11. REVENUE FROM CONTRACTS WITH CUSTOMERS

Revenue Recognition

Nature of products and services

The Company has two revenue streams, company-operated restaurant revenue and franchise-related revenue.

Company-operated restaurant revenue

Revenues from the operation of company-operated restaurants are recognized as food and beverage products are delivered to customers and payment is tendered at the time of sale. The Company presents revenue, net of sales-related taxes and promotional allowances.

The Company offers a loyalty rewards program, which awards a customer points for dollars spent. Customers earn points for each dollar spent and points can be redeemed for multiple redemption options. If a customer does not earn or use points within a one-year period, their account is deactivated and all points expire. When a customer is part of the rewards program, the obligation to provide future discounts related to points earned is considered a separate performance obligation, to which a portion of the transaction price is allocated and recorded as deferred revenue on the balance sheet. The performance obligation related to loyalty points is deemed to have been satisfied, and the amount deferred in the balance sheet is recognized as revenue, when the points are transferred to a reward and redeemed, the reward or points have expired, or the likelihood of redemption is remote. A portion of the transaction price is then allocated to loyalty points, if necessary, on a pro-rata basis, based on stand-alone selling price, as determined by menu pricing and loyalty points terms. As of June 25, 2025 and December 25, 2024, the revenue allocated to loyalty points that have not been redeemed was $1.0 million and $0.8 million, respectively, which is reflected in the Company’s accompanying condensed consolidated balance sheets within other accrued expenses and current liabilities.

Changes in the loyalty rewards program liability included in deferred revenue within other accrued expenses and current liabilities on the condensed consolidated balance sheets were as follows (in thousands):

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The Company expects all loyalty points revenue related to performance obligations that were unsatisfied as of June 25, 2025 to be recognized within one year.

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

The gift card liability included in other accrued expenses and current liabilities on the condensed consolidated balance sheets was as follows (in thousands):

Revenue recognized from the redemption of gift cards that was included in other accrued expenses and current liabilities at the beginning of the year was as follows (in thousands):

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Franchise and franchise advertising fee revenue

Franchise revenue consists of franchise royalties, initial franchise fees, license fees due from franchisees, IT support services, and rental income for subleases to franchisees. Franchise advertising fee revenue consists of advertising contributions received from franchisees. These revenue streams are made up of the following performance obligations:

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

The revenue-based royalty fee and revenue-based advertising fee are considered variable consideration and are recognized as revenue as such revenue are earned by the franchisees. Both revenue-based fees qualify under the royalty constraint exception, and do not require an estimate of future transaction price. Additionally, the Company is utilizing the practical expedient available under ASC Topic 606, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers” (“Topic 606”) regarding disclosure of the aggregate amount of the transaction price allocated to the performance obligations that are unsatisfied for revenue-based royalties.

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

The Company purchases hardware, such as scanners, printers, point-of-sale systems, kiosks, and tablets, from third party vendors, which it then sells to franchisees. As the Company is considered the principal in this relationship, payment received for the hardware is considered revenue, and is received upon transfer of the goods from the Company to the franchisee. As of June 25, 2025, there were no performance obligations related to hardware services that were unsatisfied or partially satisfied.

The following table presents the Company-operated revenue disaggregated by geographic market:

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Contract balances

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

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The following table provides information about the change in the franchise contract liability balances during the twenty-six weeks ended June 25, 2025 and June 26, 2024 (in thousands):

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The following table illustrates the estimated revenue to be recognized in future periods related to performance obligations under the applicable contracts that are unsatisfied as of June 25, 2025 (in thousands):

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Contract Costs

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