Their faith and passion took them far above the ground.

     He was in agriculture and sales -- he even owned a shoe store -- but      Juan  Francisco Ochoa’s passion was always with food. And while      cooking  with his “compadre,” “Don Chicho,” he created the secret      chicken recipe      Pollo Loco is known for.

     The Ochoa family lived in Sinaloa, Mexico. Mr. Ochoa and his      “compadre” wanted to open a brewery, but could not get a permit to sell beer. Instead, in 1975 they opened a roadside chicken stand that served chicken prepared with Mr. Ochoa’s secret family recipe. They named their restaurant “Pollo Loco,” Spanish for “Crazy Chicken.” The recipe was a success and more locations opened. The very first ones were in San Luis and Guadalajara, Mexico.

By 1979, Ochoa and his friends opened 85 restaurants in 20 Northern Mexico cities. But Mr. Ochoa wanted to take the success of Pollo Loco to the U.S. In 1980, they opened one in Los Angeles and two years later, his franchise expanded to 17 more Pollo Loco locations in the U.S. The rapid growth and success of his business brought the attention of several companies who offered to buy the franchise rights to operate Pollo Loco in the U. S. Mr. Ochoa and his partners sold it to Denny’s in 1983.

Mr. Ochoa moved to Monterrey, Mexico in 1984 to give his six children a better education.

Soon, he planned to build another franchise that would be considered a “Mexican McDonald’s”: a fast food restaurant with a drive thru that served authentic Mexican food. In 1987, he planned to open the first “Taco Palenque” in Laredo, Texas. In 1988, Mr. Ochoa’s son, Francisco, finished school and moved to Laredo to help his father.

     Going to McAllen:

     As time passed, Taco Palenque gained prestige and in 1995 they opened      a second branch in Laredo. Francisco inherited his father’s work ethic      and  wanted to open his own Taco Palenque in McAllen, Texas.

     “I saw that Taco Cabana did not have too many sales and I offered to      purchase the place and finally they accepted. So in 1998 we opened the      first Taco Palenque in McAllen,” Mr. Francisco Ochoa said.

Taco Palenque continued with success and in December, 2001 they opened a branch at the Sunrise mall in Brownsville. After a year, they opened another one in the same city, and in December, 2004 they opened another McAllen location.

Mr. Francisco says that the journey was not an easy one.

“The first year in McAllen was really hard and I remember that I owed $80,000 to the old man that sold me vegetables,” Mr. Francisco said. “This person told me not to worry, that every thing was going to be fine we just had to work harder. We prayed and in time I paid him back”.

This is why Mr. Francisco said the strategy of the Ochoa Family is their faith and passion for good food.
“Since we were kids my dad took us to the kitchen and taught us his recopies to show us how he invented the Pollo Loco recipe,” said Mr. Francisco. This young entrepreneur supports the people who create and discover new tastes, because he knows his recipe’s originality is the source of his success.

In 2005, he opened two new restaurants called Palenque Grill, one in Laredo and another in McAllen.