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Document and Entity Information - USD ($) $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
Document and Entity Information - USD ($) $ in Millions	Dec. 25, 2019	Feb. 27, 2020	Jun. 26, 2019
Document And Entity Information [Abstract]
Document Type	10-K
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Dec. 25, 2019
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2019
Document Fiscal Period Focus	FY
Entity Registrant Name	El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc.
Entity Central Index Key	0001606366
Entity Central Index Key	--12-25
Entity Well-known Seasoned Issuer	No
Entity Current Reporting Status	Yes
Entity Voluntary Filers	No
Entity Filer Category	Accelerated Filer
Emerging Growth Company	false
Small Business Entity	true
Shell Company	false
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		35,089,983
Entity Public Float			$ 214

Consolidated Balance Sheets - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Dec. 25, 2019	Dec. 26, 2018
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 8,070	$ 6,969
Accounts and other receivables, net	8,505	9,599
Inventories	2,009	2,479
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	5,718	2,998
Income Taxes Receivable, Current	376	0
Total current assets	24,678	22,045
Property and equipment, net	91,778	104,145
Property held under finance lease, net	0	16
Operating Lease, Right-of-Use Asset	192,395	0
Goodwill	248,674	248,674
Trademarks, net	61,888	61,888
Other intangible assets, net	0	280
Deferred tax assets	3,709	11,709
Other assets	1,630	1,469
Total assets	624,752	450,226
Current liabilities:
Current portion of obligations under finance leases	34
Current portion of obligations under finance leases	34	68
Operating Lease, Liability, Current	16,406	0
Accounts payable	5,627	9,564
Accrued salaries and benefits	8,618	7,574
Accrued insurance	9,440	7,076
Accrued income taxes payable	0	71
Accrued interest	302	149
Current portion of income tax receivable agreement payable	4,935	6,637
Other accrued expenses and current liabilities	28,597	51,764
Total current liabilities	73,959	82,903
Revolver loan	97,000	74,000
Obligations under finance leases, net of current portion	83
Obligations under finance leases, net of current portion	83	116
Obligations under operating leases, net of current portion	197,492	0
Deferred Income Tax Liabilities, Net	1,672	0
Other intangible liabilities, net	0	642
Income tax receivable agreement payable, net of current portion	3,301	7,305
Other noncurrent liabilities	5,679	20,024
Total liabilities	379,186	184,990
Commitments and contingencies (Note 13)
Stockholders’ Equity
Preferred stock, $0.01 par value—100,000,000 shares authorized; none issued or outstanding	0	0
Common stock, $0.01 par value—200,000,000 shares authorized; 35,126,582 and 39,009,451 shares issued and outstanding as of December 25, 2019 and December 26, 2018, respectively	351	390
Additional paid-in capital	330,950	375,734
Accumulated deficit	(85,988)	(110,888)
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss), Net of Tax	253	0
Total stockholders’ equity	245,566	265,236
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity	$ 624,752	$ 450,226

Consolidated Balance Sheets (Parenthetical) - $ / shares	Dec. 25, 2019	Dec. 26, 2018
Statement of Financial Position [Abstract]
Preferred stock, par value (usd per share)	$ 0.01	$ 0.01
Preferred stock, shares authorized (shares)	100,000,000	100,000,000
Preferred stock, shares issued (shares)	0	0
Preferred stock, shares outstanding (shares)	0	0
Common stock, par value (usd per share)	$ 0.01	$ 0.01
Common stock, shares authorized (shares)	200,000,000	200,000,000
Common stock, shares issued (shares)	35,126,582	39,009,451
Common stock, shares outstanding (shares)	35,126,582	39,009,451

Consolidated Statements of Operations - USD ($) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 25, 2019	Dec. 26, 2018	Dec. 27, 2017
Revenue
Total revenue	$ 442,330	$ 435,828	$ 401,701
Cost of operations
Food and paper costs	109,264	111,142	109,898
Labor and related expenses	116,703	112,417	106,584
Occupancy and other operating expenses	92,005	91,385	85,631
Company restaurant expenses	317,972	314,944	302,113
General and administrative expenses	40,389	50,261	38,523
Legal settlements	0	36,258	0
Franchise expenses	27,612	24,429	3,335
Depreciation and amortization	17,855	17,825	18,128
Loss on disposal of assets	266	278	799
Recovery of securities lawsuits related legal expenses	(10,000)	(8,356)	(1,666)
Impairment and closed-store reserves	4,852	9,650	33,645
Total expenses	404,004	445,289	394,877
Gain on disposition of restaurants	5,058	0	0
Income (loss) from operations	38,326	(9,461)	6,824
Interest expense, net	3,687	3,502	3,278
Income tax receivable agreement expense (income)	57	(761)	(5,570)
Income (loss) before provision (benefit) for income taxes	34,582	(12,202)	9,116
Provision (benefit) for income taxes	9,682	(3,208)	497
Net income (loss)	$ 24,900	$ (8,994)	$ 8,619
Net income (loss) per share:
Basic (usd per share)	$ 0.68	$ (0.23)	$ 0.22
Diluted (usd per share)	$ 0.67	$ (0.23)	$ 0.22
Weighted average shares used in computing net income (loss) per share:
Basic (shares)	36,739,209	38,574,553	38,453,347
Diluted (shares)	37,441,503	38,574,553	39,086,676
Company-operated restaurant revenue
Revenue
Total revenue	$ 391,112	$ 388,835	$ 376,615
Franchise revenue
Revenue
Total revenue	28,819	25,771	25,086
Franchise advertising fee revenue
Revenue
Total revenue	$ 22,399	$ 21,222	$ 0

Consolidated Statements of Changes in Stockholders' Equity - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Total	Common Stock	Additional Paid-in Capital	Other Comprehensive Income (Loss) [Member]	Accumulated Deficit
Beginning balance (shares) at Dec. 28, 2016		38,473,772
Beginning balance at Dec. 28, 2016	$ 265,182	$ 385	$ 371,843		$ (107,046)
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity [Roll Forward]
Stock-based compensation	1,056		1,056
Issuance of common stock related to restricted shares, net (shares)		170,417
Issuance of common stock related to restricted shares, net	0	$ 2	(2)
Issuance of common stock upon exercise of stock options (shares)		17,661
Issuance of common stock upon exercise of stock options	93	$ 0	93
Net income	8,619				8,619
Ending balance (shares) at Dec. 27, 2017		38,661,850
Ending balance at Dec. 27, 2017	274,950	$ 387	372,990		(98,427)
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity [Roll Forward]
Stock-based compensation	2,005		2,005
Issuance of common stock related to restricted shares, net (shares)		155,229
Issuance of common stock related to restricted shares, net	$ 0	$ 1	(1)
Issuance of common stock upon exercise of stock options (shares)	269,549	269,549
Issuance of common stock upon exercise of stock options	$ 1,837	$ 3	1,834
Shares repurchased for employee tax withholdings	10,768
Shares repurchased for employee tax withholdings (shares)	$ 114		114
Repurchase of common stock (shares)		66,409
Repurchase of common stock	(981)	$ 1	980
Net income	(8,994)				(8,994)
Ending balance (shares) at Dec. 26, 2018		39,009,451
Ending balance at Dec. 26, 2018	265,236	$ 390	375,734		(110,888)
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity [Roll Forward]
Cumulative effect of accounting change (see Note 2) \| Accounting Standards Update 2014-09	(3,467)				(3,467)
Stock-based compensation	2,474		2,474
Issuance of common stock related to restricted shares, net (shares)		309,404
Issuance of common stock related to restricted shares, net	$ 0	$ 2	(2)
Issuance of common stock upon exercise of stock options (shares)	234,728	234,728
Issuance of common stock upon exercise of stock options	$ 1,450	$ 2	1,448
Shares repurchased for employee tax withholdings	31,397
Shares repurchased for employee tax withholdings (shares)	$ 365		365
Repurchase of common stock (shares)		4,395,604
Repurchase of common stock	(48,382)	$ 43	48,339
Other Comprehensive Income (Loss), Unrealized Gain (Loss) on Derivatives Arising During Period, Net of Tax	253
Net income	24,900				24,900
Ending balance (shares) at Dec. 25, 2019		35,126,582
Ending balance at Dec. 25, 2019	$ 245,566	$ 351	$ 330,950	$ 253	$ (85,988)

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows - USD ($) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 25, 2019	Dec. 26, 2018	Dec. 27, 2017
Cash flows from operating activities
Net income (loss)	$ 24,900	$ (8,994)	$ 8,619
Adjustments to reconcile changes in net income (loss) to net cash provided by operating activities:
Depreciation and amortization	17,855	17,825	18,128
Stock-based compensation expense	2,474	2,005	1,056
Income tax receivable agreement expense (income)	57	(761)	(5,570)
Gain (Loss) on Disposition of Business	(5,058)	0	0
Loss on disposal of assets	266	278	799
Impairment of property, equipment and ROU Asset	3,559	5,147	32,594
Closed-store reserves	0	4,503	1,051
Amortization of deferred financing costs	251	280	304
Amortization of other intangible assets, net	0	(47)	(119)
Deferred income taxes, net	9,578	(3,428)	250
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Accounts and other receivables, net	1,094	(2,387)	(294)
Inventories	338	(190)	(177)
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	(2,727)	(319)	425
Income taxes receivable/payable	(448)	37	(85)
Other assets	(412)	122	47
Accounts payable	(3,192)	482	1,088
Accrued salaries and benefits	1,044	235	1,585
Accrued insurance	2,364	1,225	407
Payment related to tax receivable agreement	(5,764)	(7,272)	(11,109)
Other accrued expenses and liabilities	(20,160)	36,701	4,547
Restricted cash	0	0	125
Net cash flows provided by operating activities	36,135	45,442	53,671
Cash flows from investing activities
Proceeds from disposition of restaurants	4,770	0	0
Purchase of property and equipment	(15,439)	(27,802)	(36,238)
Net cash flows used in investing activities	(10,669)	(27,802)	(36,238)
Cash flows from financing activities
Proceeds from borrowings on revolver and swingline loans	42,000	13,307	8,000
Payments on revolver and swingline loan	(19,000)	(33,000)	(19,000)
Minimum tax withholdings related to net share settlements	(365)	(114)	0
Proceeds from issuance of common stock upon exercise of stock options, net of expenses	1,450	1,837	93
Payment of obligations under finance leases	(68)	(132)	(144)
Deferred financing costs for revolver loan	0	(138)	0
Repurchases of common stock	(48,382)	(981)	0
Net cash flows used in financing activities	(24,365)	(19,221)	(11,051)
Increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	1,101	(1,581)	6,382
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of year	6,969	8,550	2,168
Cash and cash equivalents, end of year	8,070	6,969	8,550
Supplemental cash flow information
Cash paid for interest, net of capitalized interest	3,649	3,393	3,314
Cash paid during the year for income taxes, net	558	183	336
Non-cash investing and financing activity
Unpaid purchases of property and equipment	746	1,543	4,741
Borrowing on revolver for financing fees	$ 0	$ 693	$ 0

Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss) Statement - USD ($) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 25, 2019	Dec. 26, 2018	Dec. 27, 2017
Statement of Other Comprehensive Income [Abstract]
Net income	$ 24,900	$ (8,994)	$ 8,619
Unrealized gains arising during the period from interest rate swap	430	0
Reclassifications of gains into net income	(84)	0
Income tax	(93)
Other comprehensive income, net of taxes	253
Comprehensive income (loss)	$ 25,153	$ (8,994)	$ 8,619

- Definition

The portion of profit or loss for the period, net of income taxes, which is attributable to the parent.

+ References + Details

Description of Business	12 Months Ended
Description of Business	Dec. 25, 2019
Accounting Policies [Abstract]
Description of Business	DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (“Holdings”) is a Delaware corporation headquartered in Costa Mesa, California. Holdings and its direct and indirect subsidiaries are collectively known as “we,” “us” or the “Company.” The Company’s activities are conducted principally through its indirect wholly-owned subsidiary, El Pollo Loco, Inc. (“EPL”), which develops, franchises, licenses and operates quick-service restaurants under the name El Pollo Loco ®. The restaurants, which are located principally in California but also in Arizona, Nevada, Texas, Utah and Louisiana, specialize in fire-grilling citrus-marinated chicken in a wide variety of contemporary Mexican and LA-inspired entrees, including specialty chicken burritos, chicken quesadillas, chicken tostada salads, chicken tortilla soup, variations on our Pollo Bowl®, Pollo Salads and our Under 500 Calorie entrees. At December 25, 2019, the Company operated 195 (143 in the greater Los Angeles area) and franchised 287 (136 in the greater Los Angeles area) El Pollo Loco restaurants. In addition, the Company currently licenses one restaurant in the Philippines. The Company’s largest stockholder is Trimaran Pollo Partners, L.L.C. (“LLC”), which is controlled by affiliates of Trimaran Capital, L.L.C. LLC acquired Chicken Acquisition Corp. (“CAC”), a predecessor of Holdings, on November 17, 2005 (the “Acquisition”) and has a 47.7% ownership interest as of December 25, 2019. LLC’s only material asset is its investment in Holdings. On April 22, 2014, CAC, its wholly owned subsidiary, Chicken Subsidiary Corp (“CSC”) and CSC’s wholly owned subsidiary, the former El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (“Old Holdings”) entered into the following reorganization transactions: (i) Old Holdings merged with and into CSC with CSC continuing as the surviving corporation; (ii) CSC merged with and into CAC with CAC continuing as the surviving corporation and (iii) CAC renamed itself El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. Holdings has no material assets or operations. Holdings and Holdings’ direct subsidiary, EPL Intermediate, Inc. (“Intermediate”), guarantee EPL’s 2018 Revolver (see Note 6) on a full and unconditional basis and Intermediate has no subsidiaries other than EPL. EPL is a separate and distinct legal entity, and has no obligation to make funds available to Intermediate. EPL and Intermediate may pay dividends to Intermediate and to Holdings, respectively. The Company operates in one operating segment. All significant revenues relate to retail sales of food and beverages through either company or franchised restaurants. On August 2, 2018, the Company announced that the Board of Directors had authorized a stock repurchase program. The Company entered into a stock repurchase plan on August 28, 2018 (the “2018 Stock Repurchase Plan”), which allowed for the repurchase of up to $20.0 million of the Company's common stock. The 2018 Stock Repurchase Plan commenced on November 6, 2018 and terminated on June 26, 2019. On April 30, 2019, as part of the Company’s focus on stockholder returns, the Board of Directors approved a new stock repurchase program. The Company entered into a stock repurchase plan on May 17, 2019 (the “2019 Stock Repurchase Plan”), which allowed for the repurchase up to $30.0 million of the Company's common stock. The 2019 Stock Repurchase Plan commenced on June 27, 2019, and was exhausted on September 26, 2019. Under the 2019 Stock Repurchase Plan, the Company was permitted to repurchase its common stock from time to time, in amounts and at prices that the Company deemed appropriate, subject to market conditions and other considerations. The Company’s repurchases were executed using open market purchases, including pursuant to Rule 10b5-1 trading plans, and/or through privately negotiated transactions. For the year ended December 25, 2019, the Company repurchased 1,558,836 and 2,836,768 shares of common stock under the 2018 Stock Repurchase Plan and the 2019 Stock Repurchase Plan, respectively, executed using open market purchases, for total consideration of approximately $18.4 million and $30.0 million, respectively. The common stock repurchased under both the 2018 Stock Repurchase Plan and the 2019 Stock Repurchase Plan was retired upon repurchase. For the year ended December 26, 2018, the Company repurchased 66,409 shares of common stock under the 2018 Stock Repurchase Plan for total considerations of approximately $1.0 million.

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

12 Months Ended

Dec. 25, 2019

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Liquidity

The Company’s principal liquidity and capital requirements are new restaurants, existing restaurant capital investments (remodel and maintenance), interest payments on our debt, lease obligations and working capital and general corporate needs. At December 25, 2019, the Company’s total debt was $97.0 million. The Company’s ability to make payments on its indebtedness and to fund planned capital expenditures depends on available cash and its ability to generate adequate cash flows in the future, which, to a certain extent, is subject to general economic, financial, competitive, legislative, regulatory and other factors that are beyond the Company’s control. Based on current operations, the Company believes that its cash flows from operations, available cash of $8.1 million at December 25, 2019, and available borrowings under the 2018 Revolver (See "Note 6. Long-Term Debt") will be adequate to meet the Company’s liquidity needs for the next twelve months from the issuance of the consolidated financial statements.

Basis of Presentation

The Company uses a 52- or 53-week fiscal year ending on the last Wednesday of each calendar year. Fiscal 2019, 2018, and 2017 ended on December 25, 2019, December 26, 2018 and December 27, 2017, respectively. In a 52-week fiscal year, each quarter includes 13 weeks of operations. In a 53-week fiscal year, the first, second and third quarters each include 13 weeks of operations and the fourth quarter includes 14 weeks of operations. Approximately every six or seven years a 53-week fiscal year occurs. Fiscal 2019, 2018 and 2017 were 52-week fiscal years. 53-week years may cause revenues, expenses, and other results of operations to be higher due to the additional week of operations. 2020 will be a 53-week fiscal year.

Principles of Consolidation

The accompanying consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Holdings and its wholly owned subsidiaries. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated financial statements and revenue and expenses during the period reported. Actual results could materially differ from those estimates. The Company’s significant estimates include estimates for impairment of goodwill, intangible assets and property and equipment, insurance reserves, lease accounting matters, stock-based compensation, TRA liability, contingent liabilities and income tax valuation allowances.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

The Company considers all highly-liquid instruments with a maturity of three months or less at the date of purchase to be cash equivalents.

Subsequent Events

Subsequent to December 25, 2019, the Company made a $10.0 million borrowing, net, on the 2018 Revolver, primarily to fund payment of a $16.3 million legal settlement, which was made on February 28, 2020 and previously accrued for during fiscal 2018. See Note 13 for further details regarding the settlement payments.

The Company evaluated subsequent events that have occurred after December 25, 2019, and determined that there were no other events or transactions occurring during this reporting period that require recognition or disclosure in the consolidated financial statements.

Concentration of Risk

Cash and cash equivalents are maintained at financial institutions and, at times, balances may exceed federally-insured limits. The Company has never experienced any losses related to these balances.

The Company had one supplier for which amounts due at December 25, 2019 totaled 11.7% of the Company’s accounts payable. As of December 26, 2018, the Company had one supplier for which amounts due totaled 36.0% of the Company’s accounts payable. Purchases from the Company’s largest supplier totaled 29.0% of the Company’s purchases for fiscal 2019, 28.8% for fiscal 2018 and 29.3% for fiscal 2017 with no amounts payable at December 25, 2019 or December 26, 2018. In fiscal 2019, 2018 and 2017, Company-operated and franchised restaurants in the greater Los Angeles area generated, in the aggregate, approximately 70.5%, 69.2%, and 72.9%, respectively, of total revenue. one franchisee accounted for 10% of total accounts receivable as of December 25, 2019, and two franchisees accounted for 40% of total accounts receivable as of December 26, 2018.

Management believes the loss of the significant supplier or franchisee could have a material adverse effect on the Company's consolidated results of operations and financial condition.

Accounts and Other Receivables, Net

Accounts and other receivables consist primarily of royalties, advertising and sublease rent and related amounts receivable from franchisees. Such receivables are due on a monthly basis, which may differ from the Company’s fiscal month-end dates. Accounts and other receivables also include credit/debit card receivables. The need for an allowance for doubtful accounts is reviewed on a specific identification basis and takes into consideration past due balances and the financial strength of the obligor. Bad debt expense was immaterial for the years ended December 25, 2019, December 26, 2018, and December 27, 2017.

Inventories

Inventories consist principally of food, beverages and supplies and are valued at the lower of average cost or net realizable value.

Property and Equipment, Net

Property and equipment are recorded at cost and are depreciated using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets. Expenditures for reimbursements and improvements that significantly add to the productivity capacity or extend the useful life are capitalized, while expenditures for maintenance and repairs are expensed as incurred. Leasehold improvements and property held under finance leases are amortized over the shorter of their estimated useful lives or the remaining lease terms. For leases with renewal periods at the Company’s option, the Company generally uses the original lease term, excluding the option periods, to determine estimated useful lives; if failure to exercise a renewal option imposes an economic penalty on the Company, such that management determines at the inception of the lease that renewal is reasonably assured, the Company may include the renewal option period in the determination of appropriate estimated useful lives.

The estimated useful service lives are as follows:



Buildings	20 years
Land improvements	3—30 years
Building improvements	3—10 years
Restaurant equipment	3—10 years
Other equipment	2—10 years
Leasehold improvements	Shorter of useful life or lease term

The Company capitalizes certain directly attributable internal costs in conjunction with the acquisition, development and construction of future restaurants. The Company also capitalizes certain directly attributable costs, including interest, in conjunction with constructing new restaurants. These costs are included in property and amortized over the shorter of the life of the related buildings and leasehold improvements or the lease term. Costs related to abandoned sites and other site selection costs that cannot be identified with specific restaurants are charged to general and administrative expenses in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations, and were $0.1 million, $0.3 million and $0.5 million for the years ended December 25, 2019, December 26, 2018, and December 27, 2017, respectively. The Company capitalized internal costs related to site selection and construction activities of $1.1 million, $1.3 million and $1.9 million for the years ended December 25, 2019, December 26, 2018, and December 27, 2017, respectively. Capitalized internal interest costs related to site selection and construction activities were $0.1 million, $0.2 million and $0.2 million for the years ended December 25, 2019, December 26, 2018, and December 27, 2017, respectively.

Impairment of Long-Lived and ROU Assets

The Company reviews its long-lived and right-of-use assets ("ROU assets") for impairment on a restaurant-by-restaurant basis whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value of certain long-lived and ROU assets may not be recoverable. The Company considers a triggering event, related to long-lived assets or ROU assets in a net asset position, to have occurred related to a specific restaurant if the restaurant’s cash flows for the last twelve months are less than a minimum threshold or if consistent levels of undiscounted cash flows for the remaining lease period are less than the carrying value of the restaurant’s assets. Additionally, the Company considers a triggering event related to ROU assets, to have occurred related to a specific lease if the location has been subleased and future estimated sublease income is less than current lease payments. If the Company concludes that the carrying value of certain long-lived and ROU assets will not be recovered based on expected undiscounted future cash flows, an impairment loss is recorded to reduce the long-lived or ROU assets to their estimated fair value. The fair value is measured on a nonrecurring basis using unobservable (Level 3) inputs. There is uncertainty in the projected undiscounted future cash flows used in the Company's impairment review analysis, which requires the use of estimates and assumptions. If actual performance does not achieve the projections, or if the assumptions used change in the future, the Company may be required to recognize impairment charges in future periods, and such charges could be material. Based on the results of this analysis, the Company recorded non-cash impairment charges of $3.6 million for the year ended December 25, 2019, primarily related to the carrying value of the ROU assets of four restaurants sold to franchisees and one restaurant closed during fiscal 2019, and the long-lived assets of one restaurant in California.

In fiscal 2018, the Company recorded a non-cash impairment charge of $5.1 million, primarily related to the carrying value of four restaurants in Arizona, California and Texas, including a restaurant in Texas that opened in early 2018. In fiscal 2017, the Company recorded a non-cash impairment charge of $32.6 million, primarily related to the carrying value of the assets of 23 restaurants in Arizona, California and Texas. The impairment expense for fiscal 2017 includes an impairment expense of $27.7 million, representing the entire value of capitalized assets of all of the company-operated restaurants in Texas, net of previously recorded depreciation. Factors which led to the impairment of the Texas restaurants included operating results, which indicated that the restaurants did not achieve the sales volumes required to generate positive cash flows or improve profitability in the Texas market, along with the related future cash flow assumptions, including comparable sales rate growth and restaurant operating costs, over the remaining lease terms and the age of the restaurants in Texas. The restaurants in Texas began opening in late 2014, causing a higher net book value at the time of impairment testing, and increased difficulty projecting results for newer restaurants in newer markets. Given the difficulty in projecting results for newer restaurants in newer markets, we are also monitoring the recoverability of the carrying value of the assets of several other restaurants on an ongoing basis. For these restaurants, if expected performance improvements are not realized, an impairment charge may be recognized in future periods, and such charge could be material.

Closed-Store Reserves

Prior to the adoption of Topic 842 “Leases,” when the Company closed a restaurant, it reviewed the future minimum lease payments and related ancillary costs from the date of the restaurant closure to the end of the remaining lease term and recorded a lease charge for the lease liabilities to be incurred, net of any estimated sublease recoveries. The estimates of future closed-store reserves were re-evaluated and adjusted each period based on information available as of the period. In addition, an impairment charge was recognized for any remaining carrying value of certain restaurant assets. During fiscal 2018, the Company closed seven restaurants in Arizona, California and Texas. These closures resulted in closed-store reserve expenses of $4.5 million during fiscal 2018. During fiscal 2017, the Company closed four restaurants in Texas, one of which was fully impaired during the fourth quarter of 2016, one of which was impaired during the third quarter of 2016 and the other two were impaired in fiscal 2017. Additionally, the Company closed one restaurant in Arizona, which was fully impaired in the third quarter of 2016. These closures resulted in closed-store reserve expenses of $1.1 million during fiscal 2017.

Subsequent to the adoption of Topic 842, the Company no longer recognizes a closed-store reserve when the Company closes a restaurant, as there is already a lease liability on its books related to the future lease payments. Rather, when a restaurant is closed, the Company will evaluate the ROU Asset for impairment, based on anticipated sublease recoveries. The remaining value of the ROU Asset is amortized on a straight-line basis, with the expense recognized in closed-store reserve expense.

During fiscal 2019, the Company closed two restaurants in California and two in Texas and recognized $1.3 million of closed-store reserve expense for the fiscal year ended 2019.

Goodwill and Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets

In January 2017, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") No. 2017-04, "Intangibles—Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment," ("ASU 2017-04"), simplifying the manner in which an entity is required to test for goodwill impairment by eliminating Step 2 from the goodwill impairment test. The Company adopted ASU 2017-04 in the fourth quarter of 2018.

The Company’s indefinite-lived intangible assets consist of trademarks. Goodwill represents the excess of cost over fair value of net identified assets acquired in business combinations accounted for under the purchase method. The Company does not amortize its goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets. Goodwill resulted from the Acquisition and from the acquisition of certain franchise locations.

Upon the sale of a restaurant, the Company evaluates whether there is a decrement of goodwill. The amount of goodwill included in the cost basis of the asset sold is determined based on the relative fair value of the portion of the reporting unit disposed of compared to the fair value of the reporting unit retained. The Company determined there was no decrement of goodwill related to the disposition of restaurants in fiscal 2019.

The Company performs annual impairment tests for goodwill during the fourth fiscal quarter of each year, or more frequently if impairment indicators arise.

The Company reviews goodwill for impairment utilizing either a qualitative assessment or by comparing the fair value of a reporting unit with its carrying amount. If the Company decides that it is appropriate to perform a qualitative assessment and concludes that the fair value of a reporting unit more likely than not exceeds its carrying value, no further evaluation is necessary. If an impairment test is performed which determines the carrying amount of a reporting unit is greater than its fair value, an impairment charge will be recognized for the amount by which the carrying amount of a reporting unit is greater than its fair value, up to the amount of its allocated goodwill.

The Company performs annual impairment tests for indefinite-lived intangible assets during the fourth fiscal quarter of each year, or more frequently if impairment indicators arise. An impairment test consists of either a qualitative assessment or a comparison of the fair value of an intangible asset with its carrying amount. The excess of the carrying amount of an intangible asset over its fair value is its impairment loss.

The assumptions used in the estimate of fair value are generally consistent with the past performance of the Company’s reporting segment and are also consistent with the projections and assumptions that are used in current operating plans. These assumptions are subject to change as a result of changing economic and competitive conditions.

Although the Company recognized expense related to the impairment of assets of one restaurant and ROU assets of four restaurants during the year ended December 25, 2019, upon completion of the qualitative assessment, the Company did not identify any indicators of potential impairment for its goodwill or indefinite-lived intangible assets. Furthermore, the Company did not identify any indicators of potential impairment during the years ended December 26, 2018 or December 27, 2017, and thus no impairment was recorded.

Other Intangibles, Net—Definite Lived

Definite lived intangible assets and liabilities consist of the value allocated to the Company’s favorable and unfavorable leasehold interests that resulted from the Acquisition.

Favorable leasehold interest represents the asset in excess of the approximate fair market value of the leases assumed as of November 17, 2005, the date of the Acquisition. The amount is being reduced over the remaining life of the leases. This amount is shown as other intangible assets, net, on the accompanying consolidated balance sheets.

Unfavorable leasehold interest liability represents the liability in excess of the approximate fair market value of the leases assumed as of November 17, 2005, the date of the Acquisition. The amount is being reduced over the remaining life of the leases. This amount is shown as other intangible liabilities, net, on the accompanying consolidated balance sheets.

Upon the Company's adoption of the new lease guidance in the first quarter of 2019, the Company's favorable and unfavorable leasehold improvements are now included as part of the ROU asset. See "Note 5. Leases" for more information.

Deferred Financing Costs

Deferred financing costs are capitalized and amortized over the period of the loan on a straight-line basis, which approximates the effective interest method. Transaction costs of $0.8 million were incurred in connection with the July 13, 2018 refinancing and were capitalized during fiscal 2018. Included in other assets are deferred financing costs (net of accumulated amortization), related to the revolver, of $0.8 million and $1.1 million as of December 25, 2019 and December 26, 2018, respectively. Amortization expense for deferred financing costs was approximately $0.3 million for each of the three years ended December 25, 2019, December 26, 2018, and December 27, 2017, and is reflected as a component of interest expense in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations.

Insurance Reserves

The Company is responsible for workers’ compensation, general and health insurance claims up to a specified aggregate stop loss amount. The Company maintains a reserve for estimated claims both reported and incurred but not reported, based on historical claims experience and other assumptions. At December 25, 2019 and December 26, 2018, the Company had accrued $9.4 million and $7.1 million, respectively, and such amounts are reflected as accrued insurance in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets. The expense for such reserves for the years ended December 25, 2019, December 26, 2018 and December 27, 2017, totaled $9.6 million, $8.0 million, and $6.8 million, respectively. These amounts are included in labor and related expenses and general and administrative expenses on the accompanying consolidated statements of operations.

Restaurant Revenue

Revenues from the operation of company-operated restaurants are recognized as food and beverage products are delivered to customers and payment is tendered at the time of sale. The Company presents sales net of sales-related taxes and promotional allowances. Promotional allowances amounted to approximately $8.0 million, $8.8 million and $8.9 million during the years ended December 25, 2019, December 26, 2018, and December 27, 2017, respectively.

The Company offers a loyalty rewards program, which awards a customer one point for every $1 spent. When 100 points are accumulated a $10 reward to be used on future purchases is earned. If a customer does not earn or use points within a one-year period, their account is deactivated and all points expire. Additionally, if a $10 reward is not used within six months it expires. When a customer is part of the rewards program, the obligation to provide future discounts related to points earned is considered a separate performance obligation, to which a portion of the transaction price is allocated. The performance obligation related to loyalty points is deemed to have been satisfied, and the amount deferred in the balance sheet is recognized as revenue, when the points are transferred to a $10 reward and redeemed, the points or reward expire, or the likelihood of redemption is remote. A portion of the transaction price is allocated to loyalty points, if necessary, on a pro-rata basis, based on stand-alone selling price, as determined by menu pricing and loyalty point terms. As of December 25, 2019 and December 26, 2018, the revenue allocated to loyalty points that have not been redeemed are $1.1 million and $1.0 million, respectively, which are reflected in the Company's accompanying consolidated balance sheets within other accrued expenses and current liabilities. The Company expects the loyalty points to be redeemed and recognized over a one year period.

The Company sells gift cards to its customers in the restaurants and through selected third parties. The gift cards sold to customers have no stated expiration dates and are subject to actual and/or potential escheatment rights in several of the jurisdictions in which the Company operates. Furthermore, due to these escheatment rights, the Company does not recognize breakage related to the sale of gift cards due to the immateriality of the amount remaining after escheatment. The Company recognizes income from gift cards when redeemed by the customer. Unredeemed gift card balances are deferred and recorded as other accrued expenses on the accompanying consolidated balance sheets.

The Company adopted Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC") Topic 606 - Revenue from Contracts with Customers ("Topic 606") on December 28, 2017. As a result, the Company has changed its accounting policy for revenue recognition as detailed below. The Company generates a substantial amount of its revenues from company-operated restaurants. This revenue stream was not impacted by the adoption of Topic 606.

The Company applied Topic 606 using the modified retrospective method by recognizing the cumulative effect of initially applying Topic 606 as an adjustment to the opening balance of equity at December 28, 2017. The cumulative catch-up adjustment recorded to accumulated deficit was approximately $3.5 million, net of taxes, related to franchise and development fees. The adoption of this guidance did not have a material change on revenue from Company-operated restaurant revenue, gift cards or the Company's loyalty program. The fiscal year 2017 comparative information has not been adjusted and continues to be reported under Topic 605. The details of the significant changes and quantitative impact of the changes are set out below and in "Note 15. Revenue from Contracts with Customers."

Franchise Revenue

Franchise revenue consists of franchise royalties, initial franchise fees, license fees due from franchisees and IT support services. Rental income for subleases to franchisees are outside of the scope of the revenue standard and are within the scope of lease guidance. Under Topic 842, sublease income is recorded on a gross basis within the consolidated statements of operations. Franchise royalties are based upon a percentage of net sales of the franchisee and were previously recorded as income as such sales are earned by the franchisees, which does not change with the adoption of Topic 606.

For franchise and development agreement fees, the Company's previous accounting policy was to recognize initial franchise fees, development fees, and franchise agreement renewals when all material obligations had been performed and conditions had been satisfied, typically when operations of the franchised restaurant had commenced. In accordance with the new guidance, the initial franchise services, or exclusivity of the development agreements, are not distinct from the continuing rights or services offered during the term of the franchise agreement and are, therefore, treated as a single performance obligation. As such, initial franchise and development fees received, and subsequent renewal fees, are recognized over the franchise or renewal term, which is typically twenty years. As of December 25, 2019, the Company had executed development agreements that represent commitments to open 44 franchised restaurants at various dates through 2022.

This revenue stream is made up of the following performance obligations:


•	Franchise License - inclusive of advertising services, development agreements, training, access to plans and help desk services;


•	Discounted renewal option; and


•	Hardware services.

The Company satisfies the performance obligation related to the franchise license over the term of the franchise agreement, which is typically 20 years. Payment for the franchise license consists of three components, a fixed-fee related to the franchise/development agreement, a sales-based royalty fee and a sales-based advertising fee. The fixed fee, as determined by the signed development and/or franchise agreement, is due at the time the development agreement is entered into, and/or when the franchise agreement is signed, and does not include a finance component.

The sales-based royalty fee and sales-based advertising fee are considered variable consideration and will continue to be recognized as revenue as such sales are earned by the franchisees. Both sales-based fees qualify under the royalty constraint exception, and do not require an estimate of future transaction price. Additionally, the Company is utilizing the practical expedient regarding disclosure of the aggregate amount of the transaction price allocated to the performance obligations that are unsatisfied for sales-based royalties.

In certain franchise agreements, the Company offers a discounted renewal to incentivize future renewals after the end of the initial franchise term. As this is considered a separate performance obligation, the Company allocated a portion of the initial franchise fee to this discounted renewal, on a pro-rata basis, assuming a 20-year renewal. This performance obligation is satisfied over the renewal term, which is typically 10 or 20 years, while payment is fixed and due at the time the renewal is signed.

The Company purchases hardware, such as scanners, printers, cash registers and tablets, from third-party vendors, which it then sells to franchisees. As the Company is considered the principal in this relationship, payment received for the hardware is considered revenue, and is received upon transfer of the goods from the Company to the Franchisee. As of December 25, 2019, there were no performance obligations, related to hardware services that were unsatisfied or partially satisfied.

Franchise Advertising Fee Revenue

The Company's previous accounting policy was to recognize advertising funded by franchisees on a net basis in the consolidated statements of operations, and as a liability within the consolidated balance sheets. Under the new guidance, the Company presents advertising contributions received from franchisees as franchise advertising fee revenue and records all expenses of the advertising fund within franchise expenses, resulting in an increase in revenues and expenses on the consolidated statements of operations, with no change to the consolidated balance sheets.

Advertising Costs

Advertising expense is recorded as the obligation to contribute to the advertising fund is accrued, generally when the associated revenue is recognized. Advertising expense, which is a component of occupancy and other operating expenses, was $16.1 million for both years ended December 25, 2019 and December 26, 2018 and $15.5 million for the year ended December 27, 2017, and is in addition to $22.4 million, $21.2 million and $20.5 million, respectively, funded by the franchisees’ advertising fees.

Franchisees pay a monthly fee to the Company that ranges from 4% to 5% of their restaurants’ net sales as reimbursement for advertising, public relations and promotional services the Company provides, which is included within franchise advertising fee revenue. Fees received in advance of provided services are included in other accrued expenses and current liabilities and were $0.5 million and $0.3 million at December 25, 2019 and December 26, 2018, respectively. Pursuant to the Company’s Franchise Disclosure Document, company-operated restaurants contribute to the advertising fund on the same basis as franchised restaurants. At December 25, 2019, the Company was obligated to spend $0.5 million more in future periods to comply with this requirement.

Production costs of commercials, programming and other marketing activities are charged to the advertising funds when the advertising is first used for its intended purpose. Total contributions and other marketing expenses are included in general and administrative expenses in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations.

Preopening Costs

Preopening costs incurred in connection with the opening of new restaurants are expensed as incurred. Preopening costs, which are included in general and administrative expenses on the accompanying consolidated statements of operations, were $0.4 million, $0.8 million and $2.0 million for the years ended December 25, 2019, December 26, 2018, and December 27, 2017, respectively.

Leases

The Company’s operations utilize property, facilities, equipment and vehicles. Buildings and facilities leased from others are primarily for restaurants and support facilities. Restaurants are operated under lease arrangements that generally provide for a fixed base rent and, in some instances, contingent rent based on a percentage of gross operating profit or net revenues in excess of a defined amount. Initial terms of land and restaurant building leases generally have terms of 20 years, exclusive of options to renew. Leases of equipment primarily consist of restaurant equipment, computer systems and vehicles. The Company subleases facilities to certain franchisees and other non-related parties which are recorded on a straight-line basis. Refer to "Changes in Accounting Policy" below for more details on treatment of operating leases under Topic 842 that was adopted on December 27, 2018.

For periods prior to the adoption of Topic 842, leases are accounted for under Topic 840. Under Topic 840, rent expense for the Company’s operating leases, which generally have escalating rents over the term of the lease, is recorded on a straight-line basis over the expected lease term. The lease term begins when the Company has the right to control the use of the leased property, which is typically before rent payments are due under the terms of the lease. Rent expense is included in occupancy and other operating expenses on the consolidated statements of operations. The difference between rent expense and rent paid is recorded as deferred rent, which is included in current liabilities and other noncurrent liabilities in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets. Percentage rent expenses are recorded based on estimated sales or gross margin for respective restaurants over the contingency period.

Any leasehold improvements that are funded by lessor incentives under operating leases are recorded as leasehold improvements and amortized over the expected lease term. Such incentives are also recorded as deferred rent and amortized as reductions to rent expense over the expected lease term.

Loss on Disposition of Restaurants

During fiscal 2019, the Company completed the sale of four company-operated restaurants within the San Francisco area to an existing franchisee, seven company-operated restaurants in the Phoenix area to another existing franchisee and five company-operated restaurants in Texas to a third franchisee. The Company has determined that these restaurant dispositions represent multiple element arrangements, and as a result, the cash consideration received was allocated to the separate elements based on their relative standalone selling price. Cash proceeds included upfront consideration for the sale of the restaurants and franchise fees, as well as future cash consideration for royalties and lease payments. The Company considered the future lease payments in allocating the initial cash consideration received. The cash consideration per restaurant for franchise fees is consistent with the amounts stated in the related franchise agreements, which are charged for separate standalone arrangements. The Company initially defers and subsequently recognizes the franchise fees over the term of the franchise agreement. Future royalty income is also recognized in revenue as earned.

These sales resulted in cash proceeds of $4.8 million and a net loss on sale of restaurants of $5.1 million for the year ended December 25, 2019. These restaurants are now included in the total number of franchised El Pollo Loco restaurants.

Recovery of Securities Class Action Legal Expense

During fiscal 2019, 2018 and 2017, the Company received insurance proceeds of $10.0 million, $8.4 million and $1.7 million, respectively, related to the reimbursement of certain legal expenses paid in prior years for the defense of securities lawsuits. See "Note 13. Commitments and Contingencies—Legal Matters."

Derivative Financial Instruments

The Company uses an interest rate swap, a derivative instrument, to hedge interest rate risk and are not used for trading purposes. The derivative contract is entered into with financial institutions.

The Company records the derivative instrument at fair value within other assets on its consolidated balance sheet. The derivative instrument qualifies as a hedging instrument in a qualifying cash flow hedge relationship, the gain or loss on the derivative instrument is reported as a component of accumulated other comprehensive income ("AOCI") and reclassified into earnings in the same period or periods during which the hedged transaction affects earnings. For any derivative instruments not designated as hedging instruments, the gain or loss will be recognized in earnings immediately. If a derivative previously designated as a hedge is terminated, or no longer meets the qualifications for hedge accounting, any balances in AOCI will be reclassified into earnings immediately.

As a result of the use of an interest rate swap, the Company is exposed to risk that the counterparty will fail to meet their contractual obligations. To mitigate the counterparty credit risk, the Company will only enter into contracts with major financial institutions, based upon their credit ratings and other factors, and will continue to assess the creditworthiness of the counterparty. As of December 25, 2019, the counterparty to the Company's interest rate swap has performed in accordance with their contractual obligation.

Income Taxes

The provision for income taxes, income taxes payable and deferred income taxes is determined using the asset and liability method. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined based on temporary differences between the financial carrying amounts and the tax basis of assets and liabilities using enacted tax rates in effect in the years in which the temporary differences are expected to reverse. On a periodic basis, the Company assesses the probability that its net deferred tax assets, if any, will be recovered. If after evaluating all of the positive and negative evidence, a conclusion is made that it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the net deferred tax assets will not be recovered, a valuation allowance is provided by a charge to tax expense to reserve the portion of the deferred tax assets which are not expected to be realized.

The Company reviews its filing positions for all open tax years in all U.S. federal and state jurisdictions where it is required to file.

When there are uncertainties related to potential income tax benefits, in order to qualify for recognition, the position the Company takes has to have at least a “more likely than not” chance of being sustained (based on the position’s technical merits) upon challenge by the respective authorities. The term “more likely than not” means a likelihood of more than 50%. Otherwise, the Company may not recognize any of the potential tax benefit associated with the position. The Company recognizes a benefit for a tax position that meets the “more likely than not” criterion as the largest amount of tax benefit that is greater than 50% likely of being realized upon its effective resolution. Unrecognized tax benefits involve management’s judgment regarding the likelihood of the benefit being sustained. The final resolution of uncertain tax positions could result in adjustments to recorded amounts and may affect our results of operations, financial position and cash flows.

The Company’s policy is to recognize interest or penalties related to income tax matters in income tax expense. The Company had no accrual for interest or penalties at December 25, 2019 or December 26, 2018, and did not recognize interest or penalties during the years ended December 25, 2019, December 26, 2018, and December 27, 2017, since there were no material unrecognized tax benefits. Management believes no significant change to the amount of unrecognized tax benefits will occur within the next twelve months.

On July 30, 2014, the Company entered into an income tax receivable agreement ("TRA"). The TRA calls for the Company to pay to its pre-IPO stockholders 85% of the savings in cash that the Company realizes in its taxes as a result of utilizing its net operating losses and other tax attributes attributable to preceding periods. In fiscal 2015, the Company incurred a charge of approximately $41.4 million relating to the present value of its total expected TRA payments. As of December 25, 2019 and December 26, 2018, the Company had accrued $8.2 million and $13.9 million, respectively relating to expected TRA payments. In fiscal 2019, 2018 and 2017, we paid $5.8 million, $7.3 million and $11.1 million, respectively, to our pre-IPO stockholders under the TRA.

Fair Value Measurements

Fair value is the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. Financial assets and liabilities carried at fair value are classified and disclosed in one of the following three categories:


•	Level 1: Quoted prices for identical instruments in active markets.


•	Level 2: Observable prices for similar instruments in active markets; quoted prices for identical or similar instruments in markets that are not active; and model-derived valuations whose inputs or significant value drivers are observable.


•	Level 3: Unobservable inputs used when little or no market data is available.

During the year ended December 25, 2019, the Company entered into an interest rate swap, which is required to be measured at fair value on a recurring basis. The fair value was determined based on Level 2 inputs, which include valuation models, as reported by the Company's counterparty. These valuation models use a discounted cash flow analysis on the cash flows of the derivative based on the terms of the contract and the forward yield curves adjusted for our credit risk. The key inputs for the valuation models are observable market prices, discount rates, and forward yield curves. See "Note 6. Long-Term Debt" for further discussion regarding our interest rate swaps. The following table presents fair value for the interest rate swap at December 25, 2019 (in thousands):



			Fair Value Measurements Using
	Fair Value		Level 1		Level 2		Level 3
Other assets - Interest rate swap	$	360	$	—	$	360	$	—

The Company had no assets or liabilities required to be measured at fair value on a recurring basis as of December 26, 2018.

Certain assets and liabilities are measured at fair value on a nonrecurring basis. In other words, the instruments are not measured at fair value on an ongoing basis but are subject to fair value adjustments only in certain circumstances (for example, when there is evidence of impairment).

The following non-financial instruments were measured at fair value, on a nonrecurring basis, as of and for the year ended December 25, 2019 (in thousands):



			Fair Value Measurements Using
	Total		Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Impairment Losses
Certain ROU assets, net	$	6,196	$	—	$	—	$	6,196	$	3,220
Certain property and equipment, net	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	339

The following non-financial instruments were measured at fair value, on a nonrecurring basis, as of and for the year ended December 26, 2018 (in thousands):



			Fair Value Measurements Using
	Total		Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Impairment Losses
Certain property and equipment, net	$	449	$	—	$	—	$	449	$	5,147

The following non-financial instruments were measured at fair value, on a nonrecurring basis, as of and for the year ended December 27, 2017 (in thousands):



			Fair Value Measurements Using
	Total		Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Impairment Losses
Certain property and equipment, net	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	32,594

During fiscal 2019, the Company recorded $3.6 million of expenses related to the impairment of assets primarily related to the carrying value of the ROU assets of four restaurants sold to franchisees and the long-lived assets of one restaurant in California. In fiscal 2018, the Company recorded $5.1 million in impairment charges primarily related to the carrying value of the long-lived assets of four restaurants in Arizona, California and Texas, as well as the strategic decision to close two restaurants in Texas. In fiscal 2017, the Company recorded $32.6 million in impairment charges that was primarily related to the carrying value of the long-lived assets of 23 restaurants in Arizona, California and Texas. The fair value measurements used in these impairment evaluations were based on discounted cash flow estimates using unobservable Level 3 inputs, based on market assumptions.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

The carrying amounts of cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, accounts payable and certain accrued expenses approximate fair value due to their short-term maturities. The recorded value of the TRA approximates fair value, based on borrowing rates currently available to the Company for debts with similar terms and remaining maturities (Level 3 measurement).

Stock-Based Compensation

Accounting literature requires the recognition of compensation expense using a fair-value based method for costs related to all share-based payments including stock options and restricted stock issued under the Company’s employee stock plans. The guidance also requires companies to estimate the fair value of stock option awards on the date of grant using an option pricing model, which require the input of subjective assumptions. The Company is required to use judgment in estimating the amount of stock-based awards that are expected to be forfeited. If actual forfeitures differ significantly from the original estimate, stock-based compensation expense and the results of operations could be affected. The cost is recognized on a straight-line basis over the period during which an employee is required to provide service, usually the vesting period. For options or restricted shares that are based on a performance requirement, the cost is recognized on an accelerated basis over the period to which the performance criteria relate.

Earnings per Share

Earnings per share (“EPS”) is calculated using the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during each period. Diluted EPS assumes the conversion, exercise or issuance of all potential common stock equivalents unless the effect is to reduce a loss or increase the income per share. For purposes of this calculation, options and restricted stock awards are considered to be common stock equivalents and are only included in the calculation of diluted earnings per share when their effect is dilutive. The shares used to compute basic and diluted net income per share represent the weighted-average common shares outstanding.

Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements

In August 2018, the SEC adopted the final rule under SEC Release No. 33-10532, “Disclosure Update and Simplification,” amending certain disclosure requirements that were redundant, duplicative, overlapping, outdated or superseded. In addition, the amendments expanded the disclosure requirements on the analysis of stockholders' equity for interim financial statements. Under the amendments, an analysis of changes in each caption of stockholders' equity presented in the balance sheet must be provided in a note or separate statement. The analysis should present a reconciliation of the beginning balance to the ending balance of each period for which a statement of comprehensive income is required to be filed. The Company adopted SEC Release No. 33-10532 as of December 27, 2018.

In June 2018, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2018-07, “Compensation—Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Nonemployee Share-Based Payment Accounting”, (“ASU 2018-07”) which expands the scope of Topic 718 to include share-based payment transactions for acquiring goods and services from non-employees. ASU 2018-07 is effective for financial statements issued for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2018, and for the interim periods therein. The Company adopted ASU 2018-07 as of December 27, 2018 and it did not have a significant impact on the Company’s consolidated financial position or results of operations.

In August 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-12, "Derivatives and Hedging," which refines and expands existing hedge accounting guidance. The Company adopted ASU 2017-12 as of December 27, 2018. The adoption of this standard did not have a material impact on the consolidated financial statements.

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02, “Leases,” (“Topic 842”). Topic 842 establishes a right-of-use model that requires a lessee to record a ROU Asset and a lease liability on the balance sheet for all leases with terms longer than 12 months. Leases will be classified as either finance or operating, with classification affecting the pattern of expense recognition in the income statement. The new standard was effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods therein. In July 2018, the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-11, which provides an alternative transition method that allows entities to apply the new leases standard at the adoption date and recognize a cumulative-effect adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings in the period of adoption. The Company adopted Topic 842, and all related ASU’s as of December 27, 2018. See “Changes in Accounting Policies” below for further details.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements Not Yet Adopted

In December 2019, the FASB issued ASU No. 2019-12, "Income Taxes (Topic 740): Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes", which modifies Topic 740 to simplify the accounting for income taxes. ASU 2019-12 is effective for financial statements issued for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2020, and for the interim periods therein. The adoption of ASU 2019-12 is not expected to have a significant impact on the Company’s consolidated financial position or results of operations.

Changes in Accounting Policies

Except for the changes below, the Company has consistently applied the accounting policies to all periods presented in these consolidated financial statements.

The Company adopted Topic 842 with a date of initial application of December 27, 2018. As a result, the Company has changed its accounting policy for leases as detailed below.

The Company’s operations utilize property, facilities, equipment and vehicles, the majority of which are operating leases. Additionally, the Company has various contracts with vendors that have been determined to contain an embedded lease in accordance with Topic 842. As of the date of adoption, the Company recognized a ROU Asset and lease liability equal to the present value of these leases within its consolidated balance sheet for any leases with terms longer than 12 months. The Company also has one finance lease, subleases facilities to certain franchises and is the lessor for certain property, facilities and equipment owned by the Company. The adoption of Topic 842 did not have an impact on our current accounting policies for these items. Furthermore, the adoption of this standard did not have any impact on the Company’s consolidated statement of operations or the consolidated statement of cash flows.

The Company applied Topic 842 using the effective date method, which allowed the Company to apply the standard as of the adoption date, and to recognize the cumulative effect of initially applying Topic 842 as an adjustment to retained earnings at December 27, 2018, if applicable. Therefore, the comparative information has not been adjusted and continues to be reported under Topic 840. However, the adoption of Topic 842 did not have any impact to its retained earnings.

Additionally, the Company elected to apply the package of practical expedients, which allowed for carryforwards of 1) historical lease classifications, 2) determination of whether a contract contains a lease under the new definition of a lease and 3) whether previously capitalized initial direct costs qualify for capitalization. See "Note 5. Leases," for further details.

Franchise Development Option Agreement with Related Party

On July 11, 2014, EPL and LLC entered into a Franchise Development Option Agreement relating to development of our restaurants in the New York–Newark, NY–NJ–CT–PA Combined Statistical Area (the “Territory”). EPL granted LLC the exclusive option to develop and open 15 restaurants in the Territory over five years (the “Initial Option”), and, provided that the Initial Option is exercised, the exclusive option to develop and open up to an additional 100 restaurants in the Territory over ten years. The Franchise Development Option Agreement terminates (i) ten years after execution, or (ii) if the Initial Option is exercised, five years after that exercise. LLC may only exercise the Initial Option if EPL first determines to begin development of company-operated restaurants in the Territory or support the development of the Territory. We have no current intention to begin development in the Territory and as of December 25, 2019, no stores have been opened in the Territory.

Property and Equipment

12 Months Ended

Dec. 25, 2019

Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]

Property and Equipment

PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENT

The costs and related accumulated depreciation and amortization of major classes of property are as follows (in thousands):



	December 25, 2019			December 26, 2018
Land	$	12,323		$	12,323
Buildings and improvements	144,794			156,806
Other property and equipment	75,234			76,061
Construction in progress	4,213			2,989
	236,564			248,179
Less: accumulated depreciation and amortization	(144,786		)	(144,034		)
	$	91,778		$	104,145

Depreciation and amortization expense was $17.9 million, $17.8 million and $18.1 million for the years ended December 25, 2019, December 26, 2018, and December 27, 2017, respectively.

Based on the Company’s review of its long-lived assets for impairment, the Company recorded non-cash impairment charges of $0.3 million, $5.1 million and $32.6 million for the years ended December 25, 2019, December 26, 2018, and December 27, 2017, respectively.

Trademarks, Other Intangible Assets and Liabilities

12 Months Ended

Dec. 25, 2019

Goodwill and Intangible Assets Disclosure [Abstract]

Trademarks, Other Intangible Assets and Liabilities

TRADEMARKS, OTHER INTANGIBLE ASSETS AND LIABILITIES

Domestic trademarks consist of the following (in thousands):



	December 25, 2019			December 26, 2018
Cost	$	120,700		$	120,700
Accumulated impairment charges	(58,812		)	(58,812		)
Trademarks, net	$	61,888		$	61,888

Other intangible assets subject to amortization consist of the following (in thousands):



	December 25, 2019		December 26, 2018
Favorable leasehold interest	$	—	$	6,038
Less: accumulated amortization	—		(5,758		)
Total favorable leasehold interest, net	$	—	$	280
Unfavorable leasehold interest liability	$	—	$	(9,156	)
Less: accumulated amortization	—		8,514
Unfavorable leasehold interest liability, net	$	—	$	(642	)

Upon the adoption of Topic 842 the favorable and unfavorable leasehold interest balances were netted with the ROU Asset for the respective operating lease. See “Change in accounting policies" in Note 2 and "Note 5. Leases” for further details of the Company’s adoption of Topic 842. The aggregate amortization expense for the years ended December 26, 2018, and December 27, 2017 was less than $0.1 million and $0.1 million, respectively.

Leases

12 Months Ended

Dec. 25, 2019

Leases [Abstract]

Leases

LEASES

Adoption of Topic 842 "Leases"

On December 27, 2018, the Company adopted Topic 842, using the effective date method, recognizing and measuring all leases that existed as of December 27, 2018. The Company recorded a cumulative-effect adjustment as of December 27, 2018. Comparative periods are presented in accordance with ASC Topic 840 and do not include any retrospective adjustments to comparative periods to reflect the adoption of Topic 842. All leases that either (1) commenced, or (2) were modified or re-measured after December 27, 2018 are accounted for under Topic 842.

As a result of Topic 842, the Company recognized a ROU Asset of $205.2 million and a lease liability of $222.3 million on its consolidated balance sheet as of December 27, 2018. However, the adoption of Topic 842 did not result in a material impact on the Company’s consolidated statement of operations or consolidated statement of cash flows.

Nature of leases

The Company’s operations utilize property, facilities, equipment and vehicles leased from others. Additionally, the Company has various contracts with vendors that have been determined to contain an embedded lease in accordance with Topic 842.

As of December 25, 2019, the Company had one lease that it had entered into, but had not yet commenced. The Company does not have control of the property until lease commencement.

Building and facility leases

The majority of the Company’s building and facilities leases are classified as operating leases; however, the Company currently has one facility lease that is classified as a finance lease.

Restaurants are operated under lease arrangements that generally provide for a fixed base rent and, in some instances, contingent rent based on a percentage of gross operating profit or net revenues in excess of a defined amount. Additionally, a number of the Company’s leases have payments, which increase at pre-determined dates based on the change in the consumer price index. For all leases, the Company also reimburses the landlord for non-lease components, or items that are not considered components of a contract, such as common area maintenance, property tax and insurance costs. While the Company determined not to separate lease and non-lease components, these payments are based on actual costs, making them variable consideration and excluding them from the calculations of the ROU Asset and lease liability.

The initial terms of land and restaurant building leases are generally 20 years, exclusive of options to renew. These leases typically have four 5-year renewal options, which have generally been excluded in the calculation of the ROU Asset and lease liability, as they are not considered reasonably certain to be exercised, unless (1) the renewal had already occurred as of the time of adoption of Topic 842, or (2) there have been significant leasehold improvements that have a useful life that extend past the original lease term. Furthermore, there are no residual value guarantees and no restrictions imposed by the lease.

During the year ended December 25, 2019, the Company reassessed the lease terms on 11 restaurants due to certain triggering events, such as, the addition of significant leasehold improvements, the decision to terminate a lease, or the decision to renew. As a result of the reassessment, an additional $4.7 million of ROU assets and lease liabilities for the year ended December 25, 2019 were recognized, and will be amortized over the new lease term. The reassessment did not have any impact on the original lease classification. Additionally, as the Company adopted all practical expedients available under Topic 842, no reallocation between lease and non-lease components was necessary.

The Company also subleases facilities to certain franchisees and other non-related parties which are also considered operating leases. Sublease income also includes contingent rental income based on net revenues. The vast majority of these leases have rights to extend terms via fixed rental increases. However, none of these leases have early termination rights, the right to purchase the premises or any residual value guarantees. The Company does not have any related party leases.

During fiscal 2019, we determined that the carrying value of ROU assets at certain restaurants was not recoverable. As a result, we recorded a $3.2 million impairment expense for the year ended December 25, 2019. The impairment primarily related to four restaurants sold to franchisees and one restaurant closed during fiscal 2019.

Equipment

Leases of equipment primarily consist of restaurant equipment, copiers and vehicles. These leases are fixed payments with no variable component. Additionally, no optional renewal periods have been included in the calculation of the ROU Asset, there are no residual value guarantees and no restrictions imposed.

Significant Assumptions and Judgments

In applying the requirements of Topic 842 the Company made significant assumptions and judgments related to determination of whether a contract contains a lease and the discount rate used for the lease.

In determining if any of the Company’s contracts contain a lease the Company made assumptions and judgments related to its ability to direct the use of any assets stated in the contract and the likelihood of renewing any short-term contracts for a period extending past twelve months.

The Company also made significant assumptions and judgments in determining an appropriate discount rate for property leases. These included using a consistent discount rate for a portfolio of leases entered into at varying dates, using the full 20-year term of the lease, excluding any options, and using the total minimum lease payments. The Company utilizes a third-party valuation firm in determining the discount rate, based on the above assumptions. For all other leases, the Company uses the discount rate implicit in the lease, or the Company’s incremental borrowing rate.

As the Company has adopted the practical expedient not to separate lease and non-lease components, no significant assumptions or judgments were necessary in allocating consideration between these components, for all classes of underlying assets.

The following table presents the Company’s total lease cost at December 25, 2019, disaggregated by underlying asset (in thousands):



	Property Leases			Equipment Leases		Total
Finance lease cost:
Amortization of right-of-use assets	$	9		$	—	$	9
Interest on lease liabilities	27			—		27
Operating lease cost	26,212			1,273		27,485
Short-term lease cost	—			34		34
Variable lease cost	455			186		641
Sublease income	(2,430		)	—		(2,430		)
Total lease cost	$	24,273		$	1,493	$	25,766

The following table presents the Company’s total lease cost on the consolidated statement of operations (in thousands):



	December 25, 2019
Lease cost – Occupancy and other operating expenses	$	24,540
Lease cost – General & administrative	463
Lease cost – Depreciation and amortization	9
Lease cost – Interest expense	27
Lease cost - Closed-store reserve	727
Total lease cost, net	$	25,766

During the year ended December 25, 2019, the Company had the following cash and non-cash activities associated with its leases (in thousands):



	December 25, 2019
	Property Leases			Equipment Leases			Total
Cash paid for amounts included in the measurement of lease liabilities
Operating cash flows used for operating leases	$	25,168		$	1,282		$	26,450
Financing cash flows used for finance leases	$	(68	)	$	—		$	(68	)

Non-cash investing and financing activities:
Operating lease ROU assets obtained in exchange for lease liabilities:
Operating lease ROU assets	10,339			256			$	10,595
Derecognition of ROU assets due to terminations, impairment or modifications	(4,574		)	(157		)	$	(4,731	)

Operating lease ROU assets obtained and liabilities incurred as a result of adoption of ASC 842:
Operating lease ROU assets	$	200,555		$	4,668		$	205,223
Operating lease liabilities	$	217,615		$	4,668		$	222,283

Other Information
Weighted-average remaining lease term—finance leases	2.83			—
Weighted-average remaining lease term—operating leases	12.08			3.20
Weighted-average discount rate—finance leases	11.10		%	—
Weighted-average discount rate—operating leases	4.38		%	3.96		%

Information regarding the Company’s minimum future lease obligations at December 25, 2019 is as follows (in thousands):



	Finance Leases			Operating Leases
For the Years Ending	Minimum Lease Payments			Minimum Lease Payments			Minimum Sublease Income
December 30, 2020	$	54		$	26,808		$	2,754
December 29, 2021	54			25,978			2,887
December 28, 2022	45			24,871			3,284
December 27, 2023	—			22,309			3,318
December 25, 2024	—			19,751			3,203
Thereafter	—			139,454			27,265
Total	$	153		$	259,171		$	42,711
Less: imputed interest (3.96% to 11.1%)	(36		)	(45,273		)
Present value of capital lease obligations	117			213,898
Less: current maturities	(34		)	(16,406		)
Noncurrent portion	$	83		$	197,492

Information regarding the Company’s minimum future lease obligations at December 26, 2018 is as follows, under ASC 840 (in thousands):



	Capital Leases			Operating Leases
For the Years Ending	Minimum Lease Payments			Minimum Lease Payments		Minimum Sublease Income
December 25, 2019	$	95		$	25,388	$	1,443
December 30, 2020	54			24,437		1,108
December 29, 2021	54			23,342		1,078
December 28, 2022	45			22,338		1,001
December 27, 2023	—			20,634		989
Thereafter	—			150,342		2,612
Total	$	248		$	266,481	$	8,231
Less: imputed interest (11.0% to 11.1%)	(64		)
Present value of capital lease obligations	184
Less: current maturities	(68		)
Noncurrent portion	$	116

Short-Term Leases

The Company has multiple short-term leases, which have terms of less than 12 months, and thus were excluded from the recognition requirements of Topic 842. The Company has recognized these lease payments in its consolidated statement of operations on a straight-line basis over the lease term and variable lease payments in the period in which the obligation for those payments is incurred.

Lessor

The Company is a lessor for certain property, facilities and equipment owned by the Company and leased to others, principally franchisees, under non-cancelable leases with initial terms ranging from 3 to 20 years. These lease agreements generally provide for a fixed base rent and, in some instances, contingent rent based on a percentage of gross operating profit or net revenues. All leases are considered operating leases.

For the leases in which the Company is the lessor, there are options to extend the lease. However, there are no terms and conditions to terminate the lease, no right to purchase premises and no residual value guarantees. Additionally, there are no related party leases.

For each of the years ended December 25, 2019, December 26, 2018 and December 27, 2017, the Company received $0.5 million of lease income from company-owned locations.

Current Credit Agreements

12 Months Ended

Dec. 25, 2019

Debt Disclosure [Abstract]

Current Credit Agreements

On July 13, 2018, the Company refinanced the 2014 Revolver, pursuant to a credit agreement (the "2018 Credit Agreement") among EPL, as borrower, and the Company and Intermediate, as guarantors, Bank of America, N.A., as administrative agent, swingline lender, and letter of credit issuer, the lenders party thereto, and the other parties thereto, which provides for the $150.0 million five-year 2018 Revolver. The 2018 Revolver includes a sub limit of $15.0 million for letters of credit and a sub limit of $15.0 million for swingline loans. The obligations under the 2018 Credit Agreement and related loan documents are guaranteed by the Company and Intermediate. The obligations of the Company, EPL and Intermediate under the 2018 Credit Agreement and related loan documents are secured by a first priority lien on substantially all of their respective assets.

Under the 2018 Revolver, Holdings may not make certain payments such as cash dividends, except that it may, inter alia, (i) pay up to $1.0 million per year to repurchase or redeem qualified equity interests of Holdings held by past or present officers, directors, or employees (or their estates) of the Company upon death, disability, or termination of employment, (ii) pay under its income tax receivable agreement (the “TRA”), and, (iii) so long as no default or event of default has occurred and is continuing, (a) make non-cash repurchases of equity interests in connection with the exercise of stock options by directors, officers and management, provided that those equity interests represent a portion of the consideration of the exercise price of those stock options, (b) pay up to $0.5 million in any 12 month consecutive period to redeem, repurchase or otherwise acquire equity interests of any subsidiary that is not a wholly-owned subsidiary from any holder of equity interest in such subsidiary, (c) pay up to $2.5 million per year pursuant to stock option plans, employment agreements, or incentive plans, (d) make up to $5.0 million in other restricted payments per year, and (e) make other restricted payments, subject to its compliance, on a pro forma basis, with (x) a lease-adjusted consolidated leverage ratio not to exceed 4.25 times and (y) the financial covenants applicable to the 2018 Revolver.

Borrowings under the 2018 Revolver (other than any swingline loans) bear interest, at the borrower’s option, at rates based upon either LIBOR or a base rate, plus, for each rate, a margin determined in accordance with a lease-adjusted consolidated leverage ratio-based pricing grid. The base rate is calculated as the highest of (a) the federal funds rate plus 0.50%, (b) the published Bank of America prime rate, or (c) LIBOR plus 1.00%. For LIBOR loans, the margin is in the range of 1.25% to 2.25%, and for base rate loans the margin is in the range of 0.25% to 1.25%. For borrowings under the 2018 Revolver during fiscal 2019, the interest rate range was 3.2% to 6.0%. For borrowings under the 2014 Revolver and the 2018 Revolver during fiscal 2018, the interest rate range was 3.3% to 4.0%. The interest rate under the 2018 Revolver was 3.2% at December 25, 2019 and 4.0% under the 2018 Revolver at December 26, 2018. For the year ended December 25, 2019, the Company had interest expense of $3.1 million under the 2018 Revolver. For the year ended December 26, 2018, the Company had interest expense of $3.0 million under the 2018 and 2014 Revolver, and for the year ended December 27, 2017, the Company had interest expense of $2.7 million under the 2014 Revolver.

The 2018 Credit Agreement contains certain financial covenants. The Company was in compliance with all such covenants at December 25, 2019.

At December 25, 2019, $8.4 million of letters of credit and $97.0 million of the revolving line of credit were outstanding. The amount available under the revolving line of credit was $44.6 million at December 25, 2019.

Maturities

The 2018 Revolver and 2018 Credit Agreement will mature on July 13, 2023. During the year ended December 25, 2019, the Company borrowed $23.0 million net of pay downs of $19.0 million on the Company’s 2018 Revolver, primarily to fund settlement payments. See Note 13 for further details regarding the settlement payments. During the year ended December 26, 2018, the Company elected to pay down $20.0 million, net of new borrowings of $13.0 million during the year, of outstanding borrowings on the Company’s 2014 Revolver, respectively. There are no required principal payments prior to maturity for the 2018 Revolver.

Interest Rate Swap

During the year ended December 25, 2019, the Company entered into a variable-to-fixed interest rate swap agreement with a notional amount of $40.0 million that matures in June 2023. The objective of the interest rate swap is to reduce the Company's exposure to interest rate risk for a portion of its variable-rate interest payments on its borrowings under the 2018 Revolver. Under the terms of the swap agreement, the variable LIBOR-based component of interest payments are converted to a fixed rate of 2.81%. The interest rate swap is designated as a cash flow hedge, as the changes in the future cash flows of the swap are expected to offset changes in expected future interest payments on the related variable-rate debt, in accordance with ASC 815, Derivatives and Hedging. There were no interest rate swaps outstanding as of December 26, 2018.

The changes in the fair value of the interest rate swap are not included in earnings, but are included in other comprehensive income (“OCI”). These changes in fair value are subsequently reclassified into net earnings as a component of interest expense as the hedged interest payments are made on the variable rate borrowings.

For the year ended December 25, 2019, the swap was a highly effective cash flow hedge.

As of December 25, 2019, the estimated net gain included in AOCI related to the Company's cash flow hedge that will be reclassified into earnings in the next 12 months is $0.3 million, based on current LIBOR interest rates.

The following table shows the financial statement line item and amount of the Company's cash flow hedge accounting on the consolidated balance sheet (in thousands):



	December 25, 2019
	Notional		Fair value
Other Assets - Interest rate swap	$	40,000	$	360

The following table summarizes the effect of the Company's cash flow hedge accounting on the consolidated statements of operations (in thousands):



	December 25, 2019			December 26, 2018
Interest expense on hedged portion of debt	$	461		$	—
Interest income on interest rate swap	(84		)	—
Interest expense on debt and derivatives, net	$	377		$	—

The following table summarizes the effect of the Company's cash flow hedge accounting on AOCI for the years ended December 25, 2019 and December 26, 2018 (in thousands):



	Gain Recognized in OCI			(Gain) Reclassified from AOCI into Interest expense
	December 25, 2019		December 26, 2018	December 25, 2019			December 26, 2018
Interest rate swap	$	430	—	$	(84	)	—

See Note 2 for the fair value of the Company's derivative asset.

Other Accrued Expenses and Current Liabilities

12 Months Ended

Dec. 25, 2019

Payables and Accruals [Abstract]

Other Accrued Expenses and Current Liabilities

OTHER ACCRUED EXPENSES AND CURRENT LIABILITIES

Other accrued expenses and current liabilities consist of the following (in thousands):



	December 25, 2019		December 26, 2018
Accrued sales and property taxes	$	4,665	$	5,016
Accrued legal settlements and professional fees	16,901		38,639
Gift card liability	3,006		2,512
Deferred franchise and development fees	705		369
Other ⁽¹⁾	3,320		5,228
Total other accrued expenses and current liabilities	$	28,597	$	51,764

^{(1) The Company previously included the short-term portion deferred rent, tenant improvement allowance and lease escalation liabilities within “Other accrued expenses and current liabilities.” Upon its adoption of Topic 842,}^{these balances were netted with the ROU Asset for the respective operating lease. See “Change in accounting policies" in Note 2 and Note 5 for further details of the Company’s adoption of Topic 842.}

Other Noncurrent Liabilities

12 Months Ended

Dec. 25, 2019

Payables and Accruals [Abstract]

Other Noncurrent Liabilities

OTHER NONCURRENT LIABILITIES

Other noncurrent liabilities consist of the following (in thousands):



	December 25, 2019		December 26, 2018
Deferred rent ⁽¹⁾	$	—	$	10,660
Deferred franchise and development fees	5,612		5,224
Other ⁽²⁾	67		4,140
Total other noncurrent liabilities	$	5,679	$	20,024

^{(1) In accordance with the Company’s adoption of Topic 842 “Leases” all deferred rent balances are now included with in the Company’s ROU Asset. Refer to “Changes in accounting policies” in Note 2 and Note 5 for further details of the Company’s adoption of Topic 842.}

^{(2) The Company previously included the non-current portion tenant improvement allowance and lease escalation liabilities within “Other noncurrent} ^{liabilities.” Upon its adoption of Topic 842, these balances were netted with the ROU Asset for the respective operating lease. See “Changes in accounting policies” in Note 2 and Note 5 for further details of the Company’s adoption of Topic 842.}

Income Taxes

12 Months Ended

Dec. 25, 2019

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income Taxes

INCOME TAXES

The provision (benefit) for income taxes is based on the following components (in thousands):



For the Years Ended	December 25, 2019		December 26, 2018			December 27, 2017
Current income taxes:
Federal	$	—	$	—		$	—
State	104		220			250
Total current	104		220			250
Deferred income taxes:
Federal	5,991		(3,526		)	1,495
State	3,587		98			192
Total deferred	9,578		(3,428		)	1,687
Adjustment to deferred taxes for tax rate change	—		—			(1,440		)
Tax provision (benefit) for income taxes	$	9,682	$	(3,208	)	$	497

On December 22, 2017 the U.S. government enacted the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the "Tax Act"). The Tax Act reduces the corporate tax rate to from 35% to 21%, effective for tax years beginning January 1, 2018. The Company is subject to the provisions of ASC 740, Income Taxes, which requires that the effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates be recognized in the period the tax rate change was enacted. The enacted reduction in the corporate federal income tax rate resulted in a re-measurement of the Company’s net deferred tax assets and liabilities with a one-time, non-cash increase to income tax benefit. Consequently, we recorded a decrease related to deferred tax assets and deferred tax liabilities of $12.1 million and $13.5 million, respectively, with a net benefit to deferred income tax expense of $1.4 million for the year ended December 27, 2017. In addition, under the new tax law, the corporate alternative minimum tax (“AMT”) is repealed effective for tax years beginning January 1, 2018. For tax years beginning in 2018, 2019 and 2020, to the extent AMT credit carryovers exceed regular tax liability, 50% of the excess of AMT credit carryovers would be refundable. Any remaining AMT credits would be fully refundable in 2021.

The provision for income taxes differs from the amount computed by applying the federal income tax rate of 21.0% for both fiscal 2019 and 2018 and 35.0% for fiscal 2017 as follows:



For the Years Ended	December 25, 2019		December 26, 2018		December 27, 2017
Statutory federal income tax rate applied to earnings before income taxes and extraordinary items	21.0	%	21.0	%	35.0	%
State tax benefit (net of federal benefit)	6.0		5.0		0.6
Change in valuation allowance	2.4		(6.9	)	10.9
TRA expense	—		1.3		(21.4	)
Revaluation of deferred taxes	—		—		(15.8	)
WOTC Credit	(0.8	)	3.3		(2.5	)
Stock option exercises	(1.0	)	2.1		—
Other	0.3		0.5		(1.3	)
Total	27.9	%	26.3	%	5.5	%

Deferred income tax assets and liabilities are recorded for differences between the financial statement and tax basis of the assets and liabilities that will result in taxable or deductible amounts in the future based on enacted laws and rates applicable to the periods in which the differences are expected to affect taxable income. Valuation allowances are established when necessary to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount expected to be realized.

The Company has evaluated the available evidence supporting the realization of its gross deferred tax assets. After evaluating all of the positive and negative evidence, including the Company’s continued income from operations, the Company concluded that it is more likely than not that its deferred tax assets will be realized. In fiscal 2018 and 2017, the Company recorded a valuation allowance of approximately $5.1 million and $4.3 million, respectively, against its deferred tax asset resulting from certain tax credits that may not be realizable prior to the time the credits expire. In fiscal 2019, the Company recorded an additional $0.9 million to the valuation allowance. As of December 25, 2019, the total valuation allowance was $6.0 million.

On July 30, 2014, the Company entered into the TRA. The TRA calls for the Company to pay its pre-IPO stockholders 85% of the cash savings that the Company realizes in its taxes as a result of utilizing its NOLs and other tax attributes attributable to preceding periods. The TRA charge expense (benefit) is a permanent add-back to the Company’s taxable income. TRA resulted in approximately $0.1 million of expense in fiscal 2019 as a result of changes to future forecasted results, $0.8 million of benefit in fiscal 2018 as a result of changes to future forecasted results and timing of deductibility of certain temporary differences including the current year settlement accrual and $5.6 million benefit in fiscal 2017 as a result of reduction in the federal corporate income tax rate related to tax reform. In fiscal 2019, we paid $5.8 million to our pre-IPO stockholders under the TRA.

As of December 25, 2019 and December 26, 2018, the deferred tax assets related to California Enterprise Zone credits, net of valuation allowances are $3.3 million and $4.4 million, respectively.

The Company’s deferred tax assets and liabilities as of December 25, 2019 and December 26, 2018 are summarized below. The balances reflect the revaluation for the reduction in the Federal corporate rate to 21.0%.



	December 25, 2019			December 26, 2018
Deferred assets:
Capital leases	$	31		$	53
Accrued vacation	454			456
Accrued legal	4,434			10,343
Deferred rent	—			3,788
Accrued workers’ compensation	1,090			1,660
Enterprise zone and other credits	10,442			13,001
Net operating losses	1,814			6,260
Fixed assets	2,955			3,374
ROU assets	57,931			—
Other	4,698			5,239
Total deferred tax assets	83,849			44,174
Valuation allowance	(5,993		)	(5,149		)
Net deferred tax assets	77,856			39,025
Deferred liabilities:
Goodwill	(6,060		)	(6,229		)
Trademark	(16,745		)	(17,654		)
Prepaid expense	(791		)	(528		)
ROU liabilities	(52,056		)	—
Other	(167		)	(2,905		)
Deferred tax liabilities	(75,819		)	(27,316		)
Net deferred tax asset	$	2,037		$	11,709

The net deferred tax asset amounts above as of December 25, 2019 and December 26, 2018 have been classified in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets as noncurrent assets.

As of December 25, 2019, the Company has federal and state NOL carryforwards of approximately $8.6 million and less than $0.1 million, respectively, which expire beginning in 2032 and 2027, respectively. The Company also has state enterprise zone credits of approximately $10.6 million, which expire in 2023, and federal Work Opportunity Credits of approximately $1.7 million, which will expire in 2038. The utilization of NOL carryforwards may be subject to limitation under section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the “Code”) and similar state law provisions.

As of December 25, 2019, December 26, 2018, and December 27, 2017, the Company had no accrual for unrecognized tax benefits. Consequently, no interest or penalties have been accrued by the Company. The Company believes that no significant changes to the amount of unrecognized tax benefits will occur within the next twelve months. The Company is subject to taxation in the United States and in various state jurisdictions.

The Company is no longer subject to U.S. examination for years before 2015 by the federal taxing authority, and for years before 2014 by state taxing authorities. The Company is currently under IRS examination for tax year ending December 28, 2016 and December 27, 2017. As of December 25, 2019, no proposed adjustments were issued by the IRS. During the first quarter of 2020, the Company has had new discussions with the IRS regarding a potential timing difference adjustment that would not result in a significant impact to the financial statements, if agreed to by the Company.

Employee Benefit Plans	12 Months Ended
Employee Benefit Plans	Dec. 25, 2019
Postemployment Benefits [Abstract]
Employee Benefit Plans	EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS The Company sponsors a defined contribution employee benefit plan that permits its employees, subject to certain eligibility requirements, to contribute up to 25% of their qualified compensation to the plan. The Company matches 100% of the employees’ contributions of the first 3% of the employees’ annual qualified compensation, and 50% of the employees’ contributions of the next 2% of the employees’ annual qualified compensation. The Company’s matching contribution immediately fully vests. The Company’s contributions to the plan were $0.8 million for both years ended December 25, 2019 and December 26, 2018 and $0.7 million for the year ended December 27, 2017.

Stock-Based Compensation

12 Months Ended

Dec. 25, 2019

Disclosure of Compensation Related Costs, Share-based Payments [Abstract]

Stock-Based Compensation

STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION

Stock Options

At December 25, 2019, options to purchase 2,077,570 shares of common stock of the Company were outstanding, including 1,518,145 vested and 559,425 unvested. Unvested options vest over time, or upon our achieving annual financial goals. However, the compensation committee of the board of directors, as administrator of the Company’s 2018 Omnibus Equity Incentive Plan, has the power to accelerate the vesting schedule of stock-based compensation, and, generally, in the event of an employee termination in connection with a change in control of the Company, any unvested portion of an award under the plan shall become fully vested. At December 25, 2019, 1,159,366 premium options, options granted above the stock price at date of grant, remained outstanding. In fiscal 2019 and 2018, the Company granted 323,900 and 311,272 options, respectively, with an exercise price equal to the fair market value of the common stock on the date of grant. The options granted in fiscal 2019 and 2018 had a four-year vesting period. On November 15, 2016, the board of directors approved the modification of the remaining performance-based stock options granted in 2014 and 2013 to vest based solely on service conditions. As a result, 17,378 performance-based stock options that would not have vested based on the 2017 performance target vested at the end of fiscal 2017, subject to continued employment of the option holder and the other terms and conditions of the 2014 Stock Option Plan. As of December 25, 2019, there were no remaining performance-based stock options and 2,077,570 time based stock options outstanding. Stock options generally expire 10 years from the date of grant. Changes in stock options for the years ended December 25, 2019 and December 26, 2018, are as follows:



	Shares		Weighted-Average Exercise Price
Outstanding - December 27, 2017	2,309,103		$	7.65
Grants	311,272		10.98
Exercised	(269,549	)	6.81
Forfeited, cancelled or expired	(248,422	)	12.46
Outstanding - December 26, 2018	2,102,404		7.68
Grants	323,900		11.51
Exercised	(234,728	)	6.18
Forfeited, cancelled or expired	(114,006	)	13.35
Outstanding - December 25, 2019	2,077,570		$	8.14
Vested and expected to vest at December 25, 2019	2,066,768		$	8.12
Exercisable at December 25, 2019	1,518,145		$	6.93

Stock options at December 25, 2019 are summarized as follows:



Range of Exercise Prices	Number Outstanding		Weighted-Average Remaining Contractual Life (in Years)	Weighted- Average Exercise Price		Number Exercisable		Weighted-Average Exercise Price
$4.09	99,531		3.50	$	4.09	99,531		$	4.09
$5.84	1,159,366		2.55	5.84		1,159,366		$	5.84
$9.65 - $13.95	731,158		8.54	11.51		175,097		$	11.86
$15.00	87,515		4.78	15.00		84,151		$	15.00
$4.09 - $15.00	$	2,077,570	3.28	$	8.14	$	1,518,145	$	6.93

The intrinsic value of options outstanding and options exercisable, calculated as the difference between the market value as of December 25, 2019 and the exercise price, is $14.3 million and $12.3 million, respectively. The intrinsic value of options exercised, calculated as the difference between the market value on the date of exercise and the exercise price, was $2.1 million, $1.5 million and $0.2 million for fiscal years 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

The Company measures and recognizes compensation expense for the estimated fair value of stock options for employees and non-employee directors and similar awards based on the grant-date fair value of the award. For options that are based on a service requirement, the cost is recognized on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period, usually the vesting period. For options that were based on performance requirements, costs were recognized over periods to which the performance criteria related. The Company has authorized 5,652,240 shares of common stock for issuance in connection with stock awards. As of December 25, 2019, 1,040,703 shares were available for grant. In order to calculate our stock options’ fair values and the associated compensation costs for share-based awards, the Company utilizes the Black–Scholes option pricing model, and has developed estimates of various inputs including forfeiture rate, expected term, expected volatility, and risk-free interest rate. The forfeiture rate is based on historical rates and reduces the compensation expense recognized. The expected term for options granted is derived using the “simplified” method, in accordance with SEC guidance. The Company calculates the risk-free interest rate using the implied yield for a U.S. Treasury security with constant maturity and a remaining term equal to the expected term of the Company’s employee stock options. The Company does not anticipate paying any cash dividends for the foreseeable future and therefore uses an expected dividend yield of zero for option valuation purposes. Expected volatility is estimated using four publicly-traded companies in our market category. These are selected based on similarities of market capitalization, size, and other financial and operational characteristics. Volatility is calculated by taking the historical daily closing equity prices of our peer companies, prior to the grant date, over a period equal to the expected term.

The weighted-average estimated fair value of employee stock options granted in fiscal 2019 and 2018 was $3.85 per share and $3.78 per share, respectively, using the Black–Scholes model with the following weighted-average assumptions used to value the option grants:



	December 25, 2019		December 26, 2018
Expected volatility	28.7	%	28.4	%
Risk-free interest rate	2.3	%	2.9	%
Expected term (years)	6.25		6.25
Expected dividends	—		—

During the years ended December 25, 2019, December 26, 2018 and December 27, 2017, the Company recognized stock option compensation expense of $0.5 million, $1.1 million and $0.6 million, respectively. These expenses were included in general and administrative expenses consistent with the salary expense for the related optionees in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations. In connection with the retirement of our former President and Chief Executive Officer ("CEO") during fiscal 2018, the Company modified previously granted equity awards to accelerate the vesting of 33,545 awards, which would have otherwise vested in May 2018, and extended the exercisability of all vested and outstanding options until the expiration of the original term of such awards. As a result, the Company incurred incremental stock-based compensation expense of $0.8 million for the year ended December 26, 2018.

As of December 25, 2019, we had total unrecognized compensation expense of $1.8 million related to unvested stock options, which the Company expects to recognize over a weighted average period of 2.95 years.

The above assumptions generally require significant judgment. If in the future we determine that another method is more reasonable, or if another method for calculating these input assumptions is prescribed by authoritative guidance, and, therefore, should be used to estimate volatility or expected term, the fair value calculated for our stock options could change significantly. Higher volatility and longer expected lives result in an increase to stock-based compensation expense determined at the date of grant. Stock-based compensation expense affects our general and administrative expense.

We estimate our forfeiture rate based on an analysis of our actual forfeitures and will continue to evaluate the appropriateness of the forfeiture rate based on actual forfeiture experience, analysis of employee turnover behavior, and other factors. Changes in the estimated forfeiture rate can have a significant effect on reported stock-based compensation expense, as the cumulative effect of adjusting the rate for all expense amortization is recognized in the period the forfeiture estimate is changed. If a revised forfeiture rate is higher than the previously-estimated forfeiture rate, an adjustment is made that will result in a decrease to the stock-based compensation expense recognized in the financial statements. If a revised forfeiture rate is lower than the previously-estimated forfeiture rate, an adjustment is made that will result in an increase to the stock-based compensation expense recognized in the financial statements. The effect of forfeiture adjustments was insignificant in fiscal 2019, 2018 and 2017. We will continue to use significant judgment in evaluating the expected term, volatility, and forfeiture rate related to our stock-based compensation.

Restricted Shares

In fiscal 2019 and 2018, 299,052 and 323,764 restricted share awards were granted, respectively, at the fair market value on the date of grant. These grants vest based on continued service over three years for directors and four years for employees. Additionally, in fiscal 2018, 72,116 performance share units were granted, which vest over a minimum of one year and a maximum of five years. Performance share units are granted at fair market value on the date of grant and are subject to service-based and market-based vesting conditions. A portion of the performance share units satisfied their market-based vesting conditions during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018 and vested upon the satisfaction of their service condition in the second quarter of fiscal 2019. The Company bases the amount of unearned compensation recorded on the fair market value of the awards on the date of issuance. In fiscal 2019, 2018, and 2017 the Company recognized share-based compensation expense of $2.0 million, $1.0 million, and $0.5 million, respectively. This expense was included in general and administrative expenses in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations. As of December 25, 2019, there was total unrecognized compensation expense of $5.4 million related to unvested restricted share awards, which the Company expects to recognize over a weighted-average period of 2.79 years.

Changes in restricted shares for the years ended December 25, 2019 and December 26, 2018, are as follows:



	Shares		Weighted-Average Fair Value
Unvested shares at December 27, 2017	196,642		$	13.70
Granted	395,880		$	10.22
Released	(45,991	)	$	13.86
Forfeited, cancelled, or expired	(55,831	)	$	13.42
Unvested shares at December 26, 2018	490,700		$	10.91
Granted	299,052		$	11.62
Released	(147,862	)	$	10.73
Forfeited, cancelled, or expired	(53,882	)	$	11.81
Unvested shares at December 25, 2019	588,008		$	11.23

Earnings Per Share

12 Months Ended

Dec. 25, 2019

Earnings Per Share [Abstract]

Earnings Per Share

EARNINGS PER SHARE

Basic EPS is calculated using the weighted-average number of shares of common stock outstanding during the years ended December 25, 2019, December 26, 2018, and December 27, 2017. Diluted EPS is calculated using the weighted-average number of shares of common stock outstanding and potentially dilutive during the period, using the treasury stock method.

Below are basic and diluted EPS data for the periods indicated, which are in thousands except for per share data.



For the Years Ended	December 25, 2019		December 26, 2018			December 27, 2017
Numerator:
Net income (loss)	$	24,900	$	(8,994	)	$	8,619
Denominator:
Weighted-average shares outstanding—Basic	36,739,209		38,574,553			38,453,347
Weighted-average shares outstanding—Diluted	37,441,503		38,574,553			39,086,676
Net income (loss) per share—Basic	$	0.68	$	(0.23	)	$	0.22
Net income (loss) per share—Diluted	$	0.67	$	(0.23	)	$	0.22
Anti-dilutive securities not considered in diluted EPS calculation	526,295		2,593,104			747,985

Below is a reconciliation of basic and diluted share counts.



For the Years Ended	December 25, 2019	December 26, 2018	December 27, 2017
Weighted-average shares outstanding—Basic	36,739,209	38,574,553	38,453,347
Dilutive effect of stock options and restricted shares	702,294	—	633,329
Weighted-average shares outstanding—Diluted	37,441,503	38,574,553	39,086,676

Commitments and Contingencies	12 Months Ended
Commitments and Contingencies	Dec. 25, 2019
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]
Commitments and Contingencies	COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES Legal Matters On or about February 24, 2014, a former employee filed a class action in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Orange, under the caption Elliott Olvera, et al v. El Pollo Loco, Inc., et al (Case No. 30-2014-00707367-CU-OE-CXC) (the "Olvera Action") on behalf of all putative class members (all hourly employees from 2010 to the present) alleging certain violations of California labor laws, including failure to pay overtime compensation, failure to provide meal periods and rest breaks, and failure to provide itemized wage statements. The putative lead plaintiff’s requested remedies include compensatory and punitive damages, injunctive relief, disgorgement of profits, and reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs. No specific amount of damages sought was specified in the complaint. The court recently certified two classes of plaintiffs - one class encompasses restaurant employees who were not provided proper rest breaks because they were not allowed to leave the premises during their breaks and the other class encompasses restaurant employees who were required to wait at the restaurant after they finished working for the night until the manager set the alarm for safety purposes. The parties reached a settlement in principle on January 24, 2019 of all claims brought on behalf of the 32,000+ putative class members in the Olvera Action, as well as all claims for failure to pay overtime compensation, failure to provide meal periods and rest breaks, and failure to provide itemized wage statements brought in the class actions captioned Martha Perez v. El Pollo Loco, Inc. (Los Angeles Superior Court Case No. BC624001), Maria Vega, et al. v. El Pollo Loco, Inc. (Los Angeles Superior Court Case No. BC649719), and Gonzalez v. El Pollo Loco, Inc. (Los Angeles Superior Court Case No. BC712867). The settlement reached in principle in the Olvera, Perez, Vega, and Gonzalez actions resolves all potential claims from April 12, 2010 through April 1, 2019 El Pollo Loco restaurant employees may have against El Pollo Loco for failure to pay for all compensation owed, failure to pay overtime compensation, failure to provide meal periods and rest breaks, and failure to provide itemized wage statements, among other wage and hour related claims. A $16.3 million accrual of an expected settlement amount related to this matter was recorded as of December 26, 2018, and the court formally approved the settlement on January 31, 2020. Purported class actions alleging wage and hour violations are commonly filed against California employers. The Company fully expects to have to defend against similar lawsuits in the future. Daniel Turocy, et al. v. El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc., et al. (Case No. 8:15-cv-01343) was filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California on August 24, 2015, and Ron Huston, et al. v. El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc., et al. (Case No. 8:15-cv-01710) was filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California on October 22, 2015. The two lawsuits have been consolidated, with co-lead plaintiffs and class counsel. A consolidated complaint was filed on January 29, 2016, on behalf of co-lead plaintiffs and others similarly situated, alleging violations of federal securities laws in connection with Holdings common stock purchased or otherwise acquired and the purchase of call options or the sale of put options, between May 1, 2015 and August 13, 2015 (the “Class Period”). The named defendants are Holdings; Stephen J. Sather, Laurance Roberts, and Edward J. Valle (collectively, the “Individual Defendants”); and Trimaran Pollo Partners, LLC, Trimaran Capital Partners, and Freeman Spogli & Co. (collectively, the “Controlling Shareholder Defendants”). Among other things, Plaintiffs allege that, in 2014 and early 2015, Holdings suffered losses due to rising labor costs in California and, in an attempt to mitigate the effects of such rising costs, removed a $5 value option from the Company's menu, which resulted in a decrease in traffic from value-conscious consumers. Plaintiffs further allege that during the Class Period, Holdings and the Individual Defendants made a series of materially false and misleading statements that concealed the effect that these factors were having on store sales growth, resulting in Holdings stock continuing to be traded at artificially inflated prices. As a result, Plaintiffs and other members of the putative class allegedly suffered damages in connection with their purchase of Holdings’ stock during the Class Period. In addition, Plaintiffs allege that the Individual Defendants and Controlling Shareholder Defendants had direct involvement in, and responsibility over, the operations of Holdings, and are presumed to have had, among other things, the power to control or influence the transactions giving rise to the alleged securities law violations. In both cases, Plaintiffs seek an unspecified amount of damages, as well as costs and expenses (including attorneys’ fees). On July 25, 2016, the Court issued an order granting, without prejudice, Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss plaintiff’s complaint for failure to state a claim. Plaintiffs were granted leave to amend their complaint, and filed an amended complaint on August 22, 2016. Defendants moved to dismiss the amended complaint, and on March 20, 2017, the Court dismissed the amended complaint and granted Plaintiffs leave to file another amended complaint. Plaintiffs filed another amended complaint on April 17, 2017. Defendants filed a motion to dismiss the amended complaint on or about May 17, 2017. The Court denied Defendants' motion to dismiss the third amended complaint on August 4, 2017. On December 8, 2017, Plaintiffs filed a motion for class certification, and on July 3, 2018, the Court granted Plaintiffs’ motion and certified a class as to all of Plaintiffs’ claims. Defendants filed a petition for appellate review of a portion of the Court's July 3, 2018 class certification order. On October 19, 2018 the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied the petition. On January 23, 2019, the parties filed a Notice of Settlement and Joint Request for Order to Stay Proceedings, stating the parties have reached an agreement in principle to settle the claims and allegations in the action and are negotiating the terms of a Stipulation of Settlement. On January 24, 2019, the Court ordered that all proceedings in the action be stayed until April 3, 2019, on or before which the parties are to file a Stipulation of Settlement and a motion for preliminary approval of the settlement. Defendants maintain that the Plaintiffs' claims are without merit, and have entered into the settlement to eliminate the uncertainties, burden and expense of further protracted litigation. A $20.0 million accrual of an expected settlement amount related to this matter was recorded as of December 26, 2018 and all settlement payments were made during the year ended December 25, 2019. On or about November 5, 2015, a purported Holdings shareholder filed a derivative complaint on behalf of Holdings in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware against certain Holdings officers, directors and Trimaran Pollo Partners, L.L.C., under the caption Armen Galustyan v. Sather, et al. (Case No. 11676-VCL). The derivative complaint alleges that these defendants breached their fiduciary duties to Holdings and were unjustly enriched when they sold shares of Holdings at artificially inflated prices due to alleged misrepresentations and omissions regarding EPL’s comparable store sales in the second quarter of 2015. The Holdings shareholder’s requested remedies include an award of compensatory damages to Holdings, as well as a court order to improve corporate governance by putting forward for stockholder vote certain resolutions for amendments to Holdings’ Bylaws or Certificate of Incorporation. The parties have stipulated to, which the court has ordered, a stay of these proceedings pending the outcome of Turocy v. El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc., discussed above. A second purported Holdings shareholder filed a derivative complaint on or about September 23, 2016, under the caption Diep v. Sather, CA 12760-VCL in the Delaware Court of Chancery. The Diep action is also purportedly brought on behalf of Holdings, names the same defendants and asserts substantially the same claims on substantially the same alleged facts as does Galustyan. Defendants moved to stay or dismiss the Diep action. On March 17, 2017, the Delaware court granted in part, and denied in part, the motion to stay the Diep action. The court denied defendants' motion to dismiss the complaint for failure to state a claim. On January 17, 2018, the court entered an order granting the parties’ stipulation staying all proceedings in the Diep action for five months or until the completion of an investigation of the allegations in the action by a special litigation committee of the Holdings board of directors (the "SLC"). On February 13, 2019, after concluding its investigation, the SLC filed a motion to dismiss the Diep action. The SLC filed its investigative report under seal as an exhibit to the motion to dismiss. Discovery related to the SLC's motion is ongoing. Janice P. Handlers-Bryman and Michael D. Bryman v. El Pollo Loco, Inc., Los Angeles Superior Court (Case No. MC026045) (the “Lancaster Lawsuit”) was filed on February 9, 2016. Existing El Pollo Loco franchisees, Janice P. Handlers-Bryman and Michael D. Bryman, as individuals and in their capacities as trustees of the Handlers Bryman Trust (collectively, “Plaintiffs”), filed suit against us alleging, among other things, that we “imposed unreasonable time limitations” on their development of additional restaurant locations in Lancaster, California, and that we thereafter developed company-operated El Pollo Loco restaurants in the “market area” of Plaintiffs’ existing El Pollo Loco restaurant in Lancaster. Plaintiffs asserted claims against us for, among other things, (i) breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, (ii) intentional interference with prospective business, and (iii) unfair business practices. In addition to an unspecified amount of damages and costs of the lawsuit, Plaintiffs sought reformation of the contract, declaratory relief, disgorgement of alleged revenues and profits, injunctive relief, and a judicial mandate requiring us to either transfer the company-operated locations to Plaintiffs or to continuously disgorge to Plaintiffs the unjust enrichment allegedly obtained by us through the operation of the company-operated restaurants in Lancaster. We denied Plaintiffs’ allegations as the franchise agreement did not grant Plaintiffs any exclusive territorial rights and, instead, expressly reserved for us the right to open and operate - and the right to grant others the right to open and operate - El Pollo Loco restaurants “in the immediate vicinity of or adjacent to” Plaintiffs’ restaurant in Lancaster. On April 24, 2017, four days before the commencement of trial, Plaintiffs filed a voluntary dismissal, without prejudice, of the Lancaster Lawsuit without any payment or other concession by us. The corresponding dismissal was entered by the court on April 25, 2017. On May 22, 2017, Plaintiffs filed a motion for relief from the dismissal which was granted by the court on June 29, 2017. The trial in the case was bifurcated between the liability and damages phases. The liability phase commenced on November 16, 2017. The only cause of action that the court allowed to go to the jury was the cause of action for breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing. The court elected not to present the cause of action for intentional interference with prospective business to the jury. (The causes of action for reformation due to mistake and unconscionability, unfair business practices under California Business & Professions Code §17200 et seq., and declaratory relief were not presented to the jury as these types of equitable claims are to be decided by the court as a matter of law.) On December 11, 2017, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Plaintiffs finding that the Company breached the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing by (1) constructing the two new company-operated El Pollo Loco restaurants in Lancaster, and (2) not offering the two new company-operated El Pollo Loco restaurants in Lancaster to Plaintiffs. Because the trial was bifurcated, the December 11, 2017 verdict did not include a determination of damages. The damages phase of the trial commenced on April 20, 2018. On May 1, 2018, the jury returned a verdict on damages in favor of Plaintiffs in the following amounts: (1) $4,356,600 in “impact damages” arising out of our construction of the two new company-operated El Pollo Loco restaurants in Lancaster, and (2) $4,481,206 in “lost opportunity damages” arising out of our failure to offer the two new company-operated El Pollo Loco restaurants in Lancaster to Plaintiffs. On August 1, 2018, the court issued a final judgment and decision on the unfair business practices claim under California Business & Professions Code § 17200 et seq. As part of the final judgment, the court found El Pollo Loco liable and issued injunctive relief requiring El Pollo Loco to revise its franchise disclosure document and franchise agreement. The court also awarded Plaintiffs restitution of $4,356,600 for “impact damages” arising out of our construction of the two new company-operated El Pollo Loco restaurants in Lancaster. The court, reversing its previous position, held that these damages could be awarded in addition to the "lost opportunity damages" awarded by the jury. Thus, the court entered a total monetary judgment of $8,837,806. There was no ruling on the causes of action for reformation due to mistake, and declaratory relief, and on January 27, 2020, the court entered an amended judgment dismissing these claims. The trial court subsequently awarded the Plaintiffs $249,728 in costs and $1,391,703 in attorney fees. Post judgment interest is running at 10% simple interest per year on the total amount of the monetary judgment, costs, and attorney’ fees. On August 27, 2018, the Company filed a notice of appeal as to the entire judgment. The appeal on the merits is currently pending. Briefing on the merits has not yet occurred in the appellate court. The record was delivered by the trial court clerk to the court of appeal on August 20, 2019. The Company's opening brief is due to be filed in the Court of Appeals by April 1, 2020. Based on the assessment by management of the numerous legal arguments that can be raised on appeal, together with independent assessments from our legal trial and appellate counsel, the Company believes that a loss is currently not probable or estimable under ASC 450, "Contingencies", and as of December 25, 2019 no accrual has been made with regard to the verdict. The Company is also involved in various other claims and legal actions that arise in the ordinary course of business. The Company does not believe that the ultimate resolution of these other actions will have a material adverse effect on its financial position, results of operations, liquidity, or capital resources. A significant increase in the number of claims, or an increase in amounts owing under successful claims, could materially and adversely affect its business, consolidated financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows. Purchase Commitments The Company has long-term beverage supply agreements with certain major beverage vendors. Pursuant to the terms of these arrangements, marketing rebates are provided to the Company and its franchisees from the beverage vendors based upon the dollar volume of purchases for system-wide restaurants which will vary according to their demand for beverage syrup and fluctuations in the market rates for beverage syrup. These contracts have terms extending through the end of 2024. At December 25, 2019, the Company’s total estimated commitment to purchase chicken was $25.2 million. Contingent Lease Obligations As a result of assigning the Company’s interest in obligations under real estate leases in connection with the sale of company-operated restaurants to some of the Company’s franchisees, the Company is contingently liable on five lease agreements. These leases have various terms, the latest of which expires in 2036. As of December 25, 2019, the potential amount of undiscounted payments the Company could be required to make in the event of non-payment by the primary lessee was $2.0 million. The present value of these potential payments discounted at the Company’s estimated pre-tax cost of debt at December 25, 2019 was $1.7 million. The Company’s franchisees are primarily liable on the leases. The Company has cross-default provisions with these franchisees that would put them in default of their franchise agreements in the event of non-payment under the leases. The Company believes that these cross-default provisions reduce the risk that payments will be required to be made under these leases. Accordingly, no liability has been recorded in the Company’s consolidated financial statements related to these contingent liabilities. Employment Agreements As of December 25, 2019, the Company had employment agreements with four of the officers of the Company. These agreements provide for minimum salary levels, possible annual adjustments for cost-of-living changes, and incentive bonuses that are payable under certain business conditions. Indemnification Agreements The Company has entered into indemnification agreements with each of its current directors and officers. These agreements require the Company to indemnify these individuals to the fullest extent permitted under Delaware law against liabilities that may arise by reason of their service to the Company and to advance expenses incurred as a result of any proceeding against them as to which they could be indemnified. The Company also intends to enter into indemnification agreements with future directors and officers.

Related Party Transactions	12 Months Ended
Related Party Transactions	Dec. 25, 2019
Related Party Transactions [Abstract]
Related Party Transactions	RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS LLC owns approximately 47.7% of the Company’s outstanding common stock. This large position means that LLC and its majority owners—predecessors and affiliates of, and certain funds managed by, Trimaran Capital Partners and Freeman Spogli & Co. (collectively, “Trimaran” and “Freeman Spogli,” respectively)—possess significant influence when stockholders vote on matters such as election of directors, mergers, consolidations and acquisitions, the sale of all or substantially all of the Company’s assets, decisions affecting the Company’s capital structure, amendments to the Company’s certificate of incorporation or by-laws, and the Company’s winding up and dissolution. So long as LLC maintains at least 40% ownership, (i) any member of the board of directors may be removed at any time without cause by affirmative vote of a majority of the Company’s common stock, and (ii) stockholders representing 40% or greater ownership may cause special stockholder meetings to be called.

Revenue from Contracts with Customers

12 Months Ended

Dec. 25, 2019

Revenue from Contract with Customer [Abstract]

Revenue from Contracts with Customers

REVENUE FROM CONTRACTS WITH CUSTOMERS

Adoption of Topic 606, "Revenue from Contracts with Customers"

On December 28, 2017, the Company adopted Topic 606 using the modified retrospective method applied to those contracts, which were not fully satisfied as of December 28, 2017. Results for reporting periods beginning after December 28, 2017, are presented under Topic 606, while prior period amounts are not adjusted and continue to be reported in accordance with our historic accounting under Topic 605.

Revenue Recognition

Nature of products and services

The Company has two revenue streams, company-operated restaurant revenue and franchise related revenue. See Note 2 for a description of the revenue recognition policies.

Franchise and franchise advertising revenue

Franchise revenue consists of franchise royalties, initial franchise fees, license fees due from franchisees, IT support services, and rental income for subleases to franchisees. Franchise advertising revenue consists of advertising contributions received from franchisees.

Disaggregated revenue

The following table presents our revenues for the years ended December 25, 2019 and December 26, 2018 disaggregated by revenue source and market (in thousands):



	December 25, 2019		December 26, 2018
Core Market⁽¹⁾:
Company-operated restaurant revenue	$	351,624	$	340,421
Franchise revenue	14,918		14,144
Franchise advertising fee revenue	11,049		10,831
Total core market	$	377,591	$	365,396
Non-Core Market⁽²⁾:
Company-operated restaurant revenue	$	39,488	$	48,414
Franchise revenue	13,901		11,627
Franchise advertising fee revenue	11,350		10,391
Total non-core market	$	64,739	$	70,432
Total revenue	$	442,330	$	435,828

⁽¹⁾Core Market includes markets with existing company-operated restaurants at the time of the Company's Initial Public Offering ("IPO") on July 28, 2014.

⁽²⁾Non-Core Market includes markets entered into by the Company subsequent to the IPO date.

The following table presents our revenues disaggregated by geographic market for the years ended December 25, 2019 and December 26, 2018:



	December 25, 2019		December 26, 2018
Greater Los Angeles area market	70.5	%	69.2	%
Other markets	29.5	%	30.8	%
Total	100	%	100	%

Contract balances

The following table provides information about the change in the franchise contract liability balances during the year ended December 25, 2019 and December 26, 2018 (in thousands):



December 27, 2017	$	5,759
Revenue recognized - beginning balance	(396		)
Additional contract liability	365
Revenue recognized - additional contract liability	(135		)
December 26, 2018	$	5,593
Revenue recognized - beginning balance	(441		)
Additional contract liability	1,457
Revenue recognized - additional contract liability	(292		)
December 25, 2019	$	6,317

The Company’s franchise contract liability includes development fees, initial franchise and license fees, franchise renewal fees, lease subsidies and royalty discounts and is included within other accrued expenses and current liabilities and other noncurrent liabilities within the accompanying consolidated balance sheets. The Company receives area development fees from franchisees when they execute multi-unit area development agreements. Initial franchise and license fees, or franchise renewal fees, are received from franchisees upon the execution of, or renewal of, a franchise agreement. Revenue is recognized from these agreements as the underlying performance obligation is satisfied, which is over the term of the agreement.

For the year ended December 25, 2019, there was an increase to the contract liability balance due to the Company's completion of the sale of four company-operated restaurants within the San Francisco area to an existing franchisee and seven company-operated restaurants in the Phoenix area to another existing franchisee. This resulted in an additional contract liability of $0.7 million, relating to allocation of the transaction price to various performance obligations under the applicable contracts of the sale.

The following table illustrates the estimated revenue to be recognized in the future related to performance obligations that are unsatisfied as of December 25, 2019:



Franchise revenues (in thousands):
2020	$	705
2021	515
2022	434
2023	420
2024	406
Thereafter	3,837
Total	$	6,317

Contract Costs

The Company does not currently incur costs to obtain or fulfill a contract that would be considered contract assets under Topic 606.

Quarterly Results of Operations (Unaudited)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 25, 2019

Quarterly Financial Information Disclosure [Abstract]

Quarterly Results of Operations (Unaudited)

QUARTERLY RESULTS OF OPERATIONS (UNAUDITED)

The following table sets forth a summary of our unaudited quarterly operating results for each of the last eight quarters in the period ended December 25, 2019. We have derived this data from our unaudited consolidated interim financial statements that, in our opinion, have been prepared on substantially the same basis as the audited financial statements contained elsewhere in this report and include all normal recurring adjustments necessary for a fair presentation of the financial information for the periods presented. These unaudited quarterly results should be read in conjunction with our financial statements and notes thereto included elsewhere in this report. The operating results in any quarter are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for any future period.

QUARTERLY FINANCIAL INFORMATION (UNAUDITED)



	2019				2018
(Dollar amounts in thousands, except share data)	December	September	June	March	December				September	June		March
Selected Financial Data
Total revenue ($)	107,546	112,067	113,740	108,977	106,261				112,178	111,633		105,756
Income (loss) from operations ($)	5,336	10,118	20,580	2,292	(30,990	)	(4	)	9,492	7,589		4,448
Provision (benefit) for income taxes ($)	728	2,940	5,665	349	(8,410	)			2,388	865		1,949
Net income (loss) ($)	3,498	6,402	14,087	913	(23,410	)	(4	)	6,835	5,052		2,529
Per Share Data (2):
Net income (loss) per share:
Basic	0.10	0.18	0.37	0.02	-0.60				0.18	0.13		0.07
Diluted	0.10	0.18	0.37	0.02	-0.60				0.17	0.13		0.06
Weighted average shares used in computing net income per share:
Basic	34,503,722	35,859,502	37,939,912	38,633,702	38,751,522				38,602,658	38,482,074		38,465,208
Diluted	35,242,122	36,397,368	38,580,722	39,496,436	38,751,522		(3)		39,205,090	39,043,434		38,987,351
Selected Operating Data
Number of restaurants (at period end)
Company-operated	195	201	200	211	213				212	211		212
Franchised	287	284	284	273	271				271	269		268
System-wide	482	485	484	484	484				483	480		480
Average unit volume (AUV) (company-operated) (1)	1,931	1,978	1,934	1,838	1,785				1,891	1,890		1,791
Comparable restaurant sales growth (%)
Company-operated	4.3	1.6	0.4	1.5	3.7				2.0	(1.6	)	(2.0	)
Franchised	3.6	0.6	0.9	3.2	5.1				3.0	(0.3	)	(0.4	)
System-wide	3.9	1.1	0.7	2.4	4.4				2.6	(0.9	)	(1.1	)


(1)	AUVs consist of average annualized sales of all company-operated restaurants over the fiscal quarter.


(2)	Due to the use of weighted average shares outstanding for each quarter of computing earnings per share, the sum of the quarterly per share amounts may not equal the per share amount for the year.


(3)	Due to a loss for the period, zero incremental shares are included because the effect would be antidilutive.


(4)	Loss from operations and net loss includes a $36.3 million legal settlement in the period.

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 25, 2019

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Liquidity

Basis of Presentation

Principles of Consolidation

Use of Estimates

Cash and Cash Equivalents

The Company considers all highly-liquid instruments with a maturity of three months or less at the date of purchase to be cash equivalents.

Concentration of Risk

Cash and cash equivalents are maintained at financial institutions and, at times, balances may exceed federally-insured limits. The Company has never experienced any losses related to these balances.

Management believes the loss of the significant supplier or franchisee could have a material adverse effect on the Company's consolidated results of operations and financial condition.

Accounts and Other Receivables, Net

Inventories

Inventories consist principally of food, beverages and supplies and are valued at the lower of average cost or net realizable value.

Property and Equipment Owned, Net

The estimated useful service lives are as follows:



Buildings	20 years
Land improvements	3—30 years
Building improvements	3—10 years
Restaurant equipment	3—10 years
Other equipment	2—10 years
Leasehold improvements	Shorter of useful life or lease term

Impairment of Long-Lived Assets

Impairment of Long-Lived and ROU Assets

Goodwill and Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets

The Company performs annual impairment tests for goodwill during the fourth fiscal quarter of each year, or more frequently if impairment indicators arise.

Other Intangibles, Net-Definite Lived

Other Intangibles, Net—Definite Lived

Definite lived intangible assets and liabilities consist of the value allocated to the Company’s favorable and unfavorable leasehold interests that resulted from the Acquisition.

Deferred Financing Costs

Insurance Reserves

Restaurant and Franchise Revenue

Restaurant Revenue

Franchise Revenue

This revenue stream is made up of the following performance obligations:


•	Franchise License - inclusive of advertising services, development agreements, training, access to plans and help desk services;


•	Discounted renewal option; and


•	Hardware services.

Franchise Advertising Fee Revenue

Leases

The Company reviews its filing positions for all open tax years in all U.S. federal and state jurisdictions where it is required to file.

Fair Value Measurements


•	Level 1: Quoted prices for identical instruments in active markets.


•	Level 2: Observable prices for similar instruments in active markets; quoted prices for identical or similar instruments in markets that are not active; and model-derived valuations whose inputs or significant value drivers are observable.


•	Level 3: Unobservable inputs used when little or no market data is available.



			Fair Value Measurements Using
	Fair Value		Level 1		Level 2		Level 3
Other assets - Interest rate swap	$	360	$	—	$	360	$	—

The Company had no assets or liabilities required to be measured at fair value on a recurring basis as of December 26, 2018.

The following non-financial instruments were measured at fair value, on a nonrecurring basis, as of and for the year ended December 25, 2019 (in thousands):



			Fair Value Measurements Using
	Total		Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Impairment Losses
Certain ROU assets, net	$	6,196	$	—	$	—	$	6,196	$	3,220
Certain property and equipment, net	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	339

The following non-financial instruments were measured at fair value, on a nonrecurring basis, as of and for the year ended December 26, 2018 (in thousands):



			Fair Value Measurements Using
	Total		Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Impairment Losses
Certain property and equipment, net	$	449	$	—	$	—	$	449	$	5,147

The following non-financial instruments were measured at fair value, on a nonrecurring basis, as of and for the year ended December 27, 2017 (in thousands):



			Fair Value Measurements Using
	Total		Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Impairment Losses
Certain property and equipment, net	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	32,594

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

Stock Based Compensation

Stock-Based Compensation

Earnings per Share

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements

Recent Accounting Pronouncements Not Yet Adopted

Changes in Accounting Policies

Except for the changes below, the Company has consistently applied the accounting policies to all periods presented in these consolidated financial statements.

The Company adopted Topic 842 with a date of initial application of December 27, 2018. As a result, the Company has changed its accounting policy for leases as detailed below.

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 25, 2019

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Fair Value, Assets Measured on Recurring Basis [Table Text Block]

The following table presents fair value for the interest rate swap at December 25, 2019 (in thousands):



			Fair Value Measurements Using
	Fair Value		Level 1		Level 2		Level 3
Other assets - Interest rate swap	$	360	$	—	$	360	$	—

Summary of Estimated Useful Service Lives

Property and Equipment, Net

The estimated useful service lives are as follows:



Buildings	20 years
Land improvements	3—30 years
Building improvements	3—10 years
Restaurant equipment	3—10 years
Other equipment	2—10 years
Leasehold improvements	Shorter of useful life or lease term

The costs and related accumulated depreciation and amortization of major classes of property are as follows (in thousands):



	December 25, 2019			December 26, 2018
Land	$	12,323		$	12,323
Buildings and improvements	144,794			156,806
Other property and equipment	75,234			76,061
Construction in progress	4,213			2,989
	236,564			248,179
Less: accumulated depreciation and amortization	(144,786		)	(144,034		)
	$	91,778		$	104,145

Summary of Non-Financial Instruments Measured at Fair Value on Nonrecurring Basis

The following non-financial instruments were measured at fair value, on a nonrecurring basis, as of and for the year ended December 25, 2019 (in thousands):



			Fair Value Measurements Using
	Total		Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Impairment Losses
Certain ROU assets, net	$	6,196	$	—	$	—	$	6,196	$	3,220
Certain property and equipment, net	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	339

The following non-financial instruments were measured at fair value, on a nonrecurring basis, as of and for the year ended December 26, 2018 (in thousands):



			Fair Value Measurements Using
	Total		Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Impairment Losses
Certain property and equipment, net	$	449	$	—	$	—	$	449	$	5,147

The following non-financial instruments were measured at fair value, on a nonrecurring basis, as of and for the year ended December 27, 2017 (in thousands):



			Fair Value Measurements Using
	Total		Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Impairment Losses
Certain property and equipment, net	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	32,594

Impact of New Accounting Pronouncements

Property and Equipment (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 25, 2019

Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]

Schedule of Costs and Related Accumulated Depreciation and Amortization of Major Classes of Property

Property and Equipment, Net

The estimated useful service lives are as follows:



Buildings	20 years
Land improvements	3—30 years
Building improvements	3—10 years
Restaurant equipment	3—10 years
Other equipment	2—10 years
Leasehold improvements	Shorter of useful life or lease term

The costs and related accumulated depreciation and amortization of major classes of property are as follows (in thousands):



	December 25, 2019			December 26, 2018
Land	$	12,323		$	12,323
Buildings and improvements	144,794			156,806
Other property and equipment	75,234			76,061
Construction in progress	4,213			2,989
	236,564			248,179
Less: accumulated depreciation and amortization	(144,786		)	(144,034		)
	$	91,778		$	104,145

Trademarks, Other Intangible Assets and Liabilities (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 25, 2019

Goodwill and Intangible Assets Disclosure [Abstract]

Schedule of Domestic Trademarks

Domestic trademarks consist of the following (in thousands):



	December 25, 2019			December 26, 2018
Cost	$	120,700		$	120,700
Accumulated impairment charges	(58,812		)	(58,812		)
Trademarks, net	$	61,888		$	61,888

Schedule of Intangible Assets Subject to Amortization

Other intangible assets subject to amortization consist of the following (in thousands):



	December 25, 2019		December 26, 2018
Favorable leasehold interest	$	—	$	6,038
Less: accumulated amortization	—		(5,758		)
Total favorable leasehold interest, net	$	—	$	280
Unfavorable leasehold interest liability	$	—	$	(9,156	)
Less: accumulated amortization	—		8,514
Unfavorable leasehold interest liability, net	$	—	$	(642	)

Leases Leases (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 25, 2019

Operating Leased Assets [Line Items]

Lease, Cost [Table Text Block]

The following table presents the Company’s total lease cost at December 25, 2019, disaggregated by underlying asset (in thousands):



	Property Leases			Equipment Leases		Total
Finance lease cost:
Amortization of right-of-use assets	$	9		$	—	$	9
Interest on lease liabilities	27			—		27
Operating lease cost	26,212			1,273		27,485
Short-term lease cost	—			34		34
Variable lease cost	455			186		641
Sublease income	(2,430		)	—		(2,430		)
Total lease cost	$	24,273		$	1,493	$	25,766

The following table presents the Company’s total lease cost on the consolidated statement of operations (in thousands):



	December 25, 2019
Lease cost – Occupancy and other operating expenses	$	24,540
Lease cost – General & administrative	463
Lease cost – Depreciation and amortization	9
Lease cost – Interest expense	27
Lease cost - Closed-store reserve	727
Total lease cost, net	$	25,766

During the year ended December 25, 2019, the Company had the following cash and non-cash activities associated with its leases (in thousands):



	December 25, 2019
	Property Leases			Equipment Leases			Total
Cash paid for amounts included in the measurement of lease liabilities
Operating cash flows used for operating leases	$	25,168		$	1,282		$	26,450
Financing cash flows used for finance leases	$	(68	)	$	—		$	(68	)

Non-cash investing and financing activities:
Operating lease ROU assets obtained in exchange for lease liabilities:
Operating lease ROU assets	10,339			256			$	10,595
Derecognition of ROU assets due to terminations, impairment or modifications	(4,574		)	(157		)	$	(4,731	)

Operating lease ROU assets obtained and liabilities incurred as a result of adoption of ASC 842:
Operating lease ROU assets	$	200,555		$	4,668		$	205,223
Operating lease liabilities	$	217,615		$	4,668		$	222,283

Other Information
Weighted-average remaining lease term—finance leases	2.83			—
Weighted-average remaining lease term—operating leases	12.08			3.20
Weighted-average discount rate—finance leases	11.10		%	—
Weighted-average discount rate—operating leases	4.38		%	3.96		%

Schedule of Capital Leases

Information regarding the Company’s minimum future lease obligations at December 25, 2019 is as follows (in thousands):



	Finance Leases			Operating Leases
For the Years Ending	Minimum Lease Payments			Minimum Lease Payments			Minimum Sublease Income
December 30, 2020	$	54		$	26,808		$	2,754
December 29, 2021	54			25,978			2,887
December 28, 2022	45			24,871			3,284
December 27, 2023	—			22,309			3,318
December 25, 2024	—			19,751			3,203
Thereafter	—			139,454			27,265
Total	$	153		$	259,171		$	42,711
Less: imputed interest (3.96% to 11.1%)	(36		)	(45,273		)
Present value of capital lease obligations	117			213,898
Less: current maturities	(34		)	(16,406		)
Noncurrent portion	$	83		$	197,492

Information regarding the Company’s minimum future lease obligations at December 26, 2018 is as follows, under ASC 840 (in thousands):



	Capital Leases			Operating Leases
For the Years Ending	Minimum Lease Payments			Minimum Lease Payments		Minimum Sublease Income
December 25, 2019	$	95		$	25,388	$	1,443
December 30, 2020	54			24,437		1,108
December 29, 2021	54			23,342		1,078
December 28, 2022	45			22,338		1,001
December 27, 2023	—			20,634		989
Thereafter	—			150,342		2,612
Total	$	248		$	266,481	$	8,231
Less: imputed interest (11.0% to 11.1%)	(64		)
Present value of capital lease obligations	184
Less: current maturities	(68		)
Noncurrent portion	$	116

Schedule of Operating Leases

Information regarding the Company’s minimum future lease obligations at December 25, 2019 is as follows (in thousands):



	Finance Leases			Operating Leases
For the Years Ending	Minimum Lease Payments			Minimum Lease Payments			Minimum Sublease Income
December 30, 2020	$	54		$	26,808		$	2,754
December 29, 2021	54			25,978			2,887
December 28, 2022	45			24,871			3,284
December 27, 2023	—			22,309			3,318
December 25, 2024	—			19,751			3,203
Thereafter	—			139,454			27,265
Total	$	153		$	259,171		$	42,711
Less: imputed interest (3.96% to 11.1%)	(36		)	(45,273		)
Present value of capital lease obligations	117			213,898
Less: current maturities	(34		)	(16,406		)
Noncurrent portion	$	83		$	197,492

Information regarding the Company’s minimum future lease obligations at December 26, 2018 is as follows, under ASC 840 (in thousands):



	Capital Leases			Operating Leases
For the Years Ending	Minimum Lease Payments			Minimum Lease Payments		Minimum Sublease Income
December 25, 2019	$	95		$	25,388	$	1,443
December 30, 2020	54			24,437		1,108
December 29, 2021	54			23,342		1,078
December 28, 2022	45			22,338		1,001
December 27, 2023	—			20,634		989
Thereafter	—			150,342		2,612
Total	$	248		$	266,481	$	8,231
Less: imputed interest (11.0% to 11.1%)	(64		)
Present value of capital lease obligations	184
Less: current maturities	(68		)
Noncurrent portion	$	116

Current Credit Agreements Interest Rate Swap (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 25, 2019

Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities [Abstract]

Schedule of Derivative Instruments in Statement of Financial Position, Fair Value [Table Text Block]

The following table shows the financial statement line item and amount of the Company's cash flow hedge accounting on the consolidated balance sheet (in thousands):



	December 25, 2019
	Notional		Fair value
Other Assets - Interest rate swap	$	40,000	$	360

Schedule of Derivatives Instruments Statements of Financial Performance and Financial Position, Location [Table Text Block]

The following table summarizes the effect of the Company's cash flow hedge accounting on the consolidated statements of operations (in thousands):



	December 25, 2019			December 26, 2018
Interest expense on hedged portion of debt	$	461		$	—
Interest income on interest rate swap	(84		)	—
Interest expense on debt and derivatives, net	$	377		$	—

Schedule of Derivative Instruments, Effect on Other Comprehensive Income (Loss) [Table Text Block]

The following table summarizes the effect of the Company's cash flow hedge accounting on AOCI for the years ended December 25, 2019 and December 26, 2018 (in thousands):



	Gain Recognized in OCI			(Gain) Reclassified from AOCI into Interest expense
	December 25, 2019		December 26, 2018	December 25, 2019			December 26, 2018
Interest rate swap	$	430	—	$	(84	)	—

Other Accrued Expenses and Current Liabilities (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 25, 2019

Payables and Accruals [Abstract]

Schedule of Other Accrued Expenses and Current Liabilities

Other accrued expenses and current liabilities consist of the following (in thousands):



	December 25, 2019		December 26, 2018
Accrued sales and property taxes	$	4,665	$	5,016
Accrued legal settlements and professional fees	16,901		38,639
Gift card liability	3,006		2,512
Deferred franchise and development fees	705		369
Other ⁽¹⁾	3,320		5,228
Total other accrued expenses and current liabilities	$	28,597	$	51,764

Other Noncurrent Liabilities (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 25, 2019

Payables and Accruals [Abstract]

Schedule of Other Noncurrent Liabilities

Other noncurrent liabilities consist of the following (in thousands):



	December 25, 2019		December 26, 2018
Deferred rent ⁽¹⁾	$	—	$	10,660
Deferred franchise and development fees	5,612		5,224
Other ⁽²⁾	67		4,140
Total other noncurrent liabilities	$	5,679	$	20,024

Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 25, 2019

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Schedule of Provision for Income Taxes

The provision (benefit) for income taxes is based on the following components (in thousands):



For the Years Ended	December 25, 2019		December 26, 2018			December 27, 2017
Current income taxes:
Federal	$	—	$	—		$	—
State	104		220			250
Total current	104		220			250
Deferred income taxes:
Federal	5,991		(3,526		)	1,495
State	3,587		98			192
Total deferred	9,578		(3,428		)	1,687
Adjustment to deferred taxes for tax rate change	—		—			(1,440		)
Tax provision (benefit) for income taxes	$	9,682	$	(3,208	)	$	497

Schedule of Effective Income Tax rate

The provision for income taxes differs from the amount computed by applying the federal income tax rate of 21.0% for both fiscal 2019 and 2018 and 35.0% for fiscal 2017 as follows:



For the Years Ended	December 25, 2019		December 26, 2018		December 27, 2017
Statutory federal income tax rate applied to earnings before income taxes and extraordinary items	21.0	%	21.0	%	35.0	%
State tax benefit (net of federal benefit)	6.0		5.0		0.6
Change in valuation allowance	2.4		(6.9	)	10.9
TRA expense	—		1.3		(21.4	)
Revaluation of deferred taxes	—		—		(15.8	)
WOTC Credit	(0.8	)	3.3		(2.5	)
Stock option exercises	(1.0	)	2.1		—
Other	0.3		0.5		(1.3	)
Total	27.9	%	26.3	%	5.5	%

Schedule of Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities



	December 25, 2019			December 26, 2018
Deferred assets:
Capital leases	$	31		$	53
Accrued vacation	454			456
Accrued legal	4,434			10,343
Deferred rent	—			3,788
Accrued workers’ compensation	1,090			1,660
Enterprise zone and other credits	10,442			13,001
Net operating losses	1,814			6,260
Fixed assets	2,955			3,374
ROU assets	57,931			—
Other	4,698			5,239
Total deferred tax assets	83,849			44,174
Valuation allowance	(5,993		)	(5,149		)
Net deferred tax assets	77,856			39,025
Deferred liabilities:
Goodwill	(6,060		)	(6,229		)
Trademark	(16,745		)	(17,654		)
Prepaid expense	(791		)	(528		)
ROU liabilities	(52,056		)	—
Other	(167		)	(2,905		)
Deferred tax liabilities	(75,819		)	(27,316		)
Net deferred tax asset	$	2,037		$	11,709

Stock-Based Compensation (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 25, 2019

Disclosure of Compensation Related Costs, Share-based Payments [Abstract]

Changes in Stock Options

Changes in stock options for the years ended December 25, 2019 and December 26, 2018, are as follows:



	Shares		Weighted-Average Exercise Price
Outstanding - December 27, 2017	2,309,103		$	7.65
Grants	311,272		10.98
Exercised	(269,549	)	6.81
Forfeited, cancelled or expired	(248,422	)	12.46
Outstanding - December 26, 2018	2,102,404		7.68
Grants	323,900		11.51
Exercised	(234,728	)	6.18
Forfeited, cancelled or expired	(114,006	)	13.35
Outstanding - December 25, 2019	2,077,570		$	8.14
Vested and expected to vest at December 25, 2019	2,066,768		$	8.12
Exercisable at December 25, 2019	1,518,145		$	6.93

Stock Options By Range of Exercise Prices

Stock options at December 25, 2019 are summarized as follows:



Range of Exercise Prices	Number Outstanding		Weighted-Average Remaining Contractual Life (in Years)	Weighted- Average Exercise Price		Number Exercisable		Weighted-Average Exercise Price
$4.09	99,531		3.50	$	4.09	99,531		$	4.09
$5.84	1,159,366		2.55	5.84		1,159,366		$	5.84
$9.65 - $13.95	731,158		8.54	11.51		175,097		$	11.86
$15.00	87,515		4.78	15.00		84,151		$	15.00
$4.09 - $15.00	$	2,077,570	3.28	$	8.14	$	1,518,145	$	6.93

Schedule of Share-based Payment Award, Stock Options, Valuation Assumptions [Table Text Block]



	December 25, 2019		December 26, 2018
Expected volatility	28.7	%	28.4	%
Risk-free interest rate	2.3	%	2.9	%
Expected term (years)	6.25		6.25
Expected dividends	—		—

Schedule of Changes in Restricted Shares

Changes in restricted shares for the years ended December 25, 2019 and December 26, 2018, are as follows:



	Shares		Weighted-Average Fair Value
Unvested shares at December 27, 2017	196,642		$	13.70
Granted	395,880		$	10.22
Released	(45,991	)	$	13.86
Forfeited, cancelled, or expired	(55,831	)	$	13.42
Unvested shares at December 26, 2018	490,700		$	10.91
Granted	299,052		$	11.62
Released	(147,862	)	$	10.73
Forfeited, cancelled, or expired	(53,882	)	$	11.81
Unvested shares at December 25, 2019	588,008		$	11.23

Earnings Per Share (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 25, 2019

Earnings Per Share [Abstract]

Computation of Basic and Diluted Net Income per Share

Below are basic and diluted EPS data for the periods indicated, which are in thousands except for per share data.



For the Years Ended	December 25, 2019		December 26, 2018			December 27, 2017
Numerator:
Net income (loss)	$	24,900	$	(8,994	)	$	8,619
Denominator:
Weighted-average shares outstanding—Basic	36,739,209		38,574,553			38,453,347
Weighted-average shares outstanding—Diluted	37,441,503		38,574,553			39,086,676
Net income (loss) per share—Basic	$	0.68	$	(0.23	)	$	0.22
Net income (loss) per share—Diluted	$	0.67	$	(0.23	)	$	0.22
Anti-dilutive securities not considered in diluted EPS calculation	526,295		2,593,104			747,985

Schedule of Reconciliation of Basic and Diluted Share Counts

Below is a reconciliation of basic and diluted share counts.



For the Years Ended	December 25, 2019	December 26, 2018	December 27, 2017
Weighted-average shares outstanding—Basic	36,739,209	38,574,553	38,453,347
Dilutive effect of stock options and restricted shares	702,294	—	633,329
Weighted-average shares outstanding—Diluted	37,441,503	38,574,553	39,086,676

Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 25, 2019

Revenue from Contract with Customer [Abstract]

Disaggregation of Revenue

The following table presents our revenues for the years ended December 25, 2019 and December 26, 2018 disaggregated by revenue source and market (in thousands):



	December 25, 2019		December 26, 2018
Core Market⁽¹⁾:
Company-operated restaurant revenue	$	351,624	$	340,421
Franchise revenue	14,918		14,144
Franchise advertising fee revenue	11,049		10,831
Total core market	$	377,591	$	365,396
Non-Core Market⁽²⁾:
Company-operated restaurant revenue	$	39,488	$	48,414
Franchise revenue	13,901		11,627
Franchise advertising fee revenue	11,350		10,391
Total non-core market	$	64,739	$	70,432
Total revenue	$	442,330	$	435,828

The following table presents our revenues disaggregated by geographic market for the years ended December 25, 2019 and December 26, 2018:



	December 25, 2019		December 26, 2018
Greater Los Angeles area market	70.5	%	69.2	%
Other markets	29.5	%	30.8	%
Total	100	%	100	%

Schedule of Change in Franchise Contract Liability Balances

The following table provides information about the change in the franchise contract liability balances during the year ended December 25, 2019 and December 26, 2018 (in thousands):



December 27, 2017	$	5,759
Revenue recognized - beginning balance	(396		)
Additional contract liability	365
Revenue recognized - additional contract liability	(135		)
December 26, 2018	$	5,593
Revenue recognized - beginning balance	(441		)
Additional contract liability	1,457
Revenue recognized - additional contract liability	(292		)
December 25, 2019	$	6,317

Schedule of Estimated Revenue to be Recognized Related to Performance Obligations

The following table illustrates the estimated revenue to be recognized in the future related to performance obligations that are unsatisfied as of December 25, 2019:



Franchise revenues (in thousands):
2020	$	705
2021	515
2022	434
2023	420
2024	406
Thereafter	3,837
Total	$	6,317

Quarterly Results of Operations (Unaudited) (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 25, 2019

Quarterly Financial Information Disclosure [Abstract]

Schedule of Quarterly Financial Information

QUARTERLY RESULTS OF OPERATIONS (UNAUDITED)

QUARTERLY FINANCIAL INFORMATION (UNAUDITED)



	2019				2018
(Dollar amounts in thousands, except share data)	December	September	June	March	December				September	June		March
Selected Financial Data
Total revenue ($)	107,546	112,067	113,740	108,977	106,261				112,178	111,633		105,756
Income (loss) from operations ($)	5,336	10,118	20,580	2,292	(30,990	)	(4	)	9,492	7,589		4,448
Provision (benefit) for income taxes ($)	728	2,940	5,665	349	(8,410	)			2,388	865		1,949
Net income (loss) ($)	3,498	6,402	14,087	913	(23,410	)	(4	)	6,835	5,052		2,529
Per Share Data (2):
Net income (loss) per share:
Basic	0.10	0.18	0.37	0.02	-0.60				0.18	0.13		0.07
Diluted	0.10	0.18	0.37	0.02	-0.60				0.17	0.13		0.06
Weighted average shares used in computing net income per share:
Basic	34,503,722	35,859,502	37,939,912	38,633,702	38,751,522				38,602,658	38,482,074		38,465,208
Diluted	35,242,122	36,397,368	38,580,722	39,496,436	38,751,522		(3)		39,205,090	39,043,434		38,987,351
Selected Operating Data
Number of restaurants (at period end)
Company-operated	195	201	200	211	213				212	211		212
Franchised	287	284	284	273	271				271	269		268
System-wide	482	485	484	484	484				483	480		480
Average unit volume (AUV) (company-operated) (1)	1,931	1,978	1,934	1,838	1,785				1,891	1,890		1,791
Comparable restaurant sales growth (%)
Company-operated	4.3	1.6	0.4	1.5	3.7				2.0	(1.6	)	(2.0	)
Franchised	3.6	0.6	0.9	3.2	5.1				3.0	(0.3	)	(0.4	)
System-wide	3.9	1.1	0.7	2.4	4.4				2.6	(0.9	)	(1.1	)


(1)	AUVs consist of average annualized sales of all company-operated restaurants over the fiscal quarter.


(2)	Due to the use of weighted average shares outstanding for each quarter of computing earnings per share, the sum of the quarterly per share amounts may not equal the per share amount for the year.


(3)	Due to a loss for the period, zero incremental shares are included because the effect would be antidilutive.


(4)	Loss from operations and net loss includes a $36.3 million legal settlement in the period.

Description of Business - Additional Information (Details)		12 Months Ended
	Dec. 11, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 25, 2019 USD ($) restaurant segment shares	Dec. 26, 2018 USD ($) restaurant shares	Sep. 25, 2019 restaurant	Jun. 26, 2019 restaurant	May 17, 2019 USD ($)	Mar. 27, 2019 restaurant	Sep. 26, 2018 restaurant	Aug. 28, 2018 USD ($)	Jun. 27, 2018 restaurant	Mar. 28, 2018 restaurant
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Number of restaurants \| restaurant		4	4
Number of operating segments \| segment		1
Value of shares repurchased		$ 48,382,000	$ 981,000
Philippines
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Number of restaurants \| restaurant		1
Company-operated
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Number of restaurants \| restaurant		195	213	201	200		211	212		211	212
Company-operated \| The Greater Los Angeles Area
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Number of restaurants \| restaurant		143
Franchised
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Number of restaurants \| restaurant		287	271	284	284		273	271		269	268
Franchised \| The Greater Los Angeles Area
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Number of restaurants \| restaurant		136
2018 Stock Repurchase Plan [Domain]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Authorized amount under share repurchase agreement									$ 20,000,000.0
Number of shares repurchased (shares) \| shares		1,558,836	66,409
Value of shares repurchased		$ 18,400,000	$ 1,000,000
2019 Stock Repurchase Plan [Domain]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Authorized amount under share repurchase agreement						$ 30,000,000.0
Number of shares repurchased (shares) \| shares		2,836,768
Value of shares repurchased		$ 30,000,000
2018 Credit Agreement
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Senior secured revolving facility	$ 150,000,000
Senior secured revolving facility term	5 years
Revolving Credit Facility \| 2018 Credit Agreement
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Maximum annual repurchase or redemption of qualified entity interests		1,000,000
Restrictive covenants, maximum annual repurchase, redemption or acquired equity interests, up to		500,000
Maximum annual payment for stock option plans, employment agreements and incentive plans		2,500,000
Maximum annual payment for other restricted payments		$ 5,000,000
Maximum leverage ratio		4.25
Chicken Acquisition Corp
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Ownership interest		47.70%

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies - Additional Information (Details)				2 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Jul. 13, 2018 USD ($)	Jul. 30, 2014	Jul. 11, 2014 restaurant	Mar. 06, 2020 USD ($)	Dec. 25, 2019 USD ($) restaurant supplier franchisee	Dec. 26, 2018 USD ($) restaurant supplier	Dec. 27, 2017 USD ($) restaurant	Sep. 25, 2019 restaurant	Jun. 26, 2019 restaurant	Mar. 27, 2019 restaurant	Sep. 26, 2018 restaurant	Jun. 27, 2018 restaurant	Mar. 28, 2018 restaurant	Dec. 28, 2017 USD ($)	Dec. 28, 2016 USD ($)
Basis Of Presentation And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Unrecognized Tax Benefits, Income Tax Penalties Accrued					$ 0	$ 0	$ 0
Lessee, Operating Lease, Term of Contract					20 years
Proceeds from disposition of restaurants					$ 4,770,000	0	0
Gain (Loss) on Disposition of Business					(5,058,000)	0	0
Revolver loan					97,000,000	74,000,000
Cash available					$ 8,070,000	$ 6,969,000	8,550,000								$ 2,168,000
Number of restaurants closed \| restaurant					1	7
Capitalized internal cost					$ 1,100,000	$ 1,300,000	1,900,000
Capitalized internal interest cost					100,000	200,000	200,000
Asset impairment charges					$ 3,559,000	$ 5,147,000	32,594,000
Number of Restaurants Sold \| restaurant					4
Number of restaurants \| restaurant					4	4
Transaction costs	$ 800,000
Amortization expense for deferred financing costs					$ 251,000	$ 280,000	304,000
Accrued insurance					9,440,000	7,076,000
Expense for payroll and benefits reserves					9,600,000	8,000,000	6,800,000
Promotional allowances amount					8,000,000	8,800,000	8,900,000
Revenue allocated to loyalty points not redeemed					$ 1,100,000	1,000,000
Loyalty rewards program, expected loyalty points redemption period					1 year
Advertising expense					$ 16,100,000	16,098,347	15,500,000
Accrued advertising					500,000	300,000
Advertising cost included in accounts receivable and current assets					0
Recovery of securities lawsuits related legal expenses					10,000,000	8,356,000	1,666,000
Unrecognized tax benefits, accrual of interest or penalties					0	0
Unrecognized tax benefits, interest or penalties expenses					0	0	0
Percentage of cash savings in taxes realized as a result of utilizing net operating losses payable to pre-IPO stockholders		85.00%
Charge relating to present value of total expected TRA payments					8,200,000	13,900,000
Payments to pre-IPO stockholders under TRA					5,764,000	$ 7,272,000	$ 11,109,000
Impairment of assets					$ 3,600,000
Number of restaurants that failed impairment testing \| restaurant					1	4	23
Number of commitments to open franchised restaurants \| restaurant					44
Operating lease obligations					$ 259,171,000	$ 266,481,000
Closed-store reserves					$ 0	$ 4,503,000	$ 1,051,000
Minimum
Basis Of Presentation And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Percentage of monthly franchise fee					4.00%
Revenue, Remaining Performance Obligation, Expected Timing of Satisfaction, Explanation					10 years
Maximum
Basis Of Presentation And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Percentage of monthly franchise fee					5.00%
Revenue, Remaining Performance Obligation, Expected Timing of Satisfaction, Explanation					20 years
Franchised
Basis Of Presentation And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Number of restaurants \| restaurant					287	271		284	284	273	271	269	268
Advertising fees					$ 22,400,000	$ 21,200,000	20,500,000
Interest Expense
Basis Of Presentation And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Amortization expense for deferred financing costs					300,000	280,240	304,235
General and Administrative Expense
Basis Of Presentation And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Abandoned site and other site selection costs					100,000	300,000	500,000
Preopening costs					400,000	800,000	$ 2,000,000
closed store [Member]
Basis Of Presentation And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Operating Lease, Expense					1,300,000
Other Assets
Basis Of Presentation And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Deferred financing fees net of accumulated amortization					$ 800,000	$ 1,100,000
Supplier Concentration Risk
Basis Of Presentation And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Number Of Suppliers \| supplier					1	1
Revenue \| Geographic Concentration Risk
Basis Of Presentation And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Percentage of concentration					100.00%	100.00%
Accounts Receivable
Basis Of Presentation And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Percentage of concentration					10.00%	40.00%
Number of Franchisees					1	2
Supplier One \| Accounts Payable \| Supplier Concentration Risk
Basis Of Presentation And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Percentage of concentration					11.70%
Supplier Two \| Accounts Payable \| Supplier Concentration Risk
Basis Of Presentation And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Percentage of concentration						36.00%
Largest Supplier One \| Purchased \| Supplier Concentration Risk
Basis Of Presentation And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Percentage of concentration					29.00%	28.80%	29.30%
Texas
Basis Of Presentation And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Number of restaurants closed \| restaurant					2	2	4
Asset impairment charges						$ 27,700,000
Number of Restaurants Sold \| restaurant					5
CALIFORNIA
Basis Of Presentation And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Number of restaurants closed \| restaurant					2
Number of Restaurants Sold \| restaurant					4
Number of restaurants					4
Greater Los Angeles area market \| Franchised
Basis Of Presentation And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Number of restaurants \| restaurant					136
Greater Los Angeles area market \| Revenue \| Geographic Concentration Risk
Basis Of Presentation And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Percentage of concentration					70.50%	69.20%	72.90%
Phoenix [Member]
Basis Of Presentation And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Number of Restaurants Sold \| restaurant					7
Franchise Development Initial Option Agreement \| Limited Liability Company
Basis Of Presentation And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Number of restaurants \| restaurant			15
Number of years available under plan			5 years
Franchise Development Additional Option Agreement \| Limited Liability Company
Basis Of Presentation And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Number of restaurants \| restaurant			100
Number of years available under plan			10 years
Franchise Development Agreement \| Limited Liability Company
Basis Of Presentation And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Related party agreement, termination period			10 years
2018 Credit Agreement
Basis Of Presentation And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Amount of borrowings available					$ 44,600,000
Accounting Standards Update 2014-09
Basis Of Presentation And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Cumulative effect of adjustment resulted in an increase in accumulated deficit						$ (3,467,000)
Retained Earnings \| Accounting Standards Update 2014-09
Basis Of Presentation And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Cumulative effect of adjustment resulted in an increase in accumulated deficit						(3,467,000)								$ 3,500,000
Subsequent Event
Basis Of Presentation And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Loss Contingency Accrual, Payments				$ 16,300,000
Subsequent Event \| 2018 Credit Agreement
Basis Of Presentation And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Prepayment for long-term line of credit				$ 10,000,000
Fair Value, Measurements, Nonrecurring
Basis Of Presentation And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Impairment of assets					$ 339,000	$ 5,147,000	$ 32,594,000
Impaired Long-Lived Assets Held and Used, Asset Name [Domain]
Basis Of Presentation And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Number of restaurants \| restaurant					1
Hardware Services [Member]
Basis Of Presentation And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Revenue, Remaining Performance Obligation, Amount					$ 0
Franchise Rights [Member]
Basis Of Presentation And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Finite-Lived Intangible Asset, Useful Life					20 years
Finite-Lived Intangible Asset, Useful Life Renewal Period					20 years

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies - Property and Equipment Owned, Net (Details)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 25, 2019
Buildings
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Estimated useful service lives	20 years
Land improvements \| Minimum
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Estimated useful service lives	3 years
Land improvements \| Maximum
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Estimated useful service lives	30 years
Building improvements \| Minimum
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Estimated useful service lives	3 years
Building improvements \| Maximum
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Estimated useful service lives	10 years
Restaurant equipment \| Minimum
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Estimated useful service lives	3 years
Restaurant equipment \| Maximum
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Estimated useful service lives	10 years
Other equipment \| Minimum
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Estimated useful service lives	2 years
Other equipment \| Maximum
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Estimated useful service lives	10 years

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies - Fair Value Measurements (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 25, 2019	Dec. 26, 2018	Dec. 27, 2017
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Property and equipment, net	$ 91,778	$ 104,145
Operating Lease, Impairment Loss	(4,731)
Impairment of Right-of-Use Assets	3,220
Impairment Losses	3,600
Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring [Member] \| Level 1
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Derivative Asset, Fair Value, Gross Asset	0
Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring [Member] \| Level 2
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Derivative Asset, Fair Value, Gross Asset	360
Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring [Member] \| Level 3
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Derivative Asset, Fair Value, Gross Asset	0
Fair Value, Measurements, Nonrecurring
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Property and equipment, net	0	449	$ 0
Right-of-Use Assets, Net	6,196
Impairment Losses	339	5,147	32,594
Fair Value, Measurements, Nonrecurring \| Level 1
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Property and equipment, net	0	0	0
Right-of-Use Assets, Net	0
Fair Value, Measurements, Nonrecurring \| Level 2
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Property and equipment, net	0	0	0
Right-of-Use Assets, Net	0
Fair Value, Measurements, Nonrecurring \| Level 3
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Property and equipment, net	0	$ 449	$ 0
Right-of-Use Assets, Net	$ 6,196

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies - Summary of Impact on Balance Sheet of New Accounting Pronouncements (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Dec. 25, 2019	Dec. 26, 2018	Dec. 27, 2017	Dec. 28, 2016
Assets
Total assets	$ 624,752	$ 450,226
Current assets:
Deferred tax assets	3,709	11,709
Current liabilities:
Other accrued expenses and current liabilities	28,597	51,764
Total current liabilities	73,959	82,903
Other noncurrent liabilities	5,679	20,024
Total liabilities	379,186	184,990
Accumulated deficit	(85,988)	(110,888)
Total stockholders' equity	245,566	265,236	$ 274,950	$ 265,182
Total liabilities and stockholder’s equity	$ 624,752	$ 450,226

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies - Summary of Impact on Statement of Operations from Adoption of New Accounting Pronouncements (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 25, 2019	Sep. 25, 2019	Jun. 26, 2019	Mar. 27, 2019	Dec. 26, 2018	Sep. 26, 2018	Jun. 27, 2018	Mar. 28, 2018	Dec. 25, 2019	Dec. 26, 2018	Dec. 27, 2017
Revenue
Company-operated restaurant revenue	$ 107,546	$ 112,067	$ 113,740	$ 108,977	$ 106,261	$ 112,178	$ 111,633	$ 105,756	$ 442,330	$ 435,828	$ 401,701
Cost of operations
Franchise expenses									27,612	24,429	3,335
Total expenses									404,004	445,289	394,877
Loss from operations	5,336	10,118	20,580	2,292	(30,990)	9,492	7,589	4,448	38,326	(9,461)	6,824
Loss before provision for income taxes									34,582	(12,202)	9,116
Net income (loss)	$ 3,498	$ 6,402	$ 14,087	$ 913	$ (23,410)	$ 6,835	$ 5,052	$ 2,529	24,900	(8,994)	8,619
Franchise revenue
Revenue
Company-operated restaurant revenue									28,819	25,771	25,086
Franchise advertising fee revenue
Revenue
Company-operated restaurant revenue									$ 22,399	$ 21,222	$ 0

Property and Equipment - Schedule of Costs and Related Accumulated Depreciation and Amortization of Major Classes of Property (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Dec. 25, 2019	Dec. 26, 2018
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Property and equipment, gross	$ 236,564	$ 248,179
Less: accumulated depreciation and amortization	(144,786)	(144,034)
Property and equipment, net	91,778	104,145
Land
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Property and equipment, gross	12,323	12,323
Buildings and improvements
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Property and equipment, gross	144,794	156,806
Other property and equipment
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Property and equipment, gross	75,234	76,061
Construction in progress
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Property and equipment, gross	$ 4,213	$ 2,989

Property and Equipment - Additional Information (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 25, 2019	Dec. 26, 2018	Dec. 27, 2017
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Long-lived assets, non-cash impairment charges	$ 3,559	$ 5,147	$ 32,594
Depreciation expense	17,900	$ 17,800	$ 18,100
Impaired Long-Lived Assets Held and Used, Asset Name [Domain]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Long-lived assets, non-cash impairment charges	$ 300

Trademarks, Other Intangible Assets and Liabilities - Schedule of Domestic Trademarks (Details) - Trademarks - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Dec. 25, 2019	Dec. 26, 2018
Indefinite-lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Cost	$ 120,700	$ 120,700
Accumulated impairment charges	(58,812)	(58,812)
Trademarks, net	$ 61,888	$ 61,888

Trademarks, Other Intangible Assets and Liabilities - Schedule of Intangible Assets Subject to Amortization (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Dec. 25, 2019	Dec. 26, 2018
Favorable Leasehold Interest
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Favorable leasehold interest	$ 0	$ 6,038
Less: accumulated amortization	0	(5,758)
Total favorable leasehold interest, net	0	280
Unfavorable leasehold interest liability
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Unfavorable leasehold interest liability	0	(9,156)
Less: accumulated amortization	0	8,514
Unfavorable leasehold interest liability, net	$ 0	$ (642)

Trademarks, Other Intangible Assets and Liabilities - Additional Information (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 25, 2019	Dec. 26, 2018
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Amortization expense	$ 0.1	$ 0.1

Leases Leases (Details)	12 Months Ended
Leases Leases (Details)	Dec. 25, 2019 USD ($) restaurant lease	Dec. 26, 2018 USD ($) restaurant	Dec. 27, 2017 USD ($)	Dec. 27, 2018 USD ($)
Lessee, Lease, Description [Line Items]
Operating Lease, Lease Income	$ 500,000	$ 517,000	$ 489,000
Capital Leases, Future Minimum Payments Due, Next Twelve Months	54,000	95,000
Operating Lease, Payments	26,450,000
Finance Lease, Principal Payments	(68,000)
Finance Lease, Right-of-Use Asset, Amortization	9,000
Operating Lease, Right-of-Use Asset	192,395,000	$ 0		$ 205,223,000
Operating Lease, Liability	$ 213,898,000			222,283,000
Number Of Finance Leases	1
Number of Restaurants with lease modification	11
Right-of-Use Asset Obtained in Exchange for Operating Lease Liability	$ 10,595,000
Operating Lease, Impairment Loss	(4,731,000)
Impairment of Right-of-Use Assets	$ 3,220,000
Number of Restaurants Sold \| restaurant	4
Number Of Restaurant Closed \| restaurant	1	7
Finance Lease, Interest Expense	$ 27,000
Operating Lease, Cost	27,485,000
Short-term Lease, Cost	34,000
Variable Lease, Cost	641,000
Sublease Income	(2,430,000)
Lease, Cost	25,766,000
Operating Leases, Future Minimum Payments Due, Next Twelve Months	26,808,000	$ 25,388,000
Operating Leases, Future Minimum Payments Due, Future Minimum Sublease Rentals, Next Twelve Months	2,754,000	1,443,000
Capital Leases, Future Minimum Payments Due in Two Years	54,000	54,000
Operating Leases, Future Minimum Payments, Due in Two Years	25,978,000	24,437,000
Operating Leases, Future Minimum Payments Due, Future Minimum Sublease Rentals, within Two Years	2,887,000	1,108,000
Capital Leases, Future Minimum Payments Due in Three Years	45,000	54,000
Operating Leases, Future Minimum Payments, Due in Three Years	24,871,000	23,342,000
Operating Leases, Future Minimum Payments Due, Future Minimum Sublease Rentals, within Three Years	3,284,000	1,078,000
Capital Leases, Future Minimum Payments Due in Four Years	0	45,000
Operating Leases, Future Minimum Payments, Due in Four Years	22,309,000	22,338,000
Operating Leases, Future Minimum Payments Due, Future Minimum Sublease Rentals, within Four Years	3,318,000	1,001,000
Capital Leases, Future Minimum Payments Due in Five Years	0	0
Operating Leases, Future Minimum Payments, Due in Five Years	19,751,000	20,634,000
Operating Leases, Future Minimum Payments Due, Future Minimum Sublease Rentals, within Five Years	3,203,000	989,000
Capital Leases, Future Minimum Payments Due Thereafter	0	0
Operating Leases, Future Minimum Payments, Due Thereafter	139,454,000	150,342,000
Operating Leases, Future Minimum Payments Due, Future Minimum Sublease Rentals, Thereafter	27,265,000	2,612,000
Capital Leases, Future Minimum Payments Due	153,000	248,000
Operating Leases, Future Minimum Payments Due	259,171,000	266,481,000
Operating Leases, Future Minimum Payments Due, Future Minimum Sublease Rentals	42,711,000	8,231,000
Capital Leases, Future Minimum Payments, Interest Included in Payments	36,000	64,000
Lessee, Operating Lease, Liability, Undiscounted Excess Amount	(45,273,000)
Capital Leases, Future Minimum Payments, Present Value of Net Minimum Payments	117,000	184,000
Current portion of obligations under finance leases	34,000	68,000
Operating Lease, Liability, Current	16,406,000	0
Obligations under finance leases, net of current portion	83,000	116,000
Obligations under operating leases, net of current portion	$ 197,492,000	$ 0
Lease Not Yet Commenced [Member]
Lessee, Lease, Description [Line Items]
Number Of Leases \| lease	1
Property Lease [Member]
Lessee, Lease, Description [Line Items]
Operating Lease, Payments	$ 25,168,000
Finance Lease, Principal Payments	(68,000)
Finance Lease, Right-of-Use Asset, Amortization	9,000
Right-of-Use Asset Obtained in Exchange for Operating Lease Liability	10,339,000
Finance Lease, Interest Expense	27,000
Operating Lease, Cost	26,212,000
Short-term Lease, Cost	0
Variable Lease, Cost	455,000
Sublease Income	(2,430,000)
Lease, Cost	$ 24,273,000
Finance Lease, Weighted Average Remaining Lease Term	2 years 10 months
Operating Lease, Weighted Average Remaining Lease Term	12 years 1 month
Finance Lease, Weighted Average Discount Rate, Percent	11.10%
Operating Lease, Weighted Average Discount Rate, Percent	4.38%
Equipment Lease [Member]
Lessee, Lease, Description [Line Items]
Operating Lease, Payments	$ 1,282,000
Finance Lease, Principal Payments	0
Right-of-Use Asset Obtained in Exchange for Operating Lease Liability	256,000
Operating Lease, Impairment Loss	(157,000)
Operating Lease, Cost	1,273,000
Short-term Lease, Cost	34,000
Variable Lease, Cost	186,000
Sublease Income	0
Lease, Cost	$ 1,493,000
Operating Lease, Weighted Average Remaining Lease Term	3 years 2 months 12 days
Finance Lease, Weighted Average Discount Rate, Percent	0.00%
Operating Lease, Weighted Average Discount Rate, Percent	3.96%
Property lease modification [Member]
Lessee, Lease, Description [Line Items]
Right-of-Use Asset Obtained in Exchange for Operating Lease Liability	$ 4,700,000
Operating Lease, Impairment Loss	(4,574,000)
Restructuring Charges [Member]
Lessee, Lease, Description [Line Items]
Lease, Cost	727,000
Interest Expense [Member]
Lessee, Lease, Description [Line Items]
Lease, Cost	27,000
Depreciation and amortization [Member]
Lessee, Lease, Description [Line Items]
Lease, Cost	9,000
Operating Expense [Member]
Lessee, Lease, Description [Line Items]
Lease, Cost	24,540,000
General and Administrative Expense [Member]
Lessee, Lease, Description [Line Items]
Lease, Cost	$ 463,000
Accounting Standards Update 2016-02 [Member] \| Property Lease [Member]
Lessee, Lease, Description [Line Items]
Operating Lease, Right-of-Use Asset				200,555,000
Operating Lease, Liability				217,615,000
Accounting Standards Update 2016-02 [Member] \| Equipment Lease [Member]
Lessee, Lease, Description [Line Items]
Operating Lease, Right-of-Use Asset				4,668,000
Operating Lease, Liability				$ 4,668,000
Maximum [Member]
Lessee, Lease, Description [Line Items]
Lessor, Operating Lease, Term of Contract	20 years
Capital Leases of Lessee, Contingent Rentals, Basis Spread on Variable Rate	11.10%
Minimum [Member]
Lessee, Lease, Description [Line Items]
Lessor, Operating Lease, Term of Contract	3 years
Capital Leases of Lessee, Contingent Rentals, Basis Spread on Variable Rate	11.00%

Current Credit Agreements - Additional Information (Details)		12 Months Ended
	Dec. 11, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 25, 2019 USD ($)	Dec. 26, 2018 USD ($)	Dec. 27, 2017 USD ($)
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Unrealized gains arising during the period from interest rate swap		$ 430,000	$ 0
Reclassifications of gains into net income		(84,000)	0
Proceeds from (Repayments of) Lines of Credit		23,000,000	(20,000,000)
Repayments of Lines of Credit		19,000,000	33,000,000	$ 19,000,000
Cash Flow Hedge Gain (Loss) to be Reclassified within Twelve Months		0
Interest Income (Expense), Net		$ (3,687,000)	(3,502,000)	(3,278,000)
Minimum
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt instrument, interest rate		3.20%
Maximum
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt instrument, interest rate		6.00%
Federal Funds Rate
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt instrument basis percentage		0.50%
LIBOR
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt instrument basis percentage		1.00%
LIBOR \| Minimum
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt instrument basis percentage		1.25%
LIBOR \| Maximum
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt instrument basis percentage		2.25%
Base Rate \| Minimum
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt instrument basis percentage		0.25%
Base Rate \| Maximum
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt instrument basis percentage		1.25%
Senior Secured Revolving Credit Facility
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal payments prior to maturity		$ 0
Credit Agreement Two Thousand Fourteen [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest Expense, Debt			$ 3,000,000	$ 2,700,000
Debt instrument, interest rate			4.00%
Credit Agreement Two Thousand Fourteen [Member] \| Minimum
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt instrument, interest rate			3.30%
Credit Agreement Two Thousand Fourteen [Member] \| Maximum
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt instrument, interest rate			4.00%
Credit Agreement Two Thousand Fourteen [Member] \| Senior Secured Revolving Credit Facility
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt Instrument, Periodic Payment On New Borrowings			$ 13,000,000
2018 Credit Agreement
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest Expense, Debt		$ 3,100,000
Senior secured revolving facility	$ 150,000,000
Senior secured revolving facility term	5 years
Debt instrument, interest rate		3.20%
Letters of credit outstanding		$ 8,400,000
Revolving line of credit		97,000,000
Amount of borrowings available		44,600,000
2018 Credit Agreement \| Letter of Credit
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Sub limit of revolving facility	$ 15,000,000
2018 Credit Agreement \| Swing Line Loans
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Sub limit of revolving facility	$ 15,000,000
2018 Credit Agreement \| Senior Secured Revolving Credit Facility
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt Instrument, Restrictive Covenants, Maximum Annual Repurchase or Redemption of Qualified Entity Interests		1,000,000
Debt Instrument, Restrictive Covenants, Maximum Annual Redemption, Repurchase, Acquired Equity Interests		500,000
Debt Instrument, Restrictive Covenants, Maximum Annual Payment For Stock Option Plans, Employment Agreements and Incentive Plans		2,500,000
Debt Instrument, Restrictive Covenants, Maximum Annual Payment For Other Restricted Payments		$ 5,000,000
Debt Instrument, Covenant Description, Maximum Leverage Ratio		4.25
Interest Rate Swap [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest Expense, Debt		$ 461,000	0
Reclassifications of gains into net income		(84,000)	0
Derivative Asset, Notional Amount		$ 40,000,000
Derivative, Swaption Interest Rate		2.81%
Interest Income (Expense), Net		$ 377,000	$ 0

Other Accrued Expenses and Current Liabilities - Schedule of Other Accrued Expenses and Current Liabilities (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Dec. 25, 2019	Dec. 26, 2018
Payables and Accruals [Abstract]
Accrued sales and property taxes	$ 4,665	$ 5,016
Accrued legal settlements and professional fees	16,901	38,639
Gift card liability	3,006	2,512
Deferred Franchise and Development Fees, current	705	369
Other (1)	3,320	5,228
Total other accrued expenses and current liabilities	$ 28,597	$ 51,764

Other Noncurrent Liabilities - Schedule of Other Noncurrent Liabilities (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Dec. 25, 2019	Dec. 26, 2018
Payables and Accruals [Abstract]
Deferred rent (1)	$ 0	$ 10,660
Deferred franchise and development fees	5,612	5,224
Other (2)	67	4,140
Total other noncurrent liabilities	$ 5,679	$ 20,024

Income Taxes - Schedule of Provision for Income Taxes (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 25, 2019	Sep. 25, 2019	Jun. 26, 2019	Mar. 27, 2019	Dec. 26, 2018	Sep. 26, 2018	Jun. 27, 2018	Mar. 28, 2018	Dec. 25, 2019	Dec. 26, 2018	Dec. 27, 2017
Current income taxes:
Federal									$ 0	$ 0	$ 0
State									104	220	250
Total current									104	220	250
Deferred income taxes:
Federal									5,991	(3,526)	1,495
State									3,587	98	192
Total deferred									9,578	(3,428)	1,687
Adjustment to deferred taxes for tax rate change									0	0	(1,440)
Tax provision (benefit) for income taxes	$ 728	$ 2,940	$ 5,665	$ 349	$ (8,410)	$ 2,388	$ 865	$ 1,949	$ 9,682	$ (3,208)	$ 497

Income Taxes - Schedule of Effective Income Tax Rate (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 25, 2019	Dec. 26, 2018	Dec. 27, 2017
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]
Statutory federal income tax rate applied to earnings before income taxes and extraordinary items	21.00%	21.00%	35.00%
Change in tax rate, decrease in deferred tax liability			$ 13.5
State tax benefit (net of federal benefit)	6.00%	5.00%	0.60%
Change in valuation allowance	2.40%	(6.90%)	10.90%
TRA expense	0.00%	1.30%	(21.40%)
Revaluation of deferred taxes	0.00%	0.00%	(15.80%)
WOTC Credit	(0.80%)	3.30%	(2.50%)
Stock option exercises	(1.00%)	2.10%	0.00%
Other	0.30%	0.50%	(1.30%)
Total	27.90%	26.30%	5.50%

Income Taxes - Additional Information (Details) - USD ($)		12 Months Ended
	Jul. 30, 2014	Dec. 25, 2019	Dec. 26, 2018	Dec. 27, 2017
Investments, Owned, Federal Income Tax Note [Line Items]
Unrecognized Tax Benefits		$ 0	$ 0	$ 0
Change in tax rate, decrease in deferred tax asset				12,100,000
Net benefit to deferred income tax expense		0	0	1,440,000
Valuation allowance		5,993,000	5,149,000	4,300,000
Increase in valuation allowance		900,000
Percentage of cash savings in taxes realized as a result of utilizing net operating losses payable to pre-IPO stockholders	85.00%
TRA tax expense (benefit)		100,000	800,000	(5,600,000)
Payments to pre-IPO stockholders under TRA		5,764,000	7,272,000	11,109,000
Deferred tax asset credit		10,442,000	13,001,000
Unrecognized Tax Benefits, Interest on Income Taxes Accrued		0	0	0
Unrecognized Tax Benefits, Income Tax Penalties Accrued		0	0	$ 0
Federal
Investments, Owned, Federal Income Tax Note [Line Items]
Net operating loss carryforwards		8,600,000
State and Local Jurisdiction
Investments, Owned, Federal Income Tax Note [Line Items]
Net operating loss carryforwards		100,000
Enterprise Zone \| State and Local Jurisdiction
Investments, Owned, Federal Income Tax Note [Line Items]
Tax credits carry forward		10,600,000
WOTC \| Federal
Investments, Owned, Federal Income Tax Note [Line Items]
Tax credits carry forward		1,700,000
California \| Enterprise Zone
Investments, Owned, Federal Income Tax Note [Line Items]
Deferred tax asset credit		$ 3,300,000	$ 4,400,000

Income Taxes - Schedule of Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Dec. 25, 2019	Dec. 26, 2018	Dec. 27, 2017
Deferred assets:
Capital leases	$ 31	$ 53
Accrued vacation	454	456
Accrued legal	4,434	10,343
Deferred rent	0	3,788
Accrued workers’ compensation	1,090	1,660
Enterprise zone and other credits	10,442	13,001
Net operating losses	1,814	6,260
Fixed assets	2,955	3,374
Deferred Tax Asset Right Of Use Asset	57,931
Other	4,698	5,239
Deferred Tax Assets, Gross	83,849	44,174
Valuation allowance	(5,993)	(5,149)	$ (4,300)
Net deferred tax assets	77,856	39,025
Deferred liabilities:
Goodwill	(6,060)	(6,229)
Trademark	(16,745)	(17,654)
Prepaid expense	(791)	(528)
ROU liabilities	(52,056)	0
Other	(167)	(2,905)
Deferred tax liabilities	(75,819)	(27,316)
Net deferred tax asset	$ 2,037	$ 11,709

Employee Benefit Plans - Additional Information (Details) - USD ($)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 25, 2019	Dec. 26, 2018	Dec. 27, 2017
Defined Contribution Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Qualified compensation of employees that may be contributed, maximum	25.00%
Benefit contribution	$ 800,000	$ 760,088	$ 700,000
First 3% of Annual Qualified Compensation
Defined Contribution Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Employer's matching contribution	100.00%
Percentage of employees' annual qualified compensation matched	3.00%
Next 2 % of Annual Qualified Compensation
Defined Contribution Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Employer's matching contribution	50.00%
Percentage of employees' annual qualified compensation matched	2.00%

Stock-Based Compensation - Additional Information (Details) - USD ($)		12 Months Ended
	Dec. 27, 2017	Dec. 25, 2019	Dec. 26, 2018	Dec. 27, 2017
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Common stock, options outstanding (shares)	2,309,103	2,077,570	2,102,404	2,309,103
Common stock, options vested (shares)		1,518,145
Common stock, options unvested (shares)		559,425
Options to purchase common stock granted (shares)		323,900	311,272
Aggregate intrinsic value of options outstanding		$ 14,300,000
Aggregate intrinsic value of options exercisable			$ 12,300,000
Intrinsic value of options exercised		2,100,000	1,500,000	$ 200,000
Stock-based compensation expense		500,000	$ 1,100,000	600,000
Incremental expense from plan modification		800,000
Unrecognized compensation expense		$ 1,800,000
Unrecognized compensation expense, recognition period		2 years 11 months 12 days
Granted (shares)		299,052	395,880
Stock-based compensation expense		$ 2,474,000	$ 2,005,000	1,056,000
Exercise price equal to the fair market value of the common stock on the date of grant
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Options to purchase common stock granted (shares)		323,900	311,272
Option vesting period		4 years
Premium Options
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Common stock, options outstanding (shares)		1,159,366
Performance Based Stock Options
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Common stock, options outstanding (shares)		0
Common stock, options vested (shares)	17,378
Time Based Stock Options
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Common stock, options outstanding (shares)		2,077,570
Options expiration period		10 years
Stock Options
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Authorized number of common stock for issuance (shares)		5,652,240
Number of share available for grant (shares)		1,040,703
Weighted average grant date fair value (usd per share)		$ 3.85	$ 3.78
Expected dividend yield		0.00%	0.00%
Expected volatility		28.70%	28.40%
Risk-free interest rates, minimum		2.30%	2.90%
Expected life		6 years 3 months	6 years 3 months
Accelerated vesting of awards (shares)		33,545
Restricted Shares
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Unrecognized compensation expense, recognition period		2 years 9 months 15 days
Granted (shares)		299,052	323,764
Stock-based compensation expense		$ 2,000,000	$ 1,000,000	$ 501,284
Unrecognized compensation expense		$ 5,400,000
Restricted Shares \| Directors
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Option vesting period		3 years
Restricted Shares \| Employees
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Option vesting period		4 years
Performance Shares
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Non-Option Equity Instruments, Granted			72,116
Performance Shares \| Minimum
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Option vesting period		1 year
Performance Shares \| Maximum
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Option vesting period		5 years

Stock-Based Compensation - Changes in Stock Options (Details) - $ / shares	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 25, 2019	Dec. 26, 2018
Shares
Outstanding-beginning balance (shares)	2,102,404	2,309,103
Grants (shares)	323,900	311,272
Exercised (shares)	(234,728)	(269,549)
Forfeited, cancelled or expired (shares)	(114,006)	(248,422)
Outstanding-ending balance (shares)	2,077,570	2,102,404
Vested and expected to vest at end of period (shares)	2,066,768
Exercisable at end of period (shares)	1,518,145
Weighted-Average Exercise Price
Outstanding-beginning balance (usd per share)	$ 7.68	$ 7.65
Grants (usd per share)	11.51	10.98
Exercised (usd per share)	6.18	6.81
Forfeited, cancelled or expired (usd per share)	13.35	12.46
Outstanding-ending balance (usd per share)	8.14	$ 7.68
Vested and expected to vest at end of period (usd per share)	8.12
Exercisable at end of period (usd per share)	$ 6.93

Stock-Based Compensation - Stock Options By Range of Exercise Prices (Details)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 25, 2019 $ / shares shares
$ 4.09
Share-based Compensation, Shares Authorized under Stock Option Plans, Exercise Price Range [Line Items]
Range of exercise prices (usd per share)	$ 4.09
Number Outstanding (shares) \| shares	99,531
Weighted-Average Remaining Contractual Life (in Years)	3 years 6 months
Weighted-Average Exercise Price (usd per share)	$ 4.09
Number Exercisable (shares) \| shares	99,531
Weighted-Average Exercise Price (usd per share)	$ 4.09
$5.84
Share-based Compensation, Shares Authorized under Stock Option Plans, Exercise Price Range [Line Items]
Range of exercise prices (usd per share)	$ 5.84
Number Outstanding (shares) \| shares	1,159,366
Weighted-Average Remaining Contractual Life (in Years)	2 years 6 months 18 days
Weighted-Average Exercise Price (usd per share)	$ 5.84
Number Exercisable (shares) \| shares	1,159,366
Weighted-Average Exercise Price (usd per share)	$ 5.84
$9.65 - $13.95
Share-based Compensation, Shares Authorized under Stock Option Plans, Exercise Price Range [Line Items]
Range of exercise prices, minimum (usd per share)	9.65
Range of exercise prices, maximum (usd per share)	$ 13.95
Number Outstanding (shares) \| shares	731,158
Weighted-Average Remaining Contractual Life (in Years)	8 years 6 months 15 days
Weighted-Average Exercise Price (usd per share)	$ 11.51
Number Exercisable (shares) \| shares	175,097
Weighted-Average Exercise Price (usd per share)	$ 11.86
$15.00
Share-based Compensation, Shares Authorized under Stock Option Plans, Exercise Price Range [Line Items]
Range of exercise prices (usd per share)	$ 15
Number Outstanding (shares) \| shares	87,515
Weighted-Average Remaining Contractual Life (in Years)	4 years 9 months 10 days
Weighted-Average Exercise Price (usd per share)	$ 15.00
Number Exercisable (shares) \| shares	84,151
Weighted-Average Exercise Price (usd per share)	$ 15.00
$4.09 - $15.00
Share-based Compensation, Shares Authorized under Stock Option Plans, Exercise Price Range [Line Items]
Range of exercise prices, minimum (usd per share)	4.09
Range of exercise prices, maximum (usd per share)	$ 15.00
Number Outstanding (shares) \| shares	2,077,570
Weighted-Average Remaining Contractual Life (in Years)	3 years 3 months 10 days
Weighted-Average Exercise Price (usd per share)	$ 8.14
Number Exercisable (shares) \| shares	1,518,145
Weighted-Average Exercise Price (usd per share)	$ 6.93

Stock-Based Compensation - Schedule of Changes in Restricted Shares (Details) - $ / shares	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 25, 2019	Dec. 26, 2018
Shares
Unvested shares, beginning balance (shares)	490,700	196,642
Granted (shares)	299,052	395,880
Released (shares)	(147,862)	(45,991)
Forfeited, cancelled, or expired (shares)	(53,882)	(55,831)
Unvested shares, ending balance (shares)	588,008	490,700
Weighted-Average Fair Value
Unvested shares Weighted-Average Fair Value, beginning balance (usd per share)	$ 10.91	$ 13.70
Granted, Weighted-Average Fair Value (usd per share)	11.62	10.22
Released, Weighted-Average Fair Value (usd per share)	10.73	13.86
Forfeited, cancelled, or expired, Weighted-Average Fair Value (usd per share)	11.81	13.42
Unvested shares Weighted-Average Fair Value, ending balance (usd per share)	$ 11.23	$ 10.91

Earnings Per Share - Computation of Basic and Diluted Net Income (Loss) per Share (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 25, 2019	Sep. 25, 2019	Jun. 26, 2019	Mar. 27, 2019	Dec. 26, 2018	Sep. 26, 2018	Jun. 27, 2018	Mar. 28, 2018	Dec. 25, 2019	Dec. 26, 2018	Dec. 27, 2017
Numerator:
Net income (loss)	$ 3,498	$ 6,402	$ 14,087	$ 913	$ (23,410)	$ 6,835	$ 5,052	$ 2,529	$ 24,900	$ (8,994)	$ 8,619
Denominator:
Weighted-average shares outstanding—Basic (shares)	34,503,722	35,859,502	37,939,912	38,633,702	38,751,522	38,602,658	38,482,074	38,465,208	36,739,209	38,574,553	38,453,347
Weighted-average shares outstanding—Diluted (shares)	35,242,122	36,397,368	38,580,722	39,496,436	38,751,522	39,205,090	39,043,434	38,987,351	37,441,503	38,574,553	39,086,676
Net (loss) income per share—Basic (usd per share)	$ 0.10	$ 0.18	$ 0.37	$ 0.02	$ (0.60)	$ 0.18	$ 0.13	$ 0.07	$ 0.68	$ (0.23)	$ 0.22
Net (loss) income per share—Diluted (usd per share)	$ 0.10	$ 0.18	$ 0.37	$ 0.02	$ (0.60)	$ 0.17	$ 0.13	$ 0.06	$ 0.67	$ (0.23)	$ 0.22
Anti-dilutive securities not considered in diluted EPS calculation (shares)					0	0			526,295.47	2,593,104	747,985

- Definition

The amount of net income (loss) for the period per each share of common stock or unit outstanding during the reporting period.

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- Definition

The amount of net income (loss) for the period available to each share of common stock or common unit outstanding during the reporting period and to each share or unit that would have been outstanding assuming the issuance of common shares or units for all dilutive potential common shares or units outstanding during the reporting period.

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Reference 9: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 944
-SubTopic 220
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.7-04(19))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=114873790&loc=SL114874131-224263

+ Details

- Definition

The portion of profit or loss for the period, net of income taxes, which is attributable to the parent.

+ References + Details

Earnings Per Share - Schedule of Reconciliation of Basic and Diluted Share Counts (Details) - shares	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 25, 2019	Sep. 25, 2019	Jun. 26, 2019	Mar. 27, 2019	Dec. 26, 2018	Sep. 26, 2018	Jun. 27, 2018	Mar. 28, 2018	Dec. 25, 2019	Dec. 26, 2018	Dec. 27, 2017
Earnings Per Share [Abstract]
Weighted-average shares outstanding—Basic (shares)	34,503,722	35,859,502	37,939,912	38,633,702	38,751,522	38,602,658	38,482,074	38,465,208	36,739,209	38,574,553	38,453,347
Dilutive effect of stock options and restricted shares (shares)									702,294	0	633,329
Weighted-average shares outstanding—Diluted (shares)	35,242,122	36,397,368	38,580,722	39,496,436	38,751,522	39,205,090	39,043,434	38,987,351	37,441,503	38,574,553	39,086,676

Commitments and Contingencies - Additional Information (Details)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 25, 2019 USD ($) lease agreement lawsuit
Other Commitments [Line Items]
Number of lawsuits consolidated \| lawsuit	2
Officers
Other Commitments [Line Items]
Number of at-will employment agreements \| agreement	4
Property Lease Guarantee
Other Commitments [Line Items]
Number of leases assigned to franchisees \| lease	5
Contingent lease obligations, maximum exposure	$ 2,000,000
Contingent lease obligations, maximum exposure, if discounted at estimated pre-tax cost of debt	1,700,000
Chicken Acquisition Corp
Other Commitments [Line Items]
Purchase commitments, estimated obligations	25,200,000
Impact Damages
Other Commitments [Line Items]
Value of damages awarded	4,356,600
Lost Opportunity Damages
Other Commitments [Line Items]
Value of damages awarded	4,481,206
Total Damages
Other Commitments [Line Items]
Value of damages awarded	8,837,806
Elliott Olvera, et al v. El Pollo Loco, Inc., et al
Other Commitments [Line Items]
Accrual associated with loss contingencies	16,300,000.0
Daniel Turocy, et al. and Ron Huston et al v. El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc., et al
Other Commitments [Line Items]
Accrual associated with loss contingencies	20,000,000
Janice P. Handlers-Bryman and Michael D. Bryman v. El Pollo Loco, Inc
Other Commitments [Line Items]
Accrual associated with loss contingencies	$ 0

Related Party Transactions - Additional Information (Details) - Trimaran Pollo Partners, LLC	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 25, 2019
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Company's outstanding common stock owned by Trimaran Pollo Partners, L.L.C.	47.70%
Minimum
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Outstanding membership interest, percentage	40.00%
Ownership percentage by stockholders	40.00%

Revenue from Contracts with Customers - Additional Information (Details)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 25, 2019 USD ($) restaurant revenue_stream	Dec. 26, 2018 USD ($) restaurant
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Number of revenue streams \| revenue_stream	2
Number of Restaurants \| restaurant	4	4
Contract with Customer, Liability, New Contract Additions	$ 1,457,000	$ 365,000
Hardware Services
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Unsatisfied performance obligations	$ 0
CALIFORNIA
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Number of Restaurants	4
ARIZONA
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Number of Restaurants	7
Disposal Group, Disposed of by Sale, Not Discontinued Operations [Member]
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Contract with Customer, Liability, New Contract Additions	$ 700,000

Revenue from Contracts with Customers - Revenues Disaggregated by Revenue Source and Market (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 25, 2019	Sep. 25, 2019	Jun. 26, 2019	Mar. 27, 2019	Dec. 26, 2018	Sep. 26, 2018	Jun. 27, 2018	Mar. 28, 2018	Dec. 25, 2019	Dec. 26, 2018	Dec. 27, 2017
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total revenue	$ 107,546	$ 112,067	$ 113,740	$ 108,977	$ 106,261	$ 112,178	$ 111,633	$ 105,756	$ 442,330	$ 435,828	$ 401,701
Core Market
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total revenue									377,591	365,396
Non-Core Market
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total revenue									64,739	70,432
Company-operated restaurant revenue \| Core Market
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total revenue									351,624	340,421
Company-operated restaurant revenue \| Non-Core Market
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total revenue									39,488	48,414
Franchise revenue
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total revenue									28,819	25,771	25,086
Franchise revenue \| Core Market
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total revenue									14,918	14,144
Franchise revenue \| Non-Core Market
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total revenue									13,901	11,627
Franchise advertising fee revenue
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total revenue									22,399	21,222	$ 0
Franchise advertising fee revenue \| Core Market
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total revenue									11,049	10,831
Franchise advertising fee revenue \| Non-Core Market
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Total revenue									$ 11,350	$ 10,391

Revenue from Contracts with Customers - Revenues Disaggregated by Geographic Market (Details) - Revenue - Geographic Concentration Risk	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 25, 2019	Dec. 26, 2018	Dec. 27, 2017
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Percentage of concentration	100.00%	100.00%
Greater Los Angeles area market
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Percentage of concentration	70.50%	69.20%	72.90%
Other markets
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Percentage of concentration	29.50%	30.80%

Revenue from Contracts with Customers - Change in Contract Liabilities (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 25, 2019	Dec. 26, 2018
Change in Contract with Customer, Liability [Roll Forward]
December 27, 2017	$ 5,593	$ 5,759
Revenue recognized - beginning balance	(441)	(396)
Additional contract liability	1,457	365
Revenue recognized - additional contract liability	(292)	(135)
Contract with Customer, Liability	$ 6,317	$ 5,593

Quarterly Results of Operations (Unaudited) - Schedule of Quarterly Financial Information (Details) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 25, 2019 USD ($) restaurant $ / shares $ / restaurant shares	Sep. 25, 2019 USD ($) restaurant $ / shares $ / restaurant shares	Jun. 26, 2019 USD ($) restaurant $ / shares $ / restaurant shares	Mar. 27, 2019 USD ($) restaurant $ / shares $ / restaurant shares	Dec. 26, 2018 USD ($) restaurant $ / shares $ / restaurant shares	Sep. 26, 2018 USD ($) restaurant $ / shares $ / restaurant shares	Jun. 27, 2018 USD ($) restaurant $ / shares $ / restaurant shares	Mar. 28, 2018 USD ($) restaurant $ / shares $ / restaurant shares	Dec. 25, 2019 USD ($) restaurant $ / shares shares	Dec. 26, 2018 USD ($) restaurant $ / shares shares	Dec. 27, 2017 USD ($) $ / shares shares
Selected Financial Data
Total revenue \| $	$ 107,546	$ 112,067	$ 113,740	$ 108,977	$ 106,261	$ 112,178	$ 111,633	$ 105,756	$ 442,330	$ 435,828	$ 401,701
(Loss) income from operations \| $	5,336	10,118	20,580	2,292	(30,990)	9,492	7,589	4,448	38,326	(9,461)	6,824
Provision (benefit) for income taxes ($) \| $	728	2,940	5,665	349	(8,410)	2,388	865	1,949	9,682	(3,208)	497
Net income (loss) \| $	$ 3,498	$ 6,402	$ 14,087	$ 913	$ (23,410)	$ 6,835	$ 5,052	$ 2,529	$ 24,900	$ (8,994)	$ 8,619
Net income (loss) per share:
Basic (usd per share) \| $ / shares	$ 0.10	$ 0.18	$ 0.37	$ 0.02	$ (0.60)	$ 0.18	$ 0.13	$ 0.07	$ 0.68	$ (0.23)	$ 0.22
Diluted (usd per share) \| $ / shares	$ 0.10	$ 0.18	$ 0.37	$ 0.02	$ (0.60)	$ 0.17	$ 0.13	$ 0.06	$ 0.67	$ (0.23)	$ 0.22
Weighted average shares used in computing net income (loss) per share:
Basic (shares) \| shares	34,503,722	35,859,502	37,939,912	38,633,702	38,751,522	38,602,658	38,482,074	38,465,208	36,739,209	38,574,553	38,453,347
Diluted (shares) \| shares	35,242,122	36,397,368	38,580,722	39,496,436	38,751,522	39,205,090	39,043,434	38,987,351	37,441,503	38,574,553	39,086,676
Number of Restaurants \| restaurant	4				4				4	4
Selected Operating Data
Average unit volume (AUV) (usd per restaurant) \| $ / restaurant	1,931	1,978	1,934	1,838	1,785	1,891	1,890	1,791
Company-operated
Weighted average shares used in computing net income (loss) per share:
Number of Restaurants \| restaurant	195	201	200	211	213	212	211	212	195	213
Comparable restaurant sales growth (%)
Comparable restaurant sales growth (%)	4.30%	1.60%	0.40%	1.50%	3.70%	2.00%	(1.60%)	(2.00%)
Franchised
Weighted average shares used in computing net income (loss) per share:
Number of Restaurants \| restaurant	287	284	284	273	271	271	269	268	287	271
Comparable restaurant sales growth (%)
Comparable restaurant sales growth (%)	3.60%	0.60%	0.90%	3.20%	5.10%	3.00%	(0.30%)	(0.40%)
System-wide
Weighted average shares used in computing net income (loss) per share:
Number of Restaurants \| restaurant	482	485	484	484	484	483	480	480	482	484
Comparable restaurant sales growth (%)
Comparable restaurant sales growth (%)	3.90%	1.10%	0.70%	2.40%	4.40%	2.60%	(0.90%)	(1.10%)

Quarterly Results of Operations (Unaudited) - Additional Information (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 25, 2019	Sep. 25, 2019	Jun. 26, 2019	Mar. 27, 2019	Dec. 26, 2018	Sep. 26, 2018	Jun. 27, 2018	Mar. 28, 2018	Dec. 25, 2019	Dec. 26, 2018	Dec. 27, 2017
Quarterly Financial Information Disclosure [Abstract]
Provision (benefit) for income taxes ($)	$ 728	$ 2,940	$ 5,665	$ 349	$ (8,410)	$ 2,388	$ 865	$ 1,949	$ 9,682	$ (3,208)	$ 497
Anti-dilutive securities not considered in diluted EPS calculation (shares)					0	0			526,295.47	2,593,104	747,985
Legal settlements					$ 36,300				$ 0	$ 36,258	$ 0

Revenue from Contracts with Customers - Unsatisfied Performance Obligation (Details) $ in Thousands	Dec. 25, 2019 USD ($)
Revenue, Remaining Performance Obligation, Expected Timing of Satisfaction, Start Date [Axis]: 2020-01-01
Revenue, Remaining Performance Obligation, Expected Timing of Satisfaction [Line Items]
Revenue, Remaining Performance Obligation, Expected Timing of Satisfaction, Period	1 year
Revenue, Remaining Performance Obligation, Expected Timing of Satisfaction, Start Date [Axis]: 2021-01-01
Revenue, Remaining Performance Obligation, Expected Timing of Satisfaction [Line Items]
Revenue, Remaining Performance Obligation, Expected Timing of Satisfaction, Period	1 year
Revenue, Remaining Performance Obligation, Expected Timing of Satisfaction, Start Date [Axis]: 2022-01-01
Revenue, Remaining Performance Obligation, Expected Timing of Satisfaction [Line Items]
Revenue, Remaining Performance Obligation, Expected Timing of Satisfaction, Period	1 year
Revenue, Remaining Performance Obligation, Expected Timing of Satisfaction, Start Date [Axis]: 2023-01-01
Revenue, Remaining Performance Obligation, Expected Timing of Satisfaction [Line Items]
Revenue, Remaining Performance Obligation, Expected Timing of Satisfaction, Period	1 year
Revenue, Remaining Performance Obligation, Expected Timing of Satisfaction, Start Date [Axis]: 2024-01-01
Revenue, Remaining Performance Obligation, Expected Timing of Satisfaction [Line Items]
Revenue, Remaining Performance Obligation, Expected Timing of Satisfaction, Period	1 year
Revenue, Remaining Performance Obligation, Expected Timing of Satisfaction, Start Date [Axis]: 2025-01-01
Revenue, Remaining Performance Obligation, Expected Timing of Satisfaction [Line Items]
Revenue, Remaining Performance Obligation, Expected Timing of Satisfaction, Period
Franchise Contract \| Revenue, Remaining Performance Obligation, Expected Timing of Satisfaction, Start Date [Axis]: 2020-01-01
Revenue, Remaining Performance Obligation, Expected Timing of Satisfaction [Line Items]
Unsatisfied performance obligations	$ 705
Franchise Contract \| Revenue, Remaining Performance Obligation, Expected Timing of Satisfaction, Start Date [Axis]: 2021-01-01
Revenue, Remaining Performance Obligation, Expected Timing of Satisfaction [Line Items]
Unsatisfied performance obligations	515
Franchise Contract \| Revenue, Remaining Performance Obligation, Expected Timing of Satisfaction, Start Date [Axis]: 2022-01-01
Revenue, Remaining Performance Obligation, Expected Timing of Satisfaction [Line Items]
Unsatisfied performance obligations	434
Franchise Contract \| Revenue, Remaining Performance Obligation, Expected Timing of Satisfaction, Start Date [Axis]: 2023-01-01
Revenue, Remaining Performance Obligation, Expected Timing of Satisfaction [Line Items]
Unsatisfied performance obligations	420
Franchise Contract \| Revenue, Remaining Performance Obligation, Expected Timing of Satisfaction, Start Date [Axis]: 2024-01-01
Revenue, Remaining Performance Obligation, Expected Timing of Satisfaction [Line Items]
Unsatisfied performance obligations	406
Franchise Contract \| Revenue, Remaining Performance Obligation, Expected Timing of Satisfaction, Start Date [Axis]: 2025-01-01
Revenue, Remaining Performance Obligation, Expected Timing of Satisfaction [Line Items]
Unsatisfied performance obligations	$ 6,317