BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES	3 Months Ended
Apr. 01, 2026
BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES	EL POLLO LOCO HOLDINGS, INC. NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (UNAUDITED) 1. BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES Overview El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (“Holdings” or the Company) is a Delaware corporation headquartered in Costa Mesa, California. Holdings and its direct and indirect subsidiaries are collectively referred to herein as the “Company.” The Company’s activities are conducted principally through its indirect wholly-owned subsidiary, El Pollo Loco, Inc. (“EPL”), which develops, franchises, licenses, and operates quick-service restaurants under the name El Pollo Loco®. The Company’s restaurants, which are located principally in California but also in Arizona, Colorado, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Utah, and Washington, specialize in fire-grilling citrus-marinated chicken in a wide variety of contemporary Mexican and LA-inspired entrees, including specialty chicken burritos, chicken quesadillas, chicken tostada salads, chicken tortilla soup, variations on the Company’s Pollo Bowl®, Pollo Salads, and Pollo Fit entrees. As of April 1, 2026, the Company operated 176 and franchised 329 El Pollo Loco restaurants in the United States. In addition, as of April 1, 2026, the Company licensed eight restaurants in the Philippines. Holdings has no material assets or operations. Holdings and Holdings’ direct subsidiary, EPL Intermediate, Inc. (“Intermediate”), guarantee EPL’s 2022 Revolver (See Note 5, Long-Term Debt, below) on a full and unconditional basis and Intermediate has no subsidiaries other than EPL. EPL is a separate and distinct legal entity, and has no obligation to make funds available to Intermediate. EPL and Intermediate may pay dividends to Intermediate and to Holdings, respectively. The Company operates as one operating segment. All significant revenues relate to retail sales of food and beverages through either company-operated or franchised-operated restaurants. Basis of Presentation The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements of the Company have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) for interim financial statements and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). In the opinion of management, the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements reflect all adjustments consisting of normal recurring adjustments necessary for a fair statement of the Company’s condensed consolidated financial position and results of operations and cash flows for the periods presented. Interim results of operations are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be achieved for the full year. The condensed consolidated financial statements and related notes do not include all information and footnotes required by U.S. GAAP for annual reports. This quarterly report should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025. The Company uses a 52- or 53-week fiscal year ending on the last Wednesday of each calendar year. 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 five or six years, a 53-week fiscal year occurs. Fiscal 2026 is a 52-week year ending on December 30, 2026. Fiscal 2025 was a 53-week year that ended on December 31, 2025. 53-week years may cause revenues, expenses, and other results of operations to be higher due to the additional week of operations. Principles of Consolidation The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Holdings and its wholly-owned subsidiaries. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. Use of Estimates The preparation of condensed consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the condensed consolidated financial statements and revenue and expenses during the periods reported. Actual results could materially differ from those estimates. The Company’s significant estimates include estimates for impairment of goodwill, intangible assets and property and equipment, insurance reserves, lease accounting matters, contingent liabilities, and income tax valuation allowances. Liquidity The Company’s principal liquidity and capital requirements are new restaurants, existing restaurant capital investments (remodels and maintenance), interest payments on its debt, lease obligations and working capital and general corporate needs. As of April 1, 2026, the Company’s total outstanding balance on its Revolver was $44.0 million. The Company’s ability to make payments on its indebtedness and to fund planned capital expenditures depends on available cash and its ability to generate adequate cash flows in the future, which, to a certain extent, is subject to general economic, financial, competitive, legislative, regulatory, and other factors that are beyond the Company’s control. Based on current operations, the Company believes that its cash flow from operations, available cash of $3.9 million at April 1, 2026, and the outstanding borrowing availability under the 2022 Revolver will be adequate to meet the Company’s liquidity needs for the next twelve months from the date of filing of these condensed consolidated financial statements. Subsequent Events Subsequent to the quarter-end, the Company borrowed $5.0 million and paid down $3.0 million on its 2022 Revolver, resulting in outstanding borrowings of $46.0 million as of May 7, 2026. Concentration of Risk Cash and cash equivalents are maintained at financial institutions and, at times, these balances may exceed federally-insured limits. The Company has never experienced any losses related to these balances. The Company had no suppliers for which amounts due totaled more than 10% of the Company’s accounts payable as of April 1, 2026. The Company had one supplier to whom amounts due totaled 10.9% of the Company’s accounts payable as of December 31, 2025. Purchases from the Company’s largest supplier totaled 29.7% of total expenses for the thirteen weeks ended April 1, 2026, and 15.1% of total expenses for the thirteen weeks ended March 26, 2025. Company-operated and franchise-operated restaurants in the greater Los Angeles area generated, in the aggregate, approximately 71.9% of total revenue for the thirteen weeks ended April 1, 2026, and 71.6% of total revenue for the thirteen weeks ended March 26, 2025. Non-financial instruments The Company’s non-financial instruments, which primarily consist of property and equipment, operating lease right-of-use assets, goodwill and intangible assets, are reported at carrying value and are not required to be measured at fair value on a recurring basis. However, on an annual basis, or whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that their carrying value may not be recoverable, non-financial instruments are assessed for impairment. If applicable, the carrying values are written down to fair value. The Company determined that there were no indicators of potential impairment for its non-financial assets during the thirteen weeks ended April 2, 2026 or during the thirteen weeks ended March 13, 2025. Income Taxes For the thirteen weeks ended April 1, 2026, the Company recorded an income tax provision of $3.3 million, reflecting an estimated effective tax rate of 29.0%. For the thirteen weeks ended March 26, 2025, the Company recorded an income tax provision of $2.3 million, reflecting an estimated effective tax rate of approximately 29.7%. The difference between the 21.0% statutory rate and the effective tax rate of 29.0% for the thirteen weeks ended April 1, 2026 is primarily a result of state tax rates based on apportioned income and the impact of non-tax deductible executive compensation, partially offset by the impact of higher stock compensation expense deductible for tax related to vesting of restricted stock awards as compared to the cumulative amount recorded as stock-based compensation expense, and federal targeted job credits.Summary of Significant Accounting Policies There have been no changes to our significant accounting policies described in the 2025 Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 13, 2026 that have had a material impact on our consolidated financial statements and related notes. Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements In December 2023, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2023-09, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures (“ASU 2023-09”). This ASU amends income tax disclosures primarily related to the rate reconciliation and income taxes paid information, as well as certain other amendments to improve the effectiveness of income tax disclosures. These changes help investors better: (1) understand on an entity’s exposure to potential changes in jurisdictional tax legislation and the ensuing risks and opportunities, (2) assess income tax information that affects cash flow forecasts and capital allocation decisions, and (3) identify potential opportunities to increase future cash flows. The amendments in this ASU are effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2024, with early adoption permitted. The Company adopted ASU 2023-09 during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025 on a retrospective basis. The adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements. Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements In November 2024, the FASB issued ASU No. 2024-03, Income Statement—Reporting Comprehensive Income—Expense Disaggregation Disclosures (Subtopic 220-40): Disaggregation of Income Statement Expenses. This ASU requires new disclosures, in the notes to the financial statements, related to the disaggregation of certain expenses within the income statement. Additionally, a qualitative description is required of the amounts remaining in relevant expense captions that are not separately disaggregated quantitatively. Annually, an entity is also required to define and quantify its selling expenses. The amendments in this ASU are effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2026, and interim reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2027, with early adoption permitted. The Company is evaluating the potential impact of this guidance on its condensed consolidated financial statements. In December 2025, the FASB issued ASU No. 2025-11, Interim Reporting (Topic 270): Narrow-Scope Improvements. This ASU improves the guidance in Topic 270 by improving the navigability of the required interim disclosures from other topics and clarifying when existing guidance is applicable. The purpose of this ASU is not to expand or change previous interim reporting guidance; however, an added principle requires entities to disclose events since the end of the last annual reporting period that have material impact on the entity. The amendments are effective for interim reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2027, with early adoption permitted. The Company is evaluating the potential impact of this guidance on its consolidated financial statements. The Company reviewed all other recently issued accounting pronouncements and concluded that they were either not applicable or not expected to have a significant impact to the condensed consolidated financial statements.

BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

3 Months Ended

Apr. 01, 2026

BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

EL POLLO LOCO HOLDINGS, INC.

NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (UNAUDITED)

1. BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Overview

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (“Holdings” or the Company) is a Delaware corporation headquartered in Costa Mesa, California. Holdings and its direct and indirect subsidiaries are collectively referred to herein as the “Company.” The Company’s activities are conducted principally through its indirect wholly-owned subsidiary, El Pollo Loco, Inc. (“EPL”), which develops, franchises, licenses, and operates quick-service restaurants under the name El Pollo Loco®. The Company’s restaurants, which are located principally in California but also in Arizona, Colorado, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Utah, and Washington, specialize in fire-grilling citrus-marinated chicken in a wide variety of contemporary Mexican and LA-inspired entrees, including specialty chicken burritos, chicken quesadillas, chicken tostada salads, chicken tortilla soup, variations on the Company’s Pollo Bowl®, Pollo Salads, and Pollo Fit entrees. As of April 1, 2026, the Company operated 176 and franchised 329 El Pollo Loco restaurants in the United States. In addition, as of April 1, 2026, the Company licensed eight restaurants in the Philippines.

Holdings has no material assets or operations. Holdings and Holdings’ direct subsidiary, EPL Intermediate, Inc. (“Intermediate”), guarantee EPL’s 2022 Revolver (See Note 5, Long-Term Debt, below) on a full and unconditional basis and Intermediate has no subsidiaries other than EPL. EPL is a separate and distinct legal entity, and has no obligation to make funds available to Intermediate. EPL and Intermediate may pay dividends to Intermediate and to Holdings, respectively.

The Company operates as one operating segment. All significant revenues relate to retail sales of food and beverages through either company-operated or franchised-operated restaurants.

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements of the Company have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) for interim financial statements and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). In the opinion of management, the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements reflect all adjustments consisting of normal recurring adjustments necessary for a fair statement of the Company’s condensed consolidated financial position and results of operations and cash flows for the periods presented. Interim results of operations are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be achieved for the full year. The condensed consolidated financial statements and related notes do not include all information and footnotes required by U.S. GAAP for annual reports. This quarterly report should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025.

The Company uses a 52- or 53-week fiscal year ending on the last Wednesday of each calendar year. 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 five or six years, a 53-week fiscal year occurs. Fiscal 2026 is a 52-week year ending on December 30, 2026. Fiscal 2025 was a 53-week year that ended on December 31, 2025. 53-week years may cause revenues, expenses, and other results of operations to be higher due to the additional week of operations.

Principles of Consolidation

The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Holdings and its wholly-owned subsidiaries. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of condensed consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the condensed consolidated financial statements and revenue and expenses during the periods reported. Actual results could materially differ from those estimates. The Company’s significant estimates include estimates for impairment of goodwill, intangible assets and property and equipment, insurance reserves, lease accounting matters, contingent liabilities, and income tax valuation allowances.

Liquidity

The Company’s principal liquidity and capital requirements are new restaurants, existing restaurant capital investments (remodels and maintenance), interest payments on its debt, lease obligations and working capital and general corporate needs. As of April 1, 2026, the Company’s total outstanding balance on its Revolver was $44.0 million. The Company’s ability to make payments on its indebtedness and to fund planned capital expenditures depends on available cash and its ability to generate adequate cash flows in the future, which, to a certain extent, is subject to general economic, financial, competitive, legislative, regulatory, and other factors that are beyond the Company’s control. Based on current operations, the Company believes that its cash flow from operations, available cash of $3.9 million at April 1, 2026, and the outstanding borrowing availability under the 2022 Revolver will be adequate to meet the Company’s liquidity needs for the next twelve months from the date of filing of these condensed consolidated financial statements.

Subsequent Events

Subsequent to the quarter-end, the Company borrowed $5.0 million and paid down $3.0 million on its 2022 Revolver, resulting in outstanding borrowings of $46.0 million as of May 7, 2026.

Concentration of Risk

Cash and cash equivalents are maintained at financial institutions and, at times, these balances may exceed federally-insured limits. The Company has never experienced any losses related to these balances.

The Company had no suppliers for which amounts due totaled more than 10% of the Company’s accounts payable as of April 1, 2026. The Company had one supplier to whom amounts due totaled 10.9% of the Company’s accounts payable as of December 31, 2025. Purchases from the Company’s largest supplier totaled 29.7% of total expenses for the thirteen weeks ended April 1, 2026, and 15.1% of total expenses for the thirteen weeks ended March 26, 2025.

Company-operated and franchise-operated restaurants in the greater Los Angeles area generated, in the aggregate, approximately 71.9% of total revenue for the thirteen weeks ended April 1, 2026, and 71.6% of total revenue for the thirteen weeks ended March 26, 2025.

Non-financial instruments

The Company’s non-financial instruments, which primarily consist of property and equipment, operating lease right-of-use assets, goodwill and intangible assets, are reported at carrying value and are not required to be measured at fair value on a recurring basis. However, on an annual basis, or whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that their carrying value may not be recoverable, non-financial instruments are assessed for impairment. If applicable, the carrying values are written down to fair value. The Company determined that there were no indicators of potential impairment for its non-financial assets during the thirteen weeks ended April 2, 2026 or during the thirteen weeks ended March 13, 2025.

Income Taxes

For the thirteen weeks ended April 1, 2026, the Company recorded an income tax provision of $3.3 million, reflecting an estimated effective tax rate of 29.0%. For the thirteen weeks ended March 26, 2025, the Company recorded an income tax provision of $2.3 million, reflecting an estimated effective tax rate of approximately 29.7%. The difference between the 21.0% statutory rate and the effective tax rate of 29.0% for the thirteen weeks ended April 1, 2026 is primarily a result of state tax rates based on apportioned income and the impact of non-tax deductible executive compensation, partially offset by the impact of higher stock compensation expense deductible for tax related to vesting of restricted stock awards as compared to the cumulative amount recorded as stock-based compensation expense, and federal targeted job credits.Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

There have been no changes to our significant accounting policies described in the 2025 Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 13, 2026 that have had a material impact on our consolidated financial statements and related notes.

Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements

In December 2023, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2023-09, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures (“ASU 2023-09”). This ASU amends income tax disclosures primarily related to the rate reconciliation and income taxes paid information, as well as certain other amendments to improve the effectiveness of income tax disclosures. These changes help investors better: (1) understand on an entity’s exposure to potential changes in jurisdictional tax legislation and the ensuing risks and opportunities, (2) assess income tax information that affects cash flow forecasts and capital allocation decisions, and (3) identify potential opportunities to increase future cash flows. The amendments in this ASU are effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2024, with early adoption permitted. The Company adopted ASU 2023-09 during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025 on a retrospective basis. The adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements

In November 2024, the FASB issued ASU No. 2024-03, Income Statement—Reporting Comprehensive Income—Expense Disaggregation Disclosures (Subtopic 220-40): Disaggregation of Income Statement Expenses. This ASU requires new disclosures, in the notes to the financial statements, related to the disaggregation of certain expenses within the income statement. Additionally, a qualitative description is required of the amounts remaining in relevant expense captions that are not separately disaggregated quantitatively. Annually, an entity is also required to define and quantify its selling expenses. The amendments in this ASU are effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2026, and interim reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2027, with early adoption permitted. The Company is evaluating the potential impact of this guidance on its condensed consolidated financial statements.

In December 2025, the FASB issued ASU No. 2025-11, Interim Reporting (Topic 270): Narrow-Scope Improvements. This ASU improves the guidance in Topic 270 by improving the navigability of the required interim disclosures from other topics and clarifying when existing guidance is applicable. The purpose of this ASU is not to expand or change previous interim reporting guidance; however, an added principle requires entities to disclose events since the end of the last annual reporting period that have material impact on the entity. The amendments are effective for interim reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2027, with early adoption permitted. The Company is evaluating the potential impact of this guidance on its consolidated financial statements.

The Company reviewed all other recently issued accounting pronouncements and concluded that they were either not applicable or not expected to have a significant impact to the condensed consolidated financial statements.