Terms of Use | El Pollo Loco

Last updated: March 12, 2024

IMPORTANT: Please carefully read and understand these Terms of Use. They contain an Arbitration Agreement, Jury and Class Action Waiver, Limitations on El Pollo Loco’s liability and other provisions that affect your legal rights.

PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING TERMS OF USE AND DISCLAIMERS CAREFULLY BEFORE USING THE ONLINE SERVICES.

El Pollo Loco, Inc. (“EPL,” “we” or “our”), as a convenience to you grants you access to its website, accessible via www.elpolloloco.com, its mobile/tablet applications, loyalty programs, stored value cards and other online programs (collectively, the “Online Services”), conditioned on your acceptance of the terms, conditions and notices contained herein (these “Terms of Use”). For the purposes of these Terms of Use, “Content” means, collectively, any content, including, without limitation any text, software, source code, applications, specifications, images, audio files, articles, and other information or content available through the Online Services.

BY ACCEPTING THESE TERMS OF USE, YOU ALSO AGREE TO OUR PRIVACY POLICY, WHICH IS INCORPORATED INTO THESE TERMS OF USE AND MAY BE UPDATED FROM TIME TO TIME.

You are also subject to the EPL Privacy Policy. You agree that EPL may modify these Terms of Use and the Privacy Policy at any time and from time to time, with or without notice to you. When you access, download or use any of the Online Services, you accept, without limitation or qualification, these Terms of Use as if you had signed them. You are responsible for regularly reviewing these Terms of Use. In addition, EPL may discontinue, or change from time to time, any Online Service (including these Terms) without prior notice.

ACCEPTANCE OF TERMS

Please read these Terms of Use and EPL’s Privacy Policy carefully. By accessing, downloading or using the Online Services, you agree to these Terms of Use, and you consent to the collection and use of information as described in our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to these Terms of Use and the terms and conditions of our Privacy Policy, you must cease using the Online Services immediately and discontinue any use of any Content.

ADDITIONAL TERMS

Certain services offered by or through the Online Services, including mobile/tablet applications, loyalty programs, sweepstakes and other prize promotions may be governed by additional terms and conditions presented in conjunction with them. You must agree to the additional terms before using such services. These Terms of Use and any additional terms will apply equally. In the event of an irreconcilable inconsistency between any additional terms and these Terms of Use, the additional terms will prevail.

USE OF THE ONLINE SERVICES

YOU MUST BE AT LEAST 13 YEARS OF AGE TO ACCESS AND USE THE ONLINE SERVICES. Some Online Services may require that you must be 18 or older to use the Online Service. The Online Services are not targeted toward, nor are they intended to be used by, anyone under the age of 13. If you are between the ages of 13 and 18, you may only use the Online Services under the supervision of a parent or legal guardian who agrees to be bound by these Terms of Use.

ACCEPTABLE USES AND RESTRICTIONS

Unless otherwise specified, the Online Services are for your personal and noncommercial use. You may not use, copy, distribute, republish, display, disclose, upload, post, or transmit the Online Services in any commercial manner.

You may not, and may not allow third parties to: (i) modify, copy, distribute, reverse engineer, transmit, display, perform, reproduce, publish, license, create derivative works of, transfer, or sell any Content, other than for your use of the Online Services as expressly permitted in these Terms of Use; (ii) access or attempt to access any systems or servers on which the Online Services are hosted or modify or alter the Online Services in any way; (iii) forge headers, create a false identity or otherwise manipulate identifiers in order to deceive others or disguise the origin of any Content transmitted to or via the Online Services; (iv) delete or change any copyright, trademark, or other proprietary notices; (v) attempt to obtain ownership or title to the Online Services, including the Content (vi) use any device, software or routine to interfere or attempt to interfere with the proper working of the Online Services or any business being conducted on the Online Services; (vii) rent, lease, sell, sub-license, loan, translate, merge, adapt, assign or transfer the Online Services, or combine them with, or incorporate them into, any other programs or services; (viii) disassemble, decompile, reverse-engineer, copy in source or object code format, or create derivative works based on the Online Services; (ix) transfer, provide, export or re-export the online services in violations of an embargo, trade sanction, or other technology control or export laws and regulations; you also represent and warrant that you are not (A) located in a country subject to a U.S. Government embargo, or designated by the U.S. Government as a “terrorist supporting” country; or (B) listed on any U.S. Government list of prohibited or restricted parties; (x) use or launch any unauthorized technology or automated system to access the Online Services or extract content from the online services, including but not limited to spiders, robots, screen scrapers, or offline readers; (xi) attempt to disable, damage, overburden, impair or gain unauthorized access to the Online Services, EPL’s network or any user accounts associated with the Online Services; (xii) transfer or attempt to redeem any verification code for a mobile or online order or digital offer or reward in prohibition of the applicable terms (attempts to redeem single use offers and verification codes multiple times or through multiple users constitutes fraud); (xiii) use the Online Services or any Content, features, or services for any unlawful, fraudulent, or malicious purposes, or to solicit any such activity, (xiv) use the Online Services in any way that is prohibited by these Terms.

You may display and, subject to any expressly stated restrictions or limitations relating to specific material, electronically copy, download and print hard copy portions of the material from different areas of the Online Services solely for your own noncommercial use. Any other use of materials on the Online Services, including but not limited to the modification, reproduction, distribution, republication, display or transmission of any Content, without prior written permission of EPL is strictly prohibited.

EPL shall be the sole arbiter in cases of suspected abuse, fraud, or violations of these Terms and any decision it makes relating to termination or disabling of the Online Services.

EPL does not accept or consider unsolicited suggestions and materials, including any ideas, comments, suggestions, or the like (collectively, “Information”). Please do not submit any Information to EPL by electronic mail, contact us forms or otherwise. Notwithstanding the foregoing and except as otherwise provided under the Privacy Policy concerning personally identifying information, if you submit Information to EPL, such Information will be treated as non-confidential and non-proprietary. Furthermore, you give up all intellectual property rights, including any moral, publicity and privacy rights you have in any Information. EPL is free to use any Information, without limitation and without any compensation to you, for any purpose whatsoever, including but not limited to developing, manufacturing and marketing products using Information or editing, altering, broadcasting, posting, publishing, copying, disclosing, distributing, incorporating and otherwise using Information. By submitting Information to EPL, you agree EPL is free to use the Information for any purpose whatsoever.

EPL reserves the right to prohibit access, use, conduct, communications, or content that we, in our sole discretion, deem to be harmful to us, the Online Services, the Content, our users, our brand, or any other person or entity, or that violates these Terms, and/or applicable law. EPL further reserves the right to terminate, suspend, or cancel your account, if EPL believes that you have violated or acted inconsistently with these Terms, or applicable law, or that you have acted in a manner harmful to our interests, or that you may be likely to do so based upon prior communications, conduct, interactions, or similar factors.

COPYRIGHTS

The Content and the Online Services, including the selection and arrangements thereof, are copyrighted as a collective work under the United States and other copyright laws and are the sole property of EPL and/or its licensors and are protected by patent, trademark, copyright and other intellectual property laws and may not be used except in accordance with these Terms of Use or with EPL’s express written consent. Other than as necessary for your use of the Online Services in accordance with these Terms of Use, EPL grants no other privileges or rights in the Content to you, and you must keep intact all patent, trademark, copyright and other proprietary notices on the Content. Any Content owned by EPL’s licensors may be subject to additional restrictions.

TRADEMARKS

All trademarks, service marks, trade names and trade dress, whether registered or unregistered (collectively the “Marks”) that appear within the Online Services are proprietary to EPL or other respective owners that have granted EPL the right and license to use such Marks. You may not display or reproduce the Marks other than with the prior written consent of EPL, and you may not remove or otherwise modify any trademark notices from any Content.

USER CONTENT

This Online Services may allow users to post, submit, or display information, messages, suggestions, questions, comments, postings, ratings, ideas, techniques, notes, know-how, drawings, concepts, designs, audio visual material, photographs and pictures, digital images, or other content in any form (collectively “User Content”). By posting or submitting User Content on the Online Services, you hereby grant EPL an exclusive, unrestricted, transferable and sub-licensable, irrevocable, royalty-free and fully paid-up, world-wide, and perpetual license to reproduce, distribute, market, publicly display, modify, make, have made, sell and offer for sale, practice all applicable patent, copyright, moral right, mask work, trade secret, and other intellectual property rights, make derivative works of, exploit and otherwise use the User Content in any media whatsoever now known or later invented throughout the world for any purpose whatsoever, commercial or not. You hereby disclaim any right to any compensation from EPL in connection with the EPL’s exercise of its license rights in and to the User Content you have posted on or submitted to the Online Services. By posting or submitting the User Content on the Online Services, you represent and warrant that you own the copyright in such User Content or that you have a legitimate license to post the User Content, including photographs or other audiovisual material, without any restrictions whatsoever.

NOTICES AND PROCEDURES FOR MAKING CLAIMS OF COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT

Pursuant to Title 17, United States Code, Section 512(c)(2), notifications of claimed copyright infringement should be sent to the Online Service’s designated agent. ALL INQUIRIES NOT RELEVANT TO OR NOT COMPLYING WITH THE FOLLOWING PROCEDURE WILL RECEIVE NO RESPONSE. EPL respects the intellectual property of others, and we ask our users and visitors to do the same. EPL will process and investigate notices of alleged infringement and will take appropriate actions under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) and other applicable intellectual property laws. Upon receipt of notices complying with the DMCA, EPL will act to remove or disable access to any material found to be infringing or found to be the subject of infringing activity and will act to remove or disable access to any reference or link to material or activity that is found to be infringing.

If you believe that your work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please provide EPL the following information. Please be advised that to be effective, the notification must include ALL of the following:

a physical or electronic signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive copyright that is allegedly infringed;
a description of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed;
a description of where the material that you claim is infringing is located on the Online Services;
your address, telephone number, and email address and all other information reasonably sufficient to permit EPL to contact you;
a statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law;
a statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

Notices of claimed copyright infringement should be directed to El Pollo Loco, Inc., Attention: Legal Department, at 3535 Harbor Blvd., Suite 100, Costa Mesa, CA 92626.

IMPORTANT NOTE: THE PRECEDING INFORMATION IS PROVIDED EXCLUSIVELY FOR NOTIFYING EPL THAT YOUR COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL MAY HAVE BEEN INFRINGED. ALL OTHER INQUIRIES, SUCH AS PRODUCT OR SERVICE RELATED QUESTIONS AND REQUESTS, OR QUESTIONS ON PRIVACY, WILL NOT RECEIVE A RESPONSE THROUGH THIS PROCESS.

TERM & TERMINATION

These Terms of Use are applicable to you upon your accessing, downloading or using the Online Services. These Terms of Use may be modified, altered, updated or terminated by EPL without notice at any time for any reason. Your continued use of the Online Services after such modifications, alterations or updates, as the case may be, signifies your agreement to be bound by such modifications, alterations or updates. The provisions relating to Copyrights, Trademarks, Disclaimer, Limitation of Liability, Indemnification, Applicable Laws, and General shall survive any termination of these Terms of Use.

ONLINE ORDERING

EPL may make available to you the ability to order online from our participating El Pollo Loco restaurants. These Terms of Use apply only to orders placed through the Online Services. Any applicable fees, taxes and other amounts due in connection with your order will be identified when you place your order. EPL reserves the right to change the prices displayed through the Online Services and applicable fees or surcharges at any time. There may be limits on the dollar values and number of orders that may be placed through the Online Services. You are responsible for payment of your order by means of a payment option made available through the Online Services at the time of ordering. We use third party providers and may accept various third party services to process payments. EPL will charge, and you authorize EPL to charge, the payment method you specify either at the time you check-in at the EPL restaurant (which in some circumstances, may occur automatically when you arrive at the restaurant) or at the time you place your order online. The El Pollo Loco restaurant identified when you place your order is responsible for fulfilling your order and for any questions or other communications regarding your order. Discounts, coupons and other offers may not be able to be combined with online ordering. Every participating El Pollo Loco restaurant location may not have all menu items identified through the Online Services. The prices and images of menu items on the Online Services may not be identical to what is available or that you may receive from an individual El Pollo Loco restaurant. Prices for menu items do not include applicable taxes, delivery and service fees, or related fees and surcharges. The original receipt is required for any refund and no refunds will be allowed after fourteen (14) days from original purchase (either cash or credit).

LINKS TO THIRD PARTY SITES AND SOCIAL MEDIA PAGES

The Online Services may contain links to other third-party websites, including the franchised operators of El Pollo Loco restaurants, and social media platforms, such as Instagram, Facebook, X (Twitter), or Foursquare (all links to third-party websites and social media platforms are collectively referred to herein as "External Sites"). External Sites are provided only for your convenience. However, even if the third party is affiliated with EPL, EPL has no control over the External Sites, all of which have separate privacy and data collection practices, independent of EPL. If you decide to visit any External Site, you do so at your own risk. EPL and its affiliates have no responsibility or liability for any External Sites, or the content, policies, or actions thereof. If you choose to purchase any product or service from an External Site, your relationship is with that third party. You agree that we are not responsible for the quality of third-party products or services, or fulfilling any of the terms of your agreement with the seller, including, but not limited to, the delivery of products and services and warranty obligations related to products and services. Links do not imply that we sponsor, endorse, are affiliated with or associated with, or are legally authorized to use any trademark, trade name, service mark, design, logo, symbol, or other copyrighted materials displayed on or accessible through such External Site.

TRANSACTIONS WITH EPL AND THIRD PARTIES

If you wish to make purchases through the Online Services or an External Site, you may be asked by us or the merchant or operator from whom you are making the purchase to supply certain information, including credit card, debit card, or other payment mechanism information. You agree not to hold EPL liable for any loss or damage of any sort incurred as a result of any such dealings. You agree that all information you provide in connection with such purchase shall be accurate, complete and current. You agree to pay all charges incurred by users of your credit card, debit card, or other payment mechanism at the prices in effect when such charges are incurred. You also will pay any applicable taxes, if any, relating to any purchases you make.

MOBILE APPS

In order to use Online Services made available through a mobile or tablet application (an “App”) you must have a compatible mobile device. EPL does not warrant that the App will be compatible with your mobile device.

If you access the App using an Apple iOS or Android powered device, Apple Inc. or Google, Inc., and their subsidiaries, respectively, shall be a third-party beneficiary to these Terms of Use and you agree that these third-party beneficiaries have the right to enforce these Terms of Use against you. However, these third-party beneficiaries are not a party to these Terms of Use and are not responsible for the provision or support of the App. You agree that your access to the App also shall be subject to the usage terms set forth in the applicable third-party beneficiary’s terms of service.

The App may automatically download and install updates from time to time or require the downloading and installation of updates or new versions for continued use. You acknowledge that in some instances updates and/or new versions may reduce or remove features and functionality in prior versions of the App.

ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS

When you use the Online Services or send e-mails to us, you are communicating with us electronically. You consent to receive communications from us electronically. We will communicate with you by e-mail or by posting notices on the Online Services. You agree that all agreements, notices, disclosures, and other communications that we provide to you electronically satisfy any legal requirement that such communications be in writing. You further agree that any notices provided by us electronically are deemed to be given and received on the date we transmit any such electronic communication as described in these Terms. You understand and agree that EPL anyone contacting you on our behalf, may send communications to you in any manner, including using a pre-recorded or artificial voice or an automatic telephone dialing system, including but not limited to communications concerning orders placed through your account on the Online Services.

DISCLAIMERS

EPL makes no warranties or representations about the accuracy or completeness of the Online Service’s content or the content of any External Sites. EPL does not filter advertisements or other content that children may view through our Online Services or “hot-linked” sites, and they could receive content and materials from the Internet and/or advertising that are inappropriate for children. We encourage parents and guardians to spend time online with their children and to consider using an electronic filtering software.

THE ONLINE SERVICES AND ANY CONTENT, PRODUCTS OR SERVICES PROVIDED VIA THE ONLINE SERVICES, INCLUDING LINKS, ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMISSIBLE PURSUANT TO APPLICABLE LAW, EPL DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, FREEDOM FROM COMPUTER VIRUS, AND WARRANTIES ARISING FROM COURSE OF DEALING OR COURSE OF PERFORMANCE. EPL DOES NOT REPRESENT OR WARRANT THAT THE FUNCTIONS CONTAINED IN THE ONLINE SERVICES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT THE ONLINE SERVICES OR THE SERVER THAT MAKES THE ONLINE SERVICES AVAILABLE ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. EPL DOES NOT MAKE ANY WARRANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS REGARDING THE USE OF THE MATERIALS IN THE ONLINE SERVICES IN TERMS OF THEIR COMPLETENESS, CORRECTNESS, ACCURACY, ADEQUACY, USEFULNESS, TIMELINESS, RELIABILITY OR OTHERWISE. AS A CONDITION OF YOUR USE OF THE ONLINE SERVICES, YOU WARRANT TO EPL THAT YOU WILL NOT USE THE ONLINE SERVICES FOR ANY PURPOSE THAT IS UNLAWFUL OR PROHIBITED BY THESE TERMS OF USE.

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

IN NO EVENT SHALL EPL, OR ANY OF ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, SUPPLIERS, LICENSORS OR THIRD PARTY PARTNERS, BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, INCIDENTAL, EXEMPLARY OR CONSEQUENTIAL, DAMAGES, OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER, EVEN IF EPL HAS BEEN PREVIOUSLY ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, WHETHER IN AN ACTION UNDER CONTRACT, TORT, OR ANY OTHER THEORY ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH ANY UNAVAILABILITY OR NONPERFORMANCE OF THE ONLINE SERVICES, ERRORS, OMISSIONS, VIRUSES AND MALICIOUS CODE. THESE LIMITATIONS WILL APPLY NOTWITHSTANDING ANY FAILURE OF ESSENTIAL PURPOSE OF ANY LIMITED REMEDY. BECAUSE SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATIONS ON HOW LONG AN IMPLIED WARRANTY LASTS, OR THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. IN NO EVENT SHALL EPL’S LIABILITY FOR DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO YOUR USE OF THE ONLINE SERVICES EXCEED TEN DOLLARS.

INDEMNIFICATION

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless EPL, and its parents, subsidiaries, and affiliates, and their respective officers, directors, employees, agents, licensors, suppliers and third party partners from and against all losses, expenses, damages and costs, including reasonable attorneys' fees, resulting from any violation of these Terms of Use.

APPLICABLE LAWS

Your use of the Online Services shall be governed in all respects by the laws of the State of California, without regard to choice of law provisions. You agree that jurisdiction over and venue in any legal proceeding directly or indirectly arising out of or relating to the Online Services shall be in the state or federal courts located in California. Any dispute between the parties that is not subject to arbitration or cannot be heard in small claims court will be resolved in the state or federal courts located in Orange County, California. Any cause of action or claim you may have with respect to the Online Services must be commenced within one (1) year after the claim or cause of action arises. EPL’s failure to insist upon or enforce strict performance of any provision of these Terms of Use shall not be construed as a waiver of any provision or right. Neither the course of conduct between the parties nor trade practice shall act to modify any of these Terms of Use. EPL may assign its rights and duties under these Terms of Use to any party at any time without notice to you.

ARBITRATION AGREEMENT

Please read this section carefully. It affects rights that you may otherwise have. It provides for resolution of most disputes through arbitration instead of court trials and class actions. Arbitration is final and binding and subject to only very limited review by a court. This arbitration clause shall survive termination of these Terms.

Binding Arbitration. This provision is intended to be interpreted broadly to encompass all disputes or claims arising out of or relating to these Terms of Use, your access to or use of the Online Services or your relationship with EPL. Any dispute or claim arising out of or relating to these Terms, your access to or use of the Online Services, or your relationship with El Pollo Loco or any subsidiary, parent or affiliate company or companies (whether based in contract, tort, statute, fraud, misrepresentation or any other legal theory) will be resolved by binding arbitration, except that either of us may take claims to small claims court if they qualify for hearing by such a court.

Arbitration Procedures. For all disputes, whether pursued in court or arbitration, you must first send a written description of your claim to Legal@elpolloloco.com 3535 Harbor Blvd., Suite 100, Costa Mesa, California 92626, attention Legal Department to allow us an opportunity to resolve the dispute. You and we each agree to negotiate your claim in good faith. You may request arbitration if your claim or dispute cannot be resolved within sixty (60) days.

The arbitration of any dispute or claim shall be conducted in accordance with the rules of the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”), including the AAA's Consumer Arbitration Rules (as applicable), as modified by these Terms and Conditions. The AAA Rules and information about arbitration and fees are available online at www.adr.org. You and we agree that these Terms evidence a transaction in interstate commerce and that this arbitration provision will be interpreted and enforced in accordance with the U.S. Federal Arbitration Act and federal arbitration law, and will not be governed by state law. Any arbitration will be held in a reasonably convenient location in the state in which you reside or at another mutually agreed location. An arbitrator may award on an individual basis any relief that would be available in a court, including injunctive or declaratory relief to the extent required to satisfy your individual claim, and must follow and enforce these Terms as a court would. Any arbitration shall be confidential, and neither you nor we may disclose the existence, content or results of any arbitration, except as may be required by law or for purposes of enforcement of the arbitration award. Judgment on any arbitration award may be entered in any court having proper jurisdiction.

Costs of Arbitration. In the event that you are able to demonstrate that the costs of arbitration will be prohibitive as compared to the costs of litigation, EPL will pay as much of your filing and hearing fees in connection with the arbitration as the arbitrator deems necessary to prevent the arbitration from being cost-prohibitive. If any part of this arbitration provision is deemed to be invalid, unenforceable or illegal (other than that claims will not be arbitrated on a class or representative basis), or otherwise conflicts with the rules and procedures established by the AAA, then the balance of this arbitration provision shall remain in effect and shall be construed in accordance with its terms as if the invalid, unenforceable, illegal or conflicting provision were not contained herein. If, however, the portion that is deemed invalid, unenforceable or illegal is that claims will not be arbitrated on a class or representative basis, then the entirety of this arbitration provision shall be null and void, and neither claimant nor EPL shall be entitled to arbitrate their dispute. Upon filing a demand for arbitration, all parties to such arbitration shall have the right of discovery, which discovery shall be completed within sixty (60) days after the demand for arbitration is made, unless further extended by mutual agreement of the parties. 

CLASS ACTION WAIVER AND JURY WAIVER

You and we each agree that any proceeding, whether in arbitration or in court, will be conducted only on an individual basis and not in a class, consolidated or representative action. If a court or arbitrator determines in an action between you and us that this class action waiver is unenforceable, the arbitration agreement will be void as to you. If for any reason a claim proceeds in court rather than through arbitration, you and we each waive any right to a jury trial.

GENERAL

EPL may revise these Terms of Use at any time by updating this posting. You should visit this page from time to time to review the then-current Terms of Use because they are binding on you. Certain provisions of these Terms of Use may be superseded by expressly designated legal notices or terms located on particular sections or pages on or within the Online Services. If any provision of these Terms of Use is held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable in any respect under any applicable law or rule in any jurisdiction, such invalidity, illegality or unenforceability will not affect the effectiveness or validity of any provision in any other jurisdiction, and these Terms of Use will be reformed, construed and enforced in such jurisdiction as if such provision had never been contained herein. You agree that no joint venture, partnership, employment, or agency relationship exists between you and EPL as a result of these Terms of Use, our Privacy Policy or any use of the Online Services. EPL’s performance of these Terms of Use is subject to existing laws and legal process, and nothing contained in these Terms of Use or our Privacy Policy is in derogation of EPL’s right to comply with law enforcement requests or requirements relating to your use of the Online Services or information provided to or gathered by EPL with respect to such use. Except as expressly provided herein, these Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy constitute the entire agreement between you and EPL with respect to the Online Services, and they supersede all prior or contemporaneous communications and proposals, whether electronic, oral or written, between you and EPL with respect to the Online Services. We may provide notice to you hereunder by posting announcements to the Online Services.

NOTICES

Except with respect to notices of alleged copyright infringement, which must be submitted as described above, and unless explicitly stated otherwise in the Online Services, you must provide all notices or complaints to EPL via email to legal@elpolloloco.com or mail at El Pollo Loco, Inc., Attention: Legal Department, 3535 Harbor Blvd., Suite 100, Costa Mesa, CA 92626.

CHANGES

El Pollo Loco may update these Terms at any time and at our sole discretion. If EPL makes material changes to these Terms, we will notify you by any reasonable means such as by posting the new Terms within an Online Service. If you do not agree to the changed Terms, then you must immediately stop using the Online Service.

PRIVACY POLICY

This policy is effective on January 1, 2023.

INTRODUCTION

At El Pollo Loco, Inc. (“EPL”), our Mission is to Feed the Love that Makes us All Feel Like Family. Treating our valued customers like family means we respect, value, and safeguard the personal information you provide to us. At EPL, your privacy is a high priority. This Privacy Policy describes how EPL, and its subsidiary and affiliated entities, collect, use, and disclose personal information of visitors to our restaurants and websites, and users of our mobile application, loyalty program, and other online services. This policy applies to all personal information we may collect about you, via each of the means referenced below. EPL’s Privacy Policy (“Policy”) does not apply to our franchisees or to our employees. Please see our franchisees’ privacy policies for information on how they use customer information that they separately collect in their restaurants.

POLICY SUMMARY

The following summary provides highlights of our Policy, but please read further below to review our full Policy.

INFORMATION WE COLLECT

We collect various types of information about you, including:

Information you provide to us;
Information we collect about your use of our websites, mobile application, loyalty program, in-store WiFi services, and other online services; and
Information we obtain from third parties, such as those providing services to us, to improve your customer experience.

We also may collect information in ways that we describe to you at the time we collect it or via other means, with your consent.

USE OF INFORMATION

We use the information we collect about our customers for the following business purposes:

To communicate with you regarding our products, offers, and promotions;
To facilitate business transactions, such as the purchase of food from our restaurants;
To provide WiFi services in our restaurants;
To provide and manage our Loco Rewards loyalty program;
To deliver targeted advertising, including offers and promotions;
To learn more about our customers in order to improve our customers’ experience with EPL;
To manage online and other services you request from EPL, such as orders you place online for delivery and pickup through our provider Olo, Inc. (“Olo”); and
To detect fraud, protect security, legal compliance, or other purposes as set forth below.

We may also use information we collect about you for other business purposes when you consent or otherwise request that we do so.

COOKIES AND ONLINE ADVERTISING

As with most companies, when you use EPL’s websites and online services, we may use cookies, web beacons, do-not-track signals, and other related technologies to improve and customize the advertisements you see and your overall experience with our services. See below for additional information about our collection of information using these technologies.

DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION

We may disclose to or share the personal information we collect about you to the following parties:

Business partners and service providers, including data analytics providers and those that provide advertising or social media services;
Companies and entities affiliated with EPL;
Franchisees of EPL; and
Other parties when required or permitted by applicable law, such as to protect our consumers and their data, or to facilitate a transaction such as the purchase of food

DATA SECURITY

Although EPL cannot guarantee security of our online services or information transmitted over the Internet, we have put in place certain procedures to safeguard your personal information when it is in our control. Please see the full policy below for more information regarding data security.

YOUR DATA PRIVACY RIGHTS

Your personal information is important. Please see below for information regarding EPL’s websites and online services, links to third-party sites, your privacy rights under California law, and children’s privacy.

PRIVACY POLICY

This Privacy Policy (“Policy”) describes how El Pollo Loco, Inc. (“EPL”) and its subsidiaries and affiliated companies (collectively, "EPL", “we”, or “our”) collect, use, and disclose personal information of customers and others who visit our restaurants or our websites, as well as users of our online services and others to whom we expressly provide that this Policy will apply. This Policy applies to data collected when you visit and use EPL’s website, mobile or tablet applications, or loyalty program, and to data collected in restaurants, and other online services or platforms (collectively, the “Services”). With respect to personal information collected via the Internet, this Policy outlines the types of personal information that you may provide to us on any Services controlled by EPL which link to this Policy, and it explains how EPL handles such personal information. This Policy does not apply to websites or applications that do not link to this Policy, or to third-party websites to which the Services may link. Your use of the Services is subject to this Policy and any additional terms and conditions that may be applicable to such Services, including EPL’s Terms of Use.

Please note that if you are a California resident you may have additional rights as set forth in the California Privacy Notice below.

COLLECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

We collect personal information about customers and users of our Services in a variety of ways. We may collect information you provide to us, information we collect through your use of the Services, information we collect from our third-party business partners, and information from publicly available sources.

INFORMATION YOU PROVIDE TO US

We collect personal information from you when you voluntarily use or engage with the Services, such as providing general comments, making purchases of food or gift cards in one of our restaurants, online, or through our mobile application, registering for sweepstakes or contests, participating in our loyalty program, using our WiFi services, and content submissions. For example, you may submit your name, postal address, e-mail address, IP address, phone number (which we may use for text messaging if you have opted in), gender, and/or birthdate in order to receive information about various subjects, register for or participate in programs, contact customer service, make purchases, or respond to surveys.

In order to process a financial transaction you request, such as the purchase of food or gift cards in a restaurant, through our mobile app, or online, our third-party payment processor may collect credit card information such as your credit card number, security code, the card’s expiration date, and a signature. When you enter one of our restaurants, we may collect information through our security cameras.

When you register for and participate in our loyalty program, we collect your email, full name, phone number, password, birthdate, zip code and preferred location. We also track your opt-in/out status and other guest interactions such as loyalty points earned, tier status changes, locations visited, transactions made and rewards used.

When you place an order online through our Site, you are interacting with Olo, which is a service provider that manages our online orders. In doing so, you will be providing to Olo certain information, such as the details of your order, your name, address, email address, phone number, and the location where you are placing the order, as well as credit card information for payment. This and other information is collected and maintained by Olo in accordance with their privacy policy, which you can access at the bottom of the order page. We are not responsible for the data privacy and security practices of Olo.

Olo may share certain of the information they collect with us so that we can process the order that you have placed, including your name, email address, phone number, and details of the order. We also use this information for marketing and other purposes; for example, we send you text messages regarding your order status and/or to ask you to participate in a survey. We may send you additional text messages about offers and promotions if you have opted-in to them.

When you use the WiFi in our restaurants, we collect the following personal information from you: MAC address and IP address.

It is always your option to provide your personal information, but you may not be able to participate in some or all of the Services if you choose not to provide your personal information. By providing personal information through the Services, you explicitly consent to our collection and use of all such personal information as described in this Policy. If you submit someone else’s personal information to us (e.g., someone else’s contact information), you represent that you are authorized to provide this information to us.

INFORMATION COLLECTED AUTOMATICALLY

When you visit or use our Services, EPL may collect certain personal information by automated means. We may use “cookies” to store certain personal information on your computer that allows us to customize your use of EPL’s Services or to simply facilitate signing into the Services. A cookie is a small file placed on the hard drive of your computer. You may refuse to accept browser cookies by activating the appropriate setting on your browser. However, if you select this setting, you may be unable to access certain parts of our Services. Unless you have adjusted your browser setting so that it will refuse cookies, our system will issue cookies when you direct your browser to our Services. You can set your browser to refuse all or some browser cookies, or to alert you when cookies are being sent. If you disable or refuse cookies, please note that some parts of our websites may then be inaccessible or not function properly.

The personal information we collect through cookies and tracking technologies may include your Internet Protocol (IP) address, computer/mobile device operating system and browser type, type of mobile device, the unique device identifier (UDID) or mobile equipment identifier (MEID) for your mobile device, the address of a referring web site (if any), and the pages you visit on our Services. We may use this personal information to operate, maintain, and manage our Services and to provide services such as technical support. In addition, we may collect certain personal information using various tracking technologies, Internet tags, and web beacons such as number of visitors/users of the Online Services, but only in an aggregate and non-personally-identifiable form.

For each user of EPL’s Services, EPL’s web server automatically recognizes and stores computer-readable personal information such as the visitor’s IP address and domain name combination. This is typically anonymous information automatically provided by your computer. We use this personal information to follow visitor traffic patterns through the Services to improve user experience.

INFORMATION COLLECTED THROUGH YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES

When you use the Services, such as EPL’s website or mobile application (the “App”) and related content, we may collect information about your use of these Services. The information automatically collected may include:

Usage Details. Certain details of your access to and use of the App, including traffic data, location data, logs and other communication data and the resources that you access and use on or through the App.

Device Information. Information about your mobile device and internet connection, including the device’s unique device identifier, IP address, operating system, browser type, mobile network information, and the device’s telephone number.

Transaction Information. We use third-party service providers to collect, combine and evaluate information from various different Services, such as Wi-Fi usage, online purchases, in-store purchases, loyalty program activity, gift card activity, and responsiveness to our advertising in order to better evaluate and deepen our relationship with our customers and to deliver them information and advertising targeted to their preferences and interests.

Stored Information and Files. Metadata and other information associated with other files stored on your device. This may include, for example, photographs, audio and video clips, personal contacts, and address book information.

Geolocation. Our App and mobile versions of our website may collect precise personal information about the location of your mobile device using location awareness technologies such as GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth, or cell tower proximity if you have consented to such tracking.

Depending on the permission settings of your personal mobile device(s) and the permission settings you choose for EPL’s mobile application, when using the App we may also collect or have access to your:

If you enable this functionality, the App may access the camera to scan and input payment method details.
WiFi connection information. If you enable this functionality, this may allow the App to view WiFi connections.
Depending on the transactions or services you choose, the App will send and receive data to and from the Internet, enable network access, control vibration of your device, or prevent your device from sleeping.

By adjusting the permissions either in your mobile device settings or your settings for the App, you may enable or disable location tracking. Please note, however, that even if you disable location services, other means of establishing or estimating location may exist and be used (such as connecting to WiFi, your device’s proximity to a WiFi network, Bluetooth technology, beacons, or our networks). Note also that if you enable location tracking, you may allow the App to track your location in the background, which can decrease battery life.

EPL may combine the personal information you provide through the Services with personal information we may collect from you offline, or from third parties.

INFORMATION COLLECTED BY OR THROUGH THIRD PARTIES

We may work with certain third parties who use one or more automated information collection technologies to collect information about you or your mobile or computing device. These third parties may include:

Advertisers, ad networks and ad servers.
Analytics companies.
Your mobile device manufacturer.
Your mobile service provider.

We or these third parties may use tracking technologies to collect information about you when you use the App. The information collected may be associated with your personal information or may include information, including personal information, about your online activities over time and across different websites, apps, and other online services websites.

Some functionality provided by the Services may allow you to log in via one or more of your third-party social media accounts or share information or content from the Services in or through your social media platforms. We may combine information we collect about you with information we obtain from these or other publicly or commercially available third party sources, as permitted by law. When you submit information to a third party, you are subject to that third party’s terms of use and privacy policies, for which we are not responsible.

DO-NOT-TRACK AND OTHER CHOICES WITH RESPECT TO ONLINE ADVERTISING

If your Internet browser employs blocking or “Do Not Track” technology that limits recognition or the collection of such computer-readable personal information, EPL will not alter or bypass such technology. EPL does not provide access to third parties to track your personal information through your use of the Services, but EPL may allow third parties to access certain personal information you provide as described in the Use and Disclosure of Your Personal Information Section below. For websites, you may opt-out of certain tracking, however, by disabling cookies through your browser or by visiting the opt-outs provided by the Network Advertising Initiative, Digital Advertising Alliance, and Google.

For more information regarding managing the privacy of your information with respect to online advertising and to learn how to opt-out of having your information collected by these networks, please visit: http://www.youradchoices.com, http://www.aboutads.info/appchoices, http://www.networkadvertising.org, or https://www.networkadvertising.org/mobile-choice. To opt-out in mobile apps, please download the Digital Advertising Alliance’s AppChoices tool at http://www.aboutads.info/appchoices and adjust the advertising preferences on your mobile device. Please note that we are not responsible for the opt-out process of third parties.

If you are a resident of California, you can opt-out of the sharing of your personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising as noted below.

USE OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

The privacy of your personal data is important. EPL will only use the personal information we collect about you for the purposes described in this Policy. Generally, EPL may use the personal information you provide, or that we collect from other sources, for our general business purposes, such as responding to your requests or questions, processing transactions such as food or gift card orders, to fulfill the purpose for which you provided it, communicating about customer service, informing you about others’ products or services you might find interesting, personalizing our Services to meet your needs or preferences, or for marketing our products and services to you.

More specifically, EPL may use the personal information we collect about you for the following purposes:

To facilitate your use of the Services;
To improve your user experience with the Services;
To conduct or facilitate business transactions, such as fulfilling in store and online food and beverage orders and processing payment information for food or gift card purchases;
To enable and facilitate participation in our gift card, mobile app, loyalty and other programs;
To communicate with you about our restaurants and the Services, including sending text messages about the status of online orders, and through interest-based (behavioral) and other targeted advertising and content, such as coupons and promotional offers at our restaurants that you are notified about through the rewards App, email, or online;
To respond to your requests, comments, questions, or feedback;
To register you for accounts on the Services, such as EPL’s loyalty program;
To provide you with marketing communications, such as promotions or offers, new product information, and information about our restaurants;
To register you for SMS, email and/or mailing lists for marketing communications, including sending you text messages with surveys regarding your ordering experience;
To provide location-based services;
To perform analyses of the various features and functionality of the Services for our marketing purposes;
To analyze and understand your and other consumers’ interaction with EPL and the Services, including your demographic information, EPL-related behavior and your preferences and interests, so that we may improve our products and the Services to delight our customers;
To enable “Share With a Friend” or related services. (Note that unless and only where it is permitted by law, we do not use the contact information you provide for “Share With a Friend” functionality for other unrelated purposes without your consent or that of the recipient, if and as applicable.);
To prevent, identify, investigate, or take action concerning suspected or actual illegal activity, or any activity that violates our policies, either in restaurant or online; or
For any other purpose, with your consent, where appropriate.

With respect to location information in particular, EPL uses this personal information for location-based services that you request, such as locating nearby EPL restaurants, identifying special offers that may be of interest to you, or personalizing your interactions with EPL. For most mobile devices, you can withdraw your permission for EPL to acquire location information through the device settings. If you have questions about how to disable your mobile device's location services, we recommend you contact your mobile device service provider or the device manufacturer. If you would like us to delete location personal information we have collected, please contact us at privacy@elpolloloco.com or https://www.elpolloloco.com/legal/ccpa.html. Please note that the applications may not function properly following deletion, and that we may be required by law to retain certain personal information.

See the chart below for more information about how we use personal information we collect about you.

DISCLOSURE OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

In order to fulfill the purposes described above, we may disclose your personal information to third parties, as set forth below:

To our subsidiaries, affiliates, and franchisees who are restricted to using such information in accordance with this Policy.
To our vendors and service providers who provide services or perform functions on our behalf (including but not limited to, Punchh Loyalty, Wisely, Olo, Heartland Payment Systems, IBM Marketing Cloud, Google Analytics, Facebook, Oracle Data Cloud, Place IQ, BlueLithium, Quantcast, Rocket Fuel, and Envysion), who are bound by obligations to keep personal information confidential and use it only for the purposes for which we disclose it to them. This includes providing personal information to social media companies which you connect with the Services and other third parties who provide content, advertising, or other functionality related to the Services.
To third parties with your consent.
To a buyer or other successor in the event of a merger, divestiture, restructuring, reorganization, dissolution, or other sale or transfer of some or all of EPL’s assets, whether as a going concern or as part of bankruptcy, liquidation, or similar proceeding, in which personal information held by EPL’s services’ users is among the assets transferred.
To comply with any court order, law, or legal process, including to respond to any government, law enforcement, or regulatory request.
To enforce or apply our EPL Website terms of use, Online Ordering Terms of Sale and other agreements, including for billing and collection purposes.
If we believe disclosure is necessary or appropriate to protect the rights, property, or safety of EPL, our customers, or others. This includes exchanging personal information with other companies and organizations for the purposes of fraud protection and credit risk reduction.
We may also publicly post on our Services certain user-generated content you submit to us.

All of the above excludes text messaging originator opt-in data and consent; this information will not be shared with any third parties (except to our service provider that facilitates text messaging). We may also disclose aggregated personal information about our users, and personal information that does not identify any individual.

In all instances the personal information will be used only for the purposes enunciated in this Policy.

EPL fully encourages all parents to supervise their children's online activities and regularly monitor their children's use of the Internet, including use of EPL’s Services. Parents should consider using parental control tools and other services to assist them in supervising their children's online use or online disclosure of their name, address or other personal information without parental consent.

THIRD-PARTY INFORMATION & MOBILE APPLICATION COLLECTION, ANALYSIS, AND TRACKING

EPL’s Services and communications through the Services may contain links and pointers to other third party websites, including, without limitation, websites for employment applications, advertising, and social media platforms. This Policy does not apply to these third party websites, and we are not responsible for the privacy practices, policies, or content of any such third party websites, even if you link to them through the Services or communications related to the Services. We have no control over how such third party websites collect or use personal information, and we have no responsibility for any personal information you provide or content you post on such third party websites. We encourage you to read and understand the privacy policies of any third party websites that you visit.

CORRECTING, ACCESSING, & DELETING YOUR INFORMATION

You can change or review your personal information by logging into your account on the applications provided through the Services and visiting your account profile page. We cannot delete your personal information except by also deleting your user account. We provide you with the ability to access, rectify, port and erase your data. We store data until such data is no longer necessary to provide our Services or until your account is deleted, whichever comes first. We may not accommodate a request to change information if we believe the change would violate any legal requirement or cause the information to be incorrect. Regarding information about children, see below regarding Children Under the Age of 13.

CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 13

We do not collect personal information from children under 13. If we discover that a child under 13 has provided us their personal information, we will take efforts to delete that information.

Category	Collected	Business or Commercial Purpose
A. Identifiers.	YES	Limited to name, email, and IP address, for loyalty, gift cards, email campaigns, and online ordering systems.
B. Personal information categories listed in the California Customer Records statute (Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.80(e)).	YES	Limited to name, phone number, address, credit card number, and signature, which may be used for in-store and online order processing, loyalty program administration and targeted marketing/advertising.
C. Protected classification characteristics under California or federal law.	YES	Limited to age and gender which may be used by our loyalty and offers platform.
D. Commercial information.	YES	Limited to your El Pollo Loco purchase history, which is used for loyalty program administration, targeted marketing/ advertising, and to improve and develop our products and Services.
E. Biometric information.	NO	N/A
F. Internet or other similar network activity.	YES	Limited to interactions with the El Pollo Loco website or iOS/Android Apps and El Pollo Loco WiFi services.
G. Geolocation data.	YES	Our App and mobile versions of our website and some third parties such as Facebook may use geolocation data for advertising and curbside pickup order fulfillment purposes. For any data collected by third party websites, related personal information and geolocation history is not stored or shared with El Pollo Loco. With respect to El Pollo Loco’s App and website, any geolocation data used for order fulfillment is not stored or retained by El Pollo Loco.
H. Sensory data.	YES	Limited to video and audio in restaurant through our security camera systems. Used to assure physical safety and security in our restaurants. Not used for identification or linking to consumer activity.
I. Professional or employment-related information.	NO	N/A
J. Non-public education information (per the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. Section 1232g, 34 C.F.R. Part 99)).	NO	N/A
K. Inferences drawn from other Personal Information.	YES	Limited to ordering and location preferences for targeted marketing and advertising purposes. We use third parties to track and combine personal information from our Services as discussed above to create profiles to provide tailored offers and promotions. Some third parties such as Facebook may be evaluating other preferences or characteristics.