El Pollo Loco logo

El Pollo Loco

HeadQuarterCosta Mesa, California, US
Founded1980
Company Size5,000 to 9,999 employees
IndustryRestaurant/Food Services

About El Pollo Loco

At El Pollo Loco, pronounced “L Po-yo Lo-co” and Spanish for “The Crazy Chicken,” we go to crazy lengths for our signature citrus-marinated, fire-grilled chicken. First, we marinate fresh, whole chickens in a special recipe of herbs, spices, fruit juices and garlic. The whole chickens are then fire-grilled, hand-cut, and served with our chicken meals, burritos, salads, soups, tacos and quesadillas. And if that’s not enough, we apply that same passion to our handmade guacamole, salsas and dressings every day. Some say the lengths we go to are crazy. We say it’s Crazy You Can Taste.

It all began in Guasave, Mexico in 1975. El Pollo Loco was originally a roadside chicken stand. Its signature menu item? “Pollo,” of course: fresh chicken marinated in a special recipe of herbs, spices and fruit juices. Needless to say, El Pollo Loco quickly became a local favorite.