Document and Entity Information - shares	3 Months Ended
Document and Entity Information - shares	Mar. 29, 2020	Apr. 30, 2020
Document And Entity Information [Abstract]
Document Type	10-Q
Document Quarterly Report	true
Document Period End Date	Mar. 29, 2020
Document Transition Report	false
Entity File Number	001-35373
Entity Registrant Name	FIESTA RESTAURANT GROUP, INC.
Entity Incorporation, State or Country Code	DE
Entity Tax Identification Number	90-0712224
Entity Address, Address Line One	14800 Landmark Boulevard, Suite 500
Entity Address, City or Town	Dallas
Entity Address, State or Province	TX
Entity Address, Postal Zip Code	75254
City Area Code	972
Local Phone Number	702-9300
Title of 12(b) Security	Common Stock, par value $0.01 per share
Entity Trading Symbol	FRGI
Security Exchange Name	NASDAQ
Entity Current Reporting Status	Yes
Entity Interactive Data Current	Yes
Entity Filer Category	Accelerated Filer
Entity Small Business	false
Entity Emerging Growth Company	false
Entity Shell Company	false
Entity Central Index Key	0001534992
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--01-03
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2020
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q1
Amendment Flag	false
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		27,974,418

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Mar. 29, 2020	Dec. 29, 2019
Current assets:
Cash	$ 4,009	$ 13,413
Accounts receivable	6,145	7,933
Inventories	2,894	3,394
Prepaid rent	121	117
Income tax receivable	9,964	3,821
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	11,722	10,605
Total current assets	34,855	39,283
Property and equipment, net	203,042	211,944
Operating lease right-of-use assets	255,810	251,272
Goodwill	56,307	56,307
Other assets	9,016	9,835
Total assets	559,030	568,641
Current liabilities:
Current portion of long-term debt	228	212
Accounts payable	14,324	14,776
Accrued payroll, related taxes and benefits	8,272	9,866
Accrued real estate taxes	3,160	6,497
Other current liabilities	32,788	32,269
Total current liabilities	58,772	63,620
Long-term debt, net of current portion	72,783	76,823
Operating lease liabilities	262,117	256,798
Deferred tax liabilities	8,971	4,759
Other non-current liabilities	8,384	8,405
Total liabilities	411,027	410,405
Commitments and contingencies
Stockholders' equity:
Preferred stock, $0.01 par value; 20,000,000 shares authorized, no shares issued	0	0
Common stock, $0.01 par value; 100,000,000 shares authorized, 27,634,722 and 27,461,697 shares issued, respectively, and 25,186,595 and 25,612,597 shares outstanding, respectively	271	271
Additional paid-in capital	173,944	173,132
Retained earnings (accumulated deficit)	(5,433)	1,884
Treasury stock, at cost; 1,993,495 and 1,493,495 shares, respectively	(20,779)	(17,051)
Total stockholders' equity	148,003	158,236
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity	$ 559,030	$ 568,641

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (Parenthetical) - $ / shares	Mar. 29, 2020	Dec. 29, 2019
Statement of Financial Position [Abstract]
Preferred stock, par value (usd per share)	$ 0.01	$ 0.01
Preferred stock, shares authorized	20,000,000	20,000,000
Common stock, par value (usd per share)	$ 0.01	$ 0.01
Common stock, shares authorized	100,000,000	100,000,000
Common stock, shares issued	27,634,722	27,461,697
Common stock, shares outstanding	25,186,595	25,612,597
Treasury stock, shares	1,993,495	1,493,495

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 29, 2020	Mar. 31, 2019
Revenues:
Revenues	$ 146,699	$ 165,852
Costs and expenses:
Cost of sales	46,276	50,510
Restaurant wages and related expenses (including stock-based compensation expense of $36, and $27, respectively)	40,495	45,036
Restaurant rent expense	11,339	11,745
Other restaurant operating expenses	21,511	21,763
Advertising expense	5,783	5,521
General and administrative (including stock-based compensation expense of $776, and $765, respectively)	14,384	15,071
Depreciation and amortization	9,430	9,548
Pre-opening costs	69	401
Impairment and other lease charges	4,233	(338)
Closed restaurant rent expense, net of sublease income	1,632	1,424
Other expense (income), net	908	702
Total operating expenses	156,060	161,383
Income (loss) from operations	(9,361)	4,469
Interest expense	961	1,234
Income (loss) before income taxes	(10,322)	3,235
Provision for (benefit from) income taxes	(3,005)	946
Net income (loss)	$ (7,317)	$ 2,289
Earnings (loss) per common share:
Basic (usd per share)	$ (0.29)	$ 0.08
Diluted (usd per share)	$ (0.29)	$ 0.08
Weighted average common shares outstanding:
Basic (in shares)	25,519,247	26,842,704
Diluted (in shares)	25,519,247	26,845,077
Restaurant sales
Revenues:
Revenues	$ 146,086	$ 165,181
Franchise royalty revenues and fees
Revenues:
Revenues	$ 613	$ 671

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (Parenthetical) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 29, 2020	Mar. 31, 2019
Stock-based compensation	$ 800	$ 800
Restaurant Wages And Related Expenses
Stock-based compensation	36	27
General and Administrative Expense
Stock-based compensation	$ 776	$ 765

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Total	Common Stock	Additional Paid-In Capital	Retained Earnings (Accumulated Deficit)	Treasury Stock
Beginning shares at Dec. 30, 2018		26,858,988
Beginning balance at Dec. 30, 2018	$ 240,059	$ 270	$ 170,290	$ 72,268	$ (2,769)
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity
Stock-based compensation	792		792
Vesting of restricted shares (in shares)		68,286
Vesting of restricted shares	(1)	$ 0	(1)
Cumulative effect of adopting a new accounting standard	$ 14,002			14,002
Purchase of treasury stock (in shares)	(158,269)	(158,269)
Purchase of treasury stock	$ (2,199)				(2,199)
Net income (loss)	2,289			2,289
Ending shares at Mar. 31, 2019		26,769,005
Ending balance at Mar. 31, 2019	$ 254,942	$ 270	171,081	88,559	(4,968)
Beginning shares at Dec. 29, 2019	25,612,597	25,612,597
Beginning balance at Dec. 29, 2019	$ 158,236	$ 271	173,132	1,884	(17,051)
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity
Stock-based compensation	812		812
Vesting of restricted shares (in shares)		73,998
Vesting of restricted shares	$ 0	$ 0	0
Purchase of treasury stock (in shares)	(500,000)	(500,000)
Purchase of treasury stock	$ (3,728)				(3,728)
Net income (loss)	$ (7,317)			(7,317)
Ending shares at Mar. 29, 2020	25,186,595	25,186,595
Ending balance at Mar. 29, 2020	$ 148,003	$ 271	$ 173,944	$ (5,433)	$ (20,779)

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 29, 2020	Mar. 31, 2019
Operating activities:
Net income (loss)	$ (7,317)	$ 2,289
Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash provided by operating activities:
Loss (gain) on disposals of property and equipment	0	(13)
Stock-based compensation	812	792
Impairment and other lease charges	4,233	(338)
Depreciation and amortization	9,430	9,548
Amortization of deferred financing costs	68	67
Deferred income taxes	4,212	0
Changes in other operating assets and liabilities	(6,974)	(4,597)
Net cash provided by operating activities	4,464	7,748
Capital expenditures:
New restaurant development	(1,590)	(3,839)
Restaurant remodeling	(1,025)	(171)
Other restaurant capital expenditures	(2,536)	(5,015)
Corporate and restaurant information systems	(932)	(2,512)
Total capital expenditures	(6,083)	(11,537)
Proceeds from disposals of properties	0	1,774
Net cash used in investing activities	(6,083)	(9,763)
Financing activities:
Borrowings on revolving credit facility	71,420	11,000
Repayments on revolving credit facility	(75,420)	(7,000)
Principal payments on finance leases	(57)	(26)
Payments to purchase treasury stock	(3,728)	(2,199)
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities	(7,785)	1,775
Net change in cash	(9,404)	(240)
Cash, beginning of period	13,413	5,258
Cash, end of period	4,009	5,018
Supplemental disclosures:
Interest paid on long-term debt	941	1,685
Accruals for capital expenditures	2,161	4,589
Income tax payments (refunds), net	(1,073)	(58)
Right-of-use assets obtained in exchange for lease liabilities:
Operating lease ROU assets	11,193	5,191
Finance lease ROU assets	33	0
Right-of-use assets and lease liabilities reduced for terminated leases:
Operating lease ROU assets	0	2,196
Operating lease right-of-use assets obtained and lease liabilities incurred as a result of adoption of ASC 842:
Operating lease ROU assets	0	267,743
Operating lease liabilities	$ 0	$ 291,373

Basis of Presentation

3 Months Ended

Mar. 29, 2020

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Basis of Presentation

Business Description. Fiesta Restaurant Group, Inc. ("Fiesta Restaurant Group" or "Fiesta") owns, operates and franchises two restaurant brands through its wholly-owned subsidiaries Pollo Operations, Inc. and its subsidiaries, Pollo Franchise, Inc. (collectively "Pollo Tropical"), and Taco Cabana, Inc. and its subsidiaries (collectively "Taco Cabana"). Unless the context otherwise requires, Fiesta and its subsidiaries, Pollo Tropical and Taco Cabana, are collectively referred to as the "Company." At March 29, 2020, the Company owned and operated 141 Pollo Tropical^® restaurants and 146 Taco Cabana^® restaurants. All of the Pollo Tropical restaurants are located in Florida and all of the Taco Cabana restaurants are located in Texas. At March 29, 2020, the Company franchised a total of 33 Pollo Tropical restaurants and eight Taco Cabana restaurants. The franchised Pollo Tropical restaurants include 17 in Puerto Rico, four in Panama, two in Guyana, one in Ecuador, one in the Bahamas, seven on college campuses and one at a hospital in Florida. The franchised Taco Cabana restaurants include six in New Mexico and two on college campuses in Texas.

Going Concern. The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared on the going concern basis of accounting, assuming the realization of assets and the satisfaction of liabilities and commitments in the normal course of business.

The COVID-19 pandemic and related "shelter-in-place" orders and other mandates are affecting the restaurant industry and the economy. In response to COVID-19 and in compliance with governmental restrictions, the Company closed the dining room seating areas in all Pollo Tropical and Taco Cabana restaurants, limiting service to take-out, drive-thru, and delivery operations beginning in mid-March 2020. The Company expects the COVID-19 restrictions and economic impact to result in reduced earnings. As the COVID-19 situation is dynamic, the Company does not currently know when it will be able to resume full operations or when its results of operations will return to pre-COVID-19 levels.

The Company has a senior secured revolving credit facility with a syndicate of lenders that provides for aggregate revolving credit borrowings up to $150.0 million and matures on November 30, 2022 ("senior credit facility"). The Company was in compliance with the financial covenants under its senior credit facility, with an outstanding balance of $71.0 million, as of March 29, 2020. The Company borrowed the remaining $75.5 million available for borrowing early in the second quarter of 2020.

However, due to the continued governmental restrictions on operating dine-in services and public gatherings and the resulting declines in revenues, the Company projects it will not remain in compliance with its debt covenants under its senior credit facility during the next twelve months. A breach of its debt covenants will result in an event of default, and the lenders could exercise their right to call the outstanding balance under the Company's senior credit facility. This would result in the Company's total outstanding balance of $146.5 million under its senior credit facility to be immediately due and payable. In such event, the Company believes that it will not have sufficient cash on hand or available liquidity to repay the outstanding balance under its senior credit facility.

Management's plans include executing an amendment related to its debt covenants in its senior credit facility with its lenders and the Company is currently in discussions with its lenders. Management believes that the amendment is probable of occurring. The Company has concluded that Management's plans are probable of being achieved to obtain covenant compliance within the twelve months after the date that the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements are issued.

Basis of Consolidation. The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements presented herein reflect the consolidated financial position, results of operations and cash flows of Fiesta and its wholly-owned subsidiaries. All intercompany transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

Fiscal Year. The Company uses a 52–53 week fiscal year ending on the Sunday closest to December 31. The fiscal year ended December 29, 2019 contained 52 weeks. The three months ended March 29, 2020 and March 31, 2019 each contained thirteen weeks. The fiscal year ending January 3, 2021 will contain 53 weeks.

Basis of Presentation. The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements for the three months ended March 29, 2020 and March 31, 2019 have been prepared without an audit pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and do not include certain information and footnotes required by U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles ("GAAP") for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, all normal and recurring adjustments considered necessary for a fair presentation of such financial statements have been included. The results of operations for the three months ended March 29, 2020 and March 31, 2019 are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the full year.

These unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto for the year ended December 29, 2019 included in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for

the fiscal year ended December 29, 2019. The December 29, 2019 balance sheet data is derived from those audited financial statements.

Guidance Adopted in 2020. In August 2018, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") No. 2018-15, Customer's Accounting for Implementation Costs Incurred in a Cloud Computing Arrangement That is a Service Contract, which aligns the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred in a hosting arrangement that is a service contract with the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred to develop or obtain internal-use software (and hosting arrangements that include an internal-use software license). The Company adopted this new accounting standard on December 30, 2019 and will apply it prospectively to all implementation costs incurred after the date of adoption. The adoption of this standard did not have a material effect on the Company's financial statements. The Company deferred and amortized application development stage costs for cloud-based computing arrangements over the life of the related service (subscription) agreement in the same line item that the fees associated with the subscription arrangement were presented prior to adoption of the new standard.

Revenue Recognition. Revenue is recognized upon transfer of promised products or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration the Company received in exchange for those products or services. Revenues from the Company's owned and operated restaurants are recognized when payment is tendered at the time of sale. Franchise royalty revenues are based on a percent of gross sales and are recorded as income when earned. Initial franchise fees and area development fees associated with new franchise agreements are not distinct from the continuing rights and services offered by the Company during the term of the related franchise agreements and are recognized as income over the term of the related franchise agreements. A portion of the initial franchise fee is allocated to training services and is recognized as revenue when the Company completes the training services.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments. Fair value is defined as 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 under current market conditions. In determining fair value, the accounting standards establish a three-level hierarchy for inputs used in measuring fair value as follows: Level 1 inputs are quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities; Level 2 inputs are observable for the asset or liability, either directly or indirectly, including quoted prices in active markets for similar assets or liabilities; and Level 3 inputs are unobservable and reflect management's own assumptions. The following methods were used to estimate the fair value of each class of financial instruments for which it is practicable to estimate the fair value:


•	Current Assets and Liabilities. The carrying values reported on the balance sheet of cash, accounts receivable and accounts payable approximate fair value because of the short maturity of those financial instruments.

•

Revolving Credit Borrowings. The fair value of outstanding revolving credit borrowings under the Company's senior credit facility, which is considered Level 2, is based on current LIBOR rates. The fair value of the Company's senior credit facility was approximately $71.0 million at March 29, 2020, and $75.0 million at December 29, 2019. The carrying value of the Company's senior credit facility was $71.0 million at March 29, 2020 and $75.0 million at December 29, 2019.

Long-Lived Assets. The Company assesses the recoverability of property and equipment and definite-lived intangible assets, including right-of-use ("ROU") lease assets, by determining whether the carrying value of these assets can be recovered over their respective remaining lives through undiscounted future operating cash flows. Impairment is reviewed whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amounts of these assets may not be fully recoverable. See Note 3—Impairment of Long-Lived Assets.

Leases. The Company assesses whether an agreement contains a lease at inception. All leases are reviewed for finance or operating classification once control is obtained. The majority of the Company's leases are operating leases. Operating leases are included within operating lease right-of-use assets, other current liabilities, and operating lease liabilities in the condensed consolidated balance sheets. Finance leases are included within property and equipment, net, current portion of long-term debt, and long-term debt, net of current portion in the condensed consolidated balance sheets.

ROU assets represent the Company's right to use an underlying asset for the lease term and lease liabilities represent the obligation to make lease payments arising from the lease. Operating lease ROU assets and liabilities are recognized at commencement date based on the present value of lease payments over the lease term. The operating lease ROU asset also includes any lease payments made in advance and is reduced by lease incentives received. As most leases do not provide an implicit rate, the Company uses its incremental borrowing rate at commencement date in determining the present value of lease payments. Lease terms include options to extend the lease when it is reasonably certain that the Company will exercise that option. The Company assumes options are reasonably certain to be exercised when such options are required to achieve a minimum 20-year lease term for new restaurant properties and when it incurs significant leasehold improvement costs near the end of a lease term. The Company

uses judgment and available data to allocate consideration in a contract when it leases land and a building. The Company also uses judgment in determining its incremental borrowing rate, which includes selecting a yield curve based on a synthetic credit rating determined using a valuation model. Lease expense for lease payments is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term unless the related ROU asset has been adjusted for an impairment charge. The Company has real estate lease agreements with lease and non-lease components, which are accounted for as a single lease component.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic the Company entered into a rent deferral agreement with one landlord as of March 29, 2020, and entered into similar agreements with other landlords in the second quarter of 2020. Under these agreements, certain rent payments will be deferred without penalty for various periods, generally for up to three months. The Company has elected to account for lease concessions and deferrals resulting directly from COVID-19 as though the enforceable rights and obligations to the concessions and deferrals existed in the respective contracts at lease inception and will not account for the concessions and deferrals as lease modifications.

Use of Estimates. The preparation of the condensed consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the dates of the financial statements. Estimates also affect the reported amounts of expenses during the reporting periods. Significant items subject to such estimates and assumptions include: insurance liabilities, evaluation for impairment of goodwill and long-lived assets, lease accounting matters, and deferred income tax assets. Actual results could differ from those estimates. Due to the uncertainty associated with the unprecedented nature of the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact it will have on the Company's operations and future cash flows, it is reasonably possible that the estimates of future cash flows used in impairment assessments will change in the near term and the effect of the change could be material. The Company's current estimates assume that "shelter-in-place" mandates, social distancing, closing dining rooms in restaurants and other changes related to COVID-19 will continue to have a significant impact for the remainder of the year with the greatest impact in the near term.

Prepaid Expenses and Other Current Assets

3 Months Ended

Mar. 29, 2020

Deferred Costs, Capitalized, Prepaid, and Other Assets Disclosure [Abstract]

Prepaid Expenses and Other Current Assets

Prepaid expenses and other current assets, consist of the following:



	March 29, 2020		December 29, 2019
Prepaid contract expenses	$	4,369	$	4,410
Assets held for sale⁽¹⁾	4,110		4,110
Other	3,243		2,085
	$	11,722	$	10,605

(1)

One closed Pollo Tropical restaurant and two closed Taco Cabana restaurant properties owned by the Company were classified as held for sale as of March 29, 2020 and December 29, 2019.

Impairment of Long-Lived Assets and Other Lease Charges

3 Months Ended

Mar. 29, 2020

Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]

Impairment of Long-Lived Assets and Other Lease Charges

The Company reviews its long-lived assets, principally property and equipment and lease ROU assets, for impairment at the restaurant level. The Company has elected to exclude operating lease payments and liabilities from future cash flows and carrying values, respectively, in its impairment review. In addition to considering management's plans, known regulatory or governmental actions and damage due to acts of God (hurricanes, tornadoes, etc.), the Company considers a triggering event to have occurred related to a specific restaurant if the restaurant's cash flows, exclusive of operating lease payments, for the last twelve months are less than a minimum threshold or if consistent levels of cash flows for the remaining lease period are less than the carrying value of the restaurant's assets. If an indicator of impairment exists for any of its assets, an estimate of undiscounted future cash flows, exclusive of operating lease payments, over the life of the primary asset for each restaurant is compared to that long-lived asset group's carrying value, excluding operating lease liabilities. If the carrying value is greater than the undiscounted cash flow, the Company then determines the fair value of the asset and if an asset is determined to be impaired, the loss is measured by the excess of the carrying amount of the asset over its fair value. There is uncertainty in the projected undiscounted future cash flows used in the Company's impairment review analysis. If actual performance does not achieve the projections, the Company may recognize impairment charges in future periods, and such charges could be material.

A summary of impairment of long-lived assets and other lease charges (recoveries) recorded by segment is as follows:



	Three Months Ended
	March 29, 2020		March 31, 2019
Pollo Tropical	$	3,696	$	(379	)
Taco Cabana	537		41
	$	4,233	$	(338	)

Impairment and other lease charges for the three months ended March 29, 2020 for Pollo Tropical include impairment charges of $3.7 million, related primarily to the impairment of assets from three underperforming Pollo Tropical restaurants for which the near-term impact of temporary COVID-19 related closure for two locations and sustained low sales resulted in a decline in expected future cash flows. Impairment and other lease charges for the three months ended March 29, 2020 for Taco Cabana include impairment charges of $0.5 million, related primarily to impairment of assets for two underperforming Taco Cabana restaurants for which continued sales declines coupled with the near-term impact of expected sales declines resulted in a decrease in the estimated future cash flows.

Impairment and other lease charges for the three months ended March 31, 2019 for Pollo Tropical include impairment charges of $0.4 million, related primarily to impairment of equipment from previously impaired restaurants and a lease charge recoveries benefit of $(0.7) million related to previously closed restaurant lease terminations. Impairment and other lease charges for the three months ended March 31, 2019 for Taco Cabana include impairment charges related primarily to impairment of equipment from previously impaired restaurants.

The Company determined the fair value of restaurant equipment, for those restaurants reviewed for impairment, based on current economic conditions, the Company's history of using these assets in the operation of its business and the Company's expectation of how a market participant would value the assets. In addition, for those restaurants reviewed for impairment where the Company owns the land and building, the Company utilized third-party information such as a broker quoted value to determine the fair value of the property. The Company also utilized discounted future cash flows to determine the fair value of assets for certain leased restaurants with positive discounted projected future cash flows. The Company utilized current market lease rent and discount rates to determine the fair value of right-of-use lease assets. These fair value asset measurements rely on significant unobservable inputs and are considered Level 3 in the fair value hierarchy. The Level 3 assets measured at fair value associated with impairment charges recorded during the three months ended March 29, 2020 totaled $3.4 million.

Other Liabilities

3 Months Ended

Mar. 29, 2020

Other Liabilities Disclosure [Abstract]

Other Liabilities

Other current liabilities consist of the following:



	March 29, 2020		December 29, 2019
Operating lease liabilities	$	23,050	$	22,338
Accrued workers' compensation and general liability claims	4,876		4,354
Sales and property taxes	865		1,889
Accrued occupancy costs	424		891
Other	3,573		2,797
	$	32,788	$	32,269

Other non-current liabilities consist of the following:



	March 29, 2020		December 29, 2019
Accrued workers' compensation and general liability claims	$	7,348	$	7,348
Deferred compensation	427		424
Accrued occupancy costs	78		78
Other	531		555
	$	8,384	$	8,405

Accrued occupancy costs primarily consisted of obligations pertaining to closed restaurant locations.

The following table presents the activity in the closed restaurant reserve, of which $0.1 million and $0.1 million are included in non-current liabilities at March 29, 2020 and December 29, 2019, respectively, with the remainder in other current liabilities.



	Three Months Ended March 29, 2020			Year Ended December 29, 2019
Balance, beginning of period	$	752		$	8,819
Payments, net	(228		)	(1,405		)
Other adjustments⁽¹⁾	(129		)	(6,662		)
Balance, end of period	$	395		$	752

(1)

As a result of adopting ASC 842 on December 31, 2018, the portion of the closed restaurant reserve related to operating lease rental payments totaling $6.0 million was reclassified and included as a component of the related ROU assets during the twelve months ended December 29, 2019. The portion of the closed restaurant reserve related to variable ancillary lease costs was not reclassified and was not included as a reduction to ROU assets.

Stockholders' Equity

3 Months Ended

Mar. 29, 2020

Equity [Abstract]

Stockholders' Equity

Purchase of Treasury Stock

In 2018, the Company's board of directors approved a share repurchase program for up to 1,500,000 shares of the Company's common stock. In 2019, the Company's board of directors approved increases to the share repurchase program of an additional 1,500,000 shares of the Company's common stock for an aggregate approval of 3,000,000 shares of the Company's common stock. Under the share repurchase program, shares may be repurchased from time to time in open market transactions at prevailing market prices, in privately negotiated transactions or by other means in accordance with federal securities laws, including Rule 10b-18 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The share repurchase program has no time limit and may be modified, suspended, superseded or terminated at any time by the Company's board of directors. The Company repurchased 500,000 shares of common stock valued at approximately $3.7 million and 158,269 shares of common stock valued at approximately $2.2 million during the three months ended March 29, 2020 and March 31, 2019, respectively. The shares repurchased in 2020 were purchased on or before March 12, 2020. The repurchased shares are held as treasury stock at cost.

Stock-Based Compensation

During the three months ended March 29, 2020, the Company granted certain employees and a new non-employee director a total of 183,426 non-vested restricted shares under the Fiesta Restaurant Group, Inc. 2012 Stock Incentive Plan (the "Fiesta Plan"). The shares granted to employees generally vest and become non-forfeitable over a four-year vesting period. The shares granted to the new non-employee director vest and become non-forfeitable over a five-year vesting period. The weighted average fair value at grant date for non-vested shares issued during the three months ended March 29, 2020 and March 31, 2019 was $8.99 and $13.44 per share, respectively.

The weighted average fair value at grant date for the restricted stock units subject to market conditions granted in the three months ended March 31, 2019 was $1.76 per share.

Stock-based compensation expense for each of the three months ended March 29, 2020 and March 31, 2019 was $0.8 million. At March 29, 2020, the total unrecognized stock-based compensation expense related to non-vested restricted shares and restricted stock units was approximately $4.6 million. At March 29, 2020, the remaining weighted average vesting period for non-vested restricted shares was 2.9 years and restricted stock units was 0.9 years.

A summary of all non-vested restricted shares and restricted stock units activity for the three months ended March 29, 2020 is as follows:



	Non-Vested Shares				Restricted Stock Units
	Shares		Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value		Units		Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value
Outstanding at December 29, 2019	355,605		$	15.47	176,362		$	9.42
Granted	183,426		8.99		—		—
Vested and released	(73,251	)	19.03		(747	)	32.44
Forfeited	(11,148	)	14.11		(607	)	24.86
Outstanding at March 29, 2020	454,632		$	12.31	175,008		$	9.27

The fair value of the non-vested restricted shares and all other restricted stock units is based on the closing price on the date of grant. The fair value of the restricted stock units subject to market conditions was estimated using the Monte Carlo simulation method. The assumptions used to value grant restricted stock units subject to market conditions are detailed below:



	2019
Grant date stock price	$	14.66
Fair value at grant date	$	1.76
Risk free interest rate	2.53		%
Expected term (in years)	2
Dividend yield	—		%
Expected volatility	43.18		%

Business Segment Information

3 Months Ended

Mar. 29, 2020

Segment Reporting [Abstract]

Business Segment Information

The Company owns, operates and franchises two restaurant brands, Pollo Tropical^® and Taco Cabana^®, each of which is an operating segment. Pollo Tropical restaurants feature fire-grilled and crispy citrus marinated chicken and other freshly prepared tropical-inspired menu items, while Taco Cabana restaurants specialize in Mexican-inspired food.

Each segment's accounting policies are described in the summary of significant accounting policies in Note 1 to the Company's audited financial statements contained in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 29, 2019. The primary measure of segment profit or loss used by the chief operating decision maker to assess performance and allocate resources is Adjusted EBITDA, which is defined as earnings attributable to the applicable operating segments before interest expense, income taxes, depreciation and amortization, impairment and other lease charges, goodwill impairment, closed restaurant rent expense, net of sublease income, stock-based compensation expense, other expense (income), net, and certain significant items for each segment that management believes are related to strategic changes and/or are not related to the ongoing operation of the Company's restaurants as set forth in the reconciliation table below.

The "Other" column includes corporate-related items not allocated to reportable segments and consists primarily of corporate-owned property and equipment, lease assets, miscellaneous prepaid costs, capitalized costs associated with the issuance of indebtedness, corporate cash accounts, and a current income tax receivable.



Three Months Ended	Pollo Tropical		Taco Cabana			Other		Consolidated
March 29, 2020:
Restaurant sales	$	85,721	$	60,365		$	—	$	146,086
Franchise revenue	404		209			—		613
Cost of sales	27,731		18,545			—		46,276
Restaurant wages and related expenses⁽¹⁾	21,037		19,458			—		40,495
Restaurant rent expense	5,640		5,699			—		11,339
Other restaurant operating expenses	12,386		9,125			—		21,511
Advertising expense	3,504		2,279			—		5,783
General and administrative expense⁽²⁾	7,488		6,896			—		14,384
Adjusted EBITDA	8,780		(907		)	—		7,873
Depreciation and amortization	5,278		4,152			—		9,430
Capital expenditures	3,281		2,600			202		6,083
March 31, 2019:
Restaurant sales	$	91,026	$	74,155		$	—	$	165,181
Franchise revenue	455		216			—		671
Cost of sales	28,298		22,212			—		50,510
Restaurant wages and related expenses⁽¹⁾	21,153		23,883			—		45,036
Restaurant rent expense	5,421		6,324			—		11,745
Other restaurant operating expenses	11,958		9,805			—		21,763
Advertising expense	3,032		2,489			—		5,521
General and administrative expense⁽²⁾	8,347		6,724			—		15,071
Adjusted EBITDA	14,317		2,895			—		17,212
Depreciation and amortization	5,213		4,335			—		9,548
Capital expenditures	7,145		4,037			355		11,537
Identifiable Assets:
March 29, 2020	$	339,684	$	189,898		$	29,448	$	559,030
December 29, 2019	340,012		195,883			32,746		568,641

⁽¹⁾Includes stock-based compensation expense of $36 and $27 for the three months ended March 29, 2020 and March 31, 2019, respectively.

⁽²⁾Includes stock-based compensation expense of $776 and $765 for the three months ended March 29, 2020 and March 31, 2019, respectively.

A reconciliation of consolidated net income (loss) to Adjusted EBITDA follows:



Three Months Ended	Pollo Tropical			Taco Cabana			Consolidated
March 29, 2020:
Net loss							$	(7,317	)
Benefit from income taxes							(3,005		)
Loss before taxes	$	(1,827	)	$	(8,495	)	$	(10,322	)
Add:
Non-general and administrative expense adjustments:
Depreciation and amortization	5,278			4,152			9,430
Impairment and other lease charges	3,696			537			4,233
Interest expense	483			478			961
Closed restaurant rent expense, net of sublease income	602			1,030			1,632
Other expense (income), net	107			801			908
Stock-based compensation expense in restaurant wages	11			25			36
Total non-general and administrative expense adjustments	10,177			7,023			17,200
General and administrative expense adjustments:
Stock-based compensation expense	310			466			776
Digital and brand repositioning costs	120			99			219
Total general and administrative expense adjustments	430			565			995
Adjusted EBITDA	$	8,780		$	(907	)	$	7,873

March 31, 2019:
Net income							$	2,289
Provision for income taxes							946
Income (loss) before taxes	$	5,956		$	(2,721	)	$	3,235
Add:
Non-general and administrative expense adjustments:
Depreciation and amortization	5,213			4,335			9,548
Impairment and other lease charges	(379		)	41			(338		)
Interest expense	656			578			1,234
Closed restaurant rent expense, net of sublease income	1,144			280			1,424
Other expense (income), net	596			106			702
Stock-based compensation expense in restaurant wages	5			22			27
Total non-general and administrative expense adjustments	7,235			5,362			12,597
General and administrative expense adjustments:
Stock-based compensation expense	577			188			765
Restructuring costs and retention bonuses	549			66			615
Total general and administrative expense adjustments	1,126			254			1,380
Adjusted EBITDA	$	14,317		$	2,895		$	17,212

Earnings (Loss) Per Share

3 Months Ended

Mar. 29, 2020

Earnings Per Share [Abstract]

Earnings (Loss) Per Share

Basic earnings (loss) per share ("EPS") is computed by dividing net income (loss) applicable to common shares by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during each period. Non-vested restricted shares contain a non-forfeitable right to receive dividends on a one-to-one per share ratio to common shares and are thus considered participating securities. The impact of the participating securities is included in the computation of basic EPS pursuant to the two-class method. The two-class method of computing EPS is an earnings allocation formula that determines earnings attributable to common shares and participating securities according to dividends declared (whether paid or unpaid) and participation rights in undistributed earnings. EPS is computed by dividing undistributed earnings allocated to common stockholders by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding for the period. In applying the two-class method, undistributed earnings are allocated to both common shares and non-vested restricted shares based on the weighted average shares outstanding during the period.

Diluted EPS reflects the potential dilution that could occur if the restricted stock units were to be converted into common shares. Restricted stock units with performance conditions are only included in the diluted EPS calculation to the extent that performance conditions have been met at the measurement date. Diluted EPS is computed by adjusting the basic weighted average number of common shares by the dilutive effect of the restricted stock units, determined using the treasury stock method.

For the three months ended March 29, 2020, all shares of outstanding restricted stock units were excluded from the computation of diluted EPS because including such restricted stock units would have been antidilutive as a result of the net loss in the three months ended March 29, 2020. For the three months ended March 31, 2019, no shares of outstanding restricted stock units were excluded from the computation of diluted EPS.

The computation of basic and diluted EPS is as follows:



	Three Months Ended
	March 29, 2020			March 31, 2019
Basic and diluted EPS:
Net income (loss)	$	(7,317	)	$	2,289
Less: income allocated to participating securities	—			22
Net income (loss) available to common shareholders	$	(7,317	)	$	2,267
Weighted average common shares—basic	25,519,247			26,842,704
Restricted stock units	—			2,373
Weighted average common shares—diluted	25,519,247			26,845,077

Earnings (loss) per common share—basic	$	(0.29	)	$	0.08
Earnings (loss) per common share—diluted	(0.29		)	0.08

Commitments and Contingencies	3 Months Ended
Commitments and Contingencies	Mar. 29, 2020
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]
Commitments and Contingencies	Commitments and Contingencies Lease Assignments. Taco Cabana has assigned two leases to various parties on properties where it no longer operates restaurants with lease terms expiring on various dates through 2029. The assignees are responsible for making the payments required by the leases. The Company is a guarantor under one of the leases, and it remains secondarily liable as a surety with respect to one of the leases. Pollo Tropical assigned one lease to a third party on a property where it no longer operates with a lease term expiring in 2033. The assignee is responsible for making the payments required by the lease. The Company is a guarantor under the lease. The maximum potential liability for future rental payments that the Company could be required to make under these leases at March 29, 2020 was $3.1 million. The Company could also be obligated to pay property taxes and other lease-related costs. The obligations under these leases will generally continue to decrease over time as the operating leases expire. The Company does not believe it is probable that it will be ultimately responsible for the obligations under these leases. Legal Matters. The Company is a party to various litigation matters incidental to the conduct of business. The Company does not believe that the outcome of any of these matters will have a material effect on its condensed consolidated financial statements. The Company records accruals for outstanding legal matters when it believes it is probable that a loss will be incurred and the amount can be reasonably estimated. The Company evaluates, on a quarterly basis, developments in legal matters that could affect the amount of any accrual and developments that would make a loss contingency both probable and reasonably estimable. If a loss contingency is not both probable and estimable, the Company does not establish an accrued liability.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements	3 Months Ended
Recent Accounting Pronouncements	Mar. 29, 2020
Accounting Policies [Abstract]
Recent Accounting Pronouncements	Recent Accounting Pronouncements In December 2019, the FASB issued ASU No. 2019-12, Income Taxes (Topic 740), which is a part of the Simplification Initiative being undertaken by the FASB to reduce complexity of accounting standards. The amendments in this update simplify the accounting for income taxes by removing certain exceptions, the most notable for the Company being the exception to the general methodology for calculating income taxes in an interim period when the year-to-date loss exceeds the anticipated loss for the full year. The guidance will be effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2020. Early adoption is permitted and any adjustments should be reflected as of the beginning of the annual period of adoption. Amendments relevant to the Company should be applied on a prospective basis. The Company is still evaluating the impact the standard will have on its financial statements. In March 2020, the FASB issued ASU No. 2020-04, Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848) ("ASU No. 2020-04"), which provides optional expedients and exceptions for applying GAAP to contracts, hedging relationships, and other transactions affected by reference rate reform if certain criteria are met. The amendments in this update are effective as of March 12, 2020 through December 31, 2022. As of March 29, 2020, the Company's only exposure to LIBOR rates was its senior credit facility. Upon cessation of the LIBOR, the senior credit agreement will be amended to reflect an alternative reference rate. According to ASU No. 2020-04, modifications of contracts within the scope of Topic 470 Debt should be accounted for by prospectively adjusting the effective interest rate. The Company does not expect ASU No. 2020-04 to have a significant impact on its financial statements.

Income Taxes	3 Months Ended
Income Taxes	Mar. 29, 2020
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]
Income Taxes	Income Taxes The Company has historically calculated the provision for income taxes during interim reporting periods by applying an estimate of the annualized effective tax rate for the full fiscal year to "ordinary" income or loss (pretax income or loss excluding unusual or infrequently occurring discrete items) for the reporting period. Due to the uncertainty created by the events surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, the actual effective tax rate for the year to date period was used to calculate the income tax benefit for the three months ended March 29, 2020 as permitted by Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC") 740-270-30-18. Tax Law Changes. On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the "CARES Act") was signed into law. The CARES Act includes provisions that allow net operating losses in 2018, 2019, and 2020 to be carried back for up to five years and eliminates the 80% taxable income limitation on net operating loss deductions for 2018 through 2020. These changes allowed the Company to record an incremental benefit of $1.8 million during the first quarter of 2020, which represents the impact of carrying net operating losses from 2018 and 2019 back to years with a higher federal corporate income tax rate. The CARES Act also includes technical amendments that are retroactive to 2018 which permit certain assets to be classified as qualified improvement property and expensed immediately. Reclassifying certain assets as qualified improvement property will result in an incremental benefit. The amount of the incremental benefit is not yet known due to the complexity and interaction of other items and tax years involved in the calculation, but will be quantified prior to filing the 2019 federal income tax return.

Basis of Presentation (Policies)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 29, 2020

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Basis of Consolidation

Basis of Consolidation. The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements presented herein reflect the consolidated financial position, results of operations and cash flows of Fiesta and its wholly-owned subsidiaries. All intercompany transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

Fiscal Year

Fiscal Year. The Company uses a 52–53 week fiscal year ending on the Sunday closest to December 31. The fiscal year ended December 29, 2019 contained 52 weeks. The three months ended March 29, 2020 and March 31, 2019 each contained thirteen weeks. The fiscal year ending January 3, 2021 will contain 53 weeks.

Basis of Presentation

Basis of Presentation. The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements for the three months ended March 29, 2020 and March 31, 2019 have been prepared without an audit pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and do not include certain information and footnotes required by U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles ("GAAP") for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, all normal and recurring adjustments considered necessary for a fair presentation of such financial statements have been included. The results of operations for the three months ended March 29, 2020 and March 31, 2019 are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the full year.

These unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto for the year ended December 29, 2019 included in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for

the fiscal year ended December 29, 2019. The December 29, 2019 balance sheet data is derived from those audited financial statements.

Guidance Adopted in 2020 and Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Guidance Adopted in 2020. In August 2018, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") No. 2018-15, Customer's Accounting for Implementation Costs Incurred in a Cloud Computing Arrangement That is a Service Contract, which aligns the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred in a hosting arrangement that is a service contract with the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred to develop or obtain internal-use software (and hosting arrangements that include an internal-use software license). The Company adopted this new accounting standard on December 30, 2019 and will apply it prospectively to all implementation costs incurred after the date of adoption. The adoption of this standard did not have a material effect on the Company's financial statements. The Company deferred and amortized application development stage costs for cloud-based computing arrangements over the life of the related service (subscription) agreement in the same line item that the fees associated with the subscription arrangement were presented prior to adoption of the new standard.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In December 2019, the FASB issued ASU No. 2019-12, Income Taxes (Topic 740), which is a part of the Simplification Initiative being undertaken by the FASB to reduce complexity of accounting standards. The amendments in this update simplify the accounting for income taxes by removing certain exceptions, the most notable for the Company being the exception to the general methodology for calculating income taxes in an interim period when the year-to-date loss exceeds the anticipated loss for the full year. The guidance will be effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2020. Early adoption is permitted and any adjustments should be reflected as of the beginning of the annual period of adoption. Amendments relevant to the Company should be applied on a prospective basis. The Company is still evaluating the impact the standard will have on its financial statements.

In March 2020, the FASB issued ASU No. 2020-04, Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848) ("ASU No. 2020-04"), which provides optional expedients and exceptions for applying GAAP to contracts, hedging relationships, and other transactions affected by reference rate reform if certain criteria are met. The amendments in this update are effective as of March 12, 2020 through December 31, 2022. As of March 29, 2020, the Company's only exposure to LIBOR rates was its senior credit facility. Upon cessation of the LIBOR, the senior credit agreement will be amended to reflect an alternative reference rate. According to ASU No. 2020-04, modifications of contracts within the scope of Topic 470 Debt should be accounted for by prospectively adjusting the effective interest rate. The Company does not expect ASU No. 2020-04 to have a significant impact on its financial statements.

Revenue Recognition

Revenue Recognition. Revenue is recognized upon transfer of promised products or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration the Company received in exchange for those products or services. Revenues from the Company's owned and operated restaurants are recognized when payment is tendered at the time of sale. Franchise royalty revenues are based on a percent of gross sales and are recorded as income when earned. Initial franchise fees and area development fees associated with new franchise agreements are not distinct from the continuing rights and services offered by the Company during the term of the related franchise agreements and are recognized as income over the term of the related franchise agreements. A portion of the initial franchise fee is allocated to training services and is recognized as revenue when the Company completes the training services.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

Fair Value of Financial Instruments. Fair value is defined as 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 under current market conditions. In determining fair value, the accounting standards establish a three-level hierarchy for inputs used in measuring fair value as follows: Level 1 inputs are quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities; Level 2 inputs are observable for the asset or liability, either directly or indirectly, including quoted prices in active markets for similar assets or liabilities; and Level 3 inputs are unobservable and reflect management's own assumptions. The following methods were used to estimate the fair value of each class of financial instruments for which it is practicable to estimate the fair value:


•	Current Assets and Liabilities. The carrying values reported on the balance sheet of cash, accounts receivable and accounts payable approximate fair value because of the short maturity of those financial instruments.

•

Revolving Credit Borrowings. The fair value of outstanding revolving credit borrowings under the Company's senior credit facility, which is considered Level 2, is based on current LIBOR rates.

Long-Lived Assets

Long-Lived Assets. The Company assesses the recoverability of property and equipment and definite-lived intangible assets, including right-of-use ("ROU") lease assets, by determining whether the carrying value of these assets can be recovered over their respective remaining lives through undiscounted future operating cash flows. Impairment is reviewed whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amounts of these assets may not be fully recoverable.

Leases

Leases. The Company assesses whether an agreement contains a lease at inception. All leases are reviewed for finance or operating classification once control is obtained. The majority of the Company's leases are operating leases. Operating leases are included within operating lease right-of-use assets, other current liabilities, and operating lease liabilities in the condensed consolidated balance sheets. Finance leases are included within property and equipment, net, current portion of long-term debt, and long-term debt, net of current portion in the condensed consolidated balance sheets.

ROU assets represent the Company's right to use an underlying asset for the lease term and lease liabilities represent the obligation to make lease payments arising from the lease. Operating lease ROU assets and liabilities are recognized at commencement date based on the present value of lease payments over the lease term. The operating lease ROU asset also includes any lease payments made in advance and is reduced by lease incentives received. As most leases do not provide an implicit rate, the Company uses its incremental borrowing rate at commencement date in determining the present value of lease payments. Lease terms include options to extend the lease when it is reasonably certain that the Company will exercise that option. The Company assumes options are reasonably certain to be exercised when such options are required to achieve a minimum 20-year lease term for new restaurant properties and when it incurs significant leasehold improvement costs near the end of a lease term. The Company

uses judgment and available data to allocate consideration in a contract when it leases land and a building. The Company also uses judgment in determining its incremental borrowing rate, which includes selecting a yield curve based on a synthetic credit rating determined using a valuation model. Lease expense for lease payments is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term unless the related ROU asset has been adjusted for an impairment charge. The Company has real estate lease agreements with lease and non-lease components, which are accounted for as a single lease component.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic the Company entered into a rent deferral agreement with one landlord as of March 29, 2020, and entered into similar agreements with other landlords in the second quarter of 2020. Under these agreements, certain rent payments will be deferred without penalty for various periods, generally for up to three months. The Company has elected to account for lease concessions and deferrals resulting directly from COVID-19 as though the enforceable rights and obligations to the concessions and deferrals existed in the respective contracts at lease inception and will not account for the concessions and deferrals as lease modifications.

Use of Estimates

Use of Estimates. The preparation of the condensed consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the dates of the financial statements. Estimates also affect the reported amounts of expenses during the reporting periods. Significant items subject to such estimates and assumptions include: insurance liabilities, evaluation for impairment of goodwill and long-lived assets, lease accounting matters, and deferred income tax assets. Actual results could differ from those estimates. Due to the uncertainty associated with the unprecedented nature of the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact it will have on the Company's operations and future cash flows, it is reasonably possible that the estimates of future cash flows used in impairment assessments will change in the near term and the effect of the change could be material. The Company's current estimates assume that "shelter-in-place" mandates, social distancing, closing dining rooms in restaurants and other changes related to COVID-19 will continue to have a significant impact for the remainder of the year with the greatest impact in the near term.

Impairment of Long-Lived Assets

The Company reviews its long-lived assets, principally property and equipment and lease ROU assets, for impairment at the restaurant level. The Company has elected to exclude operating lease payments and liabilities from future cash flows and carrying values, respectively, in its impairment review. In addition to considering management's plans, known regulatory or governmental actions and damage due to acts of God (hurricanes, tornadoes, etc.), the Company considers a triggering event to have occurred related to a specific restaurant if the restaurant's cash flows, exclusive of operating lease payments, for the last twelve months are less than a minimum threshold or if consistent levels of cash flows for the remaining lease period are less than the carrying value of the restaurant's assets. If an indicator of impairment exists for any of its assets, an estimate of undiscounted future cash flows, exclusive of operating lease payments, over the life of the primary asset for each restaurant is compared to that long-lived asset group's carrying value, excluding operating lease liabilities. If the carrying value is greater than the undiscounted cash flow, the Company then determines the fair value of the asset and if an asset is determined to be impaired, the loss is measured by the excess of the carrying amount of the asset over its fair value. There is uncertainty in the projected undiscounted future cash flows used in the Company's impairment review analysis. If actual performance does not achieve the projections, the Company may recognize impairment charges in future periods, and such charges could be material.

Purchase of Treasury Stock

In 2018, the Company's board of directors approved a share repurchase program for up to 1,500,000 shares of the Company's common stock. In 2019, the Company's board of directors approved increases to the share repurchase program of an additional 1,500,000 shares of the Company's common stock for an aggregate approval of 3,000,000 shares of the Company's common stock. Under the share repurchase program, shares may be repurchased from time to time in open market transactions at prevailing market prices, in privately negotiated transactions or by other means in accordance with federal securities laws, including Rule 10b-18 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The share repurchase program has no time limit and may be modified, suspended, superseded or terminated at any time by the Company's board of directors. The Company repurchased 500,000 shares of common stock valued at approximately $3.7 million and 158,269 shares of common stock valued at approximately $2.2 million during the three months ended March 29, 2020 and March 31, 2019, respectively. The shares repurchased in 2020 were purchased on or before March 12, 2020. The repurchased shares are held as treasury stock at cost.

Segment Reporting

The primary measure of segment profit or loss used by the chief operating decision maker to assess performance and allocate resources is Adjusted EBITDA, which is defined as earnings attributable to the applicable operating segments before interest expense, income taxes, depreciation and amortization, impairment and other lease charges, goodwill impairment, closed restaurant rent expense, net of sublease income, stock-based compensation expense, other expense (income), net, and certain significant items for each segment that management believes are related to strategic changes and/or are not related to the ongoing operation of the Company's restaurants

Earnings per Share

Basic earnings (loss) per share ("EPS") is computed by dividing net income (loss) applicable to common shares by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during each period. Non-vested restricted shares contain a non-forfeitable right to receive dividends on a one-to-one per share ratio to common shares and are thus considered participating securities. The impact of the participating securities is included in the computation of basic EPS pursuant to the two-class method. The two-class method of computing EPS is an earnings allocation formula that determines earnings attributable to common shares and participating securities according to dividends declared (whether paid or unpaid) and participation rights in undistributed earnings. EPS is computed by dividing undistributed earnings allocated to common stockholders by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding for the period. In applying the two-class method, undistributed earnings are allocated to both common shares and non-vested restricted shares based on the weighted average shares outstanding during the period.

Diluted EPS reflects the potential dilution that could occur if the restricted stock units were to be converted into common shares. Restricted stock units with performance conditions are only included in the diluted EPS calculation to the extent that performance conditions have been met at the measurement date. Diluted EPS is computed by adjusting the basic weighted average number of common shares by the dilutive effect of the restricted stock units, determined using the treasury stock method.

Prepaid Expenses and Other Current Assets (Tables)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 29, 2020

Deferred Costs, Capitalized, Prepaid, and Other Assets Disclosure [Abstract]

Prepaid Expenses and Other Current Assets

Prepaid expenses and other current assets, consist of the following:



	March 29, 2020		December 29, 2019
Prepaid contract expenses	$	4,369	$	4,410
Assets held for sale⁽¹⁾	4,110		4,110
Other	3,243		2,085
	$	11,722	$	10,605

(1)

One closed Pollo Tropical restaurant and two closed Taco Cabana restaurant properties owned by the Company were classified as held for sale as of March 29, 2020 and December 29, 2019.

Impairment of Long-Lived Assets and Other Lease Charges (Tables)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 29, 2020

Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]

Summary of Impairment on Long-Lived Assets by Segment

A summary of impairment of long-lived assets and other lease charges (recoveries) recorded by segment is as follows:



	Three Months Ended
	March 29, 2020		March 31, 2019
Pollo Tropical	$	3,696	$	(379	)
Taco Cabana	537		41
	$	4,233	$	(338	)

Other Lease Charges (Recoveries) by Segment

A summary of impairment of long-lived assets and other lease charges (recoveries) recorded by segment is as follows:



	Three Months Ended
	March 29, 2020		March 31, 2019
Pollo Tropical	$	3,696	$	(379	)
Taco Cabana	537		41
	$	4,233	$	(338	)

Other Liabilities (Tables)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 29, 2020

Other Liabilities Disclosure [Abstract]

Other Liabilities, Current

Other current liabilities consist of the following:



	March 29, 2020		December 29, 2019
Operating lease liabilities	$	23,050	$	22,338
Accrued workers' compensation and general liability claims	4,876		4,354
Sales and property taxes	865		1,889
Accrued occupancy costs	424		891
Other	3,573		2,797
	$	32,788	$	32,269

Other Liabilities, Non-current

Other non-current liabilities consist of the following:



	March 29, 2020		December 29, 2019
Accrued workers' compensation and general liability claims	$	7,348	$	7,348
Deferred compensation	427		424
Accrued occupancy costs	78		78
Other	531		555
	$	8,384	$	8,405

Activity in the Closed-Restaurant Reserve

The following table presents the activity in the closed restaurant reserve, of which $0.1 million and $0.1 million are included in non-current liabilities at March 29, 2020 and December 29, 2019, respectively, with the remainder in other current liabilities.



	Three Months Ended March 29, 2020			Year Ended December 29, 2019
Balance, beginning of period	$	752		$	8,819
Payments, net	(228		)	(1,405		)
Other adjustments⁽¹⁾	(129		)	(6,662		)
Balance, end of period	$	395		$	752

(1)

As a result of adopting ASC 842 on December 31, 2018, the portion of the closed restaurant reserve related to operating lease rental payments totaling $6.0 million was reclassified and included as a component of the related ROU assets during the twelve months ended December 29, 2019. The portion of the closed restaurant reserve related to variable ancillary lease costs was not reclassified and was not included as a reduction to ROU assets.

Stockholders' Equity (Tables)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 29, 2020

Equity [Abstract]

Schedule of Non-vested Restricted Shares and Restricted Stock Units Activity

A summary of all non-vested restricted shares and restricted stock units activity for the three months ended March 29, 2020 is as follows:



	Non-Vested Shares				Restricted Stock Units
	Shares		Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value		Units		Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value
Outstanding at December 29, 2019	355,605		$	15.47	176,362		$	9.42
Granted	183,426		8.99		—		—
Vested and released	(73,251	)	19.03		(747	)	32.44
Forfeited	(11,148	)	14.11		(607	)	24.86
Outstanding at March 29, 2020	454,632		$	12.31	175,008		$	9.27

Restricted Stock Units Subject to Market Conditions Assumptions

The assumptions used to value grant restricted stock units subject to market conditions are detailed below:



	2019
Grant date stock price	$	14.66
Fair value at grant date	$	1.76
Risk free interest rate	2.53		%
Expected term (in years)	2
Dividend yield	—		%
Expected volatility	43.18		%

Business Segment Information (Tables)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 29, 2020

Segment Reporting [Abstract]

Schedule of Segment Reporting Information, by Segment



Three Months Ended	Pollo Tropical		Taco Cabana			Other		Consolidated
March 29, 2020:
Restaurant sales	$	85,721	$	60,365		$	—	$	146,086
Franchise revenue	404		209			—		613
Cost of sales	27,731		18,545			—		46,276
Restaurant wages and related expenses⁽¹⁾	21,037		19,458			—		40,495
Restaurant rent expense	5,640		5,699			—		11,339
Other restaurant operating expenses	12,386		9,125			—		21,511
Advertising expense	3,504		2,279			—		5,783
General and administrative expense⁽²⁾	7,488		6,896			—		14,384
Adjusted EBITDA	8,780		(907		)	—		7,873
Depreciation and amortization	5,278		4,152			—		9,430
Capital expenditures	3,281		2,600			202		6,083
March 31, 2019:
Restaurant sales	$	91,026	$	74,155		$	—	$	165,181
Franchise revenue	455		216			—		671
Cost of sales	28,298		22,212			—		50,510
Restaurant wages and related expenses⁽¹⁾	21,153		23,883			—		45,036
Restaurant rent expense	5,421		6,324			—		11,745
Other restaurant operating expenses	11,958		9,805			—		21,763
Advertising expense	3,032		2,489			—		5,521
General and administrative expense⁽²⁾	8,347		6,724			—		15,071
Adjusted EBITDA	14,317		2,895			—		17,212
Depreciation and amortization	5,213		4,335			—		9,548
Capital expenditures	7,145		4,037			355		11,537
Identifiable Assets:
March 29, 2020	$	339,684	$	189,898		$	29,448	$	559,030
December 29, 2019	340,012		195,883			32,746		568,641

⁽¹⁾Includes stock-based compensation expense of $36 and $27 for the three months ended March 29, 2020 and March 31, 2019, respectively.

⁽²⁾Includes stock-based compensation expense of $776 and $765 for the three months ended March 29, 2020 and March 31, 2019, respectively.

Reconciliation of Consolidated Net Income (Loss) to Adjusted EBITDA

A reconciliation of consolidated net income (loss) to Adjusted EBITDA follows:



Three Months Ended	Pollo Tropical			Taco Cabana			Consolidated
March 29, 2020:
Net loss							$	(7,317	)
Benefit from income taxes							(3,005		)
Loss before taxes	$	(1,827	)	$	(8,495	)	$	(10,322	)
Add:
Non-general and administrative expense adjustments:
Depreciation and amortization	5,278			4,152			9,430
Impairment and other lease charges	3,696			537			4,233
Interest expense	483			478			961
Closed restaurant rent expense, net of sublease income	602			1,030			1,632
Other expense (income), net	107			801			908
Stock-based compensation expense in restaurant wages	11			25			36
Total non-general and administrative expense adjustments	10,177			7,023			17,200
General and administrative expense adjustments:
Stock-based compensation expense	310			466			776
Digital and brand repositioning costs	120			99			219
Total general and administrative expense adjustments	430			565			995
Adjusted EBITDA	$	8,780		$	(907	)	$	7,873

March 31, 2019:
Net income							$	2,289
Provision for income taxes							946
Income (loss) before taxes	$	5,956		$	(2,721	)	$	3,235
Add:
Non-general and administrative expense adjustments:
Depreciation and amortization	5,213			4,335			9,548
Impairment and other lease charges	(379		)	41			(338		)
Interest expense	656			578			1,234
Closed restaurant rent expense, net of sublease income	1,144			280			1,424
Other expense (income), net	596			106			702
Stock-based compensation expense in restaurant wages	5			22			27
Total non-general and administrative expense adjustments	7,235			5,362			12,597
General and administrative expense adjustments:
Stock-based compensation expense	577			188			765
Restructuring costs and retention bonuses	549			66			615
Total general and administrative expense adjustments	1,126			254			1,380
Adjusted EBITDA	$	14,317		$	2,895		$	17,212

Earnings (Loss) Per Share (Tables)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 29, 2020

Earnings Per Share [Abstract]

Schedule of Earnings (Loss) Per Share

The computation of basic and diluted EPS is as follows:



	Three Months Ended
	March 29, 2020			March 31, 2019
Basic and diluted EPS:
Net income (loss)	$	(7,317	)	$	2,289
Less: income allocated to participating securities	—			22
Net income (loss) available to common shareholders	$	(7,317	)	$	2,267
Weighted average common shares—basic	25,519,247			26,842,704
Restricted stock units	—			2,373
Weighted average common shares—diluted	25,519,247			26,845,077

Earnings (loss) per common share—basic	$	(0.29	)	$	0.08
Earnings (loss) per common share—diluted	(0.29		)	0.08

Basis of Presentation - Narrative (Details)	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended
Basis of Presentation - Narrative (Details)	May 07, 2020 USD ($)	Mar. 29, 2020 USD ($) lease segment restaurant	Mar. 31, 2019 USD ($)	Dec. 29, 2019 USD ($)	Nov. 30, 2017 USD ($)
Entity Information [Line Items]
Number of operating segments \| segment		2
Maximum aggregate revolving credit borrowings \| $					$ 150,000,000.0
Borrowings on revolving credit facility \| $		$ 71,420,000	$ 11,000,000
Number of leases with rent deferral agreements \| lease		1
Minimum
Entity Information [Line Items]
Lease term		20 years
Revolver
Entity Information [Line Items]
Revolving credit facility, outstanding balance \| $		$ 71,000,000.0		$ 75,000,000.0
Revolver \| Subsequent Event
Entity Information [Line Items]
Revolving credit facility, outstanding balance \| $	$ 146,500,000
Borrowings on revolving credit facility \| $	$ 75,500,000
Entity Operated Units \| Pollo Tropical
Entity Information [Line Items]
Number of restaurants		141
Entity Operated Units \| Taco Cabana
Entity Information [Line Items]
Number of restaurants		146
Franchised Units \| Pollo Tropical
Entity Information [Line Items]
Number of restaurants		33
Franchised Units \| Pollo Tropical \| Puerto Rico
Entity Information [Line Items]
Number of restaurants		17
Franchised Units \| Pollo Tropical \| Panama
Entity Information [Line Items]
Number of restaurants		4
Franchised Units \| Pollo Tropical \| Guyana
Entity Information [Line Items]
Number of restaurants		2
Franchised Units \| Pollo Tropical \| Ecuador
Entity Information [Line Items]
Number of restaurants		1
Franchised Units \| Pollo Tropical \| Bahamas
Entity Information [Line Items]
Number of restaurants		1
Franchised Units \| Pollo Tropical \| Florida \| College Campus
Entity Information [Line Items]
Number of restaurants		7
Franchised Units \| Pollo Tropical \| Florida \| Hospital
Entity Information [Line Items]
Number of restaurants		1
Franchised Units \| Taco Cabana
Entity Information [Line Items]
Number of restaurants		8
Franchised Units \| Taco Cabana \| New Mexico
Entity Information [Line Items]
Number of restaurants		6
Franchised Units \| Taco Cabana \| Texas
Entity Information [Line Items]
Number of restaurants		2

Basis of Presentation - Fair Value Disclosures (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	Mar. 29, 2020	Dec. 29, 2019
Revolver
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Carrying value of senior credit facility	$ 71.0	$ 75.0
Level 2
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Fair value of senior credit facility	$ 71.0	$ 75.0

- Definition

The carrying value as of the balance sheet date of the current and noncurrent portions of long-term obligations drawn from a line of credit, which is a bank's commitment to make loans up to a specific amount. Examples of items that might be included in the application of this element may consist of letters of credit, standby letters of credit, and revolving credit arrangements, under which borrowings can be made up to a maximum amount as of any point in time conditional on satisfaction of specified terms before, as of and after the date of drawdowns on the line. Includes short-term obligations that would normally be classified as current liabilities but for which (a) postbalance sheet date issuance of a long term obligation to refinance the short term obligation on a long term basis, or (b) the enterprise has entered into a financing agreement that clearly permits the enterprise to refinance the short-term obligation on a long term basis and the following conditions are met (1) the agreement does not expire within 1 year and is not cancelable by the lender except for violation of an objectively determinable provision, (2) no violation exists at the BS date, and (3) the lender has entered into the financing agreement is expected to be financially capable of honoring the agreement.

+ References + Details

Prepaid Expenses and Other Current Assets (Details) $ in Thousands	Mar. 29, 2020 USD ($) restaurant	Dec. 29, 2019 USD ($) restaurant
Deferred Costs, Capitalized, Prepaid, and Other Assets Disclosure [Abstract]
Prepaid contract expenses	$ 4,369	$ 4,410
Assets held for sale	4,110	4,110
Other	3,243	2,085
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	$ 11,722	$ 10,605
Pollo Tropical
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Restaurant properties classified as held for sale \| restaurant	1	1
Taco Cabana
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Restaurant properties classified as held for sale \| restaurant	2	2

Impairment of Long-Lived Assets and Other Lease Charges - Summary by Segment (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 29, 2020	Mar. 31, 2019
Impairment and Other Lease Charges [Line Items]
Impairment and other lease charges	$ 4,233	$ (338)
Pollo Tropical
Impairment and Other Lease Charges [Line Items]
Impairment and other lease charges	3,696	(379)
Taco Cabana
Impairment and Other Lease Charges [Line Items]
Impairment and other lease charges	$ 537	$ 41

Impairment of Long-Lived Assets and Other Lease Charges - Narrative (Details) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 29, 2020 USD ($) restaurant	Mar. 31, 2019 USD ($)
Level 3
Impairment and Other Lease Charges [Line Items]
Assets measured at fair value associated with impairment charges	$ 3.4
Pollo Tropical
Impairment and Other Lease Charges [Line Items]
Impairment charges	$ 3.7	$ 0.4
Number of underperforming restaurants \| restaurant	3
Lease charge (recoveries)		$ (0.7)
Taco Cabana
Impairment and Other Lease Charges [Line Items]
Impairment charges	$ 0.5
Number of underperforming restaurants \| restaurant	2
COVID-19 Impact \| Pollo Tropical
Impairment and Other Lease Charges [Line Items]
Number of underperforming restaurants \| restaurant	2

Other Liabilities - Current (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Mar. 29, 2020	Dec. 29, 2019
Other Liabilities Disclosure [Abstract]
Operating lease liabilities	$ 23,050	$ 22,338
Accrued workers' compensation and general liability claims	4,876	4,354
Sales and property taxes	865	1,889
Accrued occupancy costs	424	891
Other	3,573	2,797
Other current liabilities	$ 32,788	$ 32,269

Other Liabilities - Non-current (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Mar. 29, 2020	Dec. 29, 2019
Other Liabilities Disclosure [Abstract]
Accrued workers' compensation and general liability claims	$ 7,348	$ 7,348
Deferred compensation	427	424
Accrued occupancy costs	78	78
Other	531	555
Other non-current liabilities	$ 8,384	$ 8,405

Other Liabilities - Narrative (Details) - Closed Stores - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Mar. 29, 2020	Dec. 29, 2019	Dec. 30, 2018
Restructuring Cost and Reserve [Line Items]
Closed-restaurant reserve	$ 395	$ 752	$ 8,819
Other Liabilities, Non-current
Restructuring Cost and Reserve [Line Items]
Closed-restaurant reserve	$ 100	$ 100

Other Liabilities - Closed-Restaurant Reserve (Details) - Closed Stores - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Mar. 29, 2020	Dec. 29, 2019
Activity in the Closed-Restaurant Reserve
Balance, beginning of period	$ 752	$ 8,819
Payments, net	(228)	(1,405)
Other adjustments	(129)	(6,662)
Balance, end of period	$ 395	752
Operating lease rental payments		$ 6,000

Stockholders' Equity - Purchase of Treasury Stock (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 29, 2020	Mar. 31, 2019	Dec. 29, 2019	Feb. 26, 2018
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Number of shares authorized to be repurchased	3,000,000
Treasury stock purchases (in shares)	500,000	158,269
Treasury stock purchases	$ 3,728	$ 2,199
Share Repurchase Program 2018
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Number of shares authorized to be repurchased				1,500,000
Share Repurchase Program 2019
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Number of shares authorized to be repurchased			1,500,000

Stockholders' Equity - Stock-Based Compensation (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Millions	3 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
	Mar. 29, 2020	Mar. 31, 2019	Dec. 29, 2019
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Stock-based compensation	$ 0.8	$ 0.8
Unrecognized stock-based compensation expense	$ 4.6
Nonvested Restricted Shares
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Shares granted in period	183,426
Weighted average grant date fair value, grants in period (usd per share)	$ 8.99
Share-based compensation cost not yet recognized, period for recognition	2 years 10 months 24 days
Nonvested Restricted Shares \| Employee
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Shares granted in period	183,426
Vesting period	4 years
Weighted average grant date fair value, grants in period (usd per share)	$ 8.99	$ 13.44
Nonvested Restricted Shares \| Director
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Vesting period	5 years
Restricted Stock Units
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Shares granted in period	0
Weighted average grant date fair value, grants in period (usd per share)	$ 0
Share-based compensation cost not yet recognized, period for recognition	10 months 24 days
Market Performance-Based Restricted Stock Units (RSUs)
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Weighted average grant date fair value, grants in period (usd per share)			$ 1.76
Market Performance-Based Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) \| Executive Officer
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Weighted average grant date fair value, grants in period (usd per share)		$ 1.76

Stockholders' Equity - Non-vested Restricted Shares and Restricted Stock Units Activity (Details)	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 29, 2020 $ / shares shares
Non-Vested Shares
Non-vested Restricted Shares and Restricted Stock Units
Outstanding at beginning of period (in shares) \| shares	355,605
Granted (in shares) \| shares	183,426
Vested and released (in shares) \| shares	(73,251)
Forfeited (in shares) \| shares	(11,148)
Outstanding at end of period (in shares) \| shares	454,632
Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value
Outstanding at beginning of period (usd per share) \| $ / shares	$ 15.47
Granted (usd per share) \| $ / shares	8.99
Vested and released (usd per share) \| $ / shares	19.03
Forfeited (usd per share) \| $ / shares	14.11
Outstanding at end of period (usd per share) \| $ / shares	$ 12.31
Restricted Stock Units
Non-vested Restricted Shares and Restricted Stock Units
Outstanding at beginning of period (in shares) \| shares	176,362
Granted (in shares) \| shares	0
Vested and released (in shares) \| shares	(747)
Forfeited (in shares) \| shares	(607)
Outstanding at end of period (in shares) \| shares	175,008
Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value
Outstanding at beginning of period (usd per share) \| $ / shares	$ 9.42
Granted (usd per share) \| $ / shares	0
Vested and released (usd per share) \| $ / shares	32.44
Forfeited (usd per share) \| $ / shares	24.86
Outstanding at end of period (usd per share) \| $ / shares	$ 9.27

Stockholders' Equity - Restricted Stock Units Subject to Market Conditions (Details) - Market Performance-Based Restricted Stock Units (RSUs)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 29, 2019 $ / shares
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Grant date stock price (usd per share)	$ 14.66
Fair value at grant date (usd per share)	$ 1.76
Risk free interest rate	2.53%
Expected term (in years)	2 years
Dividend yield	0.00%
Expected volatility	43.18%

Business Segment Information - Segment Reporting Information, by Segment (Details) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 29, 2020 USD ($) segment	Mar. 31, 2019 USD ($)	Dec. 29, 2019 USD ($)
Segment Reporting [Abstract]
Number of operating segments \| segment	2
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	$ 146,699	$ 165,852
Cost of sales	46,276	50,510
Restaurant wages and related expenses	40,495	45,036
Restaurant rent expense	11,339	11,745
Other restaurant operating expenses	21,511	21,763
Advertising expense	5,783	5,521
General and administrative expense	14,384	15,071
Adjusted EBITDA	7,873	17,212
Depreciation and amortization	9,430	9,548
Capital expenditures	6,083	11,537
Identifiable assets	559,030		$ 568,641
Stock-based compensation expense	800	800
Restaurant Wages And Related Expenses
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Stock-based compensation expense	36	27
General and Administrative Expense
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Stock-based compensation expense	776	765
Restaurant sales
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	146,086	165,181
Franchise revenue
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	613	671
Operating Segments \| Pollo Tropical
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Cost of sales	27,731	28,298
Restaurant wages and related expenses	21,037	21,153
Restaurant rent expense	5,640	5,421
Other restaurant operating expenses	12,386	11,958
Advertising expense	3,504	3,032
General and administrative expense	7,488	8,347
Adjusted EBITDA	8,780	14,317
Depreciation and amortization	5,278	5,213
Capital expenditures	3,281	7,145
Identifiable assets	339,684		340,012
Operating Segments \| Pollo Tropical \| Restaurant Wages And Related Expenses
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Stock-based compensation expense	11	5
Operating Segments \| Pollo Tropical \| General and Administrative Expense
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Stock-based compensation expense	310	577
Operating Segments \| Pollo Tropical \| Restaurant sales
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	85,721	91,026
Operating Segments \| Pollo Tropical \| Franchise revenue
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	404	455
Operating Segments \| Taco Cabana
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Cost of sales	18,545	22,212
Restaurant wages and related expenses	19,458	23,883
Restaurant rent expense	5,699	6,324
Other restaurant operating expenses	9,125	9,805
Advertising expense	2,279	2,489
General and administrative expense	6,896	6,724
Adjusted EBITDA	(907)	2,895
Depreciation and amortization	4,152	4,335
Capital expenditures	2,600	4,037
Identifiable assets	189,898		195,883
Operating Segments \| Taco Cabana \| Restaurant Wages And Related Expenses
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Stock-based compensation expense	25	22
Operating Segments \| Taco Cabana \| General and Administrative Expense
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Stock-based compensation expense	466	188
Operating Segments \| Taco Cabana \| Restaurant sales
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	60,365	74,155
Operating Segments \| Taco Cabana \| Franchise revenue
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	209	216
Other
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Cost of sales	0	0
Restaurant wages and related expenses	0	0
Restaurant rent expense	0	0
Other restaurant operating expenses	0	0
Advertising expense	0	0
General and administrative expense	0	0
Adjusted EBITDA	0	0
Depreciation and amortization	0	0
Capital expenditures	202	355
Identifiable assets	29,448		$ 32,746
Other \| Restaurant sales
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	0	0
Other \| Franchise revenue
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	$ 0	$ 0

Business Segment Information - Reconciliation of Consolidated Net Income (Loss) to Adjusted EBITDA (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 29, 2020	Mar. 31, 2019
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net income (loss)	$ (7,317)	$ 2,289
Provision for (benefit from) income taxes	(3,005)	946
Income (loss) before income taxes	(10,322)	3,235
Non-general and administrative expense adjustments:
Depreciation and amortization	9,430	9,548
Impairment and other lease charges	4,233	(338)
Interest expense	961	1,234
Closed restaurant rent expense, net of sublease income	1,632	1,424
Other expense (income), net	908	702
Stock-based compensation expense in restaurant wages	800	800
Total non-general and administrative expense adjustments	17,200	12,597
General and administrative expense adjustments:
Stock-based compensation expense	800	800
Restructuring costs and retention bonuses		615
Digital and brand repositioning costs	219
Total general and administrative expense adjustments	995	1,380
Adjusted EBITDA	7,873	17,212
Restaurant Wages And Related Expenses
Non-general and administrative expense adjustments:
Stock-based compensation expense in restaurant wages	36	27
General and administrative expense adjustments:
Stock-based compensation expense	36	27
General and Administrative Expense
Non-general and administrative expense adjustments:
Stock-based compensation expense in restaurant wages	776	765
General and administrative expense adjustments:
Stock-based compensation expense	776	765
Pollo Tropical
Non-general and administrative expense adjustments:
Impairment and other lease charges	3,696	(379)
Taco Cabana
Non-general and administrative expense adjustments:
Impairment and other lease charges	537	41
Operating Segments \| Pollo Tropical
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Income (loss) before income taxes	(1,827)	5,956
Non-general and administrative expense adjustments:
Depreciation and amortization	5,278	5,213
Impairment and other lease charges	3,696	(379)
Interest expense	483	656
Closed restaurant rent expense, net of sublease income	602	1,144
Other expense (income), net	107	596
Total non-general and administrative expense adjustments	10,177	7,235
General and administrative expense adjustments:
Restructuring costs and retention bonuses		549
Digital and brand repositioning costs	120
Total general and administrative expense adjustments	430	1,126
Adjusted EBITDA	8,780	14,317
Operating Segments \| Pollo Tropical \| Restaurant Wages And Related Expenses
Non-general and administrative expense adjustments:
Stock-based compensation expense in restaurant wages	11	5
General and administrative expense adjustments:
Stock-based compensation expense	11	5
Operating Segments \| Pollo Tropical \| General and Administrative Expense
Non-general and administrative expense adjustments:
Stock-based compensation expense in restaurant wages	310	577
General and administrative expense adjustments:
Stock-based compensation expense	310	577
Operating Segments \| Taco Cabana
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Income (loss) before income taxes	(8,495)	(2,721)
Non-general and administrative expense adjustments:
Depreciation and amortization	4,152	4,335
Impairment and other lease charges	537	41
Interest expense	478	578
Closed restaurant rent expense, net of sublease income	1,030	280
Other expense (income), net	801	106
Total non-general and administrative expense adjustments	7,023	5,362
General and administrative expense adjustments:
Restructuring costs and retention bonuses		66
Digital and brand repositioning costs	99
Total general and administrative expense adjustments	565	254
Adjusted EBITDA	(907)	2,895
Operating Segments \| Taco Cabana \| Restaurant Wages And Related Expenses
Non-general and administrative expense adjustments:
Stock-based compensation expense in restaurant wages	25	22
General and administrative expense adjustments:
Stock-based compensation expense	25	22
Operating Segments \| Taco Cabana \| General and Administrative Expense
Non-general and administrative expense adjustments:
Stock-based compensation expense in restaurant wages	466	188
General and administrative expense adjustments:
Stock-based compensation expense	$ 466	$ 188

Earnings (Loss) Per Share - Narrative (Details)	3 Months Ended
Earnings (Loss) Per Share - Narrative (Details)	Mar. 31, 2019 shares	Mar. 29, 2020
Earnings Per Share [Abstract]
Nonvested restricted shares right to receive dividends, per share ratio to common shares		1
Restricted Stock Units
Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share [Line Items]
Weighted average antidilutive securities excluded from computation of diluted earnings per share (in shares)	0

Earnings (Loss) Per Share - Computation of Basic and Diluted Net Income per Share (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 29, 2020	Mar. 31, 2019
Basic and diluted EPS:
Net income (loss)	$ (7,317)	$ 2,289
Less: income allocated to participating securities	0	22
Net income (loss) available to common shareholders	$ (7,317)	$ 2,267
Weighted average common shares—basic	25,519,247	26,842,704
Restricted stock units (in shares)	0	2,373
Weighted average common shares—diluted	25,519,247	26,845,077
Earnings per common share—basic (usd per share)	$ (0.29)	$ 0.08
Earnings per common share—diluted (usd per share)	$ (0.29)	$ 0.08

- Definition

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

+ References

Reference 1: 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=116637232&loc=SL114874131-224263

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
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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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+ Details

- Definition

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

+ References + Details

Commitments and Contingencies - Lease Assignments (Details) $ in Millions	Mar. 29, 2020 USD ($) lease
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Maximum potential liability for future rental payments \| $	$ 3.1
Taco Cabana
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Number of leases assigned	2
Pollo Tropical
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Number of leases assigned	1

Income Taxes (Details) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended
Income Taxes (Details) $ in Millions	Mar. 29, 2020 USD ($)
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]
Incremental tax benefit	$ 1.8