El Pollo Loco Expands In Utah

The Costa Mesa, Calif., fire-grilled chicken chain is getting bigger in the Salt Lake City area. It plans to expand from its two existing sites there to seven by 2018. Three veteran franchisees who currently operate 13 El Pollo Loco stores in Southern California will lead the development using the fast-casual chain’s hacienda design. The chain, first established in 1980, debuted the heritage-themed hacienda design in 2012. El Pollo Loco has more than 400 company-owned and franchised restaurants in Arizona, California, Nevada, Texas and Utah.