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•	Restaurant sales increased 8.4% to $307.8 million from $284.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2017;

•	Comparable restaurant sales increased 2.7% compared to an 8.9% increase in the prior year quarter;

•	Adjusted EBITDA(1) was $24.3 million compared to $25.8 million in the prior year quarter;

•	Net income was $1.8 million, or $0.04 per diluted share, compared to net income of $3.9 million, or $0.09 per diluted share, in the prior year quarter; and

•	Adjusted net income(1) was $2.4 million, or $0.05 per diluted share, compared to adjusted net income of $3.8 million, or $0.08 per diluted share, in the prior year quarter.

•	Restaurant sales increased 8.3% to $1.18 billion from $1.09 billion in 2017;

•	Comparable restaurant sales increased 3.8% compared to a 5.2% increase in 2017;

•	Adjusted EBITDA(1) increased 12.0% to $102.3 million from $91.4 million in 2017;

•	Net income was $10.1 million, or $0.22 per diluted share, compared to net income of $7.2 million, or $0.16 per diluted share, in 2017; and

•	Adjusted net income(1) was $13.6 million, or $0.30 per diluted share, compared to adjusted net income of $9.0 million, or $0.20 per diluted share, in 2017.

(1)	Adjusted EBITDA, Restaurant-level EBITDA and Adjusted net income are non-GAAP financial measures. Refer to the definitions and reconciliation of these measures to net income or to income from operations in the tables at the end of this release.

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•	Total restaurant sales are expected to be $1.25 billion to $1.28 billion including comparable restaurant sales growth of 2.0% to 3.5%;

•	Commodity costs are expected to increase approximately 1% to 2% including a 2% to 3% increase in beef costs;

•	General and administrative expenses are expected to be $62 million to $64 million, excluding stock compensation expense and acquisition-related costs;

•	Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be $100 million to $110 million;

•	Capital expenditures are expected to be $75 million to $95 million, including $25 million to $35 million for construction of 15 to 20 new units;

•	Proceeds from sale/leasebacks are expected to be approximately $10 million to $15 million; and

•	The Company expects to close 10 to 15 restaurants.

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(a)	The Company uses a 52 or 53 week fiscal year that ends on the Sunday closest to December 31. The three and twelve months ended December 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017 each included thirteen and fifty-two weeks, respectively.

(b)	General and administrative expenses include acquisition costs of $409 and $125 for the three months ended December 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively, and $1,445 and $1,793 for the twelve months ended December 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively.

(c)	General and administrative expenses include stock-based compensation expense of $1,311 and $1,009 for the three months ended December 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively, and $5,812 and $3,518 for the twelve months ended December 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively.

(d)	Impairment and other lease charges for the twelve months ended December 30, 2018 included, among other things, a $1.9 million write down for defective restaurant equipment that was replaced in approximately 300 restaurants. The Company has commenced litigation against the equipment supplier.

(e)	Basic net income per share was computed excluding income attributable to preferred stock and non-vested restricted shares.

(f)	Diluted net income per share was computed including shares issuable for convertible preferred stock and non-vested restricted shares unless their effect would have been anti-dilutive for the periods presented.

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(a)	Restaurants are generally included in comparable restaurant sales after they have been open or acquired for twelve months. For the three and twelve months ended December 30, 2018 the changes in comparable restaurant sales are calculated on a thirteen week and fifty-two week basis, respectively.

(b)	Average weekly restaurant sales are derived by dividing restaurant sales for the comparable thirteen-week or fifty-two week period by the average number of restaurants operating during such period.

(c)

EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA margin, Restaurant-Level EBITDA, Restaurant-Level EBITDA margin and Adjusted net income are non-GAAP financial measures and may not necessarily be comparable to other similarly titled captions of other companies due to differences in methods of calculation. Refer to the Company's reconciliation of EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted net income to net income, and to the Company's reconciliation of Restaurant-Level EBITDA to income from operations for further detail. Both Adjusted EBITDA margin and Restaurant-Level EBITDA margin are calculated as a percentage of restaurant sales for the respective group of restaurants. Adjusted diluted net income per share is calculated based on Adjusted net income.

(d)

Long-term debt (including current portion and excluding deferred financing costs and bond premium) at December 30, 2018 included $275,000 of the Company's 8.0% Senior Secured Second Lien Notes, $1,203 of lease financing obligations and $3,941 of capital lease obligations. Long-term debt (including current portion and excluding deferred financing costs) at December 31, 2017 included $275,000 of the Company's 8.0% Senior Secured Second Lien Notes, $1,203 of lease financing obligations and $5,681 of capital lease obligations.

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(a)

Within our press release, we make reference to EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Restaurant-Level EBITDA and Adjusted net income which are non-GAAP financial measures. EBITDA represents net income before income taxes, interest expense and depreciation and amortization. Adjusted EBITDA represents EBITDA as adjusted to exclude impairment and other lease charges, acquisition costs, stock compensation expense, and gain on insurance proceeds. Restaurant-Level EBITDA represents income from operations as adjusted to exclude general and administrative expenses, depreciation and amortization, impairment and other lease charges and other expense (income). Adjusted net income represents net income as adjusted to exclude, impairment and other lease charges, acquisition costs, gain on bargain purchase and gain on insurance proceeds.

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(b)	Acquisition costs for the periods presented primarily include legal and professional fees incurred in connection with restaurant acquisitions, and in 2017, include certain payroll and other costs associated with the wind-down of the corporate headquarters from an acquisition in June 2017, which were included in general and administrative expense.

(c)	Other income, net for the twelve months ended December 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017 each include a gain related to an insurance recovery from a fire at one of its restaurants.

(d)	The income tax effect related to the adjustments for impairment and other lease charges, gain on bargain purchase, gain on insurance proceeds and acquisition costs during the periods presented was calculated using an effective income tax rate of 25% and 22.2% for the three and twelve months ended December 30, 2018, respectively, and 38% for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2017.

(e)	The provision (benefit) for income taxes in 2017 includes a $0.8 million discrete tax benefit recorded in the fourth quarter to remeasure net deferred taxes due to the lowering of the Federal income tax rate to 21% under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ("Tax Act") signed into law in the fourth quarter of 2017.