El Pollo Loco is celebrating its Mexican heritage and employee-first culture by commissioning a new mural on the walls of its restaurant on Olympic Blvd, in East Los Angeles.
Los Angeles is the mural capital of the world, yet sixty percent of Los Angeles’ murals are disappearing due to gentrification. El Pollo Loco is committed to preserving the essential part of Los Angeles culture by resuscitating the city’s disappearing murals. At the end of 2019, El Pollo Loco celebrated with a mural at its first restaurant on Alvarado Street in McArthur Park.
This week, the company unveiled its second installation. The mural is inspired by the children and grandchildren of long-time employees who work in the Olympic restaurant. Their family stories and experiences are as diverse as the community itself. This artistic masterpiece was brought to life by Paola Delfín, esteemed Mexican artist whose work is influenced by illustrations, organic forms and a mixture of uncommon materials. Her mural work is a story of movement, while meshing the empty wall space with fluid lines to explore the beauty and fragility of the images.
“El Pollo Loco is committed to preserving Los Angeles’ mural culture by using our restaurant store fronts as the new canvasses for these murals. We are especially excited about our latest creation and partnership with the amazing muralist, Paola Delfín. This mural has special significance because it is a portrait of the children and grandchildren of our employees who work in this restaurant. We wanted to honor them because every day they honor us,” says Bernard Acoca, president and Chief Executive Officer at El Polo Loco.
