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Form 8-K

sec.gov

8-K — El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc.

Accession: 0001104659-26-068234

Filed: 2026-05-29

Period: 2026-05-26

CIK: 0001606366

SIC: 5812 (RETAIL-EATING PLACES)

Item: Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers: Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers

Item: Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders

Item: Financial Statements and Exhibits

Documents

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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 OR 15(d) of

The Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported):

May 26, 2026

El

Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Delaware

001-36556

20-3563182

(State or other jurisdiction

of incorporation)

(Commission

File Number)

(IRS Employer

Identification No.)

575 Anton Boulevard, Suite 1100, Costa Mesa, California

92626

(Address of principal executive offices)

(Zip Code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (714) 599-5000

N/A

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report.)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended

to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

¨

Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

¨

Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-2 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

¨

Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

¨

Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of

the Act:

Title

of each class

Trading

Symbol(s)

Name

of each exchange on which

registered

Common Stock, par value $0.01 per share

LOCO

The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC

Rights to Purchase Series A Preferred Stock, par value $0.01 per share

True

The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth

company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§ 230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b- 2 of the Securities Exchange

Act of 1934 (§ 240.12b-2 of this chapter). Emerging growth company ¨

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant

has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant

to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ¨

Item 5.02. Departure of Directors or Certain

Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.

The Board of Directors of El Pollo Loco Holdings,

Inc. (the “Company”) previously approved amending the El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. Equity Incentive Plan (the “Equity

Incentive Plan”), subject to stockholder approval. As disclosed in Item 5.07 of this Form 8-K, at the Company’s 2026 annual

meeting of stockholders (the “Annual Meeting”), the Company’s stockholders approved the amendments to the Equity Incentive

Plan that, among other things, increased the number of shares of the Company’s common stock available for award grants under the

Equity Incentive Plan by 1,250,000 shares.

The foregoing summary of the amendments to the

Equity Incentive Plan is qualified in its entirety by reference to the Equity Incentive Plan, as amended, which is included as Exhibit

10.1 hereto and incorporated herein by reference.

Item 5.07 Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders.

On May 26, 2026, the Company held the Annual Meeting.

Of the 30,455,[298][190] shares of common stock outstanding and entitled to vote as of April 2, 2026, the record date for the Annual Meeting,

26,789,139 shares were present in person or represented by proxy, or 87.96%, constituting a quorum. At the Annual Meeting, the Company’s

stockholders voted on six proposals, each of which is described in more detail in the Company’s definitive proxy statement on Schedule

14A filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 30, 2026.

The final results of voting for each matter submitted

to a vote of stockholders at the Annual Meeting are as follows:

1.

Election of directors

Proposal 1 was the election of two

nominees to serve as Class III directors until the 2027 annual meeting or until their successors are duly elected and qualified. The result

of the vote was as follows:

Nominee

Votes

For

Votes

Withheld

Broker

Non-Votes

Tana Davila

22,085,229

44,996

4,658,914

Frank Garrido

22,082,786

47,439

4,658,914

2.

Ratification of appointment of BDO USA, P.C. as the Company's independent registered public accounting firm

Proposal 2 was the ratification of

the appointment of BDO USA, P.C., as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm for 2026. The result of the vote

was as follows:

Votes For

Votes Against

Abstentions

26,723,782

54,103

11,254

3.

Non-binding advisory vote regarding approval of the Company's named executive officers’ compensation

Proposal 3 was the non-binding advisory

proposal regarding approval of the compensation of the Company's named executive officers. The result of the vote was as follows:

Votes For

Votes Against

Abstentions

Broker Non-Votes

21,942,592

175,574

12,059

4,658,914

4.

Non-binding advisory vote regarding the frequency of the Company's future advisory votes on named executive officers’ compensation

Proposal 4 was the non-binding advisory

proposal regarding approval of the frequency of the Company’s future advisory votes on the compensation of the Company's named executive

officers (the “Say-on-Frequency Proposal”). The result of the vote was as follows:

“ONE YEAR”

“TWO YEARS”

“THREE YEARS”

Abstentions

20,056,383

6,777

1,999,819

67,246

5.

Approval of the amendments to the Company's Equity Incentive Plan

Proposal 5 was the proposal regarding

approval of amendments to the El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. Equity Incentive Plan. The result of the vote was as follows:

Votes For

Votes Against

Abstentions

Broker Non-Votes

21,485,764

638,820

5,641

4,658,914

6.

Shareholder proposal requesting the adoption of a majority voting standard for the election of directors in uncontested elections

Proposal 6 was a shareholder proposal

requesting the adoption of a majority voting standard for the election of directors in uncontested elections. The result of the vote was

as follows:

Votes For

Votes Against

Abstentions

Broker Non-Votes

15,630,362

6,432,820

67,043

4,658,914

In response to the voting results on the Say-on-Frequency Proposal

and other factors, the Company’s Board of Directors determined that the Company will hold an advisory vote on named executive officer

compensation every year. The Company will continue to hold advisory votes on named executive officer compensation every year until the

Company’s Board of Directors decides to hold the next stockholder advisory vote on the frequency of advisory votes, which shall

be no later than the Company’s annual meeting of stockholders in 2032.

Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits.

(d) Exhibits.

Exhibit

No.

Description

10.1

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. Equity Incentive Plan, as amended (included as Appendix B to the Company’s Definitive Proxy Statement filed with the Commission on April 30, 2026 and incorporated herein by reference)

104

Cover Page Interactive Data File (embedded within the Inline XBRL document)

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,

the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc.

(Registrant)

Date: May 29, 2026

/s/

Ira Fils

Ira Fils

Chief Financial Officer

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