Elizabeth “Liz” Williams, CEO of El Pollo Loco, the nation’s leading fire-grilled chicken chain, reveals the secret ingredients behind her company’s 50-year success.
El Pollo Loco, renowned for its craveable chicken, was founded in 1974 by Pancho Ochoa, who started the restaurant business to honor his family’s beloved flame-grilled chicken recipe.
Within five years, Ochoa expanded to 85 restaurants across Mexico before he brought his signature citrus-marinated, fire-grilled chicken to the United States at his first Los Angeles location, which is still open today.
More than 50 years later, the G.O.A.T. of chicken has now expanded to nearly 500 restaurants across seven states.
A Fresh Start
El Pollo Loco’s CEO, Liz Williams, joined the company in March 2024, and with her extensive experience in the quick-service restaurant industry, she quickly brought a fresh perspective to the executive team.
Before joining the chain, Williams spent over 10 years at Yum! Brands, Inc., where she was part of the leadership team responsible for a major brand turnaround.
As president of Taco Bell International, she championed the company’s strategy, growth, and performance across 30 countries. Williams also served as Taco Bell’s Global Chief Financial Officer, overseeing the chain’s worldwide finance, technology, and e-commerce.
Fine Tuning the Brand
Although she’s a newcomer to El Pollo Loco, Williams assures CEO North America that she’s no stranger to the beloved brand. “As I live in Southern California, I’ve always been around El Pollo Loco. I’ve been in the restaurant industry for many years and closely watched the brand.”
When Williams joined the executive team, she quickly recognized opportunities to modernize the historic brand while respecting its heritage.
“Times are tough. People want to eat quality food. They want freshness. Everyone’s talking about health again, right? They don’t want artificial colors. They want food that’s fresh and ingredients that are transparent. And, we have all of that.”
Since then, she has used the strong customer loyalty to the brand as a foundation to guide El Pollo Loco through its ongoing modernization and transformation.
Throughout this process, the chain continues to grow steadily. In 2024, the company posted an impressive annual revenue of $473 million, while El Pollo Loco’s latest earnings report shows its quarterly revenue rising to $125.8 million from $122.2 million the previous year.
“We have a highly profitable restaurant concept. Our customer scores are terrific, and we’re differentiated. We’re in the chicken category, one of the hottest categories in the restaurant space with Mexican flavors currently trending,” the CEO says. “There’s still so much growth ahead for this brand.”
Going Back to Basics
As a newcomer to the company, Williams’s role in the transformation has carefully balanced retaining valued long-term customers and launching the brand’s offerings to new, relevant clients.
“I saw an opportunity to drive culinary innovation, specifically with a portable angle,” she explains. “We love our bone-in chicken heritage, but how do we come out with more of the burritos and the tacos and the salads and bowls to reach a more relevant consumer?”
“The way we cook couldn’t be better. We have a fabulous set of recipes and then how we produce our chicken is awesome. It’s craveable. So now, how do we make sure that service is matched and that the hospitality and the accuracy are just perfect?”
Williams has also recognized a significant opportunity to rebuild the brand’s value, as some items had “become a little too expensive.”
Building on this, over the next three to five years, the CEO plans to improve the brand’s relevance to consumers by keeping costs low and expanding the variety of handheld products.
“There are so many great new products we’re working on that I believe will go hand in hand with that brand evolution.”
Non-Negotiable Quality
“We are the OG when it comes to Cooking Fresh in our restaurants,” Williams says. “Yes, we continue to marinate our chicken and grill it fresh in front of you every day. Unlike some competitors, our chicken doesn’t arrive pre-cooked in a bag and is just thrown into a rethermizer. We actually cook in our restaurant. So, that quality is the difference.”
After 50 successful years fine-tuning its food quality, El Pollo Loco has also gradually streamlined its operations. “We’ve got amazing team members, and we’ve got spectacular franchise partners. But unfortunately, over time, some of our experiences didn’t match that of the high-quality food,” Williams admits.
“We brought in two new leaders last year, one in supply chain and one in culinary, and they have taken a fresh perspective working with our suppliers.”
She says the opportunity her executive team have been working on is: “How do we ensure our operations and the visit experience match that quality, and remain consistently fabulous?”
“To me, it all comes down to the customer experience and the operations,” Williams says.
“We must provide a great customer experience, and that really is the first priority. Everyone goes through a drive-through, and we’re doing a lot of work behind the scenes, whether it’s training, whether it’s adding technology that helps our team members make sure the orders are going out right.”
How does El Pollo Loco make sure that team members take the time to give that smile, ensure all guests feel welcome, and that orders go out as planned?
“If you lack quality in the food sector, and if people don’t love your food and your brand, a strategy alone won’t make that happen. You either do or you don’t.”
Williams explains, “If you can drive the change to really modernize and turn around a brand and improve the business model economics, that then gets excitement with a franchise community that starts to reinvest again and gets excited about growth.”
“So, that reinvestment growth means new units and growing outside of our seven-market space that we’re in today, and growing across the country.”
A Team Effort
Williams tells CEO North America, “The consumer wants a lot, and they deserve a lot, right?” “A big part of our success has been and will be the leadership team that we’ve built and just how awesome each one of them is individually and collectively.”
With a rich background in the restaurant space, Williams says her executive team has worked diligently to foster a strong culture. “We all work really well together, with high levels of respect.” “I’m a big believer that nothing happens with one person. It’s really about building this team.”
With Williams leading the transformation, the brand is moving in the right direction to meet market demands, especially during today’s unpredictable economy. “We’re affordable and we’re convenient,” Williams proudly states.
Striving for Growth
Apart from the brand transformation, the “final piece” for Williams’ team to focus on is how they expand nationwide. “We’re in seven states today. We have three states where we’re under construction, so we’ll be in ten states next year.”
“Now that we have rebooted the leadership team, we’ve got stability, a lot of industry experience, and we are well on our way to turning this brand around. There is a lot of growth ahead for this brand. And we must make sure all of the things that we say match up with what we do.”
Williams emphasizes, “As the leader of this team, we are really focused on accountability and doing what we say we’re going to do and healthy growth of the business. And I think we will continue to grow because of it.”
“Over time, I think we will get noticed. There’s really no one like us… I think we occupy some rare space.”
