El Pollo Loco CEO: Lower Oil Prices Positive for the Restaurant

Restaurants are seeing a recovery, helped in party by falling gas prices as consumers use the extra pocket cash on dining out. El Pollo Loco CEO Stephen J. Sather says his staff greeted more diners in the first three quarters of 2014 compared to the prior year and feels confident the numbers will be consistent for the fourth quarter. 'We had very high comparable sales even when gas prices were high, but this is certainly helping the consumers for all brands, not just the quick service or fast casual but probably in the higher dining as well.' El Pollo Loco added a menu with items under 500 calories a year ago and health conscious diners liked it. Sather said four new items were added to this menu earlier this month to give diners more choices, noting that health has become an increasingly important consideration for the consumer. Sather also discusses the company's expansion plans, saying it's using the money it raised in its IPO last year to put El Pollo Loco on an accelerated growth path. TheStreet's Ruben Ramirez has details from Orlando.