El Pollo Loco names Damon Thomas chief operating officer
LOCO•El Pollo Loco named Damon Thomas chief operating officer. Tara Hinkle was appointed chief development officer and will join in July 2026.
1. Leadership appointments
El Pollo Loco Holdings named Damon Thomas chief operating officer to support its next phase of growth; he previously held senior operations leadership roles at Shake Shack and Raising Cane’s. Tara Hinkle was appointed chief development officer, joining in July 2026 to help build the development pipeline; she previously served as president and head of Americas at The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and held franchise strategy and business partnership roles at Taco Bell and Starbucks.
