Related Party Transactions - Additional Information (Details) - Trimaran Pollo Partners, LLC	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
Sep. 23, 2020	Sep. 23, 2020
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Noncontrolling ownership percentage	46.00%	46.00%
Ownership percentage to remove board member		40.00%
Ownership percentage to call special meeting of stockholders	40.00%

The minimum ownership percentage in order to be able to remove any member from the Board of Directors or the entire Board with the affirmative vote of a majority of the Company's common stock.

No definition available.

Name:	loco_MinorityInterestOwnershipPercentageMinimumToRemoveDirectorFromBoard
Namespace Prefix:	loco_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration