?" Hank asks, laying his trump card on the table ("Problem Dog").

Following the Cartel intimidation incident with the sniper - who turns out to be Gaff, the thug who delivered the Cartel's ultimatum earlier - Gus receives a call that night in his Los Pollos Hermanos office. "Tell them my answer is yes," he says in Spanish ("Bug").

Season 5[]

Disbandment[]

Gus's restaurant chain collapsed along with his drug empire. At Madrigal Electromotive, executive Peter Schuler watches as the Los Pollos Hermanos logo is removed from the other companies comprising Madrigal's fast food division ("Madrigal").

El Camino[]

A former Los Pollos Hermanos location is shown, having been turned into a Twisters restaurant.

Menu[]

See Los Pollos Hermanos/Menu

Locations[]

Known locations of Pollos restaurants as seen in the teaser of "Kafkaesque":

The map Steve Gomez shows to Hank in "Kafkaesque" would indicate that the other locations may be in or around:

  • Abilene, TX
  • Amarillo, TX
  • Carlsbad, NM
  • Colorado Springs, CO
  • Farmington, NM
  • Flagstaff, AZ
  • Las Cruces, NM
  • Odessa, TX
  • Phoenix, AZ
  • St. George, UT
  • Tucson, AZ

Former[]

  • Los Lunas, NM: this location was destroyed by Gus and Nacho Varga in "JMM" after Lalo Salamanca had ordered Nacho to do so in retaliation for his arrest, not knowing that Nacho was a double agent for Gus.

All other locations are considered 'current' up until "Madrigal" and the subsequent dismantling of the restaurant chain.

Appearances[]

Breaking Bad

Episodes 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3
Season 4
Season 5A
Season 5B

Better Call Saul

Episodes 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3
Season 4
Season 5
Season 6

Fleet[]

Los Pollos Hermanos use a number of trucks for their deliveries. These include:

Trivia[]

LPHwebsite

http://www.lphishiring.com/

  • The Season 3 episode "Kafkaesque" has a TV commercial for Los Pollos Hermanos. The commercial's copyright says "Los Pollos Hermanos Inc. is a registered trademark of Madrigal Electromotive GmbH".
  • There's a domain in the real life called http://www.lospolloshermanos.com/. During the broadcast of Breaking Bad, this redirected to a website which sells military first aid and trauma kits. In 2017, the address redirected to http://www.lphishiring.com/, the fake recruitment site of the fast food chain, hosted by AMC. The domain is no longer used by AMC and now redirects to Donald Trump's campaign website; however, the original site is still online.
  • The scenes in the main restaurant were shot in an Albuquerque fast food restaurant named Twisters.[1] The crew put their own signage on the packages.[2]
  • Los Pollos Hermanos may be a parody of the real life fast food chicken restaurant chain El Pollo Loco, although El Pollo Loco serves only grilled chicken, not fried.
  • Los Pollos Hermanos has opened as a real pop-up restaurant on a few occasions:
    • In 2017, it appeared in New York, Los Angeles, Austin, TX, Rome, and Milan.
  • In the series, it is shown that the batter for the chicken is certified to be kosher, although the restaurants are not kosher.
  • In 2014, a man was arrested for allegedly manufacturing methamphetamine, and was shown wearing a Los Pollos Hermanos shirt in his mugshot.[3]

References[]

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