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UNITED STATES

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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

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Washington, D.C. 20549

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FORM 10-K

(Mark one)

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For the fiscal year ended December 30, 2020

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or

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For the transition period from             to

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Commission file number 001-36556

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EL POLLO LOCO HOLDINGS, INC.

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(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

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(714) 599-5000

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Registrant’s telephone number, including area code

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Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

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Securities registered pursuant to section 12(g) of the Act:

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None

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(Title of class)

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Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.   Yes  ☐    No  ☒

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Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.   Yes  ☐    No  ☒

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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.   Yes  ☒    No  ☐

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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).  Yes ☒    No  ☐

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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

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If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.   ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act).   Yes  ☐    No  ☒

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As of June 24, 2020, the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, the aggregate market value of the registrant’s common equity held by non-affiliates was approximately $269 million, deeming purely for purposes of this calculation all directors and executive officers and Trimaran Pollo Partners, L.L.C. to be affiliates. The determination of affiliate status is not necessarily a conclusive determination for any other purpose.

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As of March 5, 2021, there were 36,460,083 shares of the registrant’s common stock outstanding.

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DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

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Part III hereof incorporates by reference certain portions of the registrant’s definitive proxy statement for its 2021 annual meeting of stockholders to be filed not later than 120 days after the end of the registrant’s 2020 fiscal year.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This report contains forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this report are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements discuss our current expectations and projections relating to our financial condition, results of operations, plans, objectives, future performance and business. You can identify forward-looking statements because they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. These statements may include words such as “aim,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “outlook,” “potential,” “project,” “projection,” “plan,” “intend,” “seek,” “may,” “could,” “would,” “will,” “should,” “can,” “can have,” “likely,” the negatives thereof and other words and terms of similar meaning in connection with any discussion of the timing or nature of future operating or financial performance or other events. They appear in a number of places throughout this report and include statements regarding our intentions, beliefs or current expectations concerning, among other things, our results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, prospects, growth, strategies and the industry in which we operate. All forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those that we expected.

While we believe that our assumptions are reasonable, we caution that it is very difficult to predict the impact of known factors, and it is impossible for us to anticipate all factors that could affect our actual results. All forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements. You should evaluate all forward-looking statements made in this report in the context of the factors that could cause outcomes to differ materially from our expectations. These factors include, but are not limited to, those listed under “Item 1A. Risk Factors” of this report, as such risk factors may be amended, supplemented or superseded from time to time by other reports we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

We caution you that the important factors included in this report may not contain all of the factors that are important to you. In addition, we cannot assure you that we will realize the results or developments we expect or anticipate or, even if substantially realized, that they will result in the consequences we anticipate or affect us or our operations in the ways that we expect. The forward-looking statements included in this report are made only as of the date hereof. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. If we do update one or more forward-looking statements, no inference should be made that we will make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements. We qualify all of our forward-looking statements by these cautionary statements.

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PART I

Unless otherwise specified in this Annual Report on Form 10-K (“Annual Report”), or the context otherwise requires, terms “El Pollo Loco,” “the Company,” “our company,” “we,” “us,” and “our” mean El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (“Holdings”), together with its subsidiaries.

ITEM 1.BUSINESS

Our Company

El Pollo Loco is Spanish for “The Crazy Chicken.” We opened our first location on Alvarado Street in Los Angeles, California, in 1980, and have grown our restaurant system to 479 restaurants, comprised of 196 company-operated and 283 franchised restaurants as of December 30, 2020. Our restaurants are located in California, Arizona, Nevada, Texas, Utah and Louisiana. Our typical restaurant is a free-standing building with drive-thru service that ranges in size from 2,200 to 3,000 square feet with seating for approximately 50-70 people.

El Pollo Loco is a differentiated and growing restaurant concept that specializes in fire-grilling citrus-marinated chicken and operates in the limited service restaurant (“LSR”) segment. We strive to offer food that integrates the culinary traditions of Mexico with the healthier lifestyle of Los Angeles, a combination that we call “LA-Mex.” Our distinctive menu features our signature product, citrus-marinated fire-grilled chicken, as well as a variety of Mexican and LA-inspired entrees that we create from our chicken. We serve individual and family-sized chicken meals, a variety of Mexican and LA-inspired entrees, and sides, and, throughout the year, on a limited-time basis, additional proteins like shrimp. Our entrees include favorites such as our Chicken Avocado Burrito, Pollo Fit entrees, chicken tostada salads, and Pollo Bowls. Our famous Creamy Cilantro dressings and salsas are prepared fresh daily, allowing our customers to create their favorite flavor profiles to enhance their culinary experience. Our distinctive menu with better for you and more affordable healthier alternatives appeals to consumers across a wide variety of socio-economic backgrounds and drives our balanced composition of sales throughout the day (our “day-part mix”), including at lunch and dinner.

The Company operates in one operating segment. All significant revenues relate to retail sales of food and beverages through either company or franchised restaurants. Financial information about our operations, including our revenues and expenses for fiscal 2020, 2019 and 2018, and our total assets as of the end of fiscal 2020 and 2019, is included in our “Audited Consolidated Financial Statements” and accompanying “Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements” in this Annual Report. See “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”

COVID-19 Impact

On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization (“WHO”) announced a global health emergency because of a new strain of coronavirus ("COVID-19") originating in Wuhan, China and the risks to the international community as the virus spreads globally beyond its point of origin. On March 11, 2020, the WHO classified the COVID-19 outbreak as a pandemic, based on the rapid increase in exposure globally.

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly disrupted our restaurant operations. Following the pandemic declaration in March 2020, federal, state and local governments began to respond to the public health crisis by requiring social distancing, "stay at home" directives, and restaurant restrictions - including government-mandated dining room closures - that limited business to off-premise services only (take-out, drive-thru and delivery). Historically, approximately 20% of our sales are associated with dine-in service. Many state and local governments continue to implement certain restrictions to try and contain the spread of the virus. As of December 30, 2020, the majority of our restaurants in markets outside of California have dining rooms open at a limited capacity, while the majority of our restaurants in California are continuing to operate on a take-away, mobile pick-up and delivery basis, as well as maintaining drive-thru operations where available to comply with the government mandates. Additionally, the Los Angeles market was heavily impacted by a spike in COVID-19 cases near the end of fiscal 2020. Due to our high concentration in this market, we were disproportionately impacted by this spike. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, during the year ended December 30, 2020, we temporarily closed 154 restaurants, of which all but seven have reopened as of December 30, 2020. Similarly, during the year ended December 30, 2020, our franchisees temporarily closed 69 restaurants, of which all but three have reopened as of December 30, 2020. These closures typically lasted from one to three days. For both franchise-operated and company-operated restaurants, this represents total closures and

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may include more than one closure for the same restaurant. As of December 30, 2020, we had not permanently closed any restaurants due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Below is a summary of other actions we have taken to enhance financial and operating flexibility for the Company and for our franchisees, and to protect our employees and customers:

During fiscal 2020, we incurred $4.9 million in COVID-19 related expenses, primarily due to leaves of absence and overtime pay.

The full impact of the COVID-19 outbreak continues to evolve as of the date of this report. We are continually evaluating the impact of the global crisis on our financial condition, liquidity, operations, suppliers, industry, and workforce and will take additional actions as necessary. The disruption in operations has led to us considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our liquidity, debt covenant compliance, and recoverability of long-lived and right-of-use (“ROU”) assets, goodwill and intangible assets, among others. If these disruptions to our operations from the COVID-19 pandemic continue or worsen, they may have a material negative impact on our financial results, future operations and liquidity. The extent of such negative impact will depend, in part, on the longevity and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the severity and transmission rates of COVID-19 variants, resurgences of COVID-19 that may continue to occur, the availability, distribution and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines and how quickly and to what extent normal economic and operating conditions improve.

Due to the rapid development and fluidity of this situation, we cannot determine the ultimate impact that the COVID-19 pandemic will have on our consolidated financial condition, liquidity, and future results of operations, and therefore any prediction as to the ultimate materiality of the adverse impact on our consolidated financial condition, liquidity, and future results of operations is uncertain.

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Our Industry

The restaurant industry is divided into two segments: full service and limited service. We operate within the broader LSR segment, and we strive to offer the food and dining experience of a fast-casual restaurant and the speed, value, and convenience of a quick-service restaurant (“QSR”). We strive to offer menu options that are made with fresh ingredients and provide a better for you alternative to typical fast food, which are also inspired by the culinary and cultural traditions of Mexico and our hometown of Los Angeles.

Our Competitive Strengths

We believe that the following strengths differentiate us from our competitors and serve as the foundation for our continued growth:

Differentiated Restaurant Concept with Broad Appeal. We believe that our food, which combines the culinary traditions of Mexico with the healthier lifestyle of Los Angeles, served in contemporary restaurant environments at reasonable prices, positions us well to satisfy the needs of our core Hispanic family market and appeal to the broader general market who seek convenient and high-quality meals at reasonable prices. We provide our customers with the opportunity to enjoy citrus-marinated, fire-grilled chicken and Mexican-inspired entrees containing distinctive ingredients such as avocados, mangos, organic greens and serrano peppers at price points that appeal to a broad consumer base. We believe that our entree prices are typically lower than the fast-casual segment, and a slight premium to the QSR segment. We prepare our entrees to order in approximately four minutes and allow our customers the option to create their favorite flavor profiles using our freshly-prepared salsas before they enjoy their meals in our dining rooms or take their meals to go from the counter or the drive-thru. We also believe that our concept, which integrates the complexity of creating real food in real kitchens with the speed of our service model and the skill of our trained Grill Masters, provides a layer of competitive insulation around our restaurant model. We believe that our positioning appeals to a broad customer base, and that our brand crosses over traditional age, ethnic, and income demographics, giving consumers the best of both the fast-casual and QSR segments. We seek to position ourselves as a differentiated restaurant concept, which we believe sources traffic from both dining segments and, as a result, we expect it to drive transaction growth in the future.

Mexican-Inspired, Fresh-Made Fire-Grilled Chicken and Entrees. Our signature product is our chicken, marinated with a proprietary recipe of citrus juice, garlic, and spices, which serves as the foundation of our distinctive menu of flavorful bone-in chicken meals and entrees inspired by Mexico and LA. With menu items such as our signature individual chicken meals, family dinners, Chicken Tostada Salad, Pollo Bowl®, Chicken Avocado Burrito, and Double Chicken Avocado Salad, we believe that we offer our customers a better for you alternative to traditional food on-the-go. Our entrees are prepared using fresh ingredients with recipes inspired by Mexican cuisine. The majority of our menu items are prepared in-restaurant using fresh ingredients, including our bone-in chicken and chicken breast filets, rice, salsas, and cilantro dressing. These items start with our chicken, which is marinated in our restaurants daily. From there, our Grill Masters fire-grill and hand-chop our chicken to order. Our team members create our salsas, and cilantro dressings with fresh tomatoes, avocados, serrano peppers, and cilantro. In addition, our rice is seasoned, and simmered in our restaurants throughout each day.

Our bone-in chicken meals and Mexican-inspired entrees accounted for 46% and 47% of our company-operated restaurant sales, respectively, in both 2020 and 2019, and 46% and 54%, respectively, in 2018. Our individual and family-sized chicken meals appeal to customers looking to dine at the restaurant or take out during dinnertime, while our Mexican-inspired entrees draw traffic from customers at lunchtime or for an afternoon snack, enabling us to generate sales split almost equally between lunch and dinner. We believe that our family-sized chicken meals provide a better for you and more convenient alternative for families looking to solve the “dinnertime dilemma” of providing their families with high-quality meals without investing significant time or money. In 2020, approximately 31% of our company-operated sales were generated from family-sized meals, compared to 28% in both 2019 and 2018.

Operations Infrastructure that Allows for Real-Time Control, Fast Feedback, and Innovation. We believe that satisfying our customers’ dining needs is the foundation for our business, and we have an operations platform that allows us to measure our performance in meeting and exceeding those needs. We utilize an operations dashboard that aggregates real-time, restaurant-level information for many aspects of our business. The dashboard provides corporate and field management, as well as restaurant-level operators, with insight into how we are performing from the customer’s perspective. In addition, all company operated restaurants utilize digital “communication boards”, which communicate sales, cost and consumer data in real time to our restaurant managers.

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Developing High Average Unit Volumes (“AUVs”) and Strong Unit Economics One Chicken at a Time. We seek to position ourselves as a differentiated LSR business, which we believe drives restaurant operating results that are competitive with other leading restaurant concepts in both the fast-casual and QSR industry segments. We believe that our restaurant model is designed to generate strong cash flow, consistent restaurant-level financial results, and high returns on invested capital. In 2020, our company-operated restaurants generated average annual sales per restaurant of approximately $1.9 million and restaurant-level contribution margins of 18.8%.

Experienced Leadership. Most of our senior management team has extensive operating experience in the restaurant industry. Members of the senior leadership team include Bernard Acoca as our President and Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”), Larry Roberts as our Chief Financial Officer, Miguel Lozano as our Chief Operating Officer, Jennifer Jaffe as our Chief People Officer, and Brian Carmichall as our Chief Development Officer.

Our Growth Strategy

We believe that we are well-positioned for sales growth because of our strong appeal to our core Hispanic family market, appeal to the broader general market, disciplined business model, and strong unit economics. Through 2019, our system experienced annual comparable restaurant sales growth for eight consecutive years. Our system comparable restaurant sales in fiscal 2020 declined 2.4%, which we believe was largely attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic. We plan to continue to expand our business, drive restaurant sales growth and increase company profits by executing our Transformation Agenda, which consists of the following four key strategies:

Develop a People-first Culture – Invest in and Grow our Talent. We believe that success in the restaurant industry is highly correlated with employee engagement, which is dependent upon hiring, retaining, developing and motivating employees. We continue to build a culture centered around our mission, which is to “Feed the Love that Makes Us All Feel Like Family” and “Heart-Centered Leadership,” which is predicated on servant-led leadership, employee recognition and community involvement. We believe that executing on our mission will result in a better and more meaningful work experience for our employees. For example, in 2019 we implemented a food donation program with Food Donation Connection, donated 75,000 tacos as part of our “Buy One, Feed Many” initiative, and celebrated Caesar Chavez Day by recruiting 500 company employees, franchisees and customers to refresh a high school located in south Los Angeles. In 2020, we provided funds to 13 Latina owned businesses that were heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. We also continue to invest in leadership training to ensure that our managers have the tools they need to be effective leaders and motivating coaches. We believe that our focus on culture and leadership will result in highly engaged and motivated employees, which will lead to a better experience for our customers.

Differentiate the Brand – Accentuate our Strengths and Build Upon Them. We believe that we are uniquely positioned within the LSR restaurant space. We will continue to adapt our menu to create family-sized dinner options and lunch entrees that complement our signature fire-grilled chicken, and are inspired by the culinary and cultural traditions of Mexico and our hometown of Los Angeles. We believe that we have opportunities for menu innovation as we look to increase customer frequency and target the dinner segment. In addition, we will continue to tap into the need for healthier offerings by building on the success of our fire-grilled chicken and “better for you” products. Our marketing and operations teams collaborate to ensure that the items developed in our test kitchen can be executed to our high standards in our restaurants with the convenience and value that our customers have come to expect.

We engage customers through our seasonal product calendar, which features new, unique limited time offers and variations of menu items like our Chicken Tostada Salads and Stuffed Burritos. Our key points of differentiation are communicated through our advertising campaign, which highlights the brand’s authenticity, better for you menu options and dedication to high-quality ingredients. We tailor our message from television and direct mail, which garners broad exposure, to our Loco Rewards loyalty program and social media platform where we engage in more personalized marketing.

We believe that investing in consumer-facing technology is critical to further differentiating our brand and reaching customers for whom convenience and value are key decision factors. During the second quarter of 2017, we introduced a new Loyalty Reward program in an effort to increase sales and loyalty among our customers, by offering rewards that incentivize customers to visit our restaurants more each month. As of December 30, 2020, there were 2.1 million members in the Loco Rewards loyalty program, whom we target with segmented, dynamic campaigns with special offers tailored to each customer segment with the goals of increasing visit frequency and growing overall spend.

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In June 2018, we implemented delivery through DoorDash, a third-party delivery provider. In September 2019, we added Postmates and Uber Eats, and in February 2020 we added GrubHub, as additional marketplace delivery providers. For meals ordered through these market place platforms, restaurants incur a fee based on a percentage of the ticket. As of December 30, 2020, Postmates maintained exclusivity for delivery orders placed directly with our restaurants. For those ordered directly from the restaurant, no fee is charged to the restaurant as the full delivery cost is borne by the customer. In total, during fiscal 2020, delivery orders constituted 6% of our total sales mix. As of December 30, 2020, all Corporate and franchise restaurants offered integrated delivery through a third-party service.

We plan to continue investing in our loyalty and delivery programs as well as other technology platforms to continue making it easier for customers to access our food.

Simplify Operations – Make It Easier for Employees and Franchisees to Run Our Restaurants. We believe that simplifying our restaurant operations will further enhance our ability to attract and retain the best employees and further improve customer service. In 2020, we implemented several initiatives to make it easier for our employees to operate our restaurants. These included a systemized restaurant cleaning process, revised drive thru operating procedures and a state-of-the-art human resource management system. These initiatives have allowed our restaurant employees to increase their focus on customers and speed of service. We believe that this focus, combined with renewed emphasis on providing an exceptional customer experience, will lead to higher sales over the longer term.

Grow the Business – Responsibly and Profitably for the Long Term. We believe that execution of our first three strategies will enable us to grow our restaurant base. Our restaurant model is designed to generate strong cash flow, attractive restaurant-level financial results and high returns on invested capital. We have finalized a new restaurant design that we believe will clearly differentiate and communicate our brand, both on the exterior and interior. In addition, we are redesigning the back-of-house to make it easier for employees to operate the restaurant. We believe that this new design will deliver strong new unit volumes and cash on cash returns in both existing and new markets. We also believe that our remodels using this new design will result in higher restaurant revenue and a strengthened brand. As of the end of fiscal 2020, we have completed two remodels using the new asset design. If these are successful, beginning in 2021, this new design will replace our “Vision” design, which was implemented in 2016. However, given the uncertainty surrounding the severity and longevity of the COVID-19 pandemic, as a precautionary measure we significantly reduced capital spending, including limiting our remodels in 2020. Our franchisees did not complete any remodels in 2020 as we have deferred their remodel requirements until 2021. In 2021, we plan to resume our standard practices for remodels, including 15 company-operated and 40 franchised restaurants.

We expect future new unit development to be led by franchisees, with company development being focused on existing markets. In order to expand into new markets, we believe that we need to source new franchisees and, therefore, we expect to invest more resources in sourcing and onboarding them in the future.

Site Selection and Expansion

Restaurant Development

We believe that our restaurant model is designed to generate strong cash flow, attractive restaurant-level financial results, and high returns on invested capital, which we believe provide us with a strong foundation for unit growth over the long-term. In 2020, one new company-operated restaurant was opened in Nevada, which was in process prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, and three franchised restaurants were opened, two in California and one in Arizona. As a result of the COVID-19 crisis, we suspended company-operated new unit development until the timing of the economic recovery and our business improvement become clearer. In addition, we allowed franchisees to defer their 2020 new unit development obligations until 2021.

In fiscal 2021, we intend to open three to five new company-operated and four to six new franchised restaurants. There is no guarantee that we will be able to open new company-operated or franchised restaurants, or to increase the overall number of our restaurants. We may be unsuccessful in expanding within existing or into new markets for a variety of reasons as described below in “Item 1A. Risk Factors,” including competition for customers, sites, franchisees, employees, licenses, and financing.

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Site Selection Process

We consider the location of a restaurant to be a critical variable in its long-term success and as such, we devote significant effort to the investigation and evaluation of potential restaurant locations. Our in-house development team has extensive experience building such brands as Taco Bell, The Habit, Carl’s Jr., Baskin Robbins, Wendy’s, Denny’s and Dunkin’ Brands. We use a combination of our in-house development team and outside real estate consultants to locate, evaluate, and negotiate new sites using various criteria, including demographic characteristics, daytime population thresholds, and traffic patterns, along with the potential visibility of, and accessibility to, the restaurant. The process for selecting locations incorporates management’s experience and expertise and includes extensive data collection and analysis. Additionally, we use information and intelligence gathered from managers and other restaurant personnel that live in or near the neighborhoods that we are considering.

Based on our experience and results, we are currently focused on developing freestanding sites with drive-thrus along with select in-line locations. Our restaurants perform well in a variety of neighborhoods, which gives us greater flexibility and lowers operating risk when selecting new restaurant locations.

We approve new restaurants only after formal review by our real estate site approval committee, which includes most of our senior management, and we monitor restaurants’ on-going performances to inform future site selection decisions.

Restaurant Construction

After identifying a lease site, we commence our restaurant build-out. Our new restaurants are either ground-up prototypes or retail space conversions. On average, it takes approximately 12 to 24 months from specific site identification to restaurant opening. Our restaurants are constructed in approximately 10 to 15 weeks. In order to maintain consistency of food and customer service, as well as our colorful, bright, and contemporary restaurant environment, we have set processes and timelines to follow for all restaurant openings.

Restaurant Management and Operations

Service

We are extremely focused on customer service. We aim to provide fast, friendly service on a solid foundation of dedicated, driven team members and managers. Our cashiers are trained on the menu items that we offer and offer customers thoughtful suggestions to enhance the ordering process. Our team members and managers are responsible for our service and dining room environment with a focus on hospitality. Team members seek to engage in conversation with our customers to ensure satisfaction. In addition, constant monitoring of the dining room occurs to ensure the fresh salsa bar and beverage station are clean and supplied with products.

Operations

We utilize systems that are aimed at measuring our ability to deliver a “best in class” experience for our customers. These systems include customer surveys, social media ratings and speed-of-service performance trends. The operational results from all of these sources are then presented on an operations dashboard that displays the measures in an easy-to-read online format that corporate and restaurant-level management and franchisees can utilize in order to develop specific plans for continuous performance improvement. In addition, all company operated restaurants utilize digital “communication boards”, which communicate sales, costs and consumer data in real time to our restaurant managers.

We have food safety and quality assurance programs designed to maintain the highest standards for the food and the food preparation procedures that are used by both company-operated and franchised restaurants. We have a quality assurance team and employ third-party auditors that perform our work place and food safety restaurant audits.

Managers and Team Members

Each of our restaurants typically has a general manager, an assistant manager and two to three shift leaders. There are between 20 and 35 team members per restaurant, who prepare our food fresh daily and provide customer service. To lead our restaurant management teams, we have area leaders, each of whom is responsible for 8 to 12 restaurants. Overseeing the area leaders are two Regional Directors of Operations and a Vice President of Operations, who reports up to our

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Chief Operating Officer. Franchise operations are supported by three directors of franchise who report to the Senior Vice President, Chief Development Officer. The restaurant development team is supported by four directors who also currently report to the Senior Vice President, Chief Development Officer.

Training

Our people are the center of the El Pollo Loco customer experience. Creating a culture of constant learning has been essential in equipping our people with the skills to deliver our high standards and commitments to our customers and team members. We strive to find ways to simplify our methodology and invest in elevating our people. In a rapidly evolving landscape, effective training depends not only on the quality of content but also on delivery methods. To engage our growing base of millennial employees, we employ a Learning Management System called Pollo Zone, our tablet-based learning tool. This platform is a central hub for all training efforts and features individual learner profiles to support engagement and accountability on our path toward investing in our people and their growth.

Franchise Program

We use a franchising strategy to increase new restaurant growth in certain markets, leveraging the ownership of entrepreneurs with specific local market expertise and requiring a relatively minimal capital commitment by us. As of December 30, 2020, there were a total of 283 franchised restaurants. Franchisees range in size from single-restaurant operators to the largest franchisee, which owned 68 restaurants as of December 30, 2020. Our existing franchise base consists of many successful, longstanding, multi-unit restaurant operators. As of December 30, 2020, approximately 85% of franchised restaurants were owned and operated by franchisees that had been with us for over 20 years.

We believe that the franchise revenue generated from our franchise base has historically served as an important source of stable and recurring cash flows to us, and we accordingly plan to expand our base of franchised restaurants. In existing markets, we encourage growth from current franchisees. In our expansion markets, we seek highly-qualified and experienced new franchisees for multi-unit development opportunities.

We believe that creating a foundation of initial and on-going support is important for future success, both for our franchisees and for our brand. Therefore, we have structured our corporate staff, programs, and communication systems to ensure that we are delivering high-quality support to our franchisees.

Our franchise training program is a key element in ensuring our franchise owners and their managers are equipped with the knowledge and skills necessary for success. The program introduces new franchise members to El Pollo Loco with hands-on training in the operation and management of our restaurants. This foundational training is conducted by a general training manager who has been certified by our operations group. Training must be successfully completed before a trainee can be assigned to a restaurant as a manager.

Once introductory training has been completed, we offer a path toward constant learning for all crew members by providing instructional materials that span management training, operations, new product introductions, food safety and a number of other essential restaurant functions. Many of these programs are distributed through Pollo Zone that provides our franchise owners with real-time access to the progress of learning in their restaurants.

Marketing and Advertising

We strive to distinguish the El Pollo Loco brand by building a brand equity that we believe not only accentuates our strengths but also deepens the strong emotional connections we have with our customers. In October 2018, we completed codifying our brand architecture in a comprehensive brand book, which shapes our strategic brand decisions and influences how we communicate the El Pollo Loco brand to consumers. We promote our restaurants and products by emphasizing our points of differentiation, which include our Mexican and LA heritages, our fresh ingredients and made-from-scratch preparation, and the cooking of our citrus-marinated chicken on open fire grills in our kitchens, as well as the convenience and quality we offer for families.

We use multiple marketing channels, including television, radio, digital, and print, to broadly drive brand awareness and purchases of our featured products. We advertise on local broadcast and cable television.

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Through our public relations efforts, we engage notable food editors, influencers and bloggers on a range of topics to help promote our products. In addition, we engage in one-on-one conversations using a portfolio of social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. We also use social media as a research and customer service tool, and apply insights gained to future marketing efforts.

Our Loco Rewards loyalty program uses points, rewards, and offers to build engagement with our customers. Customers access the program on elpolloloco.com and the El Pollo Loco iOS Apple and Android app. We build segmented dynamic campaigns with special offers tailored to each customer segment with the goals of increasing visit frequency and growing overall spend. To keep customers engaged with the program, unannounced offers, called “Surprise and Delights” are awarded based on that customer’s transaction history. We communicate offers, loyalty updates and other Loco Rewards campaigns to customers via in-app messaging, mobile phone push notifications and email.

Our online ordering program makes it easy for customers to skip the line and order ahead. Available for every location and accessible from elpolloloco.com or the El Pollo Loco mobile app, any order can be placed and paid for before arriving at the restaurant. El Pollo Loco has partnered with DoorDash, UberEats, Postmates, and Grubhub as an additional method for ordering.

In 2004, we created El Pollo Loco Charities, a non-profit charity, to support the communities surrounding our restaurants. El Pollo Loco Charities has provided over 15,000 meals per year to underprivileged families, through organizations like Food on Foot, Habitat for Humanity, Children’s Institute, and Court Appointed Special Advocates. In addition, during 2019 we enhanced our community outreach through several initiatives, including: 1) the implementation of a food donation program in which restaurants donate food that would otherwise be discarded; 2) committing to donate 75,000 tacos to charity as part of our “Buy One, Feed Many” National Taco Day promotion; 3) recruiting 500 company, franchise and customer volunteers to refresh a high school located in south Los Angeles; and 4) entering into a relationship with an Orange County-based organization to provide job opportunities for the homeless. In 2020, we provided funds to 13 Latina owned businesses that were heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Purchasing and Distribution

Maintaining a high degree of quality in our restaurants depends in part on our ability to acquire fresh ingredients, and other necessary supplies that meet our specifications, from reliable suppliers. We regularly inspect our vendors to ensure that products purchased conform to our standards and that prices offered are competitive. We have a quality assurance team and third-party accredited auditors that perform comprehensive supplier audits on a frequency schedule based on the potential food safety risk for each product. We contract with McLane Company (our “primary distributor”), a major foodservice distributor, for substantially all of our food and supplies, including the poultry that our restaurants receive from suppliers. Our primary distributor delivers supplies to most of our restaurants three times per week. Our restaurants in Texas utilize regional distributors for produce. Our franchisees are required to use our primary distributor or an approved regional distributor, and franchisees must purchase food and supplies from approved suppliers. Poultry is our largest product cost item and represented approximately 40% of our total food and paper costs for 2020. Fluctuations in supply and in price can significantly impact our restaurant service and profit performance. We actively manage cost volatility for poultry by negotiating with multiple suppliers and entering into what we believe are the most favorable contract terms given existing market conditions. In the past, we have entered into contracts ranging from one to two years depending on current and expected market conditions. We currently source poultry from six suppliers, with two accounting for approximately 62% of our purchases for fiscal 2020. We have fixed prices for 100% of our poultry supply through the end of 2021.

Intellectual Property

We have registered El Pollo Loco ® , Pollo Bowl ® , The Crazy Chicken ® , and certain other names used by our restaurants as trademarks or service marks with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (the “PTO”), and El Pollo Loco ® in approximately 42 foreign countries. In addition, the El Pollo Loco logo, website name and address, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube accounts are our intellectual property. Our policy is to pursue and maintain registration of service marks and trademarks in those countries where business strategy requires us to do so, and to oppose vigorously any infringement or dilution of the service marks or trademarks in those countries. We maintain the recipe for our chicken marinade, as well as certain proprietary standards, specifications, and operating procedures, as trade secrets or as confidential proprietary information.

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Competition

We operate in the restaurant industry, which is highly competitive and fragmented. The number, size, and strength of competitors varies by region. Our competition includes a variety of locally-owned restaurants and national and regional chains that offer dine-in, carry-out, and delivery services.

We believe that competition within the fast-casual restaurant segment is based primarily on ambience, price, taste, quality, and freshness of menu items, as well as on the convenience of drive-thru service. We also believe that QSR competition is based primarily on quality, taste, speed of service, value, brand recognition, restaurant location, and customer service. In addition, we compete with franchisors of other restaurant concepts for prospective franchisees.

Environmental Matters

Our operations are subject to federal, state, and local laws and regulations relating to environmental protection, including regulation of discharges into the air and water, storage and disposal of liquid and solid waste, and clean-up of contaminated soil and groundwater. Under various federal, state, and local laws, an owner or operator of real property may be liable for the cost of removal or remediation of hazardous or toxic substances on, in, or emanating from that property. Such liability may be imposed without regard to whether the owner or operator knew of, or was responsible for, the presence of such hazardous or toxic substances.

Certain of our properties may be located on sites that we know or suspect have been used by prior owners or operators as retail gasoline stations. Such properties previously contained underground storage tanks (“USTs”) for gasoline storage, and while we are not aware of any sites with USTs remaining, it is possible that some of these properties may currently contain abandoned USTs. We are aware of contamination from a release of hazardous materials by a previous owner or operator at two of our owned properties and one of our leased properties. We do not believe that we have contributed to the pre-existing contamination at any of these properties. The appropriate state agencies have been notified, and these issues are being handled without disruption to our business. It is possible that petroleum products and other contaminants may have been released at other properties into the soil or groundwater. Under applicable federal and state environmental laws, we, as the current owner or operator of these sites, may be jointly and severally liable for the costs of investigation and remediation for certain contamination. Although we lease most of our properties, and, when we own, we obtain certain assurances from the prior owner or often obtain indemnity agreements from third parties, we may nonetheless be liable for environmental conditions relating to our prior, current, or future restaurants or restaurant sites. If we were found liable for the cost of remediation of contamination at, or emanating from, any of our properties, our operating expenses would likely increase and our operating results would likely be adversely affected and, in extraordinary circumstances, our operating results could be materially affected.

Since 2000, we have obtained “Phase One” Environmental Site Assessments (assessing whether current or historical property uses have impacted soil or groundwater beneath the property, posing a threat to the environment and/or human health) for new restaurants. Where warranted, we obtain updated reports, and, if necessary, in rare cases, we obtain “Phase Two” Environmental Site Assessments (evaluating the presence or absence of petroleum products or hazardous substances via soil and/or groundwater sampling). We have not conducted a comprehensive subsurface environmental review of all of our properties or operations. No assurance can be given that we have identified all of the potential environmental liabilities at our properties or that such liabilities will not have a material adverse effect on our financial condition.

Regulation and Compliance

We and our franchisees are subject to various federal, state and local laws and regulations that govern our business operations, including those governing:

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We require each of our franchise partners to comply with all federal, state and local laws and regulations. We have processes in place to monitor our own compliance with the numerous, complex, applicable laws and regulations governing our operations.

We are subject to new, varied and ever-changing rules and regulations regarding the current COVID-19 pandemic, which have materially impacted our earnings and resulted in significant capital expenditures. New federal, state and local government regulations regarding COVID-19 are issued and existing regulations are frequently revised, which materially affected, and continues to affect, our operations. Such regulations govern, for example, employee leave, opening and closing of restaurants and dining rooms, business hours, sanitation practices, guest spacing within dining rooms and other social distancing practices and personal protective equipment.

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Other than as described above, the Company’s compliance with federal, state or local laws and regulations, including environmental laws, is not expected to materially affect our earnings or competitive position or result in material capital expenditures. However, we cannot predict what laws will be enacted in the future, or how existing or future laws will be administered, interpreted or enforced. We also cannot predict the amount of future expenditures that we may need to make to comply with, or to satisfy claims and lawsuits relating to, these various laws and regulations. Further, more stringent and varied requirements of local government bodies with respect to zoning, land use and environmental factors could delay construction and increase development costs for new restaurants. Moreover, although we have not experienced, and do not anticipate, any significant problems in obtaining required licenses, permits, or approvals, any difficulties, delays, or failures in obtaining such licenses, permits, registrations, exemptions, or approvals could delay or prevent the opening of, or adversely impact the viability of, a restaurant in a particular area.  Additionally, a significant portion of our hourly staff is paid at minimum wage rates consistent with the applicable federal, state, or local laws and, accordingly, increases in the applicable minimum wage will increase our labor costs. We are also subject to the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in public accommodations and employment, and which may require us to design or modify our restaurants to make reasonable accommodations for disabled individuals.  

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See Item 1A “Risk Factors” and “Environmental Matters” above of this Form 10-K for a discussion of risks relating to federal, state, local and regulation of our business.

Management Information Systems

All of our company-operated and franchised restaurants use computerized point-of-sale and back-office systems, which we believe can scale to support our long-term growth plans. Our point-of-sale system provides a touch-screen interface and is integrated with segmented Europay, Mastercard and Visa tokenized high speed credit and gift card processing hardware. Our point-of-sale system is used to collect daily transaction data, which provides daily sales and product mix information that we actively analyze.

Our in-restaurant back-office computer system is designed to assist in the management of our restaurants and to provide labor and food cost management tools. The system also provides corporate headquarters and restaurant operations management quick access to detailed business data, and reduces the time spent by restaurant managers on administrative

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needs. The system further provides sales, bank deposit, and variance data to our accounting department on a daily basis. For company-operated restaurants, we use this data to generate weekly consolidated reports regarding sales and other key measures, as well as preliminary weekly profit and loss statements for each location, with final reports following the end of each period.

Human Capital

As of December 30, 2020, we had approximately 4,711 employees, of whom approximately 4,561 were hourly restaurant employees comprised of 3,732 crewmembers, 216 general managers/acting general managers, 148 assistant managers, 410 shift leaders, and 55 employees in limited-time roles as acting managers or as managers in training. The remaining 150 employees were corporate and office personnel. None of our employees are part of a collective bargaining agreement, and we believe that our relationships with our employees are satisfactory.

We believe our efforts to maintain solid relationships with our employees are effective and are grounded in our company values. Our primary human capital objective is employee engagement, which is dependent upon hiring, retaining, developing and motivating employees. We strive to build a culture centered around our mission, which is to “Feed the Love that Makes Us All Feel Like Family” and “Heart-Centered Leadership.” We believe this mission is predicated on servant-led leadership, employee recognition and community involvement. We offer our employees both online and on-the-job training. Restaurant management trainees participate in comprehensive, multi-week training programs touching on all aspects of the operations, including restaurant leadership. We provide key restaurant leadership roles with a quarterly cash-based performance bonus awards. Our corporate employees are provided an annual performance bonus award. We also have an equity incentive compensation plan to provide certain management-level or other key employees with stock-based awards. We monitor our progress with metrics such as employee performance measures, turnover rates and restaurant customer surveys.  

The health and well-being of our employees and guests have always been and continues to be our top priority. To help protect the health and well-being of all of our employees during the COVID-19 pandemic, during 2020 we invested in creating a safe work environment for our employees by taking additional measures. We require our office employees to work remotely unless business needs require them to work in the corporate office. For our restaurant employees, we continue to implement actions to help protect them from COVID-19 while working in our restaurants. These actions include implementing pre-shift health assessments, enhanced cleaning procedures in our restaurants, providing gloves and masks to all system restaurant employees, installing plexiglass shields at company restaurant cashier stations and initiating other social distancing measures. We are also providing extended sick leave benefits to employees impacted by COVID-19. Refer to “COVID-19 Impact” above for further information on the Company’s COVID-19 response.

Seasonality

Seasonal factors, including weather and the timing of holidays, cause our revenue to fluctuate from quarter to quarter. Our revenue per restaurant is typically lower in the first and fourth quarters due to reduced January and December transactions and higher in the second and third quarters. As a result of seasonality, our quarterly and annual results of operations and key performance indicators such as company restaurant revenue and comparable restaurant sales may fluctuate.

Available Information

We make available free of charge on our Internet website our Annual Reports, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Our Internet address is www.elpolloloco.com. The contents of our Internet website are not part of this annual report, and are not incorporated by reference. Our Internet address is provided as an inactive textual reference only.

The SEC also maintains an Internet site that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers, including us, that file electronically with the SEC, at http://www.sec.gov.

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ITEM 1A.RISK FACTORS

You should carefully consider the following risk factors, as well as other information contained in this report, including our financial statements and the notes related to those statements. The occurrence of any of the following risks could materially and adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flow.

Risks Related to Our Operations

The COVID-19 pandemic and measures intended to prevent its spread may have a significant negative impact on our business, sales, results of operations and financial condition.

The global pandemic resulting from the outbreak of COVID-19 has disrupted El Pollo Loco’s restaurant operations beginning in March 2020. In response to federal, state and local mandates (subject to exceptions for certain state and local mandates) aimed at limiting the spread of COVID-19, we and our franchisees have experienced temporary closures of some restaurants, closures of dining rooms, limited capacity restrictions and/or decreased operating hours for some restaurants. Furthermore, the decrease in discretionary consumer spending as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak has decreased demand for our products. This decrease in demand, as well as the actions described above, have resulted in declines in revenue and also led to us delaying certain rent payments on the majority of our leased properties, resulting in rent abatement and/or deferment with our landlords for those properties.

If additional outbreaks of COVID-19 at a significant number of our locations require us to temporarily close those locations for disinfection or result in a large number of our employees becoming ill with COVID-19 and being unable to work, our business and results of operations could be further adversely affected, which may also impact our financial condition. Further, any shutdowns, closures or disruptions in the operations of our suppliers caused by COVID-19 outbreaks or federal, state or local mandates to limit the spread of COVID-19 could adversely impact the ability of suppliers to supply us and our franchisees with the products needed to operate our business and negatively impact our business. COVID-19 may also adversely affect our ability to implement our growth plans, including delays in the opening or construction of new restaurants. As this situation is ongoing and the duration and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the severity and transmission rates of COVID-19 variants, resurgences of COVID-19 that may continue to occur, and the availability, distribution and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccine, continues to be uncertain at this time, it is difficult to forecast any long-term impacts on our future operating results or predict when our operations will return to full service. However, if the COVID-19 pandemic continues for a sustained period of time or if conditions worsen, our sales and operating costs may be materially adversely affected, which could impact our asset values, including goodwill, derivative instruments and long-lived assets, as well as our ability to meet certain covenant provisions in our debt arrangements in future periods, and have a material adverse effect on our financial results, future operations and liquidity.

Even after the COVID-19 pandemic has subsided, we may continue to experience negative impacts to our financial results due to COVID-19’s global economic impact, including the availability of credit generally, adverse impacts on our liquidity, and/or decreases in consumer discretionary spending that depress demand for our products. The global effects of the pandemic may also contribute to a prolonged economic slowdown or recession. Risks related to the impact of an economic downturn are described in our risk factor titled, “We are vulnerable to changes in economic conditions and consumer preferences” below. In addition, even after the COVID-19 pandemic has subsided, the perceived risk of infection or concern of a resurgence of the COVID-19 outbreak may continue to adversely affect traffic to our restaurants and, in turn, may have a material adverse effect on our business, liquidity, financial condition and results of operations, particularly if there is a recurrence of the COVID-19 virus. We are also subject to all of the foregoing risks in connection with the outbreak of other diseases, epidemics or pandemics, or similar public threats or fear of such events.

We may be unsuccessful in opening new company-operated or franchised restaurants or in establishing new markets, which could adversely affect our growth.

One of the key means to achieving our growth strategy is and will be through opening new restaurants and operating those restaurants on a profitable basis. We opened one new company-operated restaurant in fiscal 2020 and plan to open

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three to five in fiscal 2021. Our franchisees opened three new restaurants in fiscal 2020 and plan to open four to six in fiscal 2021.

The ability to open new restaurants is dependent upon a number of factors, many of which are beyond our control, including our and our franchisees’ abilities to: identify available and suitable restaurant sites; compete for restaurant sites; reach acceptable agreements regarding the lease or purchase of locations; obtain or have available the financing required to acquire and operate a restaurant, including construction and opening costs; respond to unforeseen engineering or environmental problems with leased premises; avoid the impact of inclement weather and natural and man-made disasters; hire, train, and retain the skilled management and other employees necessary to meet staffing needs; obtain, in a timely manner and for an acceptable cost, required licenses, permits, and regulatory approvals; respond effectively to any changes in local, state, and federal law and regulations that adversely affect our and our franchisees’ costs or abilities to open new restaurants; and control construction and equipment cost increases for new restaurants.

If we are unable to successfully manage these risks and open new restaurants or sign new franchisees as anticipated, or if restaurant openings are significantly delayed, we could face increased costs and lower than anticipated sales and earnings in future periods.

As part of our longer-term growth strategy, we may enter into geographic markets in which we have little or no prior operating or franchising experience, through company-operated restaurant growth and franchise development agreements. The challenges of entering new markets include (i) difficulties in hiring and training experienced personnel, (ii) unfamiliarity with local real estate markets and demographics, (iii) consumer unfamiliarity with our brand, and (iv) competitive and economic conditions, consumer tastes, and discretionary spending patterns that are different from and more difficult to predict or satisfy than in our existing markets. Any failure on our part to recognize or respond to these challenges may adversely affect the success of any new restaurants. Expanding our franchise system could require the implementation, expense, and successful management of enhanced business support systems, management information systems, and financial controls, as well as additional staffing, franchise support, and capital expenditures and working capital.

Due to brand recognition and logistical synergies, as part of our growth strategy, we also intend to open new restaurants in areas where we have existing restaurants. The operating results and comparable restaurant sales for our restaurants could be adversely affected due to increasing proximity among our restaurants and due to market saturation.

We may not be able to compete successfully, including with other quick-service and fast casual restaurants.

The food service industry, and particularly its QSR and fast casual segments, is intensely competitive. Competition in our industry is primarily based on price, convenience, quality of service, brand recognition, restaurant location, and type and quality of food, and our market position is based on balancing price and quality. These competitive factors are particularly applicable in markets in which we have expanded relatively rapidly and relatively recently, such as Texas. In addition, the greater Los Angeles area, the primary market in which we compete, consists of what we believe to be the most competitive Mexican-inspired QSR and fast casual market in the United States. We expect competition in this market and in each of our other markets to continue to be intense, because consumer trends are favoring limited service restaurants that offer healthier menu items made with better-quality products, and many limited service restaurants are responding to these trends. Moreover, we may also compete with companies outside the QSR and fast casual segment of the restaurant industry. For example, competitive pressures can come from deli sections and in-store cafés of several major grocery store chains, including those targeted at consumers who want higher-quality food, as well as from convenience stores, cafeterias and other dining outlets. Meal kit delivery companies and other eat-at-home options also present some degree of competition for our restaurants. If our company-operated and franchised restaurants cannot compete successfully, especially with other QSR and fast casual restaurants, in new and existing markets, we could lose customers and our revenue could decline, which may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We are vulnerable to changes in economic conditions and consumer preferences.

The restaurant industry is dependent upon consumer discretionary spending, which may be affected by a prolonged economic downturn or an economic recession. If the economy experiences another significant decline, our business, results of operations, our ability to access the capital markets and our ability to comply with the terms of our secured

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revolving credit facility could be materially and adversely affected, and we and our franchisees might decelerate the number and timing of new restaurant openings.

Adverse changes affecting consumer preferences, local demographics, an outbreak of disease, epidemic or pandemic, or similar public threat or fear of such an event, regional or local economic conditions affecting consumer spending or increasing food or energy costs could also reduce consumer transactions or impose practical limits on pricing that could harm our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flow. Further, there can be no assurance that consumers will continue to regard chicken-based or Mexican-inspired food favorably or that we will be able to develop new products that appeal to consumer preferences. Our business, financial condition, and results of operations depend in part on our ability to anticipate, identify, and respond to changing consumer preferences and economic conditions.

Political and social factors, including regarding trade, immigration or customer preferences, could negatively impact our business.

Our success is dependent upon continued customer acceptance of our Mexican-inspired food. Increases in tariffs, restrictions on trade, or other deterioration in American political or economic relations with Mexico, or a decrease in American consumers’ interest in Mexican-inspired food, could harm our brand and profitability. Additionally, changes in trade, labor, or immigration policy could raise our input prices, or reduce the supply of immigrants who are in many cases our customers or employees, diminishing our sales and increasing our labor costs.

Our business could be negatively affected by regional geographic concentrations.

Our company-operated and franchised restaurants in the greater Los Angeles area generated, in the aggregate, approximately 71.3% of our revenue in fiscal 2020 and approximately 70.5% in fiscal 2019. Adverse changes in demographic, unemployment, economic, or regulatory conditions in the greater Los Angeles area or in the State of California, including, enforcement policies for and changes in immigration law, have had and may continue to have material adverse effects on our business.

We also may be negatively affected by weather conditions specific to the Los Angeles region, including fires, earthquakes, or other natural disasters. Additionally, outside of Los Angeles, many of our restaurants are clustered around major cities in Northern California, Texas, and elsewhere, and prolonged or severe inclement weather could affect our sales at restaurants in locations that experience such conditions. Localized disasters, especially exacerbated by climate change, including wildfires, hurricanes, and flooding, could impair our assets and operations in those areas. Any other events disrupting businesses, consumer discretionary spending or our employee population in the greater Los Angeles area could also have an outsized negative impact on our business or results of operations. For example, near the end of fiscal 2020, the Los Angeles market was heavily impacted by a spike in COVID-19 cases, which disproportionately impacted our business due to our high concentration in this market. If the Los Angeles market experiences another severe COVID-19 outbreak, we may experience further disruptions to our business that could be material.

Our long-term success depends in part on our ability to effectively identify and secure appropriate sites for new restaurants.

In order to build new restaurants, we must first identify markets where we can enter or expand our footprint, taking into account numerous factors, including the location of our current restaurants, local economic trends, population density, area demographics, cost of construction and real estate and geography. Then we must secure appropriate restaurant sites, which is one of our biggest challenges. There are numerous factors involved in identifying and securing an appropriate restaurant site, including: evaluating size of the site, traffic patterns, local retail, residential and business attractions and infrastructure that will drive high levels of customer traffic and sales; competition in new markets, including competition for restaurant sites; financial conditions affecting developers and potential landlords, such as the effects of macro-economic conditions and the credit market (including the potential for rising interest rates), which could lead to these parties delaying or canceling development projects (or renovations of existing projects), in turn reducing the number of appropriate restaurant sites available; developers and potential landlords obtaining licenses or permits for development projects on a timely basis; proximity of potential restaurant sites to existing restaurants; anticipated commercial,

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residential and infrastructure development near the potential restaurant site; and availability of acceptable lease terms and arrangements, including construction costs.

In addition, competition for restaurant sites in our target markets can be intense, and development and leasing costs are increasing. Given the numerous factors involved, we may not be able to successfully identify and secure attractive restaurant sites in existing, adjacent or new markets, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We have incurred, and may continue to incur, significant impairment of certain of our assets, in particular in our new markets.

The recognition of impairment charges may adversely affect our future operations and results. In assessing the recoverability of our long-lived assets, we consider changes in economic conditions and make assumptions regarding estimated future cash flows and other factors. There is uncertainty in the projected undiscounted future cash flows used in our impairment review analysis, which requires the use of estimates and assumptions. If actual performance does not achieve the projections, or if the assumptions used change in the future, we may be required to recognize impairment charges in future periods, and such charges could be material. Given the difficulty in projecting results for newer restaurants in newer markets, as well as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, we monitor the recoverability of the carrying value of the assets of several restaurants on an ongoing basis. Asset impairments to new units or future capital expenditures could present additional exposure. Closures could also require additional expenditures. Furthermore, franchised unit closings could result in the loss of franchise revenue and have other adverse effects on us.

Changes in food and supply costs, especially for chicken, could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Our profitability depends in part on our ability to anticipate and react to changes in food and supply costs. We are susceptible to increases in food costs as a result of factors beyond our control, such as general economic conditions, seasonal economic fluctuations, weather conditions, global demand, food shortages, food safety concerns, infectious diseases, fluctuations in the U.S. dollar, product recalls, and government regulations, including tariffs and other import restrictions on foreign produce and other goods. Environmental and weather-related issues, such as freezes, drought and climate change, may also lead to increases, temporary or permanent, or spikes in the prices of some ingredients, such as produce and meat. Any increase in the prices of the ingredients most critical to our menu, in particular chicken, as well as corn, cheese, avocados, beans, rice, and tomatoes, could adversely compress our margins, or cause us to raise our prices, reducing customer demand. Alternatively, in the event of cost increases with respect to one or more of our raw ingredients, we might choose to temporarily suspend serving menu items, such as guacamole or one or more of our salsas, rather than pay the increased cost. Additionally, as a substantial volume of produce and other items are procured from Mexico, and occasionally other countries including Chile and Peru, any new or increased import duties, tariffs or taxes, or other changes in U.S. trade or tax policy could result in higher food and supply costs that would adversely impact our financial results. Any such changes to our menu prices or available menu could negatively impact our restaurant transactions, business, and comparable restaurant sales during the shortage and thereafter.

Our principal food product is chicken. In fiscal 2020, 2019, and 2018, the cost of chicken included in our product cost was approximately 10.5%, 10.9%, and 11.0%, respectively, of our revenue from company-operated restaurants. Material increases in the cost of chicken could materially and adversely affect our business, operating results, and financial condition. Changes in the cost of chicken can result from a number of factors, including seasonality, increases in the cost of grain, disease, and other factors that affect domestic and international supply of and demand for chicken products. Additionally, environmental and animal rights regulations or voluntary programs could increase the cost or supply of chicken and other foods. We often ask our suppliers to use fixed price contracts or other financial risk management strategies to reduce potential price fluctuations in the cost of chicken and other commodities. We have implemented menu price increases in the past to significantly offset increased chicken prices, due to competitive pressures and compressed profit margins. We may not be able to offset all or any portion of increased food and supply costs through higher menu prices in the future. If we implement further menu price increases in the future to protect our margins, average check size and restaurant transactions could be materially and adversely affected, at both company-operated and franchised restaurants.

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Social media and negative publicity could have a material adverse impact on our business.

Negative publicity at one or more of our restaurants relating to food safety, sanitation, employee relationships or other matters can adversely affect us, regardless of whether an allegation is valid or whether we are held to be responsible. In addition, the negative impact of adverse publicity relating to one restaurant may extend far beyond the restaurant involved to affect some or all of our other restaurants, including our franchised restaurants, due to policy changes we may implement as a result. The risk of negative publicity is particularly great with respect to our franchised restaurants, because we are limited in the manner in which we can regulate them, especially on a real-time basis. A similar risk exists with respect to food service businesses unrelated to us, if customers mistakenly associate those unrelated businesses with our operations.

Adverse information concerning our restaurants or brand, whether accurate or inaccurate, may also be posted on social media platforms at any time and can quickly reach a wide audience. The resulting harm to our reputation may be immediate, without affording us an opportunity to correct or otherwise respond to the information, and it is challenging to monitor and anticipate developments on social media in order to respond in an effective and timely manner. As a result, social media may exacerbate the risks we face related to negative publicity.

In addition, many of our competitors are expanding their use of social media and the social media landscape is rapidly evolving, potentially making more traditional social media platforms obsolete. As a result, we need to continuously innovate and develop our social media strategies in order to maintain broad appeal with guests and brand relevance, and we may not do so effectively. A variety of additional risks associated with our use of social media include the possibility of improper disclosure of proprietary information, exposure of personally identifiable information of our employees or guests, fraud, or the publication of out-of-date information, any of which may result in material liabilities or reputational damage. Furthermore, any inappropriate use of social media platforms by our employees could also result in negative publicity that could damage our reputation, or lead to litigation that increases our costs.

Our ability to continue to expand our digital business, delivery orders and catering is uncertain, and these new business lines are subject to risks.

We rely on third-party providers to fulfill delivery orders, and the ordering and payment platforms used by these third parties, or our mobile app or online ordering system, could be damaged or interrupted by technological failures, user errors, cyber-attacks or other factors, which may adversely impact our sales through these channels and could negatively impact our brand. Additionally, our delivery partners are responsible for order fulfillment and may make errors or fail to make timely deliveries, leading to customer disappointment that may negatively impact our brand. We also incur additional costs associated with using third-party service providers to fulfil these digital orders. Moreover, the third-party restaurant delivery business is intensely competitive, with a number of players competing for market share, online traffic, capital, and delivery drivers and other people resources. The third-party delivery services with which we work may struggle to compete effectively, and if they were to cease or curtail operations or fail to provide timely delivery services in a cost-effective manner, or if they give greater priority on their platforms to our competitors, our delivery business may be negatively impacted. We have also introduced catering offerings on both a pick-up and delivery basis, and customers may choose our competitors’ catering offerings over ours, be disappointed with their experience with our catering, or experience food safety problems if they do not serve our food in a safe manner, which may negatively impact us. Such delivery and catering offerings also increase the risk of illnesses associated with our food because the food is transported and/or served by third parties in conditions we cannot control.

Because all of these offerings are relatively new, it is difficult for us to anticipate the level of sales they may generate. That may result in operational challenges, both in fulfilling orders made through these channels and in operating our restaurants as we balance fulfillment of these orders with service of our traditional in-restaurant guests as well. Any such operational challenges may negatively impact the customer experience associated with our digital, delivery or catering orders, the guest experience for our traditional in-restaurant business, or both. These factors may adversely impact our sales and our brand reputation.

Food-borne illness and other food safety and quality concerns may negatively impact our business and profitability.

Incidents or reports of food- or water-borne illness or other food safety issues, food contamination or tampering, employee hygiene or cleanliness failures, or improper employee conduct at our restaurants could lead to product liability

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or other claims. Such incidents or reports could negatively affect our brand and reputation as well as our business, revenues, and profits.

Furthermore, our reliance on third-party food processors makes it difficult to monitor food safety compliance, and may increase the risk that a food-borne illness would affect multiple locations rather than a single restaurant. Some food-borne illness incidents could be caused by third-party food suppliers and transporters outside of our control. New illnesses resistant to our current precautions may develop in the future, or diseases with long incubation periods could arise that could cause claims or allegations on a retroactive basis. One or more instances of food-borne illness in one of our company-operated or franchised restaurants could negatively affect sales at all of our restaurants if highly publicized. This risk would exist even if it were later determined that an illness had been wrongly attributed to one of our restaurants

Additionally, even if food or water-borne illnesses or other food safety issues or incidents were not identified at El Pollo Loco restaurants, our restaurant sales could be adversely affected, both financially and otherwise, if instances of similar incidents or reports at other QSRs or restaurant chains were highly publicized. In addition, our restaurant sales could be adversely affected by publicity regarding other high-profile illnesses such as avian flu that customers may associate with our food products.

Failure to receive timely deliveries of food or other supplies could result in a loss of revenue and materially and adversely impact our operations.

Our and our franchisees’ ability to maintain consistent quality menu items and prices significantly depends upon our ability to acquire fresh food products, including the highest-quality chicken and related items, from reliable sources, in accordance with our specifications and on a timely basis. Shortages or interruptions in the supply of fresh food products, caused by unanticipated demand, problems in production or distribution, including as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions implemented to counter its spread, contamination of food products, an outbreak of poultry disease, inclement weather, or other conditions, could materially and adversely affect the availability, quality, and cost of ingredients, which would adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows. We have contracts with a limited number of suppliers for the chicken and other food and supplies for our restaurants. In addition, one company distributes substantially all of the products that we receive from suppliers to company-operated and franchised restaurants. If that distributor or any supplier fails to perform as anticipated or seeks to terminate agreements with us, or if there is any disruption in any of our supply or distribution relationships for any reason, including our ability to replace any lost distributor or supplier, our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows could be materially and adversely affected. If we or our franchisees temporarily close a restaurant or remove popular items from a restaurant’s menu as a result of such a disruption, that restaurant may experience a significant reduction in revenue if our customers change their dining habits as a result.

Our level of indebtedness, and restrictions under our credit facility, could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Our level of indebtedness could have significant effects on our business, such as: limiting our ability to borrow additional amounts to fund working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, execution of our growth strategy, and other purposes; requiring us to dedicate a portion of our cash flow from operations to pay interest on our debt, which could reduce availability of our cash flow to fund working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions, execution of our growth strategy, and other general corporate purposes; making us more vulnerable to adverse changes in general economic, industry, government regulatory, and competitive conditions in our business by limiting our ability to plan for and react to changing conditions; placing us at a competitive disadvantage compared with our competitors with less debt; and exposing us to risks inherent in interest rate fluctuations, because our borrowings are at variable rates of interest, which could result in higher interest expense in the event of increases in interest rates.

In addition, we may not be able to generate sufficient cash flow from our operations to repay our indebtedness when it becomes due and to meet our other cash needs. If we are not able to pay our debts as they become due, we will be required to pursue one or more alternative strategies, such as selling assets, refinancing or restructuring our indebtedness, or selling additional debt or equity securities. We may not be able to refinance our debt or sell additional debt or equity securities or our assets on favorable terms, if at all, and if we have to sell our assets, that sale may negatively affect our ability to generate revenue.

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Our secured revolving credit facility contains a number of covenants that, among other things, restrict, subject to certain exceptions, our ability to (i) incur additional indebtedness, (ii) issue preferred stock, (iii) create liens on assets, (iv) engage in mergers or consolidations, (v) sell assets, (vi) make investments, loans, or advances, (vii) make certain acquisitions, (viii) engage in certain transactions with affiliates, (ix) authorize or pay dividends, and (x) change our lines of business or fiscal year. In addition, our secured revolving credit facility requires us (i) to maintain, on a consolidated basis, a minimum consolidated fixed charge coverage ratio and (ii) not to exceed a maximum lease adjusted consolidated leverage ratio. Our ability to borrow under our secured revolving credit facility depends on our compliance with these tests. Events beyond our control, including changes in general economic and business conditions, may affect our ability to meet these tests. We cannot guarantee that we will meet these tests in the future, or that our lenders will waive any failure to meet these tests.

Further, we are a holding company with no material direct operations. Our principal assets are the equity interests that we indirectly hold in our operating subsidiary, El Pollo Loco, Inc. (“EPL”), which owns our operating assets. As a result, we are dependent on loans, dividends, and other payments from EPL, our operating company and indirect wholly owned subsidiary, and from EPL Intermediate, Inc., our direct wholly owned subsidiary, to generate the funds necessary to meet our financial obligations and to pay dividends on our common stock. Our subsidiaries are legally distinct from us and may be prohibited or restricted from paying dividends or otherwise making funds available to us under certain conditions. Although we do not expect to pay dividends on our common stock for the foreseeable future, if we are unable to obtain funds from our subsidiaries, we may be unable to, or our board may exercise its discretion not to, pay dividends

Our marketing programs may not be successful, and our new menu items, advertising campaigns, and restaurant designs and remodels may not generate increased sales or profits.

We incur costs and expend other resources in our marketing efforts on new menu items, advertising campaigns, and restaurant designs and remodels, to raise brand awareness and to attract and retain customers. Our initiatives may not be successful, resulting in expenses incurred without the benefit of higher revenues. Further, if our marketing and advertising strategies are not successful, we may be forced to engage in additional promotional activities to attract and retain customers, including offers for free or discounted food, and any such additional promotional activities could adversely impact our profitability. Additionally, some of our competitors have greater financial resources than we do, enabling them to spend significantly more on marketing, advertising, and other initiatives. Should our competitors increase spending on marketing, advertising, and other initiatives, or our marketing funds decrease for any reason, or should our advertising, promotions, new menu items, and restaurant designs and remodels be less effective than those of our competitors or not resonate with our customers, there could be a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

The challenging economic environment may affect our franchisees, with adverse consequences to us.

Due to the challenging economic environment, it is possible that some franchisees could file for bankruptcy or become delinquent in their payments to us, which could have significant adverse impacts on our business, due to loss or delay in payments of (i) royalties, (ii) information technology (“IT”) support service fees, (iii) contributions to our advertising funds, and (iv) other fees. Bankruptcies by our franchisees could (i) prevent us from terminating their franchise agreements, so that we could offer their territories to other franchisees, (ii) negatively impact our market share and operating results, as we might have fewer well-performing restaurants, and (iii) adversely impact our ability to attract new franchisees.

Franchisees may not have access to the financial or management resources that they need to open the restaurants contemplated by their agreements with us, or be able to find suitable sites on which to develop those restaurants. Franchisees may not be able to negotiate acceptable lease or purchase terms for restaurant sites, obtain necessary permits and government approvals, or meet construction schedules. Any of these problems could slow our growth and reduce our franchise revenue. Additionally, our franchisees typically depend on financing from banks and other financial institutions, which may not always be available to them, in order to construct and open new restaurants. For these reasons, franchisees operating under development agreements may not be able to meet the new restaurant opening dates required under those agreements. Also, we sublease certain restaurants to some existing California franchisees. If any such franchisees cannot meet their financial obligations under their subleases, or otherwise fail to honor or default under the terms of their subleases, especially where state franchise laws may limit our ability to terminate or modify these franchise arrangements, we will be financially obligated under a master lease and could be materially and adversely

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affected. In the past, franchisees have entered bankruptcy or receivership, which can lead to sale or closure of franchises, cause underperformance or underinvestment in capital expenditures, or lead to nonpayment of us or other creditors, and these circumstances could recur in the future.

We have limited control with respect to the operations of our franchisees, which could have a negative impact on our business.

Franchisees are independent business operators. They are not our employees, and we do not exercise control over the day-to-day operations of their restaurants. We provide training and support to franchisees, and set and monitor operational standards, but the quality of franchised restaurants may be diminished by any number of factors beyond our control. Consequently, franchisees may fail to operate their restaurants in fashions consistent with our standards and requirements, or to hire and train qualified managers and other restaurant personnel. If franchisees do not operate to our expectations, our image and reputation, and the images and reputations of other franchisees, may suffer materially, and system-wide sales could decline significantly.

If our relations with existing or potential franchisees deteriorate, restaurant performance and our development pipeline could suffer.

Our growth depends on maintaining amicable relations with our franchisees, including their participation in and adherence to our restaurant operating guidelines. Because our ability to control our franchisees is limited, disagreement may lead to inaction by our franchisees with respect to our initiatives, or even disputes with our franchisees, in court, arbitration or otherwise, including disputes related to an actual or alleged violation of contractual, statutory or common law obligations. Such disputes occur from time to time as we continue to offer franchises due to our size and the general nature of the franchisor-franchisee relationship. Unfavorable judgments, awards or settlements relating to franchisee disputes could result in monetary or injunctive relief against us, including the voiding of non-compete, territorial exclusivity, or other development-related provisions upon which we rely to protect our brand, that could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations. Disputes with franchisees also divert the attention, time, and financial resources of our management and our franchisees from our restaurants, which could have a material adverse effect on our (and our franchisees’) business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows, as well as our ability to attract new franchisees. Even our success in franchisee disputes could damage our (or our franchisees’) finances or operations, as well as our relationships with our franchisees and our ability to attract new franchisees given the negative connotations of any franchisor-franchisee disputes.

Our self-insurance programs may expose us to significant and unexpected costs and losses.

We currently maintain employee health insurance coverage on a self-insured basis. We do maintain stop loss coverage which sets a limit on our liability for both individual and aggregate claim costs.

We currently record a liability for our estimated cost of claims incurred and unpaid as of each balance sheet date. Our estimated liability is recorded on an undiscounted basis and includes a number of significant assumptions and factors, including historical trends, expected costs per claim, actuarial assumptions, and current economic conditions. Our history of claims activity for all lines of coverage is closely monitored, and liabilities are adjusted as warranted based on changing circumstances. It is possible, however, that our actual liabilities may exceed our estimates of loss. We may also experience an unexpectedly large number of claims that result in costs or liabilities in excess of our projections, and therefore we may be required to record additional expenses. For these and other reasons, our self-insurance reserves could prove to be inadequate, resulting in liabilities in excess of our available insurance and self-insurance. If a successful claim is made against us and is not covered by our insurance or exceeds our policy limits, our business may be negatively and materially impacted.

We are locked into long-term and non-cancelable leases, and may be unable to renew leases at the ends of their terms.

Many of our restaurant leases are non-cancelable and typically have initial terms of up to 20 years and up to four renewal terms of five years that we may exercise at our option. Even if we close a restaurant, we may remain committed to perform our obligations under the applicable lease, which could include, among other things, payment of the base rent for the balance of the lease term. In addition, in connection with leases for restaurants that we will continue to operate, we may, at the end of the lease term and any renewal period for a restaurant, be unable to renew the lease without

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substantial additional cost, if at all. As a result, we may close or relocate the restaurant, which could subject us to construction and other costs and risks. Additionally, the revenue and profit, if any, generated at a relocated restaurant might not equal the revenue and profit generated at its prior location.

Risks Related to Information Technology and Data Security

Information technology system failures or breaches of our network security could interrupt our operations and adversely affect our business.

From time to time, we experience security breaches of our networks and systems. These security breaches may include those caused by physical or electronic break-ins, computer viruses, malware, worms, attacks by hackers or foreign governments, disruptions from unauthorized access and tampering, including through social engineering such as phishing attacks, coordinated denial-of-service attacks and similar breaches, could result in, among other things, system disruptions, shutdowns, unauthorized access to or disclosure of confidential information, misappropriation of our or our customers’ proprietary or confidential information, breach of our legal, regulatory or contractual obligations, inability to access or rely upon critical business records or systems or other delays in our operations. In some cases, it may be difficult to anticipate or immediately detect such incidents and the damage they cause. We may be required to expend significant financial resources to protect against or to remediate such security breaches. In addition, our operations depend upon our ability to protect our computer equipment and systems against damage from physical theft, fire, power loss, telecommunications failure, and other catastrophic events and disruptive problems. Any unauthorized access of our systems or the information stored on such systems, damage or failure of our computer systems or network infrastructure that causes an interruption in our operations could damage our reputation, subject us to litigation or to actions by regulatory authorities, harm our business relations or increase our security and insurance costs, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Moreover, these systems, infrastructures, and operations rely upon third-party software and vendors, and we may therefore have a limited ability to guard against, learn about, or remedy problems that could harm us, including bugs and glitches, system outages, and hacks that exploit security vulnerabilities to steal or ransom information.

If we are unable to protect our customers’ payment method data or personal information, we could be exposed to data loss, litigation, liability, and reputational damage.

We collect and retain internal and customer data, including personally identifiable information of our employees and customers. It is possible that measures we have taken to prevent the occurrence of security breaches may not be adequate and we may in the future become subject to claims or proceedings for purportedly fraudulent transactions arising out of the actual or alleged theft of credit/debit card information. Any such claims or proceedings could distract our management team members from running our business, adversely affect our reputation, and cause us to incur significant unplanned losses and expenses.

We are also subject to federal and state laws regulating the collection and use of personal information of our employees and customers, including the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”), which took effect January 1, 2020. In addition, our ability to accept credit/debit cards as payment in our restaurants and online depends on us maintaining our compliance status with standards set by the PCI Security Standards Council, which require certain levels of system security and procedures to protect our customers’ credit/debit card information as well as other personal information. Compliance with these standards and regulations may impose significant costs on us. Further, while we have implemented policies and procedures to ensure compliance with the CCPA, the California Attorney General has not yet finalized his regulations for the CCPA and the manner in which the California Attorney General may interpret and enforce the CCPA is uncertain. Noncompliance with the CCPA and other privacy laws could result in injunctions, fines and/or proceedings against us by governmental agencies or others. There could also be uncertainty surrounding compliance with privacy laws in other jurisdictions such as state-specific laws which may conflict with existing legislation or future laws and regulations.

Risks Related to Intellectual Property

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The failure to enforce and maintain our trademarks and protect our other intellectual property could materially and adversely affect our business, including our ability to establish and maintain brand awareness.

The success of our business strategy depends on our ability to use our existing trademarks and service marks in order to increase brand awareness and further develop our branded products. If our efforts to protect our intellectual property are inadequate, or if any third-party misappropriates or infringes upon our intellectual property, whether in print, on the Internet, or through other media, our brands and branded products could fail to maintain or achieve market acceptance and the value of our brands could be harmed, materially and adversely affecting our business. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries do not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as do the laws of the United States. Any litigation to enforce our intellectual property rights will likely be costly and may not be successful.

We maintain the recipe for our chicken marinade, as well as certain proprietary standards, specifications, and operating procedures, as trade secrets or confidential proprietary information. We may not be able to prevent the unauthorized disclosure or use of our trade secrets or proprietary information, despite the existence of confidentiality agreements and other measures. While we try to ensure that the quality of our brands and branded products is maintained by all of our franchisees, we cannot be certain that these franchisees will not take actions that adversely affect the value of our intellectual property or reputation. If any of our trade secrets or proprietary information were to be disclosed to or independently developed by a competitor, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

In addition, we may face claims of infringement that could interfere with our ability to market our restaurants and promote our brand. Any such litigation may be costly and could divert resources from our business. Moreover, if we are unable to successfully defend against such claims, we may be prevented from using our trademarks or service marks in the future and may be liable for damages, which in turn could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Risks Related to Government Regulation and Litigation

Matters relating to employment and labor law may adversely affect our business.

Various federal, state and local labor laws govern our relationships with our employees and affect operating costs. These laws include employee classifications as exempt or non-exempt, minimum wage requirements, unemployment tax rates, workers’ compensation rates, citizenship requirements, and other wage and benefit requirements for employees classified as non-exempt. Significant additional government regulations and new laws mandating increases in minimum wages or benefits such as health insurance could materially affect our business, financial condition, operating results, and cash flow. Furthermore, the unionization of our employees and of the employees of our franchisees could materially affect our business, financial condition, operating results, and cash flow.

Employee claims against us or our franchisees based on, among other things, wage and hour violations, discrimination, harassment, or wrongful termination may also create not only legal and financial liability but negative publicity that could adversely affect us and divert our financial and management resources that could otherwise be used to benefit the future performance of our operations. These types of employee claims could also be asserted against us, on a co-employer theory, by employees of our franchisees. A significant increase in the number of these claims, or an increase in the number of successful claims, could materially and adversely affect our business, brand image, employee recruitment, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows.

We are from time to time the target of class action lawsuits and other claims proceedings, which could adversely affect our business and results of operations.

Our business is subject to the risk of litigation by employees, customers, suppliers, stockholders, and others through private actions, class actions, administrative proceedings, regulatory actions, and other litigation, including actions regarding workplace and employment conditions, discrimination, and similar matters, and we are currently a party to wage and hour class action lawsuits. See additional information presented in Note 13 “Commitments and Contingencies—Legal Matters” in the accompanying “Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements” in this Annual Report. Occasionally, our customers file complaints or lawsuits against us alleging that we are responsible for some illnesses or injuries that they suffered at or after a visit to one of our restaurants, including actions seeking damages resulting from food-borne illnesses or accidents in our restaurants. We are also subject to a variety of other claims from

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third parties arising in the ordinary course of our business, including contract claims. The restaurant industry has also been subject to a growing number of claims that the menus and actions of restaurant chains have led to the obesity of certain of their customers. We may also be subject to lawsuits from our employees, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or others, alleging violations of federal or state laws regarding workplace and employment conditions, discrimination, and similar matters.

Regardless of whether any claims against us are valid and whether we are liable, claims may be expensive to defend against and divert time and money away from operations. In addition, claims may generate negative publicity, which could reduce customer traffic and sales. Insurance may not be available at all or in sufficient amounts to cover any liabilities with respect to these or other matters. A judgment or other liability in excess of our insurance coverage for any claims, or any adverse publicity resulting from claims, could adversely affect our business and results of operations.

If we or our franchisees face labor shortages or increased labor costs, our results of operations and growth could be adversely affected.

Labor is a primary component in the cost of operating our company-operated and franchised restaurants. If we or our franchisees face labor shortages or increased labor costs, because of increased competition for employees, a decrease in the labor supply due to changes in immigration policy including barriers to immigrants entering, working in, or remaining in the United States, higher employee-turnover rates, unionization of restaurant workers, or increases in federal, state, or local minimum wages or in other employee benefits costs (including costs associated with health insurance coverage or workers’ compensation insurance) or for other reasons, our and our franchisees’ operating expenses could increase, and our growth could be adversely affected. See also our risk factor titled “The recent outbreak of COVID-19 and measures intended to prevent its spread may have a significant negative impact on our business, sales, results of operations and financial condition” for labor shortage risks we may face in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Federally-mandated, state-mandated, or locally-mandated minimum wages have recently increased in several jurisdictions, including the State of California and Los Angeles County, and may be further raised in the future. We may be unable to sufficiently increase our menu prices in order to pass future increased labor costs on to our customers, in which case our margins would be negatively affected. Also, reduced margins of franchisees could make it more difficult to sell franchises. In addition, increases in menu prices by us and our franchisees to cover increased labor costs could have the effect of lowering sales, which would thereby reduce our margins and the royalties that we receive from franchisees.

In addition, our success depends in part upon our and our franchisees’ ability to attract, motivate, and retain a sufficient number of well-qualified restaurant operators, management personnel, and other employees. Qualified individuals needed to fill these positions can be in short supply in some geographic areas. In addition, limited service restaurants have traditionally experienced relatively high employee turnover rates. Our and our franchisees’ inability to recruit and retain qualified individuals could delay planned openings of new restaurants or result in higher employee turnover in existing restaurants, which could increase our and our franchisees’ labor costs and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows. Competition for qualified employees could also require us or our franchisees to pay higher wages, which could also result in higher labor costs.

We are subject to extensive laws, government regulation, and other legal requirements and our failure to comply with existing or new laws and regulations could adversely affect our operational efficiencies, ability to attract and retain talent and results of operations.

Our business is subject to extensive federal, state and local laws and regulations, including those relating to: preparation, sale and labeling of food, including regulations of the Food and Drug Administration, which oversees the safety of the entire food system, including inspections and mandatory food recalls, menu labeling and nutritional content; employment practices and working conditions, including minimum wage rates, wage and hour practices, labor relations, paid and family leave, workplace safety, immigration, overtime, discrimination and harassment, among others; health, sanitation, safety and fire standards; building and zoning requirements, including state and local licensing and regulation governing the design and operation of facilities and land use; public accommodations and safety conditions, including the Americans with Disabilities Act and similar state laws that give civil rights protections to individuals with disabilities in the context of employment, public accommodations, and other areas; environmental matters, such as animal health

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and welfare, climate change, the reduction of greenhouse gases, water consumption, the discharge, storage, handling, release, and disposal of hazardous or toxic substances, and local ordinances restricting the types of packaging we can use in our restaurants; public company compliance, disclosure and governance matters, including accounting and tax regulations, SEC and The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (“Nasdaq”) disclosure requirements; and data privacy laws and standards for the protection of personal information, including social security numbers, financial information (including credit card numbers), and health information, and payment card industry standards and requirements.

Compliance with these laws and regulations, and future new laws or changes in these laws or regulations that impose additional requirements, can be costly. Any failure or perceived failure to comply with these laws or regulations could result in, among other things, revocation of required licenses, administrative enforcement actions, fines and civil and criminal liability.

Changes in health, safety, construction, labor, environmental, or other laws or regulations, including changes to or repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“PPACA”), could impose costs upon us, including transition costs. Such transition costs could include uncertainties about how the new laws or regulations might be interpreted, enforced, or litigated by either regulators or private parties. Such changes could also have economic implications for our customers. For example, changes to health insurance law could diminish our customers’ disposable incomes and thus reduce their frequency of eating or ordering out, even from QSR or fast casual restaurants, including us.

Legislation and regulations regarding certain of our menu offerings, new information or attitudes regarding diet and health, or adverse opinions about the health effects of consuming our menu offerings, could affect consumer preferences and negatively impact our results of operations.

Certain government authorities are increasing regulations regarding trans-fats and sodium, which may require us to limit or eliminate trans-fats and sodium in our menu offerings, or switch to higher-cost ingredients, or which may hinder our ability to operate in certain markets. Some jurisdictions have proposed increasing taxes on certain products, such as sodas, which may affect sales volumes of those products. Some jurisdictions have banned certain cooking ingredients, such as trans-fats, which a small number of our ingredients contain in trace amounts, or have discussed banning certain products, such as large sodas. Removal of these products and ingredients from our menus could affect product tastes, customer satisfaction levels, and sales volumes, whereas if we were to fail to comply with these laws or regulations, our business could experience a material adverse effect.

We cannot make any assurances regarding our ability to effectively respond to changes in consumer health perceptions, to successfully implement nutritional content disclosure requirements, or to adapt our menu offerings to trends in eating habits. The imposition of additional menu labeling laws could have an adverse effect on our results of operations and financial position, as well as on the restaurant industry in general.

We may become subject to liabilities arising from environmental laws that could likely increase our operating expenses and materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.

We are subject to federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and ordinances that:

In particular, under applicable environmental laws, we may be responsible for remediation of environmental conditions and subject to associated liabilities, including liabilities for cleanup costs, personal injury, or property damage, relating to our restaurants and the land on which our restaurants are located, regardless of whether we lease or own the restaurants or land in question and regardless of whether such environmental conditions were created by us or by a prior owner or tenant. If we are found liable for the costs of remediation of contamination at any of our properties, our operating expenses would likely increase and our results of operations could be materially and adversely affected. See above under “Item 1. Business—Environmental Matters.”

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Risks Related to Certain of our Stockholders

If the ownership of our common stock continues to be highly concentrated, it may prevent minority stockholders from influencing significant corporate decisions and may result in conflicts of interest.

Trimaran Pollo Partners, L.L.C. (“LLC”), owns approximately 46.0% of our outstanding common stock. This large position means that LLC and its majority owners—predecessors and affiliates of, and certain funds managed by, Trimaran Capital Partners and Freeman Spogli & Co. (collectively, “Trimaran” and “Freeman Spogli,” respectively)—possess significant influence when stockholders vote on matters such as election of directors, mergers, consolidations and acquisitions, the sale of all or substantially all of our assets, decisions affecting our capital structure, amendments to our certificate of incorporation or our by-laws, and our winding up and dissolution. So long as LLC maintains at least 40% ownership, (i) any member of the board of directors may be removed at any time without cause by affirmative vote of a majority of our common stock, and (ii) stockholders representing 40% or greater ownership may cause special stockholder meetings to be called. Currently, three of our nine directors, including our chairman, are affiliated with Trimaran or Freeman Spogli.

This concentration of ownership may delay, deter, or prevent acts that would be favored by our other stockholders. While our board has determined that director John Roth, a general partner of Freeman Spogli and its CEO, satisfies the criteria for an independent director under applicable Nasdaq rules, the interests of Trimaran and Freeman Spogli may not always coincide with our interests or the interests of our other stockholders. This concentration of ownership may also have the effect of delaying, deterring, or preventing a change in control of us. Also, Trimaran and Freeman Spogli may seek to cause us to take courses of action that, in their judgments, could enhance their investments in us, but that might involve risks to our other stockholders or adversely affect us or our other stockholders. As a result, the market price of our common stock could decline, or stockholders might not receive a premium over the then-current market price of our common stock upon a change in control. In addition, this concentration of ownership may adversely affect the trading price of our common stock, because investors may perceive disadvantages in owning shares of a company with significant stockholders.

The interests of Trimaran and Freeman Spogli may conflict with ours or our stockholders’ in the future.

Trimaran and Freeman Spogli engage in a range of investing activities, including investments in restaurants and other consumer-related companies in particular. In the ordinary course of their business activities, Trimaran and Freeman Spogli may engage in activities where their interests conflict with our interests or those of our stockholders. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that none of LLC or any of its officers, directors, employees, agents, shareholders, members, partners, principals, affiliates and managers (including, inter alia, Trimaran and Freeman Spogli) has a duty to refrain from engaging, directly or indirectly, in the same business activities or similar business activities or lines of business in which we operate. For example, in the third quarter of 2017, Cafe Rio, a high-growth, fast-casual Mexican restaurant company, announced that Freeman Spogli had acquired a majority interest in it. Trimaran and Freeman Spogli also may pursue acquisition opportunities that may be complementary to our business, and, as a result, those acquisition opportunities may not be available to us. In addition, Trimaran and Freeman Spogli may have an interest in pursuing acquisitions, divestitures, and other transactions that, in their judgment, could enhance their investment in us, even though those transactions might involve risks to you, such as debt-financed acquisitions.

We are required to pay our pre-IPO owners for certain tax benefits, which amounts are expected to be material.

We entered into an income tax receivable agreement (the “TRA”) with the stockholders of the Company immediately prior to the initial public offering (“IPO”), which provides for payment by us to our pre-IPO stockholders of 85% of the amount of cash savings, if any, in federal, state, local, and foreign income tax that we and our subsidiaries actually realize (or are deemed to realize in the case of an early termination by us or a change of control) as a result of the utilization of our net operating losses and other tax attributes attributable to periods prior to July 2014 together with interest accrued at a rate of LIBOR plus 200 basis points from the date the applicable tax return is due (without extension) until paid.

Our payments under the TRA may be material. As of December 30, 2020, we had an accrued payable related to this agreement of approximately $3.1 million. In fiscal 2020, we paid $5.2 million to our pre-IPO stockholders under the TRA.

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TRA payment obligations are obligations of Holdings and not of its subsidiaries. The actual amounts and utilization of net operating losses and other tax attributes, as well as the amounts and timing of any payments under the TRA, will vary depending upon a number of factors, including the amount, character, and timing of Holdings’ and its subsidiaries’ taxable income in the future.

Our counterparties under the TRA will not reimburse us for any benefits that are subsequently disallowed, although any future payments would be adjusted to the extent possible to reflect the result of such disallowance. As a result, in such circumstances, we could make payments under the TRA greater than our actual cash tax savings.

If we undergo a change of control as defined in the TRA, the TRA will terminate, and we will be required to make a payment equal to the present value of expected future payments under the TRA, which payment would be based on certain assumptions, including assumptions related to our future taxable income. Additionally, if we or a direct or indirect subsidiary transfer any asset to a corporation with which we do not file a consolidated tax return, we will be treated as having sold that asset for its fair market value in a taxable transaction for purposes of determining the cash savings in income tax under the TRA. Any such payment resulting from a change of control or asset transfer could be substantial and could exceed our actual cash tax savings.

Risk Factors Related to Our Common Stock

Future offerings of debt or equity securities by us may adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

In the future, we may attempt to obtain financing, or to further increase our capital resources, by issuing additional shares of our common stock or by offering other equity securities, or debt, including senior or subordinated notes, debt securities convertible into equity, or shares of preferred stock. Opening new company-operated restaurants in existing and new markets could require substantial additional capital in excess of cash from operations. We would expect to finance the capital required for new company-operated restaurants through a combination of additional issuances of equity, corporate indebtedness, and cash from operations.

Issuing additional shares of our common stock or other equity securities or securities convertible into equity may dilute the economic and voting rights of our existing stockholders, reduce the market price of our common stock, or both. In a liquidation, holders of any such debt securities or preferred stock, and lenders with respect to other borrowings, could receive distributions of our available assets prior to the holders of our common stock. Debt securities convertible into equity could be subject to adjustments in their conversion ratios under certain circumstances, increasing the number of equity securities issuable upon conversion. Preferred stock, if issued, could have a preference with respect to liquidating distributions, or a preference with respect to dividend payments that could limit our ability to pay dividends to the holders of our common stock. Our decision to issue securities in any future offering will depend on market conditions and other factors beyond our control that may adversely affect the amount, timing, or nature of our future offerings. Thus, holders of our common stock bear the risk that our future offerings may reduce the market price of our common stock and dilute their stockholdings in us.

The market price of our common stock could be negatively affected by sales of substantial amounts of our common stock in the public markets, including shares of our common stock currently held by the LLC.

The market price of our common stock could decline as a result of sales of a large number of shares of our common stock in the market or the perception that such sales could occur. LLC presently owns approximately 46.0% of our outstanding common stock and could sell stock publicly either if the stock were registered or if the exemption requirements of Rule 144 were satisfied. No lock-up agreements presently are in effect.

Pursuant to our stockholders’ agreement, LLC and, in certain instances, Freeman Spogli, may require us to file registration statements under the Securities Act at our expense, covering resales of our common stock held by them or LLC or piggyback on a registration statement in certain circumstances. Any such sales, or the prospect of any such sales, could materially impact the market price of our common stock.

Further, pursuant to the terms of the LLC’s limited liability company operating agreement (the “LLC Agreement”), the LLC Agreement can terminate, in which case the LLC will begin the process of dissolving and winding up its affairs, at the earlier of (i) the election of the managing member, or (ii) six years following the completion of our IPO, or July 27, 2020. If the process of winding up the LLC and distribution of shares of our common stock begins and all or a

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substantial portion of these shares are sold into the public markets, or if it is perceived that they will be resold, the trading price of our common stock could decline.

Delaware law, our organizational documents, and our existing and future debt agreements may impede or discourage a takeover, depriving our investors of the opportunity to receive a premium for their shares.

We are a Delaware corporation, and the anti-takeover provisions of Delaware law impose various impediments to the ability of a third-party to acquire control of us, even if a change of control would be beneficial to our existing stockholders. In addition, provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and by-laws may make it difficult for, or prevent, a third-party from acquiring control of us without the approval of our board of directors. Among other things, these provisions: provide for a classified board of directors with staggered three-year terms; do not permit cumulative voting in the election of directors, which would allow a minority of stockholders to elect director candidates; delegate the sole power to a majority of the board of directors to fix the number of directors; provide the power to our board of directors to fill any vacancy on our board of directors, whether such vacancy occurs as a result of an increase in the number of directors or otherwise; authorize the issuance of “blank check” preferred stock without any need for action by stockholders; eliminate the ability of stockholders to call special meetings of stockholders; establish advance notice requirements for nominations for election to our board of directors or for proposing matters that can be acted on by stockholders at stockholder meetings; and provide that, on or after the date that LLC ceases to beneficially own at least 40% of the total votes eligible to be cast in the election of directors, a 75% supermajority vote will be required to amend or repeal provisions relating to, among other things, the classification of the board of directors, the filling of vacancies on the board of directors, and the advance notice requirements for stockholder proposals and director nominations.

In addition, our secured revolving credit facility imposes, and we anticipate that documents governing our future indebtedness may impose, limitations on our ability to enter into change of control transactions. Under our secured revolving credit facility, the occurrence of a change of control transaction can constitute an event of default permitting acceleration of the debt, thereby impeding our ability to enter into change of control transactions.

The foregoing factors, as well as significant common stock ownership by Trimaran and Freeman Spogli, could impede a merger, takeover, or other business combination, or discourage a potential investor from making a tender offer for our common stock, which, under certain circumstances, could reduce the market value of our common stock.

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General Risk Factors

Failure to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting in accordance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act could materially and adversely affect our business and the market price of our common stock.

Under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, we must maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting, which require significant resources and management oversight. Internal control over financial reporting is complex and may be revised over time to adapt to changes in our business, or changes in applicable accounting rules. We cannot assure you that our internal control over financial reporting will be effective in the future or that a material weakness will not be discovered with respect to a prior period for which we had previously believed that internal controls were effective. Matters impacting our internal controls may cause us to be unable to report our financial data on a timely basis, or may cause us to restate previously issued financial data, and thereby subject us to adverse regulatory consequences, including sanctions or investigations by the SEC, or violations of applicable stock exchange listing rules. There could also be a negative reaction in the financial markets due to a loss of investor confidence in us and the reliability of our financial statements. Confidence in the reliability of our financial statements is also likely to suffer if we or our independent registered public accounting firm reports a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting. This could materially adversely affect us by, for example, leading to a decline in the market price for our common stock and impairing our ability to raise capital.

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ITEM 1B.UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

None.

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ITEM 2.PROPERTIES

As of December 30, 2020, our restaurant system consisted of 479 restaurants, comprised of 196 company-operated restaurants and 283 franchised restaurants, located in California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Utah and Louisiana. In addition, we currently license our brand to one restaurant in the Philippines. We have not included this licensed restaurant as part of our unit count as presented in this annual report. The table below sets forth the locations (by state) for all restaurants in operation as of December 30, 2020.

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Our restaurants are either free-standing facilities, typically with drive-thru capability, or in-line. A typical restaurant generally ranges from 2,200 to 3,000 square feet, with seating for approximately 50-70 people. For a majority of our company-operated restaurants, we lease land on which our restaurants are built. Our leases generally have terms of 20 years, with two or three renewal terms of five years.

Restaurant leases provide for a specified annual rent, and some leases call for additional or contingent rent based on revenue above specified levels. Generally, our leases are “net” leases that require us to pay a pro rata share of taxes, insurance, and maintenance costs. We own 15 properties, currently operating 12 and licensing 3 to franchisees. In addition, we operate 184 company-operated restaurants on leased real estate, an owned operating unit with additional parking on leased real estate, and have another 26 leased sites that are subleased or assigned to franchisees who operate El Pollo Loco restaurants. We also have eight closed units two of which are subleased for uses other than El Pollo Loco.

We lease our headquarters, consisting of approximately 29,880 square feet in Costa Mesa, California, for a term expiring in 2023, plus one three-year extension option. Our headquarters is located at 3535 Harbor Boulevard, Suite 100, Costa Mesa, California 92626, and our telephone number is (714) 599-5000. We believe that our current office space is suitable and adequate for its intended purposes and our near-term expansion plans.

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ITEM 3.LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

For information regarding legal proceedings, see “Note 13. Commitments and Contingencies—Legal Matters” in the accompanying “Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements” in this Annual Report, which information is incorporated herein by reference.

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ITEM 4.MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES

None.

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PART II

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ITEM 5.MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

Market Information

Our common stock has been listed on The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC under the symbol “LOCO” since July 25, 2014.

As of March 5, 2021, there were approximately 50 holders of record of our common stock. The number of holders of record is based upon the actual number of holders registered at such date and does not include holders of shares in “street name” or persons, partnerships, associates, corporations, or other entities in security position listings maintained by depositories.

Dividends

The Company does not currently pay cash dividends to our holders of common stock and does not anticipate paying any such dividends for the foreseeable future. Any determination to pay dividends in the future will be at the discretion of our Board of Directors and will depend upon our results of operations, financial condition, restrictions imposed by applicable law and our financing agreements and other factors that our Board of Directors deems relevant.

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

During the quarterly period ended December 30, 2020, the Company acquired shares of its common stock held by one of its employees to satisfy tax withholding obligations in connection with the vesting of previously issued restricted stock. The number of shares of common stock acquired and the average price paid per share for each month in the fourth quarter ended December 30, 2020 are as shown in the table below.

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Stock Performance Graph

The following graph and table illustrate the total cumulative shareholder return for (i) our common stock, (ii) the Nasdaq Composite Total Return Index and (iii) the Standard and Poor’s Supercomposite Restaurants Index, for the five years ended December 30, 2020. The graph assumes the investment of $100 at the beginning of the period (at the closing price of our common stock on December 30, 2015) and the reinvestment of all dividends. Stockholder returns over the indicated period should not be considered indicative of future stockholder returns.

The stock performance graph shall not be deemed soliciting material or to be filed with the SEC or subject to Regulation 14A or 14C under the Exchange Act or to the liabilities of Section 18 of the Exchange Act, nor shall it be incorporated by reference into any past or future filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) or the Exchange Act, except to the extent we specifically request that it be treated as soliciting material or specifically incorporate it by reference into a filing under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act

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ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA

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Reserved.

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ITEM 7.MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The following discussion should be read in conjunction with our "Audited Consolidated Financial Statements" and accompanying "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements" included elsewhere in this Annual Report. In addition to historical information, this discussion contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from management’s expectations. See “Forward-Looking Statements” and "Item 1A. Risk Factors” included elsewhere in this Annual Report. We assume no obligation to update any of these forward-looking statements.

Basis of Presentation

We use a 52- or 53-week fiscal year ending on the last Wednesday of each calendar year. Fiscal 2020, 2019, and 2018 ended on December 30, 2020, December 25, 2019 and December 26, 2018, respectively. In a 52-week fiscal year, each quarter includes 13 weeks of operations. In a 53-week fiscal year, the first, second and third quarters each include 13 weeks of operations, and the fourth quarter includes 14 weeks of operations. Approximately every six or seven years a 53-week fiscal year occurs. Fiscal 2020 was a 53-week fiscal year. Fiscal 2019 and 2018 were 52-week fiscal years. 53-week years may cause revenues, expenses, and other results of operations to be higher due to the additional week of operations. Fiscal years are identified in this report according to the calendar years in which they ended. For example, references to fiscal 2020 refer to the fiscal year ended December 30, 2020.

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Overview

El Pollo Loco is a differentiated and growing restaurant concept that specializes in fire-grilling citrus-marinated chicken and operates in the LSR segment. We strive to offer food that integrates the culinary traditions of Mexico with the healthier lifestyle of Los Angeles, a combination that we call “LA-Mex.” Our distinctive menu features our signature product--citrus-marinated fire-grilled chicken--and a variety of Mexican and LA-inspired entrees that we create from our chicken. We serve individual and family-sized chicken meals, a variety of Mexican and LA-inspired entrees, and sides, and, throughout the year, on a limited-time basis, additional proteins like shrimp. Our entrees include favorites such as our Chicken Avocado Burrito, Pollo Fit entrees, chicken tostada salads, and Pollo Bowls. Our famous Creamy Cilantro dressings and salsas are prepared fresh daily, allowing our customers to create their favorite flavor profiles to enhance their culinary experience. Our distinctive menu with better for you and more affordable alternatives appeals to consumers across a wide variety of socio-economic backgrounds and drives our balanced composition of sales throughout the day (our “day-part mix”), including at lunch and dinner.

COVID-19 Impact

On January 30, 2020, the WHO announced a global health emergency in response to the emergence of COVID-19 and the risks to the international community as the virus spreads globally beyond its point of origin. On March 11, 2020, the WHO classified the COVID-19 outbreak as a pandemic, based on the rapid increase in exposure globally.

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly disrupted our restaurant operations. Following the pandemic declaration in March 2020, federal, state and local governments began to respond to the public health crisis by requiring social distancing, "stay at home" directives, and restaurant restrictions - including government-mandated dining room closures - that limited business to off-premise services only (take-out, drive-thru and delivery). Historically, approximately 20% of our sales are associated with dine-in service. Many state and local governments continue to implement certain restrictions to try and contain the spread of the virus. As of December 30, 2020, the majority of our restaurants in markets outside of California have dining rooms open at a limited capacity, while the majority of our restaurants in California are continuing to operate on a take-away, mobile pick-up and delivery basis, as well as maintaining drive-thru operations where available to comply with the government mandates. Additionally, the Los Angeles market was heavily impacted by a spike in COVID-19 cases near the end of fiscal 2020. Due to our high concentration in this market, we were disproportionately impacted by this spike. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, during the year ended December 30, 2020, we temporarily closed 154 restaurants, of which all but seven have reopened as of December 30, 2020. Similarly, during the year ended December 30, 2020, our franchisees temporarily closed 69 restaurants, of which all but three have reopened as of December 30, 2020. For both franchise-operated and company-operated restaurants, this represents total closures and may include more than one closure for the same restaurant. These closures typically lasted from one to three days. As of December 30, 2020, we had not permanently closed any restaurants due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Below is a summary of other actions we have taken to enhance financial and operating flexibility for the Company and for our franchisees, and to protect our employees and customers:

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During fiscal 2020, we incurred 4.9 million in COVID-19 related expenses, primarily due to leaves of absence and overtime pay.

The full impact of the COVID-19 outbreak continues to evolve as of the date of this report. We are continually evaluating the impact of the global crisis on our financial condition, liquidity, operations, suppliers, industry, and workforce and will take additional actions as necessary. The disruption in operations has led to us considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our liquidity, debt covenant compliance, and recoverability of long-lived and ROU assets, goodwill and intangible assets, among others. If these disruptions to our operations from the COVID-19 pandemic continue or worsen, they may have a material negative impact on our financial results, future operations and liquidity. The extent of such negative impact will depend, in part, on the longevity and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the severity and transmission rates of COVID-19 variants, resurgences of COVID-19 that may continue to occur, the availability, distribution and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines and how quickly and to what extent normal economic and operating conditions improve.

Due to the rapid development and fluidity of this situation, we cannot determine the ultimate impact that the COVID-19 pandemic will have on our consolidated financial condition, liquidity, and future results of operations, and therefore any prediction as to the ultimate materiality of the adverse impact on our consolidated financial condition, liquidity, and future results of operations is uncertain.

Growth Strategies and Outlook

It is our intention to return to the following long-term growth strategy after the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic subsides. We plan to continue to expand our business, drive restaurant sales growth, and enhance our competitive positioning, by executing the following strategies:

As of December 30, 2020, we had 479 locations in six states. In fiscal 2020, we opened one new company-operated restaurant in Nevada, which was in process prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and our franchisees opened three new restaurants, two in California and one in Arizona. As a result of the COVID-19 crisis, we suspended company-operated new unit development until the timing of the economic recovery and our business improvement became more clear. In addition, we allowed franchisees to defer their 2020 new unit development obligations until 2021.

In fiscal 2019, we opened two new company-operated restaurants and our franchisees opened two new restaurants, all in California.

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In 2021, we intend to open three to five new company-operated and four to six new franchised restaurants. To increase comparable restaurant sales, we plan to increase customer frequency, attract new customers, and improve per-person spend.

Highlights and Trends

Comparable Restaurant Sales

In fiscal 2020, comparable restaurant sales system-wide decreased 2.4%. In fiscal 2019 and 2018, comparable restaurant sales system-wide increased 2.0% and 1.2%, respectively. Comparable restaurant sales growth/decline reflects the change in year-over-year sales for the comparable restaurant base. A restaurant enters our comparable restaurant base the first full week after its 15-month anniversary. System-wide comparable restaurant sales include restaurant sales at all comparable company-operated restaurants and at all comparable franchised restaurants, as reported by franchisees. Comparable restaurant sales at company-operated restaurants decreased 3.0% in fiscal 2020, increased 1.9% in fiscal 2019, and increased 0.4% in fiscal 2018. In fiscal 2020, the decrease in company-operated comparable restaurant sales was primarily the result of a decrease in transactions of 15.8%, partially offset by a 15.3% increase in average check size. The increase in average check includes a 4.1% and 3.6% benefit from gross menu price increases that were implemented during 2020 and 2019, respectively. In fiscal 2019, the increase in company-operated comparable restaurant sales was primarily the result of an increase in average check size of 2.9%, partially offset by a decrease in transactions of 1.0%. In fiscal 2018, the increase in company-operated comparable restaurant sales was driven by an increase in average check size of 1.4%, partially offset by a decrease in transactions of 1.0%. In fiscal 2020, comparable restaurant sales at franchised restaurants decreased 2.0%. In fiscal 2019 and 2018, comparable restaurant sales at franchised restaurants increased 2.0% and 1.8%, respectively.

Restaurant Development

In fiscal 2020, we opened one company-operated restaurant, and our franchisees opened three new restaurants. From time to time, we and our franchisees close restaurants. In fiscal 2020, we did not close any restaurants. Our franchisees closed seven restaurants. Our restaurant counts at the beginning and end of each of the last three years were as follows:

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As of December 30, 2020, together with our franchisees, we have remodeled 34 company-operated and 45 franchised restaurants using our Vision restaurant design. The Vision design elevates the brand image with exterior and interior features that embrace the brand’s authentic roots with warm textures, rustic elements and a focus on the signature open kitchen layout established in previous designs. As of December 30, 2020, including new builds and remodels, we had 121 restaurants open with the "Vision" design in our system. Remodeling is a use of cash and has implications for our net property and depreciation line items on our consolidated balance sheets and statements of operations, among others. The cost of our restaurant remodels varies depending on the scope of work required, but on average the investment is

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$0.3 to $0.4 million per restaurant. We believe that our remodeling program will result in higher restaurant revenue and a strengthened brand. In addition, we have finalized a new restaurant design that we believe will clearly differentiate and communicate our brand, both on the exterior and interior. We believe that this new design will deliver good new unit volumes and cash on cash returns in both existing and new markets. We also believe that our remodels using this new design will result in higher restaurant revenue and a strengthened brand. As of the end of fiscal 2020, we have completed two remodels using the new asset design. If these are successful, beginning in 2021, this new design will replace our “Vision” design, which was implemented in 2016. However, given the uncertainty surrounding the severity and longevity of the COVID-19 pandemic, as a precautionary measure we significantly reduced capital spending, including limiting our remodels in 2020. Our franchisees did not complete any remodels in 2020 as we deferred their remodel requirements until 2021. However, in 2021 we plan on resuming our standard practices for remodels including 15 company-operated and 40 franchised restaurants.

Loco Rewards

During the second quarter of 2017, we introduced a new loyalty rewards points program in an effort to increase sales and loyalty among our customers, by offering rewards that incentivize customers to visit our restaurants more often each month. Customers earn points for each dollar spent and as of August 4, 2020, 50 points can be redeemed for a $5 reward to be used for a future purchase. Prior to August 4, 2020, 100 points could be redeemed for a $10 reward. If a customer does not earn or use points within a one-year period, their account is deactivated and all points expire. Additionally, if a reward is not used within six months, it expires. When a customer is part of the rewards program, the obligation to provide future discounts related to points earned is considered a separate performance obligation, to which

a portion of the transaction price is allocated. The performance obligation related to loyalty points is deemed to have been satisfied, and the amount deferred in the balance sheet is recognized as revenue, when the points are transferred to a reward and redeemed, the reward or points have expired, or the likelihood of redemption is remote. A portion of the transaction price is allocated to loyalty points, if necessary, on a pro-rata basis, based on stand-alone selling price, as determined by menu pricing and loyalty point’s terms.

In addition, customers can earn additional points and free entrées for a variety of engagement activities. As points are available for redemption past the quarter earned, a portion of the revenue associated with the earned points will be deferred until redemption or expiration. As of December 30, 2020, the amount of revenue deferred related to the earned points, net of redemptions, is $0.9 million. The Company had more than 2.1 million loyalty program members as of December 30, 2020.

Key Financial Definitions

Revenue

Our revenue is derived from three primary sources: company-operated restaurant revenue, franchise revenue, which is comprised primarily of franchise royalties and, to a lesser extent, franchise fees and sublease rental income, and franchise advertising fee revenue. See Note 15 “Revenue from Contracts with Customers” in the accompanying “Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements” in this Annual Report for further details regarding our revenue recognition policy.

Food and Paper Costs

Food and paper costs include the direct costs associated with food, beverage and packaging of our menu items. The components of food and paper costs are variable in nature, change with sales volume, are impacted by menu mix, and are subject to increases or decreases in commodity costs.

Labor and Related Expenses

Labor and related expenses include wages, payroll taxes, workers’ compensation expense, benefits, and bonuses paid to our restaurant management teams. Like other expense items, we expect labor costs to grow proportionately as our restaurant revenue grows. Factors that influence labor costs include minimum wage and payroll tax legislation, the frequency and severity of workers’ compensation claims, health care costs, and the performance of our restaurants.

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Occupancy Costs and Other Operating Expenses

Occupancy costs include rent, common area maintenance, and real estate taxes. Other restaurant operating expenses include the costs of utilities, advertising, credit card processing fees, restaurant supplies, repairs and maintenance, and other restaurant operating costs.

General and Administrative Expenses

General and administrative expenses are comprised of expenses associated with corporate and administrative functions that support the development and operations of our restaurants, including compensation and benefits, travel expenses, stock compensation costs, legal and professional fees, and other related corporate costs. Also included are pre-opening costs, and expenses above the restaurant level, including salaries for field management, such as area and regional managers, and franchise field operational support.

Legal Settlements

Legal settlements include expenses such as judgments or settlements related to legal matters, legal claims and class action lawsuits.

Franchise Expenses

Franchise expenses are primarily comprised of rent expenses incurred on properties leased by us and then sublet to franchisees, and expenses incurred in support of franchisee information technology systems. Additionally, franchise expenses also include all expenses of the advertising fund representing the franchised restaurants portion of advertising expenses.

Depreciation and Amortization

Depreciation and amortization primarily consist of the depreciation of property and equipment, including leasehold improvements and equipment.

Loss on Disposal of Assets

Loss on disposal of assets includes the loss on disposal of assets related to retirements and replacement or write-off of leasehold improvements or equipment.

Impairment and Closed-Store Reserves

We review long-lived assets such as property, equipment, and intangibles, as well as ROU assets in a net asset position, on a unit-by-unit basis for impairment when events or circumstances indicate a carrying value of the assets that may not be recoverable. We consider a triggering event, related to long-lived assets or ROU assets in a net asset position, to have occurred related to a specific restaurant if the restaurant’s cash flows for the last twelve months are less than a minimum threshold or if consistent levels of undiscounted cash flows for the remaining lease period are less than the carrying value of the restaurant’s assets. Additionally, we consider a triggering event related to ROU assets, to have occurred related to a specific lease if the location has been subleased and future estimated sublease income is less than current lease payments. If we conclude that the carrying value of certain long-lived and ROU assets will not be recovered based on expected undiscounted future cash flows, an impairment loss is recorded to reduce the long-lived or ROU assets to their estimated fair value. The fair value is measured on a nonrecurring basis using unobservable (Level 3) inputs. There is uncertainty in the projected undiscounted future cash flows used in our impairment review analysis, which requires the use of estimates and assumptions. If actual performance does not achieve the projections, or if the assumptions used change in the future, we may be required to recognize impairment charges in future periods, and such charges could be material. 

Prior to the adoption of Topic 842 "Leases," closure costs include non-cash restaurant charges such as up-front expensing of the net present value of unpaid rent remaining on the life of a lease, offset by assumed sublease income. Upon the adoption of Topic 842, the Company no longer recognizes a closed-store reserve when the Company closes a restaurant, as a lease liability related to the future lease payments is already recognized. Rather, when a restaurant is

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closed, the Company will evaluate the ROU asset for impairment, based on anticipated sublease recoveries. The remaining value of the ROU asset is amortized on a straight-line basis, with the expense recognized in closed-store reserve expense, in addition to property tax and common area maintenance ("CAM") charges for closed restaurants.

Loss on Disposition of Restaurants

Loss on disposal of restaurants includes the loss on the sale of restaurants to franchisees, or other third parties, and includes the difference between carrying value and sales price of leasehold improvements, equipment and other assets included in the sale.

Interest Expense, Net

Interest expense, net, consists primarily of interest on our outstanding revolving debt. Debt issuance costs are amortized on a straight-line basis over the life of the related debt.

Provision (Benefit) for Income Taxes

Provision (benefit) for income taxes consists of federal and state tax expense (recoveries) on our income (loss), and changes to our deferred tax asset and deferred tax liability.

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Results of Operations

Fiscal Year 2020 Compared to Fiscal Year 2019

Our operating results for the fiscal years ended December 30, 2020 and December 25, 2019, in absolute terms and expressed as a percentage of total revenue, with the exception of cost of operations and company restaurant expenses, which are expressed as a percentage of company-operated restaurant revenue, are compared below:

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Company-Operated Restaurant Revenue

In fiscal 2020, company-operated restaurant revenue decreased $17.0 million, or 4.4%, due to a $11.9 million decrease in revenue from the closure of four restaurants and the 16 company-operated restaurants sold by the Company to franchisees during or subsequent to the first quarter of the prior year, a decrease in company-operated restaurant revenue of $11.2 million due to a 3.0% decrease in company-operated comparable restaurant sales, which we believe was primarily related to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a $1.8 million decrease due to temporary restaurant closures, primarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic. See above under “COVID-19 Impact” for additional information related to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business. This company-operated restaurant sales decrease was partially offset by an increase of $3.0 million of non-comparable restaurant sales on restaurants that had not been open the fifteen months required to be included in comparable restaurant sales and a $0.3 million increase in revenue recognized for our loyalty points program. Company-operated restaurant revenue was also favorably impacted by $4.6

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million for the additional week of operations in a 53-week fiscal year. The company-operated comparable restaurant sales decrease consisted of a decline in transactions of 15.8%, partially offset by a 15.3% increase in average check size. It is uncertain whether the increase in average check size will persist once the pandemic ends.

Franchise Revenue

In fiscal 2020, franchise revenue increased $0.6 million, or 2.1%. This increase was primarily due to the opening of three new franchised restaurants and sixteen company-operated restaurants sold by the Company to franchisees during or after the first quarter of the prior year, as well as $0.7 million for the additional week of franchise revenue recognized in a 53-week fiscal year. This franchise revenue increase was partially offset by a franchise comparable sales restaurant decline of 2.0%, which we believe was primarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the closure of eight franchise locations during the same period. See above under “COVID-19 Impact” for additional information related to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business.

Franchise Advertising Fee Revenue

Franchise advertising fee revenue increased $0.2 million, or 0.9% from the comparable period in the prior year. As advertising fee revenue is a percentage of franchisees’ revenue, the year-to-date fluctuation was due to the increases noted in franchise revenue above.

Food and Paper Costs

Food and paper costs decreased $10.5 million, or 9.6%, in fiscal 2020, due to a $9.2 million decrease in food costs and a $1.3 million decrease in paper costs. The decrease in food and paper costs resulted primarily from lower company transactions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, lower food waste and increased efficiencies. These decreases were partially offset by a $1.2 million increase in food and paper costs for the additional week of operations in a 53-week fiscal year and commodity inflation. Food and paper costs as a percentage of company-operated restaurant revenue were 26.4% in fiscal 2020, compared to 27.9% in fiscal 2019. This percentage decrease was due primarily to an increase in pricing, partially offset by commodity inflation.

Labor and Related Expenses

Labor and related expenses decreased $2.2 million, or 1.9%, in fiscal 2020. The decrease was due primarily to a reduction in labor by restaurants closed or sold to franchisees, adjustments to the labor model based on dining room closures, operating hours and lower sales volumes and lower group insurance and workers compensation expense due to decreased claims activity. These decreases were partially offset by higher wages primarily due to minimum wage increases in California during fiscal 2019 and 2020, labor costs associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, and $1.6 million for the additional week of operations in a 53-week fiscal year. Labor and related expenses as a percentage of company-operated restaurant revenue were 30.6% in fiscal 2020, compared to 29.8% in fiscal 2019. The increase was due primarily to wage increases in California and labor costs associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Partially offsetting these increases were the positive impacts of an increase in pricing and labor efficiencies.

Occupancy and Other Operating Expenses

Occupancy and other operating expenses increased $0.4 million, or 0.5%, in fiscal 2020. The increase was primarily due to a $2.5 million increase in customer order delivery fees payable to third parties due to an increase in delivery orders and a $0.3 million increase in other operating expenses, primarily related to the additional week of operations in a 53-week fiscal year. These increases were partially offset by an $0.8 million decrease in advertising expenses, a $0.7 million decrease in repair and maintenance costs, a $0.5 million decrease in utilities costs, and a $0.4 million decrease in occupancy costs, primarily related to a reduction in rent expense from restaurants closed or sold to franchisees. Occupancy and other operating expenses as a percentage of company-operated restaurant revenue were 24.7% in fiscal 2020, compared to 23.5% in fiscal 2019, primarily due to the increases noted above and sales deleverage.

Gain on Recovery of Insurance Proceeds, Lost Profits

In fiscal 2020, we received business interruption insurance proceeds of $2.0 million, primarily related to restaurant sales losses and expenses related to the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting dining room closures.

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General and Administrative Expenses

General and administrative expenses decreased $4.4 million, or 11.1%, in fiscal 2020. The decrease was due primarily to a $3.5 million decrease in legal expenses related primarily to a decrease in securities class action litigation costs, a $1.2 million decrease in labor related costs, largely related to a decrease in management bonus expense, a decrease in severance expense and lower group insurance costs, partially offset by the impact of an additional week of operations in a 53-week fiscal year. Further, there was a $0.2 million decrease in recruiting costs and a $0.3 million decrease in other general and administrative expenses. These decreases were partially offset by a $0.8 million increase in stock compensation expenses.

General and administrative expenses as a percentage of total revenue were 8.4% in fiscal 2020, compared to 9.1% in fiscal 2019. This decrease is primarily due to the cost decreases noted above.

Legal Settlements

Legal settlements were $2.6 million in fiscal 2020, related to resolution of the longstanding lawsuit involving a contract dispute with one of the Company’s franchisees concerning asserted territory rights, as well as amounts incurred related to the payment of the final settlement amounts for consolidated wage and hour class action lawsuits resolved during fiscal 2020.

Franchise Expenses

Franchise expenses increased $1.1 million, or 4.2%, in fiscal 2020. The increase was primarily due to an increase in expenses initially paid by the Company on behalf of the franchisee, and subsequently reimbursed by the franchisee. Specifically, these expenses were related to advertising expenses and rent expense for locations sub-leased.

Recovery of Securities Class Action Legal Expenses and Other Insurance Claims

During fiscal 2020, we received insurance proceeds of $0.1 million related to a property claim. During fiscal 2019, we received insurance proceeds of $10.0 million related to the settlement of the securities class action lawsuit. See Note 13, “Commitments and Contingencies—Legal Matters” in the accompanying "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements" in this Annual Report.

Impairment and Closed-Store Reserves

During fiscal 2020, we recorded a $3.5 million non-cash impairment charge primarily related to the carrying value of the ROU assets of one restaurant in Texas and the long-lived assets of four restaurants in California. During fiscal 2019, we recorded a $3.6 million non-cash impairment charge primarily related to the carrying value of the ROU assets of four restaurants sold to franchisees and one restaurant closed during fiscal 2019, and the long-lived assets of one restaurant in California. Given the inherent uncertainty in projecting results for newer restaurants in newer markets, as well as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Company is monitoring the recoverability of the carrying value of the assets of several restaurants on an ongoing basis. For these restaurants, if expected performance is not realized, an impairment charge may be recognized in future periods, and such charge could be material.

During fiscal 2020, we recognized $1.2 million of closed-store reserve expense related to the amortization of ROU assets, property taxes and CAM payments for our closed locations.

During fiscal 2019, we closed two restaurants in California and two in Texas and recognized $1.3 million of closed-store reserve expense for fiscal 2019, primarily related to the amortization of ROU assets, property taxes and CAM payments for our closed locations.

Loss on Disposition of Restaurants

During fiscal 2019, we completed the sale of four company-operated restaurants within the San Francisco area to an existing franchisee and seven company-operated restaurants in the Phoenix area to another existing franchisee. We determined that these restaurant dispositions represent multiple element arrangements, and as a result, the cash consideration received was allocated to the separate elements based on their relative selling price. Cash proceeds

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included upfront consideration for the sale of the restaurants and franchise fees, as well as future cash consideration for royalties and lease payments. We also considered the future lease payments in allocating the initial cash consideration received. The cash consideration per restaurant for franchise fees is consistent with the amounts stated in the related franchise agreements, which are charged for separate standalone arrangements. We initially defer and subsequently recognize the franchise fees over the term of the franchise agreement. Future royalty income is also recognized in revenue as earned.

These sales resulted in cash proceeds of $4.8 million and a net loss on sale of restaurants of $5.1 million for the fiscal year ended December 25, 2019. These restaurants are included in the total number of franchised El Pollo Loco restaurants.

Interest Expense, Net

For fiscal 2020, net interest expense, decreased by $0.4 million, primarily related to lower interest rates and lower outstanding balances on our 2018 Revolver.

Income Tax Receivable Agreement

On July 30, 2014, we entered into the TRA. The TRA calls for us to pay to our pre-IPO stockholders 85% of the savings in cash that we realize in our taxes as a result of utilizing our net operating losses and other tax attributes attributable to preceding periods. In each of fiscal 2020 and fiscal 2019 we recognized income tax receivable agreement expense of $0.1 million. In fiscal 2020 and 2019, we paid $5.2 million and $5.8 million, respectively, to our pre-IPO stockholders under the TRA.

Provision for Income Taxes

In fiscal 2020, we recorded an income tax expense of $5.7 million, compared to income tax expense of $9.7 million in fiscal 2019, reflecting an estimated effective tax rate of 18.8% and 28.0%, respectively. The difference between the 21.0% statutory rate and the Company’s effective tax rate of 18.8% for the year-to-date ended December 30, 2020 is primarily a result of windfall tax benefit related to stock options exercised and state taxes, a Work Opportunity Tax Credit benefit and the change in valuation allowance against certain state credits as a result of future forecasted income apportioned to the state jurisdiction.

The difference between the 21.0% statutory rate and the Company’s effective tax rate of 28.0% for the year ended December 25, 2019 is primarily a result of state taxes and the change in valuation allowance against our deferred tax assets recorded in each of fiscal 2018 and fiscal 2017.

Fiscal Year 2019 Compared to Fiscal Year 2018

Our operating results for the fiscal years ended December 25, 2019 and December 26, 2018, in absolute terms and expressed as a percentage of total revenue, with the exception of cost of operations and company restaurant expenses, which are expressed as a percentage of company-operated restaurant revenue, are compared below:

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