El Pollo Loco doubles its development pace as it pushes fire-grilled chicken beyond the Sunbelt

El Pollo Loco plans to open 18 to 20 new restaurants in 2026 — more than double last year's openings — as the fire-grilled chicken chain converts a multi-year brand turnaround into its fastest development pace in years, Restaurant Dive reported Monday. The acceleration comes on the heels of the chain's entry into Idaho, its 10th state, where a franchise group opened the brand's first location at 3471 W. Chinden Blvd. in Meridian this summer, with a second Idaho restaurant slated for this fall and three to four more planned as the market develops, according to QSR Magazine.

The Costa Mesa, Calif.-based chain crossed the 500-restaurant mark in October 2025 and has spent the past two years methodically loosening its historic dependence on California. It has entered three new states — Washington, New Mexico and Idaho — in under 24 months, grown Texas to 34 restaurants, and doubled its Denver-area footprint earlier this year. CEO Elizabeth Williams, who arrived in 2024 to lead the turnaround, told Restaurant Dive the majority of new units will now open outside California, in underpenetrated markets across its existing nine-state base plus Idaho.

The Meridian opening is the template for how El Pollo Loco wants to grow: an experienced operator — in this case a franchise group with more than 25 years running El Pollo Loco restaurants in California — planting a flag in a fast-growing, lower-cost market and building a cluster around it. Williams pointed to the chain's single Seattle-market restaurant, which she said performs significantly above the system average, as evidence the concept travels. "We don't have a lot of national competition in fire grilled chicken, and we are the leader," Williams told Restaurant Dive. "Why wouldn't we grow across the country?"

The development push is being funded from a position of strength. Second-quarter revenue rose to $129.6 million from $125.8 million a year earlier, with system-wide comparable sales up 3.9% — including a 4.5% gain on the franchise side — and restaurant contribution margin of 19.5%, according to the company's Q2 earnings call. GAAP net income nearly doubled to $12.8 million, and the company guided to full-year comps of 3.5% to 4.5% and adjusted EBITDA of $68 million to $70 million. Six restaurants opened in the second quarter alone — five franchised and one company-operated. "We are thrilled to be open in Idaho, which reinforces our continued commitment to drive sustainable traffic growth and thoughtfully accelerate restaurant development in new markets," Williams said in the company's announcement of the Meridian debut.

New units are only half the real estate story. El Pollo Loco completed 24 remodels in the first half of 2026 and is spending up to $400,000 per restaurant on a brighter interior palette, updated furniture and refreshed drive-thru presentation — a deliberate corporate investment intended to give franchisees confidence to fund their own remodels, per Restaurant Dive. The chain is pairing the physical refresh with a new "Let's Get Loco" tagline and a heavier social media push.

Franchise economics are doing the heavy lifting here: five of six Q2 openings were franchised, and Williams has been explicit that new-state entries depend on recruiting qualified operators — so site selection will follow franchisee appetite, likely favoring drive-thru pads in Mountain West and Texas growth corridors. The Idaho playbook — one experienced operator committed to a five-store cluster — suggests landlords in similar mid-size metros (Boise today; Spokane, Albuquerque, Salt Lake–adjacent trade areas tomorrow) should expect cluster deals rather than one-off leases. The $400,000 remodel program is also a signal to watch at renewal time: chains rarely invest that heavily in boxes they intend to vacate. And with new restaurants reportedly opening above system average volumes, the unit-growth guidance for 2027 could move higher still if the 2026 class performs.