El Pollo Loco will open its first New York City restaurant as the California grilled-chicken chain locks in deals for 15 locations and pushes to become a true national brand.
The company closed three development agreements for a total of 15 restaurants in the New York area over the next five years, CNBC reported, with the first location expected in Queens in mid-2027.
CEO Liz Williams is treating the East Coast push as the next test of a turnaround already showing stronger sales, wider margins, and a healthier business model. The goal is plain: move a Southwestern favorite out of its comfort zone and build a real national chicken chain.
El Pollo Loco is still widely seen as a California brand. Most of its restaurants remain concentrated there, even after recent growth.
That is the gap Williams wants to close. She said expansion will open on the East Coast, then move back west as brand awareness catches up in new markets.
The New York package is the clearest signal yet. Three development agreements. Fifteen restaurants. Five years. One flagship start in Queens.
For a chain with more than 500 restaurants across 10 states, the New York area is not a side project. It is a bid for customers who know the name from travel and pop culture but have never had a location nearby.
"Being a 50-year-old brand, people have seen it over the years and have always had that curiosity, but we have our work cut out,"
Williams said.
Williams took over in March 2024. At that point, she said, El Pollo Loco operated in just six states.
The early work focused on basics that customers notice. Modernize restaurants. Expand the menu. Protect the grilled-chicken identity that built the brand while giving diners more reasons to return.
Results have followed. The company logged three straight quarters of same-store sales growth. It opened nine restaurants last year. Management is projecting 18 to 20 new locations by the end of 2026.
Investors noticed. Shares climbed 44% over the past year, while the S&P 500 rose more than 15% in the same stretch.
Williams tied the operating story to discipline, not hype.
"In the current quarter, we've expanded margins, and the business model is healthy overall,"
she said. She added that the brand has gotten even stronger and healthier.
Chicken is crowded. McDonald’s and Taco Bell have added more chicken options. Dave’s Hot Chicken, Zaxby’s, and Raising Cane’s have expanded quickly on the fried and tenders side of the menu.
El Pollo Loco is betting the other way. Bone-in grilled chicken remains the calling card. Williams framed the choice as a daily-eating advantage, not a lecture.
"Everyone is talking about wanting to eat a little better and really thinking through their choices,"
she said.
"Everyone loves fried chicken... However, in terms of what you're able to eat every single day, grilled chicken is just a better option."
That is a market argument. Give people a product they can repeat during the week, price it inside a working business model, and expand where the brand still has room to run.
Growth plans only work if someone can open clean stores and run them well. El Pollo Loco is stacking operations and development talent for that job.
In a regulatory filing described on Friday, the company said Damon Thomas will join as chief operating officer. He comes from Shake Shack, a chain that already proved it could carry a distinct food brand into dense urban markets.
Tara Hinkle is the new chief development officer. She joined in July after roles at The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Taco Bell, and Starbucks. Site selection, franchise partners, and build-out speed now sit closer to the center of the strategy.
The company was founded in Mexico in 1975 and opened its first U.S. restaurant in Los Angeles. Barclays ranked it the eighth-largest chicken chain by U.S. sales in 2024, with a 2.1% market share. National scale is still ahead of it. New York is how Williams intends to chase it.
Companies that sell what people actually want do not need a press release from Washington to justify the next store. They need working kitchens, steady margins, and the nerve to leave home turf. El Pollo Loco is putting that claim on the ground in Queens.