Popular Southwestern U.S. restaurant chain reaches 500 locations

A fast-food chain that traces its roots back to Mexico is about to reach a milestone in the United States.

El Pollo Loco (“The Crazy Chicken”) is set to open its 500th restaurant later this month in Colorado Springs, a spokesperson announced on Friday.

El Pollo Loco got its start in 1974 when its founder, Pancho Ochoa, was operating a shoe store in Guasave, Sinaloa, Mexico, and decided to open a restaurant with his family’s popular fire-grilled, citrus-marinated chicken recipe, the company states on its website.

Over the next five years, Pancho opened 85 restaurants across Mexico and, in 1980, opened his first location in Los Angeles, on Alvarado Street in L.A.’s Westlake district, a block from MacArthur Park.

Today, El Pollo Loco operates in seven states, California, Arizona, Colorado, Louisiana, Nevada, Texas and Utah, and has its corporate headquarters in Costa Mesa. It’s menu now includes chicken meals, tacos, burritos, bowls, churros and flan.

A spokesperson said the company plans to ramp up its expansion in 2026.

“At a time when many restaurant chains are slowing expansion, El Pollo Loco is planning to double its new store openings from 10 in 2025 to more than 20 in 2026,” the spokesperson said. “The growth is part of a broader effort to take its SoCal-born concept national while continuing to invest in operations, innovation, and its local headquarters team.”

El Pollo Loco, which offers franchising, went public in 2014 under the NASDAQ ticker symbol LOCO.