Is Breaking Bad’s Los Pollos Hermanos a Real Restaurant?

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Breaking Bad may have seen the end of Gus Fring and his fan-favorite eatery Los Pollos Hermanos, but Better Call Saul brought them back to life.

  •  Los Pollos Hermanos, first introduced in Breaking Bad , became a real restaurant in 2017 as part of a promotional push for Better Call Saul ‘s third season.
  •  In 2022, permanent Los Pollos Hermanos locations were established, with the approval of Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan.
  •  The continued popularity of Los Pollos Hermanos and its fictional proprietor, Gus Fring, leaves fans anxious for another spinoff series set in the Breaking Bad universe.

Memorable for its delicious fried chicken, Los Pollos Hermanos is one of the most iconic elements of the Breaking Bad universe. The fast-food chain made frequent appearances in the quirky crime franchise, serving as a front for Gus Fring’s drug operation. Years after the series ended, Los Pollos Hermanos truly took on a life of its own — in more ways than fans of the franchise could have possibly imagined.

Although the end of Breaking Bad may have taken down Gus with a bomb, AMC’s Bob Odenkirk-led spinoff Better Call Saul brought him and his beloved restaurant back. The fried chicken business even had a huge role in the third season’s promotional material, thanks to the release of a company website and a Los Pollos Hermanos Employee Training miniseries. And over time, Los Pollos Hermanos expanded from its fictional roots to break into the real world, making a small but popular segment of the Breaking Bad universe an unexpected reality.

Updated by Jordan Iacobucci on March 26, 2024: The Breaking Bad universe has come to a standstill after the conclusion of Better Call Saul in 2022. The celebrated franchise currently has no projects currently in development, though continued rumblings suggest that a spinoff featuring Giancarlo Esposito’s villainous Gus Fring could be in the cards. Gus is known for his cold and callous strategy, but also for being the face of Los Pollos Hermanos, a chicken restaurant that serves as the cover operation for his real source of income: drug dealing. While many fans of Breaking Bad are very familiar with Los Pollos Hermanos, they may not know the restaurant’s full story.

How Los Pollos Hermanos Was Brought to Life

Breaking Bad’s Walter White Meets Gustavo Fring (Clip)
Split Images of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul Characters
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    • Matthew Broderick and John Cusack were both considered for the role of Walter White. Both actors passed on the role before it was ultimately offered to Bryan Cranston, who went on to win four Emmys for his performance in the series.

 

To promote the Better Call Saul Season 3 premiere, real Los Pollos Hermanos pop-up restaurants existed for a few days in Los Angeles, California, and Austin, Texas. Depending on location, the pop-up Los Pollos Hermanos featured Southwestern fast-food cuisine loyal to Breaking Bad‘s portrayal. The menu included curly fries, coleslaw and fried chicken sandwiches with Breaking Bad-related names: “The Pinkman” and “The Heisenberg” for spicy chicken sandwich combos, and “Slaw Goodman” for coleslaw.

In 2018, Better Call Saul did another round of pop-up Los Pollos Hermanos, promoting new episodes by delivering free mini-meals to fans in Los Angeles and New York City. And, although unexpected, Los Pollos Hermanos became a real-life restaurant in October 2019. Family Style Inc. signed an exclusive deal with Uber Eats to officially bring Los Pollos Hermanos into the real world. Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan was impressed by the restaurant’s authenticity and food quality: “I knew the devil was in the details,” Gilligan said in the Family Style press release. “I’m relieved to report that the folks at Family Style got it right.”

Los Pollos Hermanos Used to be a Real Restaurant

Hector Salamanca Visits Los Pollos Hermanos in Better Call Saul (Clip)
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Gus Fring’s famous Los Pollos Hermanos gradually became a real-life company as a virtual restaurant. Due to different expectations, reviews from Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul fans were mixed, with most leaning on the positive side. In 2022, several locations of real Los Pollos Hermanos restaurants included new menu sections with seasoned wings and ice cream.

Other Notable Restaurants in the Breaking Bad Universe

  • Cinnabon
  • Denny’s
  • Taco Cabeza
  • Dog House
  • Loyola’s Family Restaurant

Fans were able to order online through other platforms, including Postmates, DoorDash, and GrubHub, and depending on location, some locations also provided a dine-in option. Sadly, the experience was only contracted for three years, ending in 2022. However, fans in New Mexico and Colorado can visit Twisters, another real-life restaurant where Breaking Bad‘s Los Pollos Hermanos scenes were filmed if they want an authentic experience. However, it won’t include Giancarlo Esposito’s terrifying drug kingpin, Gus Fring, who became synonymous with the restaurant chain during the events of Breaking Bad.

Will There Ever Be A Gus Fring Breaking Bad Spinoff?

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With the conclusion of Better Call Saul in 2022, there are no future projects currently in development within the Breaking Bad universe. Currently, Vince Gilligan does not appear to have any interest in continuing the franchise in the foreseeable future, though this doesn’t mean that fans feel the same way. Fans have long lobbied for various potential spinoffs of the original show, including some that could follow Jonathan Banks’s Mike Ehrmantraut or RJ Mitte’s Walter White Jr. However, the most popular character floated for a potential spinoff is Giancarlo Esposito’s Gustavo Fring, who runs several Los Pollos Hermanos franchises as a cover for his large-scale drug operation. If there were to be any more Breaking Bad spinoffs, this would be the one that fans would undoubtedly choose.

Esposito has been vocal about wanting to star in a Gus Fring spinoff, suggesting that the series could depict the villain’s origin story and rise to power. The original Breaking Bad series included some flashback sequences featuring a younger Fring as he worked to establish himself in the drug trade, but fans still know very little about his rise to power in the years that followed. A potential spinoff could see Gus recovering from his traumatic first encounter with the cartel and working his way up the ranks to become a powerful kingpin himself. The prequel could even show the beginning stages of Gus’s career with Los Pollos Hermanos, including how he balances this double life that he has chosen to lead.

While the franchise is dormant at the moment, Breaking Bad may not be finished yet. There is far too rich a story to be told about Gus Fring for Vince Gilligan to ignore. It may be better to wait a while before reviving the franchise, but it seems inevitable that Gus’s origin story will be told someday. It is less a matter of if it will happen and more a matter of when.

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