El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc.

What does El Pollo Loco Holdings own?
The company owns the El Pollo Loco restaurant brand and operates it through company restaurants and franchise agreements. It is a single-brand holding company.

Is El Pollo Loco Holdings publicly traded?
Yes. The company trades on NASDAQ under the ticker LOCO, following its July 2014 IPO.

Who founded El Pollo Loco?
Juan Francisco Ochoa opened the first El Pollo Loco in Guasave, Mexico, in 1974 and brought the concept to Los Angeles in 1980.

Where is El Pollo Loco Holdings headquartered?
The company is headquartered in Costa Mesa, California, at 575 Anton Boulevard.

How many brands does El Pollo Loco Holdings own?
One. The company is entirely devoted to the El Pollo Loco brand.

Who owns El Pollo Loco Holdings?
Public shareholders through the NASDAQ listing. Institutional investors hold the majority of shares; there is no controlling owner.

The brand began with Juan Francisco Ochoa, who opened a small roadside chicken stand in Guasave, Sinaloa, Mexico, in 1974, cooking birds over an open flame to a family recipe. The concept expanded through Mexico before Ochoa opened the first US El Pollo Loco on Alvarado Street in Los Angeles in 1980.

American buyers took note quickly. Denny's acquired the US chain in 1983, and it passed through a series of owners afterward: TW Services, Flagstar, and private equity firms including Trimaran Capital and Freeman Spogli, which bought the chain in 2005 and guided its repositioning toward the fresher, grill-forward image it carries today.

The company went public in July 2014 on NASDAQ under LOCO, raising capital for debt reduction and expansion. Through the late 2010s and early 2020s it remodeled stores, expanded digital ordering and delivery, and moved toward a more franchised mix.

Liz Williams, formerly of Taco Bell and Drybar, became CEO in March 2024. Fiscal 2025 produced total revenue of $490.0 million, up 3.6%, with a 5.0% system-wide comparable sales gain by the third quarter of 2026 and four consecutive positive quarters of same-store sales growth.

El Pollo Loco has no major ongoing regulatory controversies. Like other California restaurant operators, it has faced periodic wage-and-hour class actions typical of the industry, which it has settled or defended through ordinary legal processes.

The company's most publicized corporate moment was a 2015-2016 stretch of weak sales and franchisee tension following its IPO-era expansion promises, which it resolved through leadership changes and a franchise-first strategy. Current franchisee relations are described by the company as constructive.