Verified — real FDD extraction
SBA-eligible · directory code S0573 since 2017
EL POLLO LOCO INC FRANCHISE AGREEMENT
Food & Dining · independent · est. —
El Pollo Loco is a fast-casual chain specializing in citrus-marinated, flame-grilled chicken with a Mexican-inspired menu of burritos, bowls, tacos, and sides. A franchisee runs a restaurant, overseeing grilling operations, line staff, and drive-thru service.
EL POLLO LOCO INC FRANCHISE AGREEMENT net unit count grew +1.6% from 2022–2024 per its FDD Item 20.
New to franchising? Start here
A franchise is a business where you (the franchisee) pay a company (the franchisor) for the right to open and run a location using their brand and system — think a local Anytime Fitness or Taco John's owned by a small-business owner, not the corporation.
Before you can buy in, U.S. law requires the franchisor to give you a Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) — a long legal filing covering its fees, finances, and history. The numbers on this page come straight from that document:
- Franchise fee — the one-time cost to buy in.
- Royalty — the ongoing cut of your sales you pay the franchisor.
- Item 20 — how many locations opened and closed, the basis for our verdict (from Proven & strong down to Distressed — or Too new to judge).
The verdict
Proven & steady
Distress
A real track record with an unremarkable region of the ledger: neither the growth nor the exits stand out, for better or worse. The standout in the record: owner turnover is low.
Exit rate · latest year
0.3%
vs 8.6% across 137 food & dining systems
Cost to open
$794K–$2.7M
Item 7 total investment range
SBA loan defaults
6.5%
vs 14.8% avg across rated brands
Behind the verdict
the record, factor by factor · Item 20
3-yr trend · Item 20 Table 1
terminations + ceased-ops vs. all exits · Table 3
transfers vs. base · Table 3
actual vs. projected openings · Table 5
Item 19 disclosure + completeness
Systemwide units
2022–2024
Survival record
FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year
In fiscal 2024, 1 of 323 franchised outlets left the system — a 0.3% annualized exit rate, vs 8.6% across 137 food & dining systems. Not every exit is a failure — but this is the measurable floor.
Show the outlet tables ↓Hide the evidence ↑
| Status (FTC) | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outlets at start | 480 | 490 | 495 |
| Opened | 19 | 21 | 3 |
| Transfers | 7 | 5 | 7 |
| Terminations | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Non-renewals | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ceased — other reasons | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Outlets at end | 490 | 495 | 498 |
| Net change | +10 | +5 | +3 |
The lender's view
SBA 7(a)/504 loan performance · FY1991–present
Banks have made 67 SBA-backed loans to EL POLLO LOCO INC FRANCHISE AGREEMENT franchisees since 1991. Of the 46 that have resolved, 6.5% were charged off (defaulted) rather than paid in full, versus 14.8% across 576 rated brands.
6.5%
3 of 46 resolved defaulted
93.6%
avg. charged-off $ ÷ approved $
6.1%
default rate × loss severity
$1,555,715
what recent franchisees borrowed
89 mo
approval → charge-off, defaulted loans
7 vs 5
distinct banks still lending
Charge-off rate by loan approval year (%)
Loan performance by state
SOURCE: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA LOAN DATA (DATA.SBA.GOV), FY1991–PRESENT · MATCHED TO EL POLLO LOCO INC FRANCHISE AGREEMENT BY FRANCHISE NAME · RESOLVED = CHARGED-OFF + PAID-IN-FULL
The owner's side of the deal
FDD × federal loan record
Who finances it
Us Metro Bank
15.7% of this brand's loans
Who buys it
65.8%
first-time franchise owners
The rest already owned at least one other franchise. Across the corpus, brands bought mostly by repeat operators charge off at roughly 10% versus 17% for brands sold mostly to newcomers.
Does experience help here?
Not enough resolved loans to split
Computed from 67 SBA 7(a)/504 loans to EL POLLO LOCO INC FRANCHISE AGREEMENT franchisees joined to the brand's own FDD. Debt service assumes level amortization at the average disclosed term and rate. A lender's rate excludes its loans to this brand, so it reads the lender, not the brand.
What it costs — and what it drags
FDD Items 5–7 · fees, investment, royalty
Buying in means a $40K franchise fee (Item 5) and a total investment of $794K–$2.7M (Item 7). The franchisor publishes an earnings claim (Item 19) — read its methodology closely.
To open (Item 7)
$794K–$2.7M
all-in investment range
Franchise fee (Item 5)
$40K
upfront, one-time
Royalty (Item 6)
5%
of sales, ongoing
Your figure — cross-check against this brand's Item 19 and current-owner validation.
Royalty you'd pay / yr
$50K
5% of sales, before profit
Over a 10-yr term
$500K
royalties alone, excl. ad fund
This is not profit. It's the only money the FDD actually pins down — what you put in, and the royalty you owe on every dollar of sales. Your real take-home depends on labor, rent, food cost, and ramp-to-breakeven, none of which any FDD discloses.
Build a real pro-forma for EL POLLO LOCO INC FRANCHISE AGREEMENT with an independent CPAModeled risk
FDD Risk Score · modeled from the public record
Modeled from the public record, this brand looks safer than 71% of systems we score.
Risk percentile
29 / 100
Loan-corroborated
Modeled SBA charge-off
9.9%
Observed SBA charge-off
6.5%
Top drivers: Investment ceiling (log) (lowers) · System size (log units) (lowers) · Item 20 exit rate (lowers) · Single-lender dependence (raises). 15+ resolved loans stand behind this estimate. A linear scorecard built from this brand's own disclosure figures plus the federal loan record behind its franchisees; full spec and cross-validated accuracy on the methodology page. A score is context, not a verdict.
Distress signals
news-sourced · bankruptcies, closures, lawsuits
No recent closures, bankruptcies, or major lawsuits found in the news for EL POLLO LOCO INC FRANCHISE AGREEMENT. That's a good sign — but it reflects news coverage, not a guarantee.
A broker is paid by the franchisor to place you. An independent CPA is paid by you — and the job is pressure-testing EL POLLO LOCO INC FRANCHISE AGREEMENT's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
Talk to an independent CPA before you buy →EL POLLO LOCO INC FRANCHISE AGREEMENT franchise questions, answered from the filings
What percentage of EL POLLO LOCO INC FRANCHISE AGREEMENT franchises closed last year?
In EL POLLO LOCO INC FRANCHISE AGREEMENT's latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2024), 1 of 323 franchised outlets left the system — an annualized exit rate of 0.3% — compared with 8.6% across 137 food & dining systems tracked here. That counts terminations, non-renewals, and "ceased operations — other reasons." There is no official failure rate, and not every exit is a failure, but this is the measurable floor.
How much does a EL POLLO LOCO INC FRANCHISE AGREEMENT franchise cost?
Per EL POLLO LOCO INC FRANCHISE AGREEMENT's 2024 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $40K (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $794K–$2.7M (Item 7).
What royalty does EL POLLO LOCO INC FRANCHISE AGREEMENT charge?
EL POLLO LOCO INC FRANCHISE AGREEMENT charges an ongoing royalty of 5.0% of gross sales, per Item 6 of its 2024 FDD.
Does EL POLLO LOCO INC FRANCHISE AGREEMENT disclose earnings (Item 19)?
Yes — EL POLLO LOCO INC FRANCHISE AGREEMENT makes a financial performance representation in Item 19 of its 2024 FDD. Read it closely: franchisors choose which units and which metrics to include.
How often do SBA loans for EL POLLO LOCO INC FRANCHISE AGREEMENT franchises default?
Across 67 SBA-backed loans to EL POLLO LOCO INC FRANCHISE AGREEMENT franchisees since 1991, 3 of the 46 that have resolved were charged off — a 6.5% default rate, versus about 14.8% across all rated franchise brands. This is the lender's-eye view of franchisee failure, drawn from public SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA data and independent of the franchisor's own disclosures.