El Pollo Loco Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
El Pollo Loco is a quick-service franchise built on citrus-marinated, fire-grilled chicken and Mexican-style entrees. Franchisees run restaurants with drive-thru and dine-in service, managing grilling, food prep, and staffing.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A El Pollo Loco franchise requires a total initial investment of $794K – $2.7M, including a $20K – $40K franchise fee and an ongoing 5.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2026 FDD, average unit revenue was $2.2M[2]. SBA 7(a) loans show a 6.5% charge-off rate across 61 loans[1]. FranchiseVerdict grade: A (Strongest tier), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified · figures per the 2026 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $794K – $2.7M
- 90th pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $2.2M
- 31st pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- 5.0%
- 11th pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 503
- 89th pct Service Resta…
- SBA charge-off
- 6.5%
- % of SBA 7(a) loans not repaid · median varies by category
Quick verdict · Quick-Service Restaurants · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Quick-Service Restaurants avg · No shading = within ±10% · Red = unfavorable by >10% · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
Bottom line
- COSTTotal investment $794K – $2.7M including a $40K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSAverage unit revenue of $2.2M/year (median $2.1M).
- RISKVerdict A (Strongest tier), verdict score 80/100 (higher is better). SBA loan charge-off rate of 6.5% across 61 loans (near or below the 16% franchise average, based on all SBA 7(a) franchise lending, 2010–2025).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- El Pollo Loco, Inc.
- Parent company
- EPL Intermediate, Inc.
- Ultimate parent
- El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc.
- Predecessor
- None
- Prior franchisor entity
- CEO title
- Chief Executive Officer
- Elizabeth Williams
- Incorporated in
- Delaware
- HQ
- 575 Anton Blvd., Suite 1100, Costa Mesa, CA 92626
- Auditor
- BDO USA, P.C.
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $490.0M
- vs $473.0M prior year
- Management churn noted
- Frequent turnover
- Item 2 disclosed frequent executive changes
Overview
About
- CEO
- Elizabeth Williams
- Headquarters
- CA
- Founded
- 1980
- FDD year
- 2026
- States available
- 9
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 164% above the typical quick-service restaurants franchise.
Source: FDD 2026 · Items 5–7
FDD Item 7 · 2026 filing
Initial investment breakdown
| Cost component | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $40K | $40K |
| Working capital (3–6 mo) | $25K | $100K |
| Equipment, build-out, other | $729K | $2.5M |
| Total initial investment | $794K | $2.7M |
Source: El Pollo Loco 2026 FDD, Items 5 and 7[2]. “Equipment, build-out, other” is computed as total minus disclosed line items above.
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $794K – $2.7M
- Bottom third — review vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $25K – $100K
- Middle of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $20K – $40K
- Middle of category vs category
- Royalty
- 5.0%
- unknown · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 5.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 10.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 5.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 5.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $2K |
| Training fee | $500 |
| Transfer fee | $40 |
| Renewal fee | $20K |
| Inventory (initial) | $20K – $25K |
| Total fee load | 10.0% of rev |
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales run 81% above the quick-service restaurants norm.
Source: FDD 2026 · Item 19
Single-unit · estimated
Returns at a glance
Indicative numbers using FDD Item 7 / Item 19 inputs and category-benchmarked cost ratios. Full single-unit, 25-unit portfolio, and LBO models (with every input editable to stress-test your own scenario) live on the financials page.
Store EBITDA · annual
$263K
12.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
15%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
6.9 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
ROI & LBO modelsSingle-unit · 25-unit portfolio · editable
What one unit earns on your invested capital
Model A · Single-Unit Return
Computes unlevered return on invested capital (ROIC) for a single franchise unit. The target band for an attractive franchise is 30–60% ROIC. Below that and a passive index fund likely outperforms; above that and the franchisor has pricing power you're subsidizing.
Note: Item 19 revenue is what the franchisor discloses. It's the top line only. Operating costs below are category estimates. Override them to match your real lease quote, labor market, and build-out budget.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one El Pollo Loco unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Estimated return on your total franchise investment, before any debt financing.
15%
Below the 30–60% attractive-franchise band
What 25 units return when you use SBA financing
Model B · Return on Equity: Debt-Financed Acquisition
Models a 25-unit portfolio acquisition financed with an SBA 7(a) loan. Shows equity IRR (your return on cash invested), DSCR (how safely the cash flow covers debt service), and the capital stack (SBA + seller + equity breakdown).
This is the “search fund” or “entrepreneurship through acquisition” scenario: you buy an existing multi-unit operator, use leverage to amplify returns, and either operate or hire management. The 25-unit size is the typical minimum for an SBA-backed franchise portfolio acquisition to pencil as a full-time income.
What “return on equity” means here: if you put in $500K of your own cash and the business generates enough EBITDA to pay down debt and grow, your equity IRR is the annual return on that $500K, including the value created when you eventually sell. Target IRR for a search fund is typically 25–35%.
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 El Pollo Loco units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
44.5%
6.30× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.99×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$2.7M
on $11.0M purchase
Total debt
$8.3M
SBA $5.0M + senior + seller note
These models are for research and scenario planning only. Not investment advice. Actual results depend on your specific location, management, and market conditions. Consult a franchise attorney and accountant before signing any franchise agreement.
Item 19 · Source: 2026 FDD
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $2.2M
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $2.1M
Gross sales are revenue before expenses — not profit. Actual owner earnings depend on rent, labor, royalties, marketing fees, and debt service.
- Item 19 type
- Average and median net sales by quartile tier, segmented by drive-thru vs. non-drive-thru restaurants, for franchised, franchisor-owned, and total EPL Restaurants (FY2025)
- Sample size
- 319
- vs category median 20 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $727K→$5.0M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Quartile band
- $1.3M→$3.3M
- Bottom 25% → top 25%
- Transparency tier
- full
- Categorical assessment of disclosure depth
- Reporting year
- 2025
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2026
- Disclosed in the 2026 filing, covering 2025
- Transparency
- 4 / 10
- vs category median 4 / 10 · typical
Compared against 782 Quick-Service Restaurants brands
Operator outlook
What the numbers say
Data-driven interpretation of this brand's financial disclosures, fee structure, and system trajectory.
Unit economics
Average unit generates $2.2M/year in gross sales. Revenue-to-investment ratio: 1.3x.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 10.0% — above the Quick-Service Restaurants average of 7.9%.
Disclosure
Transparency score 4/10 — this franchisor discloses detailed breakdowns (quartiles, segments, or cohort data). Buyers can model unit economics with higher confidence.
Source: FDD Item 19 financial performance representations and publicly filed FDD data. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Verify all figures with the franchisor and current franchisees before making any investment decision.
vs Quick-Service Restaurants averages
How El Pollo Loco Compares
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2026 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 503
- Opened
- 11
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 1
- Terminated
- 0
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 6
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 0.0%
- Company-owned
- 175
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 65%
- vs corporate-owned
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 21
- Closed (3yr)
- 0
- Terminated (3yr)
- 0
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 0
- Transfers (3yr)
- 5
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
- Projected new
- 16
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
- Transfer rate
- 1.4%
- Owners selling to other franchisees
- Termination rate
- 0.2%
- Franchisor-initiated terminations
- Ceased ops
- 0.2%
- Units that stopped operating
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 4 states with active franchisees
The Territory Map
Derived from franchisee contact records. Shows states with at least one current operator. Not where the franchisor is registered to sell new units (that data is re-extracting in a future refresh).
States derived from franchisee contact records (FDD Item 20). Shows states with at least one current operator on file. Full state registration data (Item 12) will appear on a future FDD refresh.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
- Total loans
- 61
- Loan volume
- $38.7M
- Median loan
- $360K
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- 6.5%
- rates vary by category · see methodology
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- 93.5%
- 5-yr charge-off
- N/A
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 22
- Defaults
- 3
- Typical loan rate
- 6.5%
- avg rate to borrowers
- Franchised industry avg
- 10.8%
- brand beats franchise avg ↓
- Jobs supported
- 993
- 4.0 per loan
- Lender concentration
- 16%
- top lender's share
Borrower mix: 50% went to startups / new businesses, 50% to established operators
Franchise vs independent — in limited-service restaurants, franchised businesses charge off at 10.8% vs 10.0% for independents — franchising is associated with 8% higher SBA default risk in this category.
Vintage analysis
El Pollo Loco charge-off rate by loan vintage
Top lenders financing El Pollo Loco franchisees
Showing 3 of 22 lenders. The full breakdown — every lender, state distribution, interest rates & risk ratings — is in the SBA Lending Report below.
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Premium insight
SBA Lending Report
Deep-dive into El Pollo Loco's SBA lending history: lender network, geographic footprint, interest rates, and more.
SBA Lending Report
- Principal loss rate and NAICS industry benchmark
- 10 lenders with concentration factor
- Per-state charge-off rates across 5 states
- Startup risk premium and job creation velocity
- 21-year lending trend
- SBA 504 real estate/equipment data
Instant access. No subscription.
What could kill this investment?
SBA loans charge off at 6.5% — 59% below the 16.0% national norm, i.e. lower lender-observed risk.
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA · FDD Items 3, 21
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 4, 8, 16, 21
Risk & Legal
El Pollo Loco presents high-risk investment characteristics: negligible unit growth, withheld profitability data, going concern uncertainty, and widespread litigation affecting shareholders, franchisees, employees, and the company itself.
Litigation (Item 3)
No pending litigation or franchisor-initiated litigation disclosed. Six concluded matters: (1) Galustyan/Diep shareholder derivative actions re: 2015 alleged misrepresentations, settled/dismissed; (2) Lancaster Lawsuit (Handlers-Bryman/Bryman) re: territorial encroachment, jury verdict for plaintiffs, settled for $2.5M plus protected-territory language; (3) Olvera/Perez/Vega/Gonzalez consolidated CA labor class actions, settled for $16.3M; (4) Turocy/Huston consolidated federal securities class action, settled for $20M; (5) San Bernardino Lawsuit (EPL v. EPL 3766) breach of contract, settled with no payment; (6) EPL v. MIK Food trademark infringement, EPL obtained injunction and fee award.
Largest disclosed settlement: $20,000,000
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · BDO USA, P.C.
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
ⓘ These are the parent company's consolidated financials (the parent guarantees the franchisor), not this brand's standalone results — the figure reflects the whole corporate group, not this brand alone.
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: Yes
- Kickbacks from required suppliers: Yes
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 80 / 100 verdict
- 01MEDStagnant unit growth (0.6% YoY) indicates system maturity or decline, not expansion opportunity
- 02MEDNo disclosed average net income despite $2.2M average revenue raises profitability concerns and suggests Item 19 earnings claims are withheld for a reason
- 03HIGHExtensive multi-front litigation including shareholder derivative actions alleging breach of fiduciary duty, securities fraud, labor law violations, and territorial disputes signals governance and operational problems
- 04HIGHFalse Going Concern status indicates the franchisor has serious financial or operational viability questions
- 05MEDHigh initial investment range ($793K-$2.7M) combined with undisclosed profitability and stagnant growth creates unfavorable risk-reward ratio
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 10.0% of sales (royalty + ad fund), before rent and labor.
Source: FDD 2026 · Items 11, 12, 17
FDD Items 12, 15, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 20 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 10 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 1 |
| Territory type | protected |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Optional |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 5 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| RoFR response window | 30 days |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 60 days |
| Termination groundsℹ | 18 |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 4 |
| Mandatory arbitration | No |
| Arbitration location | California (mediation first; litigation in California) |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | California |
| Litigation count | 6 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
No pending litigation or franchisor-initiated litigation disclosed. Six concluded matters: (1) Galustyan/Diep shareholder derivative actions re: 2015 alleged misrepresentations, settled/dismissed; (2) Lancaster Lawsuit (Handlers-Bryman/Bryman) re: territorial encroachment, jury verdict for plaintiffs, settled for $2.5M plus protected-territory language; (3) Olvera/Perez/Vega/Gonzalez consolidated CA labor class actions, settled for $16.3M; (4) Turocy/Huston consolidated federal securities class action, settled for $20M; (5) San Bernardino Lawsuit (EPL v. EPL 3766) breach of contract, settled with no payment; (6) EPL v. MIK Food trademark infringement, EPL obtained injunction and fee award.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 40 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 400 hrs
- Training location
- Near the Support Center (Costa Mesa, CA) and designated Certified Training Restaurants (CTRs)
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Time to open
- 12 mo
- From signing to launch
- Site selection
- Franchisee proposes site; Franchisor (RESAC) has sole right to approve or reject
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- Oracle Micros (POS/back-office software)
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Oracle Micros (POS/back-office software)
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
100 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
El Pollo Loco · FDD (2026) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a El Pollo Loco franchise?
The total investment to open a El Pollo Loco franchise ranges from $794K – $2.7M, with an initial franchise fee of $40K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do El Pollo Loco franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the El Pollo Loco FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $2.2M. The median is $2.1M. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Item 19 in the El Pollo Loco FDD?
The FDD section where a franchisor may disclose financial performance of its outlets. Disclosure is optional and formats vary; figures are typically gross sales, which is revenue before expenses, not profit. FranchiseVerdict extracts these figures directly from the El Pollo Loco FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is El Pollo Loco's franchise failure rate?
Based on SBA 7(a) loan data, El Pollo Loco has a charge-off rate of 6.5% across 61 loans, meaning 6.5% of franchise loans were charged off. Charge-off rates are one proxy for franchise risk, though they do not capture all closures. This data comes from FOIA-sourced SBA lending records.
How many El Pollo Loco franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, El Pollo Loco has 503 total units in the United States, including 328 franchised units and 175 company-owned units. 11 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is El Pollo Loco a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates El Pollo Loco as a A-grade franchise with a verdict score of 80 out of 100 (higher is better), based on our analysis of investment costs, revenue data, SBA loan performance, and growth trends. Our rating is based solely on publicly available FDD and government data; we recommend speaking with current franchisees before making any investment decision. This is not investment advice.
Data sourced from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) FOIA records. Not financial advice.
For franchisors
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Data extracted from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) loan disclosures (FOIA). This information is provided for research purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Verify all figures with the franchisor's current Franchise Disclosure Document before making any investment decision.