- 7 April, 2006 -

El Pollo Loco, a leading franchise of 340 fast casual restaurants famous for its signature citrus-marinated, flame-grilled chicken, recently announced the promotion of several members of its organization to key positions integral to the company's expansion outside of the West Coast. Brian Carmichall and Tom Giannetti were promoted to Vice President of Development and Vice President of Information Technology, respectively. Carmichall, who will celebrate his tenth anniversary with El Pollo Loco later this year, most recently served as Director of Development. In that position, he played an integral role in leading major initiatives impacting both company and franchise restaurants, such as equipment redesigns, El Pollo Loco's Next Generation restaurant design, and new market openings. In his two years with El Pollo Loco as Director of Information Technology, Giannetti completely revamped the technology team and spearheaded the rollout of a notably improved point of sale system, including a process for bringing franchisees on board with the new technology. "Both Brian and Tom have demonstrated exceptional leadership in paving the way for El Pollo Loco's expansion outside the West Coast," said Steve Carley, CEO of El Pollo Loco. "The promotion of these talented professionals not only recognizes their outstanding contributions to our organization, it establishes a solid foundation upon which we can continue our quest for nationwide expansion." In addition, the company's six Vice Presidents Joe Stein, Brian Berkhausen, Karen Eadon, Steve Sather, Jeanne Scott and Pam Milner - have been promoted to Senior Vice Presidents. El Pollo Loco began significant franchise expansion plans last year, which included the introduction of a new restaurant prototype, designed to have broad demographic appeal and flexibility to drive growth outside of its core West Coast market. Last year, El Pollo Loco opened a new franchise in El Paso, Texas and its first restaurant east of the Mississippi, in Chicago's Logan Square neighborhood. El Pollo Loco has a pipeline of 145 franchise restaurant commitments in California, Colorado, New England, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Texas and Washington. About El Pollo Loco El Pollo Loco currently operates 340 restaurants (193 franchised locations and 147 company-owned restaurants), located principally in California, with additional restaurants in Arizona, Nevada, Texas and Illinois. Headquartered in Irvine, California, El Pollo Loco, Inc. is a privately held company owned by Trimaran Capital Partners and company management. Trimaran is a private asset management firm, headquartered in New York, with assets under management and committed capital in excess of $3 billion.

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