Fast-Food Fixer Perry Departing El Pollo Loco : Restaurants: Veteran executive takes on new turnaround task with faltering Hardee’s.

Veteran fast-food executive Raymond J. Perry, who has gained a reputation of being able to fix problem-ridden chains, said Wednesday that he is leaving as president of El Pollo Loco to become chief operating officer of Hardee’s Food Systems in Rocky Mount, N.C.

Perry is one of Orange County’s best-known fast-food executives. He served as executive vice president at Carl Karcher Enterprises, which has the Carl’s Jr. chain, from 1986 to 1991. He later bought the Kelly’s Coffee and Fudge Factory chain before coming to El Pollo two years ago.

He will replace Donald Doyle, who resigned last month from the 4,000-unit Hardee’s chain after less than a year on the job. Doyle was former president of CKE Restaurants Inc., the successor to Karcher Enterprises.

At El Pollo Loco, Perry added a variety of selections such as burritos and tacos to the core product, grilled chicken, to bolster the chain’s lunchtime business. He said that same-store sales--a widely used measure of how much business has increased at existing restaurants--were up 8% last year and are on track for another 4% gain this year.

The 225-unit chain is in “great shape,” said Perry, 53. “We are on the brink of some real growth for El Pollo.”

Until a new president is named, El Pollo will be run by vice presidents Ken Clark, Lou Franson and Matt McGuinness. El Pollo Loco is based in Irvine and is a division of Flagstar Cos. in Spartanburg, S.C.

Flagstar has about 600 Hardee’s restaurant franchises, but the chain itself is owned by a Canadian company. Perry said Hardee’s, which has no restaurants in California but is well known in the East and South, has strong business for breakfast and dinner, but needs to improve its burger-based lunch menu.

“This is a really good opportunity for me,” he said. “It’s another turnaround. The company is showing declining sales over an extended period. They need someone to come in and figure out how to get traffic into the restaurant.”