El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc.: management transactions · United States · SEC (Form 4)

About El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc.

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. is a U.S.-based restaurant company listed on the NASDAQ under the ticker LOCO, with a business model centered on fire-grilled chicken and Mexican-inspired fast-casual dining. The company operates a clearly differentiated concept built around flame-grilled chicken, burritos, bowls, tacos, salads, quesadillas, and side items, with an emphasis on made-to-order preparation and a protein-forward menu. In a highly competitive U.S. restaurant landscape, El Pollo Loco positions itself as a specialist in fire-grilled chicken rather than a broad-line quick-service chain, which gives it a distinctive brand identity and a loyal regional customer base. The company traces its roots to 1975, when founder Pancho Ochoa started the concept in Sinaloa, Mexico, before expanding into Los Angeles and establishing its long-term U.S. presence in 1980. Its headquarters are in Costa Mesa, California, reflecting its historical center of gravity in the U.S. Southwest. As of the end of 2025, the system included 503 domestic restaurants, made up of company-operated and franchised units, plus eight licensed locations in the Philippines. The footprint remains concentrated in the western and southern United States, including California, Arizona, Nevada, Texas, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Louisiana, and Washington. This regional strength supports brand awareness and operational familiarity, although the chain remains significantly smaller than the largest national QSR operators. From a competitive standpoint, El Pollo Loco’s core advantage is its focused product proposition: fire-grilled chicken served in accessible, customizable meal formats. The brand also benefits from a menu architecture that can be marketed around freshness, flavor, and relative protein density versus traditional burger-led fast food. Management has continued to refresh the menu and support traffic with product innovation. In 2025 and early 2026, the company introduced items such as double chicken burrito bowls, Fresca salads and wraps, redesigned quesadillas, and a protein-packed menu, underscoring a strategy aimed at improving ticket size and visit frequency. Recent quarterly results for fiscal 2025 indicated higher total revenue, improved comparable sales, and better operating profitability, suggesting that the brand’s product initiatives and operating execution were gaining traction. For investors, El Pollo Loco should be viewed as a focused consumer/discretionary and restaurant concept with meaningful exposure to same-store sales trends, food and labor inflation, franchise economics, and execution in a geographically concentrated network. Its market positioning is narrow but defensible: a recognizable fire-grilled chicken specialist with a long operating history, a strong West Coast heritage, and an ongoing effort to broaden its appeal through menu innovation and operational discipline.