As a turnaround takes shape, El Pollo Loco's CEO is preparing for the next stage of growth.
Earlier this summer, El Pollo Loco opened its first location in Idaho, the chain’s 10th state, and announced a major expansion of its presence in Colorado. The development news was followed by strong Q2 earnings — with the brand posting 3.9% same-store sales growth.
Elizabeth Williams, the chain’s CEO, said in an interview that a combination of factors including menu positioning, a long-term brand turnaround and investments in unit count have prepared the brand for a more ambitious national growth push.
“The brand has really shown that it can translate across the country, and there's consumer pull for fire-grilled chicken,” Williams said.
Overhauling everything but the food
When Williams joined El Pollo Loco as CEO in 2024, she helped develop a five-point operational turnaround program which included changes to the brand’s positioning and identity. But one thing didn’t need significant change:the core product.
“Usually when you come in for the brand turnaround, you know you have to work on the product and the quality and make it better. That was not the case at all here,” Williams said. “There was just confusion on who we were as a brand, and then we had let the brand get tired, and also our operations had varied quite a bit.“
So El Pollo Loco worked to change up its marketing, store experience and digital presence. The chain launched new messaging to highlight its identity with the tagline: “Let’s Get Loco.”
The brand invested in social media, a channel that was not a significant part of its prior playbook, as a way to reach consumers, Williams said. El Pollo Loco invested more in building awareness of its loyalty program, as well.
The chain is also updating its drive-thru aesthetics, since that channel comprises a significant portion of its traffic. The drive-thru changes are part of a broader remodel program at the chain.
El Pollo Loco’s remodeled stores include an updated color palette, plus interior and furniture upgrades to “create a bright and airy space,” according to a 2024 press release about the brand’s remodel program.
Williams said those changes can cost up to $400,000 per restaurant. El Pollo Loco signalled its commitment to the remodel by making those changes to corporate stores, which encouraged franchisees to invest in upgrades.
“We very much put our capital, corporate capital, behind remodeling,” Williams said.
But the core of the brand — its menu — is fairly on trend, Williams said, with chicken, protein-heavy entrees, and healthier-seeming food having a moment. Fire-grilled chicken is meeting that moment.
“Our chicken comes in fresh, and we cook it on our grill. We are chopping vegetables. We're truly cooking,” Williams said. “There's very few people that are still doing what we're doing at our price point.”
Expanding menu opportunities
While the core fire-grilled, bone-in chicken did not need reworking, Williams said El Pollo Loco had “license to play across all kinds of chicken.”
Family orders of bone-in chicken account for about 40% of the brand’s sales mix, with the remainder taken up by bowls, burritos, quesadillas and salads. Menu innovations have focused on convenience and portability.
“The growing part of the chicken category is chicken that you can eat on the go,” Williams said.
The chain is considering adding chicken tenders — a common addition to QSR menus in recent years. A tenders LTO that launched earlier this year performed very well, Williams said. But that strong performance came only after El Pollo Loco’s initial testing proved lackluster: Consumers in early tests weren’t enthused by the original tenders flavor, prompting the brand to rethink it.
“Our culinary leader went back and he added the [spicier] seasoning, and it completely changed the consumer feedback,” Williams said.
The revised tenders test brought in new consumers who might otherwise have gone to tenders-focused competitors, but also proved a strong add-on for other orders, aiding check growth.
The strength of that performance is pushing El Pollo Loco to consider adding more kitchen equipment — particularly holding equipment — that it needs in order to make tenders permanent.
A national opportunity
The chain's core grilled chicken product is fairly distinctive, Williams said, and has helped El Pollo Loco prepare for the next stage of its brand transformation: Significant franchised growth.
“We don't have a lot of national competition in fire grilled chicken, and we are the leader,” Williams said. “Why wouldn't we grow across the country?”
Now that the branding is modernized, large segments of the store base have been updated and the brand has fresh menu innovation underway, El Pollo Loco is focusing on recruiting strong franchisees to sustain its growth. In 2026, the chain is planning 18 to 20 new openings, more than double the number of openings it achieved in 2025, per its 10-K.
Most of that growth will occur outside of California, the brand’s home base. Williams said El Pollo Loco is significantly underpenetrated in the nine other states in which it operates: Arizona, Nevada, Texas, Utah, Colorado, Washington, Louisiana and Idaho.
For instance, Williams said, the chain has a single unit in the Seattle market, which “does well above our system average, significantly above our system average, and so that to me says people like our food up there. There's an opportunity to build more.”
As for entering new states, that will hinge on El Pollo Loco’s ability to find qualified franchisees, Williams said.
