The fast-food franchise El Pollo Loco will soon fire up its grills in Belmont Shore.

The chicken chain will take over the vacancy left by the long-loved Jack in the Box, which closed last summer, at Second Street and Covina Avenue, the property’s landlord, Lorbeer Enterprises LP, confirmed this week.

“El Pollo Loco has signed the lease,” said Joe Seibert, a representative for Lorbeer.

El Pollo Loco — which specializes in fire-grilled chicken and Mexican dishes served in a fast, casual atmosphere — will start construction in May and open around August, Seibert said. The restaurant chain was founded by Juan Francisco Ochoa in 1974 in Mexico; it then expanded to the United States in the 1980s. There are now about 500 restaurant locations in the U.S., with the American headquarters based in Costa Mesa.

Jack in the Box, meanwhile, first opened its restaurant on Second and Covina in 1961. When Lorbeer bought the property in 1990, it continued the lease.

But then, in June, Jack in the Box stepped away.

“When it (the lease) came up, they said they wouldn’t be seeking a renewal,” Bill Lorbeer, vice president of the company bearing his name, said at the time.

The restaurant shuttered in July.

The restaurant was reportedly not performing as well as other nearby locations, including the one at Ocean Boulevard and Termino Avenue, also in Belmont Shore. Locals also said the Second Street location seemed increasingly out of place — with the rest of the business district modernizing and welcoming new businesses.

Lorbeer, who has served multiple terms as a member of the Belmont Shore Business Association, agreed that the Jack in the Box wasn’t the right fit for the area anymore.

So now Belmont Shore will shift from burgers to chicken.

“The bottom line is,” Lorbeer said in June, “they’re gone, and we’re excited for the opportunity to put a tenant in that’s a better fit.”