El Pollo Loco is quietly loading up in San Antonio, eyeing additional locations as part of a broader Texas push. The California-based chain already has five restaurants in the city, most run by a single franchisee, and recent corporate moves suggest executives see room for more spots across the metro. Any local franchise buildout would mean new jobs and another contender in San Antonio’s already crowded quick-service chicken scene.
As reported by the San Antonio Business Journal, the five San Antonio locations are operated by a single franchisee and the chain is “eyeing San Antonio for growth.” The Business Journal story, published Feb. 11, sketches out the local franchise picture and connects it to the company’s wider Texas ambitions.
Local reporting and industry filings show the San Antonio cluster is concentrated under AA Pollo, a multi-unit operator with a history of Texas deals. Earlier development agreements tied that franchise group to plans for dozens of units across the state. Coverage by QSR details the franchise group’s past commitments in the market and helps explain why San Antonio is such a logical next target.
A Wider Push Across Texas
Company leaders have been casting Texas as a core market in a refreshed national growth strategy. “This brand has had too many false starts when it came to the question of whether it can be a national brand,” CEO Liz Williams said, according to Nation's Restaurant News. El Pollo Loco has signaled that much of its near-term expansion will happen outside California, specifically naming Dallas, El Paso and San Antonio.
Remodels, Pipeline and What It Takes to Scale
The chain hit a key milestone in 2025 when it opened its 500th U.S. restaurant, a benchmark highlighted in El Pollo Loco's press release. Alongside that, the company has been rolling out a remodel and prototype program aimed at improving unit economics, a strategy examined in coverage by Restaurant Dive. Prototype tweaks, kitchen upgrades and digital improvements are the levers the company says will help it move into new metros with lower build and operating costs.
For San Antonio neighborhoods, the early tells to watch are lease filings, building permits and franchise announcements, since those are usually the clearest first signs that a new restaurant is on the way. Openings typically bring dozens of hourly jobs per unit plus construction work, but they also stir up familiar questions about parking, traffic and how many chicken joints one busy commercial strip can realistically support.
The initial reporting from the San Antonio Business Journal offers the first look at who is building El Pollo Loco's local footprint and where the current stores sit. We will be watching public filings for the next round of concrete expansion signals. For now, at least on paper, San Antonio’s chicken map just got a little more crowded.
