El Pollo Loco is leaning on a coffee platform launched just last quarter to chase the afternoon snacking occasion, rolling out a Caramel Apple ChataCoffee for fall alongside a new COO hire that carries a $425,000 base salary.

The Costa Mesa, Calif.-based chain built its beverage platform around horchata, iced coffee, and cold foam, engineered specifically to deliver limited-time, seasonal flavors. The fall lineup pairs Mexican-style horchata and iced coffee layered with caramel apple syrup, with the option of a cold foam top.

CEO Liz Williams framed the beverage push as a daypart play, not just a flavor play, on the chain's early-August earnings call.

"We believe (it) is a meaningful and underserved daypart for our brand," Williams said. "Alongside items like our tenders and quesadillas, we see this as part of a broader snacking occasion that brings guests into our restaurant outside of traditional mealtimes and also helps in building check."

That check-building logic anchors the rest of the fall menu. The chain has added Pumpkin Pie Mini Churros as an indulgent dessert and a Cheesy Enchilada Double Chicken Bowl built to trade guests up: a double portion of fire-grilled chopped chicken, seasoned rice, pinto beans, a double portion of shredded Jack cheese, guacamole, sour cream and salsa fresca, served with a choice of red or green chile enchilada sauce. The double-portion construction signals deliberate menu engineering toward premiumization and larger-format bowls that lift average check.

All three items are available for a limited time at participating locations.

The beverage strategy fits a broader pattern. Over the past year and a half, El Pollo Loco has invested across categories to drive new occasions, new guests and higher checks, while supporting its "Let's Get Loco" campaign to build top-of-mind awareness.

"Introducing menu items like our ChataCoffee line and indulgent desserts allow us to broaden our appeal with existing and new customers," Williams said in a statement. "By innovating across categories, from beverages and desserts to bigger, craveable bowls, we're delighting guests beyond a traditional lunch or dinner visit."

The timing matters. Coffee, beverages and snacks rank among the few sectors that grew during a difficult stretch for chain restaurants, as consumers pulled back on dining out and Top 500 chain sales slowed again in 2025. Anchoring a seasonal LTO platform in coffee gives El Pollo Loco a repeatable format for rotating flavors — caramel apple now, other profiles in future windows — without new equipment or back-of-house complexity beyond syrup and cold foam.

New COO starts immediately

Also this week, El Pollo Loco named Damon Thomas as chief operating officer, effective immediately. He reports directly to Williams.

Thomas joins from Shake Shack, where he served as senior vice president, operations. He previously held the president of operations role at Yoshinoya America and senior operations positions at Quest Food Management Services and Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers.

According to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Thomas will receive an annual base salary of $425,000 plus an annual target cash bonus opportunity equal to 75% of base — a package that ties roughly $318,750 in potential bonus to operational execution at a chain betting heavily on menu innovation and daypart expansion.

Bringing in an operator with quick-service chicken experience at Raising Cane's positions El Pollo Loco to execute across a menu that now spans beverage, dessert and premium bowls, with the afternoon daypart as the next growth lever.