Document

Large accelerated filer

Accelerated filer

Non-accelerated filer

¨ (Do not check if a smaller reporting company)

Smaller reporting company

Emerging growth company

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

__________________________________

FORM 10-K

_____________________________________________



ý	ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017



¨	TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

Commission File No. 001-35603

_____________________________________________

CHUY’S HOLDINGS, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

__________________________________________________________



DELAWARE		20-5717694
(State of Incorporation or Organization)		(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)

1623 TOOMEY ROAD AUSTIN, TEXAS		78704
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)		(Zip Code)

Registrant’s Telephone Number, Including Area Code: (512) 473-2783

__________________________________________________________

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:



Title of each class		Name of each exchange on which registered
Common Stock, par value $0.01 per share		Nasdaq Stock Market LLC

Securities registered pursuant to section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ¨ No þ

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ¨ No þ

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes þ No ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes þ No ¨

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (§ 229.405 of this chapter) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act (Check One):

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ¨ No þ

Table of Contents

As of June 23, 2017 (the last business day of our most recently completed second fiscal quarter), the aggregate market value of the registrant’s common stock held by non-affiliates was approximately $364 million.

The number of shares of the registrant’s common stock outstanding at March 7, 2018 was 16,965,910.

Table of Contents



		Page
	Forward-Looking Statements	4
	Basis of Presentation	5
PART I
Item 1.	Business	6
Item 1A.	Risk Factors	13
Item 1B.	Unresolved Staff Comments	27
Item 2.	Properties	28
Item 3.	Legal Proceedings	28
Item 4.	Mine Safety Disclosures	28
PART II
Item 5.	Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities	29
Item 6.	Selected Financial Data	32
Item 7.	Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations	32
Item 7A.	Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk	44
Item 8.	Financial Statements and Supplementary Data	44
Item 9.	Changes In and Disagreements With Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure	44
Item 9A.	Controls and Procedures	44
Item 9B.	Other Information	47
PART III
Item 10.	Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance	48
Item 11.	Executive Compensation	48
Item 12.	Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters	48
Item 13.	Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence	48
Item 14.	Principal Accounting Fees and Services	48
PART IV
Item 15.	Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules	49

SIGNATURES		52

Table of Contents

Forward-Looking Statements

This annual report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements reflect the current views of our senior management with respect to future events and our financial performance. These statements include forward-looking statements with respect to our business and industry in general. Statements that include the words “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “project,” “forecast,” “estimate,” “may,” “should,” “anticipate” and similar statements of a future or forward-looking nature identify forward-looking statements for purposes of the federal securities laws or otherwise.

Forward-looking statements address matters that involve risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, there are or will be important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those indicated in these statements. We believe that these factors include, but are not limited to, the following:


•	the success of our existing and new restaurants;


•	our ability to identify appropriate sites and develop and expand our operations;


•	our ability to manage our growth effectively;


•	we operate most of our restaurants under long-term leases which we would be obligated to perform even if we closed our restaurants;


•	we may not be able to renew leases;


•	changes in economic conditions;


•	damage to our reputation or lack of acceptance of our brand in existing or new markets;


•	our expansion into markets that we are unfamiliar with;


•	economic and other trends and developments, including adverse weather conditions, in the local or regional areas in which our restaurants are located and specifically in Texas where a large percentage of our restaurants are located;


•	the impact of negative economic factors, including the availability of credit, on our landlords and surrounding tenants;


•	changes in food availability and costs;


•	labor shortages and increases in our labor costs, including as a result of changes in government regulation, such as the adoption of the new federal health care legislation;


•	food safety and food borne illness concerns;


•	increased competition in the restaurant industry and the segments in which we compete;


•	the impact of legislation and regulations regarding nutritional information, and new information or attitudes regarding diet and health or adverse opinions about the health of consuming our menu offerings;


•	the impact of federal, state and local beer, liquor and food service regulations;


•	the impact of litigation;


•	the success of our marketing programs;


•	the impact of new restaurant openings, including the effect on our existing restaurants when opening new restaurants in the same markets;


•	the loss of key members of our management team;


•	strain on our infrastructure and resources caused by our growth;


•	the inadequacy of our insurance coverage and fluctuating insurance requirements and costs;


•	the impact of our indebtedness on our ability to invest in the ongoing needs of our business;


•	our ability to obtain debt or other financing on favorable terms or at all;


•	the impact of a potential requirement to record asset impairment charges in the future;


•	the impact of security breaches of confidential customer information in connection with our electronic processing of credit and debit card transactions;


•	inadequate protection of our intellectual property;

Table of Contents


•	the failure of our information technology system or the breach of our network security;


•	a major natural or man-made disaster;


•	our increased costs and obligations as a result of being a public company, particularly as we are no longer an emerging growth company;


•	the failure of our internal control over financial reporting;


•	the impact of federal, state and local tax laws;


•	volatility in the price of our common stock;


•	the timing and amount of repurchases of our common stock, if any, changes to the Company's expected liquidity position and the possibility that the repurchase may be suspended or discontinued;


•	the impact of future sales of our common stock and the exercise of stock options and any additional capital raised by us through the sale of our common stock;


•	the impact of a downgrade of our shares by securities analysts or industry analysts, the publication of negative research or reports, or lack of publication of reports about our business;


•	the effect of anti-takeover provisions in our charter documents and under Delaware law;


•	the effect of our decision to not pay dividends for the foreseeable future;


•	the effect of changes in accounting principles applicable to us;


•	our ability to raise capital in the future; and


•	the conflicts of interest that may arise with some of our directors.

Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable based on our current knowledge of our business and operations, we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. The foregoing factors should not be construed as exhaustive. If one or more of these or other risks or uncertainties materialize, or if our underlying assumptions prove to be incorrect, actual results may differ materially from what we anticipate. Any forward-looking statements you read in this Form 10-K reflect our views as of the date of this annual report with respect to future events and are subject to these and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to our operations, results of operations, growth strategy and liquidity. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements and you should carefully consider all of the factors identified in this report that could cause actual results to differ. We assume no obligation to update these forward looking statements, except as required by law.

Basis of Presentation

We operate on a 52- or 53-week fiscal year that ends on the last Sunday of the calendar year. Each quarterly period has 13 weeks, except for a 53-week year when the fourth quarter has 14 weeks. Our 2017 fiscal year consisted of 53 weeks and our 2016 and 2015 fiscal years each consisted of 52 weeks. Fiscal years are identified in this annual report according to the calendar year in which the fiscal year ends. For example, references to “2017,” “fiscal 2017,” “fiscal year 2017” or similar references refer to the fiscal year ending December 31, 2017.

Table of Contents

PART I

Unless otherwise specified, or the context otherwise requires, the references in this report to "Chuy's", “our company,” “the Company,” “us,” “we” and “our” refer to Chuy’s Holdings, Inc. together with its subsidiaries.


ITEM 1.	BUSINESS

General

Chuy’s is a fast-growing, full-service restaurant concept offering a distinct menu of authentic, freshly-prepared Mexican and Tex-Mex inspired food. We were founded in Austin, Texas in 1982 and, as of December 31, 2017, we operated 91 Chuy’s restaurants across 19 states, with an average unit volume of $4.4 million for our 70 comparable restaurants for the twelve months ended December 31, 2017. Our restaurants have a common décor, but we believe each location is unique in format, offering an “unchained” look and feel, as expressed by our motto “If you’ve seen one Chuy’s, you’ve seen one Chuy’s!” We believe our restaurants have an upbeat, funky, eclectic, somewhat irreverent atmosphere while still maintaining a family-friendly environment. We are committed to providing value to our customers through offering generous portions of made-from-scratch, flavorful Mexican and Tex-Mex inspired dishes. We believe our employees are a cornerstone of our culture and set the tone for a fun, family-friendly atmosphere with attentive service. We believe the Chuy’s culture is one of our most valuable assets, and we are committed to preserving and continually investing in our culture and our customers’ restaurant experience.

Our core menu was established using recipes from family and friends of our founders, and has remained relatively unchanged over the years. We offer the same menu during lunch and dinner, which includes enchiladas, fajitas, rellenos, tacos, burritos, combination platters and daily specials, complemented by a variety of appetizers, soups and salads. Each of our restaurants also offers a variety of homemade sauces, including the signature Hatch green chile, Boom-Boom and creamy jalapeño sauces, all of which we make from scratch daily in each restaurant. These sauces are a key element of our offering and provide our customers with an added ability to customize their orders. Our menu offers considerable value to our customers, with our average check of $14.75 as of December 31, 2017, which we believe is on the lower end of our casual dining peer group. We also offer a full-service bar in all of our restaurants providing our customers a wide variety of beverage offerings, featuring a selection of specialty cocktails including our signature on-the-rocks margaritas made with fresh, hand-squeezed lime juice and the King's Punch, a made-to-order, hand-shaken rum cocktail served in our signature shaker. The bar represents an important aspect of our concept, where customers frequently gather prior to being seated. For the twelve months ended December 31, 2017, alcoholic beverages constituted 18.4% of our total restaurant sales.

We strive to create a unique and memorable customer experience at each of our locations. While the layout in each of our restaurants varies, we maintain distinguishable elements across our locations, including hand-carved, hand-painted wooden fish imported from Mexico, a variety of vibrant Mexican folk art, a “Nacho Car” that provides complimentary chips, salsa and chile con queso in the trunk of a classic car, vintage hubcaps hanging from the ceiling, colorful hand-made floor and wall tile and festive metal palm trees. Including patio space, our restaurants range in size from 5,300 to 12,200 square feet, with seating for approximately 225 to 400 customers. Nearly all of our restaurants feature outdoor patios. We design our restaurants to have flexible seating arrangements that allow us to cater to families and parties of all sizes. Our brand strategy of having an “unchained” look and feel allows our restaurants to establish their own identity and provides us with a flexible real estate model. Our site selection process is focused on conversions of existing restaurants as well as new ground-up prototypes in select locations. Our restaurants are open for lunch and dinner seven days a week. We serve approximately 5,800 customers per location per week or 303,000 customers per location per year, on average, by providing high-quality, freshly prepared food at a competitive price point. We believe that many of Chuy’s frequent customers visit one of our restaurants multiple times per week.

Our Business Strengths

Over our 35-year operating history, we have developed and refined the following strengths:

Fresh, Authentic Mexican and Tex-Mex Inspired Cuisine. Our goal is to provide unique, authentic Mexican and Tex-Mex inspired food using only the freshest ingredients. We believe we serve authentic Mexican and Tex-Mex inspired food based on our recipes, ingredients, cooking techniques and food pairings, which originated from our founders’ friends and families from Mexico, New Mexico and Texas. Every day in each restaurant, we roast and hand pull whole bone-in chicken breasts, hand roll fresh tortillas, squeeze fresh lime juice and prepare fresh guacamole from whole avocados. In addition, we make all ten of our homemade sauces daily using high-quality ingredients. We believe this commitment to made-from-scratch, freshly prepared cooking results in great tasting, high-quality food, a sense of pride among our restaurant employees and loyalty among our customers. Some of our kitchen managers travel to Hatch, New Mexico every summer to hand-select batches of our green chiles. We believe our commitment to serving high-quality food is also evidenced by serving only Choice quality beef and fresh ingredients. We believe our servers and kitchen staff are highly proficient in executing the core menu and capable of satisfying large quantities of custom orders, as the majority of our orders are customized.

Table of Contents

Considerable Dining Value with Broad Customer Appeal. We are committed to providing value to our customers through offering generous portions of flavorful Mexican and Tex-Mex inspired dishes using fresh, high-quality ingredients. We believe our menu offers a considerable value proposition to our customers, with our average check of $14.75 as of December 31, 2017, which we believe is on the lower end of our casual dining peer group. Through our training programs, we train our employees to make sure that each plate is prepared according to our presentation and recipe standards.

Although our core demographic is ages 21 to 44, we believe our restaurants appeal to a broad spectrum of customers and will continue to benefit from trends in consumers’ preferences. We believe consumers are craving bold, spicy and flavorful foods, like those featured in our core offering. Additionally, we believe our brand appeals to a wide demographic and will continue to benefit from the growing demand for fresh, authentic Mexican and Tex-Mex inspired food and a fun, festive dining experience. We believe we are also an attractive venue for families and other large parties, and consider some of our restaurants to be destination locations, drawing customers from as far as 30 miles away. We locate our restaurants in high-traffic locations to attract primarily local patrons with limited reliance on business travelers.

Upbeat Atmosphere Coupled with Irreverent Brand Helps Differentiate Concept. As stated in our motto “If you’ve seen one Chuy’s, you’ve seen one Chuy’s!” each of our restaurants is uniquely designed. However, most share a few common elements—hand-carved, hand-painted wooden fish, vintage hubcaps hanging from the ceiling, colorful hand-made floor and wall tile, palm trees hand-crafted from scrap metal and a variety of colorful Mexican folk art. Much of this décor, including all of the wooden fish and painted tiles, is sourced from vendors in Mexican villages that have partnered with us for decades. Additionally, virtually all restaurants during weekday happy hours feature a complimentary self-serve “Nacho Car,” a hollowed-out, customized classic car trunk filled with fresh chips, salsa, chile con queso and more.

We believe these signature elements, combined with attentive service from our friendly and energetic employees create an upbeat ambience with a funky, eclectic and somewhat irreverent atmosphere. Our restaurants feature a fun mix of rock and roll rather than traditional Mexican-style music, which we believe helps to provide an energetic customer experience. We also believe that each restaurant reflects the character and history of its individual community. Many of our restaurants have added unique, local elements such as a special wall of photos featuring customers with their dogs. We believe this has allowed our customers to develop a strong sense of pride and ownership in their local Chuy’s.

Deep Rooted and Inspiring Company Culture. We believe the Chuy’s culture is one of our most valuable assets, and we are committed to preserving and continually investing in our culture and restaurant experience. Since our founding in 1982, we believe we have developed close personal relationships with our customers, employees and vendors. We emphasize a fun, passionate and authentic culture and support active social responsibility and involvement in local communities. We regularly sponsor a variety of community events including our annual Chuy’s Children Giving to Children Parade and other local charitable events. We believe our employees and customers share a unique energy and passion for our concept. We believe these characteristics contribute to our favorable annual employee turnover rate at our comparable restaurants and our goal of promoting 40% of restaurant-level managers from within, as well as our solid base of repeat customers.

In order to retain our unique culture as we grow, we invest significant time and capital into our training programs. We devote substantial resources to identifying, selecting and training our restaurant-level employees. We believe our focus on cultural training is a core aspect of our Company and reinforces our commitment to the Chuy’s brand identity. In conjunction with our training activities, we hold “Culture Clubs” 15 times or more per year, as a means to fully impart the Chuy’s story through personal appearances by our founders.

Flexible Business Model with Industry Leading Unit Economics. We have a long standing track record of consistently producing high average unit volumes relative to competing Mexican concepts, as well as established casual dining restaurants. For the twelve months ended December 31, 2017, our comparable restaurants generated average unit volumes of $4.4 million, with our highest volume comparable restaurant generating approximately $9.0 million. We have opened and operated restaurants in Texas, the Southeast and the Midwest and achieved attractive rates of return on our invested capital, providing a strong foundation for expansion in both new and existing markets. Under our investment model, our new restaurant openings have historically required a net cash investment of approximately $2.3 million. For our new unit openings, we estimate the cost of a conversion or ground-up buildout will require a total cash investment of $2.6 million to $3.6 million (net of estimated tenant incentives of between zero and $1.0 million). We currently target a cash-on-cash return beginning in the third operating year of approximately 30.0%, and a sales to investment ratio of 1.9:1.

Experienced Management Team. We are led by a management team with significant experience in all aspects of restaurant operations. As of December 31, 2017 our senior management team has an average of approximately 33 years of restaurant experience and our 93 general managers have an average tenure at Chuy’s of approximately 6 years. In 2007, we hired our CEO and President, Steve Hislop. Mr. Hislop is the former President of O’Charley’s Restaurants, where he spent 19 years performing a variety of functions, including serving as Concept President and a member of the board of directors, and helped grow the business from 12 restaurants to a multi-concept company with 347 restaurants during his tenure. Since Mr. Hislop’s arrival in 2007, we

Table of Contents

have accelerated our growth plan and opened 83 new restaurants, net of a relocation, as of March 7, 2018, and entered 18 new states.

Our Business Strategies

Pursue New Restaurant Development. We plan to identify and pursue major markets for expansion, where we believe we can achieve high unit volumes and attractive unit level returns, while at the same time backfilling in our existing markets to continue to build brand awareness. We believe the broad appeal of the Chuy’s concept, historical unit economics and flexible real estate strategy enhance the portability of our concept and provide us opportunity for continued expansion. Currently, our new restaurant development primarily consists of ground up construction and conversions of existing structures.

We have built a scalable infrastructure and have grown our restaurant base through a challenging economic environment. In 2015, we opened ten new restaurants, four in new markets and six backfilling existing markets. We opened twelve new restaurants in 2016, one in a new market and eleven backfilling existing markets. We opened eleven new restaurants in 2017, three in new markets and eight backfilling existing markets. Our restaurants opened since 2001 that have been in operations for more than three years have generated average cash-on-cash returns of more than 30.0% in the third year of operations. During 2018, we plan to open a total of eight to twelve restaurants for the year.

Deliver Consistent Comparable Restaurant Sales Through Providing High-Quality Food and Service. We believe we will be able to generate comparable restaurant sales growth by consistently providing an attractive price/value proposition for our customers with excellent service in an upbeat atmosphere. We remain focused on delivering freshly prepared, authentic, high-quality Mexican and Tex-Mex inspired cuisine at a considerable value to our customers. Though the core menu will remain unchanged, we will continue to explore potential additions as well as limited time food and drink offerings. Additionally, we will continue to promote our brand and drive traffic through local marketing efforts, social media and charity events such as the Chuy’s Children Giving to Children Parade, as well as our line of eclectic t-shirts.

We prioritize customer service in our restaurants, and will continue to invest significantly in ongoing training of our employees. In addition to our new manager training program and frequent “Culture Clubs,” 20 to 24 of our trainers are dispatched to open new restaurants and ensure a solid foundation of customer service, food preparation and our cultured environment. We believe these initiatives will help enhance customer satisfaction, minimize wait times and help us serve our customers more efficiently during peak periods, which we believe is particularly important at our restaurants that operate at or near capacity.

Leverage Our Infrastructure. In preparation for our new restaurant development plan, we have made investments in our infrastructure over the past several years. We believe we now have the corporate and restaurant-level supervisory personnel in place to support our growth plan for the foreseeable future without significant additional investments in infrastructure. Therefore, we believe that as the restaurant base grows, our general and administrative costs will increase at a slower growth rate than our revenue.

Real Estate

As of March 7, 2018, we leased 101 locations, of which 82 are free-standing restaurants and 19 are end-cap or in-line restaurants in Class A locations. Of these locations, ten are scheduled to open by the end of 2018. End-cap restaurants are highly visible locations at one of the ends of a retail development whereas in-line restaurants are locations that are between multiple retail locations within a development. Class A locations are upscale properties with easily identifiable locations and convenient access that are surrounded by other upscale properties. Including patio space, our restaurants range in size from approximately 5,300 to 12,200 square feet, averaging approximately 8,600 square feet with seating capacity for approximately 225 to 400 customers. Since the beginning of 2008 through March 7, 2018, we have opened 83 new restaurants, net of a relocation. Since our inception in 1982, we have only moved three locations and closed three locations. In 2016, we closed and moved our Charlotte, North Carolina location, our first closure or relocation since 2004. All of our leases provide for base (fixed) rent, plus the majority provide for additional rent based on gross sales (as defined in each lease agreement) in excess of a stipulated amount, multiplied by a stated percentage. A significant percentage of our leases also provide for periodic escalation of minimum annual rent either based upon increases in the Consumer Price Index or a pre-determined schedule. Typically, the initial lease terms of our leases are 10 or 15 years in length with two to three, five-year extension options. The initial terms of our leases currently expire between 2019 and 2039. We are also generally obligated to pay certain real estate taxes, insurances, common area maintenance charges and various other expenses related to the properties. Our corporate headquarters is also leased and is located at 1623 Toomey Road, Austin, Texas 78704.

Table of Contents

Site Selection Process

We have developed a targeted site acquisition and qualification process incorporating management’s experience as well as extensive data collection, analysis and interpretation. We are actively developing restaurants in both new and existing markets, and we will continue to expand in selected regions throughout the U.S. Our Director of Real Estate and Development works with a master broker who is responsible for identifying and working with local brokers to conduct preliminary research regarding possible development locations. This master broker also assists in site selection and market research. The preliminary research includes an analysis of traffic patterns, parking, access, demographic characteristics, population density, hotel occupancy, major employers, restaurant sales, level of affluence and current or expected co-retail and restaurant tenants. Our Director of Real and Estate Development and the master broker then present potential sites to our Vice President of Real Estate and Development. If our financial criteria for the site are satisfied, our Vice President and Directors of Operations and Chief Executive Officer visit the site and our management negotiates the lease. The key criteria we have for a site is that the population within a three mile radius of the restaurant has a high concentration of our target demographic, which is persons ages 21 to 44 and persons with median income ranges in excess of $60,000 per year that dine out frequently. We also prefer locations with high visibility, especially in a new market, and ample surface parking spaces.

We seek to identify sites that contribute to our “If you’ve seen one Chuy’s, you’ve seen one Chuy’s” vision, meaning no two restaurants are alike. As we do not have standardized restaurant requirements with respect to size, location or layout, we are able to be flexible in our real estate selection process. In line with this strategy, we prefer to identify a combination of conversion sites as well as ground-up prototypes.

Design

After identifying a lease site, we commence our restaurant buildout. We strive to create a unique and memorable customer experience at each of our locations. While the layout in each of our restaurants varies, we maintain certain distinguishable elements across virtually all locations – hand-carved, hand-painted wooden fish imported from Mexico, a variety of vibrant Mexican folk art, a “Nacho Car” that provides complimentary chips, salsa and chile con queso in the trunk of a classic car, vintage hubcaps hanging from the ceiling, colorful hand-made floor and wall tile and festive metal palm trees. Nearly all of our restaurants feature outdoor patios. Additionally, our flexible seating arrangements allow us to cater to families and parties of all sizes including larger groups, which we believe is a key differentiator from other casual dining operators.

Our new restaurants are either ground-up prototypes or conversions. For our new unit openings, we estimate the cost of a conversion or ground-up buildout will require a total cash investment of $2.6 million to $3.6 million (net of estimated tenant incentives of between zero and $1.0 million). The flexibility of our concepts has enabled us to open restaurants in a wide variety of locations, including high-density residential areas and near shopping malls, lifestyle centers and other high-traffic locations. On average, it takes us approximately 14 to 18 months from identification of the specific site to opening the doors for business. In order to maintain consistency of food and customer service as well as the unique atmosphere at our restaurants, we have set processes and timelines to follow for all restaurant openings.

The development and construction of our new sites is the responsibility of our real estate and development team. Several project managers are responsible for building the restaurants, and several staff members manage purchasing, budgeting, scheduling and other related administrative functions.

New Restaurant Development

We have opened 83 new locations, net of a relocation, since the beginning of 2008 through March 7, 2018 and our management believes we are well-positioned to continue this growth through our new restaurant pipeline, which includes locations currently under development. We maintain a commitment to capitalizing on opportunities and realizing efficiencies in our existing markets while also pursuing attractive locations in new markets. We seek to identify new markets in which we believe there is capacity for us to open multiple restaurants.

Restaurant Operations

We currently have eighteen supervisors that report directly to our three Director of Operations and Vice President of Operations who in turn reports to our Chief Executive Officer. Each supervisor oversees an average of approximately four to six restaurants. The staffing at our restaurants typically consists of a general manager, a kitchen manager and three to five assistant managers. In addition, each of our restaurants employs approximately 100 hourly employees.

Sourcing and Supply

We rely on two regional distributors, Labatt Foodservice ("Labatt") in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Colorado, and Performance Food Group (“PFG”) in the rest of the United States, and various suppliers to provide our beef, cheese, beans, soybean oil, beverages and our groceries. Our distributors deliver supplies to each restaurant two to three times each week. Our distributor relationships with Labatt and PFG have been in place for approximately 15 and five years, respectively, and the distributors cover 41 and 50 locations, respectively, as of March 7, 2018. For our chicken products, we rely on two suppliers, one supplier for our Southeast

Table of Contents

locations and one supplier for Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Colorado. For our green chiles, we contract to buy through two suppliers located in New Mexico. Each restaurant, through its general manager and kitchen manager, purchases its produce locally. Changes in the price or availability of certain food products could affect the profitability of certain food items, our ability to maintain existing prices and our ability to purchase sufficient amounts of items to satisfy our customers’ demands.

We are currently under contract with our principal non-alcoholic beverage providers through 2018 and intend to renew these contracts. Our ability to arrange national distribution of alcoholic beverages is restricted by state law; however, where possible, we negotiate directly with spirit companies and/or regional distributors. We also contract with a third-party provider to source our cooking oil.

Food Safety

Providing a safe and clean dining experience for our customers is essential to our mission statement. We have taken steps to control food quality and safety risks, including implementing a training program for our kitchen staff, employees and managers focusing on food safety and quality assurance. In addition, to minimize the risk of food-borne illness, we have implemented a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (“HACCP”) system for managing food safety and quality. We also consider food safety and quality assurance when selecting our distributors and suppliers. Our suppliers are inspected by federal, state and local regulators or other reputable, qualified inspection services, which helps ensure their compliance with all federal food safety and quality guidelines.

Building Our Brand

We believe our restaurants appeal to a broad spectrum of customers due to our freshly-prepared food and beverage offerings, attentive service and festive dining experience. Our target demographic is persons ages 21 to 44 and persons with median income ranges in excess of $60,000 per year that dine out frequently. We aim to build our brand image and awareness while retaining local neighborhood relationships by increasing the frequency of visits by our current customers and attracting new customers. We primarily foster relationships with local schools, businesses, sports teams and neighborhood associations through hosting tasting events and partnering in and sponsoring local charity events. Our marketing strategy also focuses on generating significant brand awareness at new restaurant openings.

Local Brand Building

A key aspect of our local restaurant marketing/branding strategy is developing community relationships. Our restaurant managers are closely involved in developing and implementing the majority of our local restaurant marketing/branding programs.

Since our founding in 1982, Chuy’s success has stemmed from close personal relationships with our customers, employees and vendors. We believe the Chuy’s culture, which emphasizes fun and authenticity while fostering social responsibility and involvement in local communities, is one of our most valuable assets, and we are committed to preserving and continually investing in it.

We regularly hold a variety of community events. During the winter holidays, we sponsor the Chuy’s Children Giving to Children Parade, which collects toys for Operation Blue Santa in Austin, Texas. Operation Blue Santa gives gifts and holiday meals to families in need in Central Texas. We participate in and sponsor several community events across all of our locations, specifically focusing on helping children’s charities. For example, we participate in the Give Kids the World and Something mAAgic Foundation event in Orlando, Florida, the Youth for Tomorrow Golf Classic in Northern Virginia, and the Vanderbilt Children's Hospital River of Hope Radiothon in Nashville, Tennessee. To celebrate one of our signature ingredients, the Hatch green chile, we hold an annual Green Chile Festival in all of our restaurants during the August and September harvest, with special menu items featuring Hatch chiles and promotional give-aways.

New Restaurant Openings

We have developed a marketing/branding strategy that we use in connection with new restaurant openings to help build local brand recognition and create a “buzz.” In new markets, we generally host a pre-opening party called a “Redfish Rally” after our emblematic redfish for our social media fans, influencers from the local community and food bloggers experiencing Chuy’s for the first time. During our “Redfish Rallies”, we serve our food and margaritas and give away free Chuy’s eclectic t-shirts. In addition to the “Redfish Rallies”, we employ a variety of pre-opening marketing initiatives such as issuing press releases, delivering free food to local businesses highlighting our defining differences, using social media channels, hosting a dog event to collect pictures for our “dog wall” and to collect money to benefit a local pet charity and food tasting through training lunches and dinners with local residents, media, community leaders and businesses.

We use the pre-opening period for our new restaurants as an opportunity to reach out to various media outlets as well as the local community. For our new and expanding markets, we retain local public relations partners to assist us with addressing the local market, establishing relationships with local charities, meeting local community leaders, identifying events for Chuy’s to be a part of and gaining brand recognition.

Table of Contents

Social Media & E-Marketing

We have increased our social presence, which enables us to reach a significant number of people in a timely and targeted fashion at a fraction of the cost of traditional media. At a corporate level we utilize social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to promote our brand. We have a local Facebook page for every restaurant location to engage with the community and enhance our local store marketing efforts. We also have an e-mail database for each location that allows us to send customers updates about events at their local Chuy’s.

Training and Employee Programs

We devote significant resources to identifying, selecting and training restaurant-level employees, with an approximately 20-week training program for all of our restaurant managers that includes an average of 11 weeks of restaurant training and eight to nine weeks of “cultural” training, in which managers observe our established restaurants’ operations and customer interactions. We typically have ten in-store trainers at each existing location who provide both front- and back-of-the-house training on site. We conduct comprehensive training programs for our management, hourly employees and corporate personnel. Our training program covers leadership, team building, food safety certification, alcohol safety programs, customer service philosophy training, sexual harassment training and other topics.

Our training process in connection with opening new restaurants has been refined over the course of our experience. Trainers oversee and conduct both service and kitchen training and are on site through the first two weeks of opening and remain on site for two to three additional weeks as needed and depending on unit volumes during the initial weeks. We have two front- and two back-of-the-house training coordinators, and these training coordinators remain on-site to manage the opening for approximately the same period as our other trainers. The lead and other trainers assist in opening new locations and lend support and introduce our standards and culture to the new team. We believe that hiring the best available team members and committing to their training helps keep retention high during the restaurant opening process.

Management Information Systems

We made significant improvements to our data processing and data security during fiscal year 2017. We completed the implementation of a new point-of-sale system ("POS"), which was rolled out to all of our restaurants during 2017. The goals of implementing a new POS system was to leverage our existing information technology infrastructure, to allow easy integrations from other business applications and provide for POS redundancy at the restaurants. POS processing at our restaurants includes payment of obligations, collection of cash, credit and debit card transactions and other processes and procedures. We use an enterprise back office software program in all of our locations. This program compiles our sales, accounts payable, payroll, inventory and purchasing information and communicates that information to our headquarters to provide visibility to restaurant level operations.

We accept credit cards as a method of payment at all of our restaurants. In an effort to provide the best security to our customers' credit card information, we implemented P2Pe solution, encryption platform, to ensure no credit card data is stored in our internal systems. This also included the installation of equipment that can also process smart payment cards, commonly referred to as EMV (Europay, Mastercard and Visa) for credit card processing. This implementation was performed by in-house and third party teams to ensure all equipment was installed in a manner consistent with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard requirements and manufacturer recommendations. In addition, we deployed industry-leading switching and firewall protection at all company owned internet connections. This allowed us to increase our visibility into the use of our private network, and enhanced our ability to detect malicious or improper digital activity.

In 2018, we will implement an online ordering system which will allow us to expand our to-go sales. In addition we plan to invest in business intelligence technologies and data infrastructure, which will create efficiencies and simplification to our business operations.

Government Regulation

We are subject to numerous federal, state and local laws affecting our business. Each of our restaurants is subject to licensing and regulation by a number of government authorities, which may include alcoholic beverage control, nutritional information disclosure, health, sanitation, environmental, zoning and public safety agencies in the state or municipality in which the restaurant is located.

For the twelve months ended December 31, 2017, 18.4% of our total restaurant sales were attributable to alcoholic beverages. Alcoholic beverage control regulations require each of our restaurants to apply to a state authority and, in certain locations, county and municipal authorities, for licenses and permits to sell alcoholic beverages on the premises. Typically, licenses must be renewed annually and may be subject to penalties, temporary suspension or revocation for cause at any time. Alcoholic beverage control regulations impact many aspects of the daily operations of our restaurants, including the minimum ages of patrons and staff members consuming or serving these beverages, respectively; staff member alcoholic beverage training and certification requirements; hours of operation; advertising; wholesale purchasing and inventory control of these beverages; the seating of minors and the servicing of food within our bar areas; special menus and events, such as happy hours; and the storage and dispensing of

Table of Contents

alcoholic beverages. State and local authorities in many jurisdictions routinely monitor compliance with alcoholic beverage laws. We are subject to “dram shop” statutes in most of the states in which we operate, which generally provide a person injured by an intoxicated person the right to recover damages from an establishment that wrongfully served alcoholic beverages to the intoxicated person.

Various federal and state labor laws govern our operations and our relationships with our staff members, including such matters as minimum wages, breaks, overtime, fringe benefits, safety, working conditions and citizenship or work authorization requirements. We are also subject to the regulations of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement. In addition, some states in which we operate have adopted immigration employment laws which impose additional conditions on employers. Even if we operate our restaurants in strict compliance with the laws, rules and regulations of these federal and state agencies, some of our staff members may not meet federal citizenship or residency requirements or lack appropriate work authorizations, which could lead to a disruption in our work force. Significant government-imposed increases in minimum wages, paid or unpaid leaves of absence, sick leave, and mandated health benefits, or increased tax reporting, assessment or payment requirements related to our staff members who receive gratuities, could be detrimental to the profitability of our restaurants operations. Further, we continue to assess the impact of federal health care legislation on our health care benefit costs. Our distributors and suppliers also may be affected by higher minimum wage and benefit standards, which could result in higher costs for goods and services supplied to us. In addition, while we carry employment practices insurance covering a variety of labor-related liability claims, a settlement or judgment against us that is uninsured or in excess of our coverage limitations could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, liquidity, financial position or business.

We are or may become subject to laws and regulations requiring disclosure of calorie, fat, trans-fat, salt and allergen content. Several states and local jurisdictions have adopted or are considering various food and menu nutritional labeling requirements, many of which are inconsistent or are interpreted differently from one jurisdiction to another and many of which may be superseded by the new federal regulations under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 ("PPACA") which are scheduled to go into effect on May 7, 2018. The PPACA federal legislation requires chain restaurants with 20 or more locations in the United States to comply with federal nutritional disclosure requirements. However, future regulatory action may result in changes to the federal nutritional disclosure requirements. For additional information, see “Risk Factors - Legislation and regulations requiring the display and provision of nutritional information for our menu offerings, and new information or attitudes regarding diet and health or adverse opinions about the health effects of consuming our menu offerings, could affect consumer preferences and negatively impact our results of operations.” While we believe our ability to adapt to consumer preferences is a strength of our concept, the effect of such labeling requirements on consumer choices, if any, is unclear at this time.

There is also a potential for increased regulation of food in the United States, such as requirements to maintain a HACCP system. HACCP refers to a management system in which food safety is addressed through the analysis and control of potential hazards from production, procurement and handling, to manufacturing, distribution and consumption of the finished product. Many states have adopted legislation or implemented regulations which require restaurants to develop and implement HACCP Systems. Similarly, the United States Congress and the FDA continue to expand the sectors of the food industry that must adopt and implement HACCP programs. For example, the Food Safety Modernization Act (the “FSMA”) was signed into law in January 2011 and significantly expanded FDA’s authority over food safety. Among other requirements, the FSMA granted the FDA with authority to proactively ensure the safety of the entire food system, including through new and additional hazard analysis, food safety planning, increased inspections, and permitting mandatory food recalls. Although restaurants are specifically exempted from some of the requirements outlined in the FSMA and not directly implicated by other requirements, we anticipate that some of the FSMA provisions and FDA’s implementation of the requirements may impact our industry. We cannot assure you that we will not have to expend additional time and resources to comply with new food safety requirements either required by the FSMA or future federal food safety regulation or legislation. Additionally, our suppliers may initiate or otherwise be subject to food recalls that may impact the availability of certain products, result in adverse publicity or require us to take actions that could be costly for us or otherwise harm our business.

We are subject to a variety of federal and state environmental regulations concerning the handling, storage and disposal of hazardous materials, such as cleaning solvents, and the operation of restaurants in environmentally sensitive locations may impact aspects of our operations. During fiscal 2017, there were no material capital expenditures for environmental control facilities, and no such expenditures are anticipated.

Our facilities must comply with the applicable requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (“ADA”) and related federal and state statutes. The ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability with respect to public accommodations and employment. Under the ADA and related federal and state laws, we must make access to our new or significantly remodeled restaurants readily accessible to disabled persons. We must also make reasonable accommodations for the employment of disabled persons.

We have a significant number of hourly restaurant staff members who receive income from gratuities. We rely on our staff members to accurately disclose the full amount of their tip income and we base our FICA tax reporting on the disclosures provided to us by such tipped employees.

Table of Contents

Intellectual Property

We believe that having distinctive marks that are registered and readily identifiable is an important factor in identifying our brand and differentiating our brand from our competitors. We currently own registrations from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) for the following trademarks: Chuy’s; Chuy’s Mil Pescados Bar (stylized lettering); Chuy’s Green Chile Festival; Fish with sunglasses (our emblematic fish design); and Chuy’s Children Giving to Children Parade, which we have the right to use under our Parade Sponsorship agreement. We have also registered our chuys.com domain name. However, as a result of our settlement agreement with an unaffiliated entity, Baja Chuy’s, we may not use “Chuy’s” in Nevada, California or Arizona. An important part of our intellectual property strategy is the monitoring and enforcement of our rights in markets in which our restaurants currently exist or markets which we intend to enter in the future. We also monitor trademark registers to oppose the applications to register confusingly similar trademarks or to limit the expansion of the scope of goods and services covered by existing similar trademarks. We enforce our rights through a number of methods, including the issuance of cease-and-desist letters or making infringement claims in federal court.

Competition

The restaurant business is intensely competitive with respect to food quality, price/value relationships, ambience, service and location, and is affected by many factors, including changes in consumer tastes and discretionary spending patterns, macroeconomic conditions, demographic trends, weather conditions, the cost and availability of raw materials, labor and energy and government regulations. Our main competitors are full service concepts in the multi-location, casual dining segment in which we compete most directly for real estate locations and customers, including Texas Roadhouse, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen and BJ’s Restaurants. We also compete with other providers of Tex-Mex and Mexican fare and adjacent segments, including casual and fast casual segments. We believe we compete favorably for consumers on our food quality, price/value and unique ambience and experience of our restaurants.

Seasonality

Our business is subject to seasonal fluctuations with restaurant sales typically higher during the spring and summer months. Adverse weather conditions during our most favorable months or periods may affect customer traffic. In addition, at nearly all of our restaurants we have outdoor seating, and the effects of adverse weather may impact the use of these areas and may negatively impact our revenues.

Employees

As of December 31, 2017, we had approximately 9,000 employees, including 94 corporate management and staff personnel, 650 restaurant level managers and 8,200 hourly employees. None of our employees are unionized or covered by a collective bargaining agreement. We believe that we have good relations with our employees.

Company Information

The Company was incorporated in Delaware in 2006. Our principal executive office is located at 1623 Toomey Road, Austin, Texas 78704 and our telephone number is 1-888-HEY-CHUY. Our website address is www.chuys.com. The information on our website is not incorporated by reference into this report.

The Company’s annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and all amendments to those reports are available free of charge on the Company’s website as soon as reasonably practicable after such material is electronically filed with, or furnished to, the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). In addition, copies of the Company’s annual report will be made available, free of charge, on written request.


ITEM 1A.	RISK FACTORS

In evaluating our Company, you should consider carefully the following risk factors and the other information in this report, including our consolidated financial statements and related notes to those statements. If any of the following risks actually occur, our business, financial condition and operating results could be adversely affected.

Risks Relating to Our Business and Industry

Our financial results depend significantly upon the success of our existing and new restaurants.

Future growth in our revenues and profits will depend on our ability to develop profitable new restaurants, maintain or grow sales and efficiently manage costs in our existing and new restaurants. As of December 31, 2017, we operated 91 restaurants, of which 21 restaurants are not considered comparable. The results achieved by these restaurants may not be indicative of longer-term performance or the potential market acceptance of restaurants in other locations.

The success of our restaurants revolves principally around customer traffic and average check per customer and customer experience. Significant factors that might adversely affect the average customer traffic and average check include, without limitation:

Table of Contents


•	uncertain or declining economic conditions, including housing market downturns, rising unemployment rates, lower disposable income, credit conditions, fuel prices and consumer confidence and other events or factors that adversely affect consumer spending in the markets we serve;


•	increased competition in the restaurant industry, particularly in the Mexican cuisine and casual and fast-casual dining segments;


•	changes in consumer preferences;


•	customers’ budgeting constraints;


•	customers’ failure to accept menu price increases that we may make to offset increases in key operating costs;


•	our reputation and consumer perception of our concepts’ offerings in terms of quality, price, value, ambiance and service; and


•	customer experiences from dining in our restaurants.

Our restaurants are also susceptible to increases in certain key operating expenses that are either wholly or partially beyond our control, including, without limitation:


•	food and other raw materials costs, many of which we do not or cannot effectively hedge;


•	labor costs, including wage, workers’ compensation and other benefits expenses;


•	rent expenses and construction, remodeling, maintenance and other costs under leases for our new and existing restaurants;


•	compliance costs as a result of changes in regulatory or industry standards;


•	energy, water and other utility costs;


•	costs for insurance (including health, liability and workers’ compensation);


•	information technology and other logistical costs; and


•	expenses due to litigation against us.

Certain of our restaurants operate at or near capacity. As a result, we may be unable to grow or maintain same store sales at those restaurants, particularly if additional restaurants are opened near the existing location. The failure of our existing or new restaurants to perform as expected could have a significant negative impact on our financial condition and results of operations.

Our long-term success is highly dependent on our ability to successfully identify appropriate sites and develop and expand our operations in existing and new markets.

We intend to develop new restaurants in our existing markets, and selectively enter into new markets. Since the start of 2008, we have expanded from 8 to 91 restaurants as of December 31, 2017. We plan to open a total of eight to twelve restaurants for the year. There can be no assurance that any new restaurant that we open will have similar operating results to those of existing restaurants. We may not be able to open our planned new restaurants on a timely basis, if at all, and, if opened, these restaurants may not be operated profitably. The number and timing of new restaurants opened during any given period, and their associated contribution to operating growth, may be negatively impacted by a number of factors including, without limitation:


•	identification and availability of appropriate locations that will drive high levels of customer traffic and sales per unit;


•	inability to generate sufficient funds from operations or to obtain acceptable financing to support our development;


•	recruitment and training of qualified operating personnel in the local market;


•	availability of acceptable lease arrangements, including sufficient levels of tenant allowances;


•	the financial viability of our landlords, including the availability of financing for our landlords and our landlords ability to pay tenant incentives on a timely basis;


•	construction and development cost management;


•	timely delivery of the leased premises to us from our landlords and punctual commencement of our buildout construction activities;


•	delays due to the customized nature of our restaurant concepts and decor, construction and pre-opening processes for each new location;


•	obtaining all necessary governmental licenses and permits, including our liquor licenses, on a timely basis to construct or remodel and operate our restaurants;

Table of Contents


•	inability to comply with certain covenants under our revolving credit facility (the "Revolving Credit Facility") that could limit our ability to open new restaurants;


•	consumer tastes in new geographic regions and acceptance of our restaurant concept;


•	competition in new markets, including competition for restaurant sites;


•	unforeseen engineering or environmental problems with the leased premises;


•	adverse weather during the construction period;


•	anticipated commercial, residential and infrastructure development near our new restaurants; and


•	other unanticipated increases in costs, any of which could give rise to delays or cost overruns.

We have experienced, and expect to continue to experience, delays in restaurant openings from time to time. Such actions may limit our growth opportunities. We cannot assure you that we will be able to successfully expand or acquire critical market presence for our brand in new geographical markets, as we may encounter well-established competitors with substantially greater financial resources. We may be unable to find attractive locations, build name recognition, successfully market our brand or attract new customers. We may incur additional costs in new markets, particularly for transportation and distribution, which may impact the profitability of those restaurants. Competitive circumstances and consumer characteristics and preferences in new market segments and new geographical markets may differ substantially from those in the market segments and geographical markets in which we have substantial experience. If we are unable to expand in existing markets or penetrate new markets, our ability to increase our revenues and profitability may be harmed.

If we fail to manage our growth effectively, it could harm our business.

Failure to manage our growth effectively could harm our business. We have grown significantly since 2008 and intend to continue growing in the future. Our objective is to grow our business and increase stockholder value by (1) expanding our base of company restaurants that are profitable and (2) increasing sales and profits at existing restaurants. While both these methods of achieving our objective are important to us, historically the most significant means of achieving our objective has been through opening new restaurants and operating these restaurants on a profitable basis. As we open and operate more restaurants, our rate of expansion relative to the size of our existing restaurant base will decline, which may make it increasingly difficult to achieve levels of sales and profitability growth that we have seen in the past. In addition, our existing restaurant management systems, financial and management controls and information systems may not be adequate to support our planned expansion. Our ability to manage our growth effectively will require us to continue to enhance these systems, procedures and controls and to locate, hire, train and retain management and operating personnel. We also place a lot of importance on our culture, which we believe has been an important contributor to our success. As we grow, we may have difficulty maintaining our culture or adapting it sufficiently to meet the needs of our operations. We cannot assure you that we will be able to respond on a timely basis to all of the changing demands that our planned expansion will impose on management and on our existing infrastructure. If we are unable to manage our growth effectively, our business and operating results could be materially adversely impacted.

We occupy most of our restaurants under long-term non-cancelable leases for which we may remain obligated to perform under even after a restaurant closes, and we may be unable to renew leases at the end of their terms.

Many of our current leases are non-cancelable and typically have initial terms ranging from 10 to 15 years with two to three five-year extension options. The initial terms of our leases currently expire between 2019 and 2039. We believe that leases that we enter into in the future will be on substantially similar terms. If we were to close or fail to open a restaurant at a location we lease, we would generally remain committed to perform our obligations under the applicable lease, which could include, among other things, payment of the base rent for the balance of the lease term. Our obligation to continue making rental payments and fulfilling other lease obligations in respect of leases for closed or unopened restaurants could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations. Alternatively, at the end of the lease term and any renewal period for a restaurant, we may be unable to renew the lease without substantial additional cost, if at all. If we cannot renew such a lease we may be forced to close or relocate a restaurant, which could subject us to construction and other costs and risks. If we are required to make payments or otherwise perform under one of our leases after a restaurant closes or if we are unable to renew our restaurant leases, our business and results of operations could be adversely affected.

The success of our restaurants depends in large part on leased locations. As demographic and economic patterns change, current locations may or may not continue to be attractive or profitable. Possible declines in trade areas where our restaurants are located or adverse economic conditions in surrounding areas could result in reduced revenues in those locations. In addition, desirable locations for new restaurant openings or for the relocation of existing restaurants may not be available at an acceptable cost.

Changes in economic conditions could materially affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The restaurant industry depends on consumer discretionary spending. Economic conditions may remain volatile and may repress consumer confidence and discretionary spending. If current volatile economic conditions continue for a prolonged period of time

Table of Contents

or worsens, customer traffic could be adversely impacted if our customers choose to dine out less frequently or reduce the amount they spend on meals while dining out. We believe that if the current volatile economic conditions persist for a long period of time or become more pervasive, consumers might make long-lasting changes to their discretionary spending behavior, including dining out less frequently on a permanent basis. If restaurant sales decrease, our profitability could decline as we spread fixed costs across a lower level of sales. Reductions in staff levels, asset impairment charges and potential restaurant closures could result from prolonged negative restaurant sales.

Damage to our reputation or lack of acceptance of our brand in existing or new markets could negatively impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We believe we have built our reputation on the high-quality of our food, service and staff, as well as on our unique culture and the ambience in our restaurants, and we must protect and grow the value of our brand to continue to be successful in the future. Any incident that erodes consumer affinity for our brand, including any foodborne illness or foodborne illness scare could significantly reduce its value and damage our business. For example, our brand value could suffer and our business could be adversely affected if customers perceive a reduction in the quality of our food, service or staff, or an adverse change in our culture or ambience, or otherwise believe we have failed to deliver a consistently positive experience. Additionally, negative incidents that occur at other restaurants may decrease demand for restaurant dining broadly including at our restaurant.

In addition, our ability to successfully develop new restaurants in new markets may be adversely affected by a lack of awareness or acceptance of our brand in these new markets. To the extent that we are unable to foster name recognition and affinity for our brand in new markets, our new restaurants may not perform as expected and our growth may be significantly delayed or impaired.

We may be adversely affected by news reports or other negative publicity regardless of their accuracy, regarding food quality issues, public health concerns, illness, safety, injury or government or industry findings concerning our restaurants, restaurants operated by other food service providers, or others across the food industry supply chain. The risks associated with such negative publicity cannot be completely eliminated or mitigated and may materially harm our results of operations and result in damage to our brand.

Also, there has been a marked increase in the use of social media platforms and similar devices, including blogs, social media websites and other forms of Internet-based communications which allow individuals access to a broad audience of consumers and other interested persons. Consumers value readily available information concerning goods and services that they have or plan to purchase, and may act on such information without further investigation or authentication. The availability of information on social media platforms is virtually immediate as is its impact. Many social media platforms immediately publish the content their subscribers and participants can post, often without filters or checks on accuracy of the content posted. The opportunity for dissemination of information, including inaccurate information, is seemingly limitless and readily available. Information concerning our company may be posted on such platforms at any time. Information posted may be adverse to our interests or may be inaccurate, each of which may harm our performance, prospects or business. The harm may be immediate without affording us an opportunity for redress or correction. Such platforms also could be used for dissemination of trade secret information, compromising valuable company assets. In sum, the dissemination of information online could harm our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations, regardless of the information’s accuracy.

Our brand could also be confused with brands that have similar names, including Baja Chuy’s Mesquite Broiler, Inc. (“Baja Chuy’s”), an unaffiliated restaurant chain with whom we have entered into a settlement agreement regarding use of the Chuy’s name. As a result, our brand value may be adversely affected by any negative publicity related to Baja Chuy’s or any other restaurant that may use brand names, trademarks or trade dress that are similar to ours.

Our expansion into new markets may present increased risks due to our unfamiliarity with the area.

Some of our new restaurants will be located in areas where we have little or no meaningful experience. Those markets may have different competitive conditions, consumer tastes and discretionary spending patterns than our existing markets, which may cause our new restaurants to be less successful than restaurants in our existing markets. An additional risk of expanding into new markets is the lack of market awareness of our brands. Restaurants opened in new markets may open at lower average weekly sales volume than restaurants opened in existing markets and may have higher restaurant-level operating expense ratios than in existing markets. Sales at restaurants opened in new markets may take longer to reach average unit volume, if at all, thereby affecting our overall profitability.

Further, the restaurant industry is subject to extensive state and local laws and regulations, which we may be unfamiliar with as we expand into new locations. We are subject to licensing and regulation by state and local authorities relating to health, sanitation, safety and fire standards and the sale of alcoholic beverages. We are also subject to laws and regulations relating to the preparation and sale of food, including regulations regarding product safety, nutritional content and menu labeling. Compliance with these laws and regulations can be costly, and any failure or perceived failure to comply with those laws could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operation.

Table of Contents

Approximately 38% of our restaurants are located in Texas and, as a result, we are sensitive to economic and other trends and developments in that state.

As of December 31, 2017, we operated a total of 35 restaurants in Texas. As a result, we are particularly susceptible to adverse trends and economic conditions in this state, including its labor market. In addition, given our geographic concentration in this state, negative publicity regarding any of our restaurants in Texas, local labor issues, terrorist attacks, changes in energy prices, adverse weather conditions, hurricanes, droughts, fires or other natural or man-made disasters could have a material adverse effect on our business and operations.

We are susceptible to economic and other trends and developments, including adverse weather conditions, in the local or regional areas in which our restaurants are located.

Our financial performance is dependent on our restaurants located in Texas and the Southeastern and Midwestern United States. As a result, adverse economic conditions in any of these areas could have a material adverse effect on our overall results of operations. In recent years, certain of these states have been more negatively impacted by the housing decline, high unemployment rates the overall economic crisis and most recently the decline in oil prices than other geographic areas. In addition, given our geographic concentrations, particularly in Texas, negative publicity regarding any of our restaurants in these areas could have a material adverse effect on our business and operations, as could other regional occurrences such as local labor issues, terrorist attacks, changes in energy prices, adverse weather conditions, hurricanes, droughts, fires or other natural or man-made disasters. Adverse weather conditions may also impact customer traffic at our restaurants, cause the temporary underutilization of outdoor patio seating, and, in more severe cases, cause temporary restaurant closures, sometimes for prolonged periods.

Our business is subject to seasonal fluctuations, with restaurant sales typically higher during the spring and summer months as well as in December. Adverse weather conditions during our most favorable months or periods may exacerbate the effect of adverse weather on customer traffic and may cause fluctuations in our operating results from quarter-to-quarter within a fiscal year. In addition, outdoor patio seating is available at nearly all of our restaurants and may be impacted by a number of weather-related factors. Our inability to fully utilize our restaurants’ seating capacity as planned may negatively impact our revenues and results of operations.

The impact of negative economic factors, including the availability of credit, on our landlords and surrounding tenants could negatively affect our financial results.

Negative effects on our existing and potential landlords due to the inaccessibility of credit and other unfavorable economic factors may, in turn, adversely affect our business and results of operations. If our landlords are unable to obtain financing or remain in good standing under their existing financing arrangements, they may be unable to provide construction contributions or satisfy other lease covenants to us. In addition, if our landlords are unable to obtain sufficient credit to continue to properly manage their retail sites, we may experience a drop in the level of quality of such retail centers. Our development of new restaurants may also be adversely affected by the negative financial situations of developers and potential landlords. Landlords may try to delay or cancel recent development projects (as well as renovations of existing projects) due to the instability in the credit markets which could reduce the number of appropriate locations available that we would consider for our new restaurants. Furthermore, the failure of landlords to obtain licenses or permits for development projects on a timely basis, which is beyond our control, may negatively impact our ability to implement our development plan.

Changes in food availability and costs could adversely affect our operating results.

Our profitability and operating margins are dependent in part on our ability to anticipate and react to changes in food costs. We rely on two regional distributors, Labatt in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Colorado and PFG in the rest of the United States, and various suppliers to provide our beef, cheese, beans, soybean oil, beverages and our groceries. For our chicken products, we rely on two suppliers, one supplier for our Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Colorado locations and one for the rest of our locations. For our green chiles, each year we contract with a supplier to buy from a group of farmers in Hatch, New Mexico, which we have the right to select under our agreement. If and to the extent the farmers are unable or do not supply a sufficient amount of green chiles or if we need chiles out of season, we purchase the excess amount from several approved suppliers. Each restaurant, through its general manager and kitchen manager, purchases its produce locally. Any increase in distribution prices, increase in the prices charged by suppliers or failure to perform by these third-parties could cause our food costs to increase or us to experience short-term unavailability of certain products. Failure to identify an alternate source of supply for these items may result in significant cost increases and an inability to provide certain of the items on our menu. If these events occur, it may reduce the profitability of certain of our offerings and may cause us to increase our prices. In addition, any material interruptions in our supply chain, such as a material interruption of ingredient supply due to the failures of third-party distributors or suppliers, or interruptions in service by common carriers that ship goods within our distribution channels, may result in significant cost increases and reduce sales. Changes in the price, as a result of inflation or otherwise, or availability of certain food products could affect the profitability of certain food items, our ability to maintain existing prices and our ability to purchase sufficient amounts of items to satisfy our customer’s demands, which could materially adversely affect our profitability and reputation.

Table of Contents

The type, variety, quality, availability and price of produce, beef, chicken and cheese are more volatile than other types of food and are subject to factors beyond our control, including weather, governmental regulation, availability and seasonality, each of which may affect our food costs or cause a disruption in our supply. Our food distributors and suppliers also may be affected by higher costs to produce and transport commodities used in our restaurants, higher minimum wage and benefit costs and other expenses that they pass through to their customers, which could result in higher costs for goods and services supplied to us. Although we are able to contract for some of the food commodities used in our restaurants for periods of up to one year, the pricing and availability of some of the commodities used in our operations, such as our produce, cannot be locked in for periods of longer than one week or at all. We do not use financial instruments to hedge our risk to market fluctuations in the price of our ingredients and other commodities at this time. We may not be able to anticipate and react to changing food costs through our purchasing practices and menu price adjustments in the future, and failure to do so could negatively impact our revenues and results of operations.

Increases in our labor costs, including as a result of changes in government regulation, could slow our growth or harm our business.

We are subject to a wide range of labor costs. Because our labor costs are, as a percentage of revenues, higher than other industries, we may be significantly harmed by labor cost increases. Unfavorable fluctuations in market conditions, availability of insurance or changes in state and/or federal regulations could significantly increase our labor costs. We are subject to federal, state, and local laws governing employment practices and working conditions. These laws cover wage and hour practices, labor relations, paid and family leave, and workplace safety, among others. The myriad of laws and regulations being passed at the state and local level creates unique challenges as different standards apply to different locations, sometimes with conflicting requirements. We will continue to monitor and adapt our employment practices to comply with these various laws and regulations. In addition, we are subject to the risk of employment-related litigation at both the state and federal levels, including claims styled as class action lawsuits which are more costly to defend. Also, some employment related claims in the area of wage and hour disputes are not insurable risks.

Significant increases in health care costs may continue to occur, and we can provide no assurance that we will be able to contain those costs.

In addition, many of our restaurant personnel are hourly workers subject to various minimum wage requirements or changes to tip credits. Mandated increases in minimum wage levels and changes to the tip credit, which are the amounts an employer is permitted to assume an employee receives in tips when calculating the employee’s hourly wage for minimum wage compliance purposes, have recently been and continue to be proposed and implemented at both federal and state government levels. For example, in Kentucky employers may not require employees to pool tips in order to share those tips with wait staff, bartenders and bussing staff. As a result, we may be required to pay our wait staff, bartenders and bussing staff in our Kentucky locations additional amounts to ensure they receive minimum wage. Continued minimum wage increases or changes to allowable tip credits may further increase our labor costs or effective tax rate.

Various states in which we operate are considering or have already adopted new immigration laws, and the U.S. Congress and Department of Homeland Security from time to time consider or implement changes to Federal immigration laws, regulations or enforcement programs as well. Some of these changes may increase our obligations for compliance and oversight, which could subject us to additional costs and make our hiring process more cumbersome, or reduce the availability of potential employees. Although we require all workers to provide us with government-specified documentation evidencing their employment eligibility, some of our employees may, without our knowledge, be unauthorized workers. Unauthorized workers are subject to deportation and may subject us to fines or penalties, and if any of our workers are found to be unauthorized we could experience adverse publicity that negatively impacts our brand and may make it more difficult to hire and keep qualified employees. Termination of a significant number of employees that unbeknown to us were unauthorized employees may disrupt our operations, cause temporary increases in our labor costs as we train new employees and result in additional adverse publicity. Our financial performance could be materially harmed as a result of any of these factors.

Labor shortages could increase our labor costs significantly or restrict our growth plans.

Our restaurants are highly dependent on qualified management and operating personnel. Qualified individuals have historically been in short supply and an inability to attract and retain them would limit the success of our existing restaurants as well as our development of new restaurants. We place a heavy emphasis on the qualification and training of our personnel and spend significantly more on training our employees than our competitors. We can make no assurances that we will be able to attract and retain qualified individuals in the future which may have a more significant effect on our operation than those of our competitors. Additionally, the cost of attracting and retaining qualified individuals may be higher than we anticipate, and as a result, our profitability could decline.

Table of Contents

Food safety and foodborne illness concerns may have an adverse effect on our business by reducing demand and increasing costs.

Food safety is a top priority, and we dedicate substantial resources to help ensure that our guests enjoy safe, quality food products. However, foodborne illnesses and food safety issues have occurred in the food industry in the past, and could occur in the future. Any report or publicity linking us to instances of foodborne illness or other food safety issues, including food tampering or contamination, could adversely affect our brand and reputation as well as our revenues and profits. In addition, instances of foodborne illness, food tampering or food contamination occurring at our competitors' restaurants could result in negative publicity about the food service industry generally and adversely impact our sales.

Furthermore, our reliance on third-party food suppliers and distributors increases the risk that foodborne illness incidents could be caused by factors outside of our control and that multiple locations would be affected rather than a single restaurant. We cannot assure that all food items are properly maintained during transport throughout the supply chain and that our employees will identify all products that may be spoiled and should not be used in our restaurants. If our guests become ill from foodborne illnesses, we could be forced to temporarily close some restaurants. Furthermore, any instances of food contamination, whether or not at our restaurants, could subject us or our suppliers to a food recall. Any such results could adversely affect our brand and reputation as well as our business and results of operations.

The United States and other countries have experienced, or may experience in the future, outbreaks of viruses, such as Ebola, Avian Flu, SARS and H1N1. To the extent that a virus is foodborne, future outbreaks may adversely affect the price and availability of certain food products and cause our guests to eat less of a product. To the extent that a virus is transmitted by human-to-human contact, our employees or guests could become infected, or could choose, or be advised or required, to avoid gathering in public places, any one of which could adversely affect our business.

Customer traffic at our restaurants could be significantly affected by competition in the restaurant industry in general and, in particular, within the dining segments of the restaurant industry in which we compete.

The restaurant industry is highly competitive with respect to food quality, ambience, service, price and value and location, and a substantial number of restaurant operations compete with us for customer traffic. The main competitors for our brand are other operators of mid-priced, full service concepts in the multi-location casual dining and Tex-Mex/Mexican food segments in which we compete most directly for real estate locations and customers. Some of our competitors have significantly greater financial, marketing, personnel and other resources than we do, and many of our competitors are well established in markets in which we have existing restaurants or intend to locate new restaurants. Any inability to successfully compete with the other restaurants in our markets will place downward pressure on our customer traffic and may prevent us from increasing or sustaining our revenues and profitability. We may also need to evolve our concept in order to compete with popular new restaurant formats or concepts that develop from time to time, and we cannot offer any assurance that we will be successful in doing so or that modifications to our concept will not reduce our profitability. In addition, with improving product offerings at fast casual restaurants, quick-service restaurants and grocery stores and the influence of negative economic conditions and other factors, consumers may choose less expensive alternatives, which could also negatively affect customer traffic at our restaurants.

Legislation and regulations requiring the display and provision of nutritional information for our menu offerings, and new information or attitudes regarding diet and health or adverse opinions about the health effects of consuming our menu offerings, could affect consumer preferences and negatively impact our results of operations.

Government regulation and consumer eating habits may impact our business as a result of changes in attitudes regarding diet and health or new information regarding the health effects of consuming our menu offerings. These changes have resulted in, and may continue to result in, the enactment of laws and regulations that impact the ingredients and nutritional content of our menu offerings, or laws and regulations requiring us to disclose the nutritional content of our food offerings. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (the “PPACA”) establishes a uniform, federal requirement for certain restaurants to post nutritional information on their menus. The FDA finalized regulations to implement the nutritional menu labeling provisions of the PPACA. These final regulations will be effective in May 2018 and will establish a uniform, federal requirement for certain restaurants, including ours, to post nutritional information on their menus. We will be required to publish the total number of calories of standard menu items on menus, along with a statement that puts this calorie information in the context of a total daily calorie intake. The PPACA also requires us to provide to consumers, upon request, a written summary of detailed nutritional information for each standard menu item, and to provide a statement on menus about the availability of this information. An unfavorable report on, or reaction to, our menu ingredients, the size of our portions, or the nutritional content of our menu items could negatively influence the demand for our offerings. We cannot make any assurances regarding our ability to effectively respond to changes in consumer health perceptions or our ability to successfully implement the nutrient content disclosure requirements and to adapt our menu offerings to trends and eating habits. The imposition of menu-labeling laws could have an adverse effect on our results of operations and financial position, as well as the restaurant industry in general.

Multiple jurisdictions in which we operate have recently enacted new requirements that require us to adopt and implement a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (“HACCP”) System for managing food safety and quality. HACCP refers to a management

Table of Contents

system in which food safety is addressed through the analysis and control of potential hazards from production, procurement and handling, to manufacturing, distribution and consumption of the finished product. We expect to incur certain costs to comply with these regulations and these costs may be more than we anticipate. If we fail to comply with these laws or regulations or our HACCP system is unable to prevent an issue, our business could experience a material adverse effect.

Federal, state and local beer, liquor and food service regulations may have a significant adverse impact on our operations.

We are required to operate in compliance with federal laws and regulations relating to alcoholic beverages administered by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives of the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as the laws and licensing requirements for alcoholic beverages of states and municipalities where our restaurants are or will be located. In addition, each restaurant must obtain a food service license from local authorities. Failure to comply with federal, state or local regulations could cause our licenses to be revoked and force us to cease the sale of food or alcoholic beverages at certain locations. Any difficulties, delays or failures in obtaining such licenses, permits or approvals could delay or prevent the opening of a restaurant in a particular area or increase the costs associated therewith. In addition, in certain states, including states where we have existing restaurants or where we plan to open a restaurant, the number of liquor licenses available is limited, and licenses are traded on the open market. Liquor, beer and wine sales comprise a significant portion of our revenues. If we are unable to maintain our existing licenses, our customer patronage, revenues and results of operations could be adversely affected. Or, if we choose to open a restaurant in those states where the number of licenses available is limited, the cost of a new license could be significant.

We apply for our liquor licenses with the advice of outside legal and licensing consultants. Because of the many and various state and federal licensing and permitting requirements, there is a significant risk that one or more regulatory agencies could determine that we have not complied with applicable licensing or permitting regulations or have not maintained the approvals necessary for us to conduct business within its jurisdiction. Any changes in the application or interpretation of existing laws may adversely impact our restaurants in that state, and could also cause us to lose, either temporarily or permanently, the licenses, permits and regulations necessary to conduct our restaurant operations, and subject us to fines and penalties.

Restaurant companies have been the target of class-actions and other litigation alleging, among other things, violations of federal and state law.

We are subject to a variety of lawsuits, administrative proceedings and claims that arise in the ordinary course of our business. In recent years, a number of restaurant companies have been subject to claims by customers, employees and others regarding issues such as food safety, personal injury and premises liability, employment-related claims, harassment, discrimination, disability and other operational issues common to the foodservice industry. A number of these lawsuits have resulted in the payment of substantial damages by the defendants. An adverse judgment or settlement that is not insured or is in excess of insurance coverage could have an adverse impact on our profitability and could cause variability in our results compared to expectations. We carry insurance policies for a significant portion of our risks and associated liabilities with respect to workers’ compensation, general liability, employer’s liability, health benefits and other insurable risks. Regardless of whether any claims that may be brought against us are valid or whether we are ultimately determined to be liable, we could also be adversely affected by negative publicity, litigation costs resulting from the defense of these claims and the diversion of time and resources from our operations.

We are subject to state “dram shop” laws and regulations, which generally provide that a person injured by an intoxicated person may seek to recover damages from an establishment that wrongfully served alcoholic beverages to the intoxicated person. Recent litigation against restaurant chains has resulted in significant judgments, including punitive damages, under such “dram shop” statutes. While we carry liquor liability coverage as part of our existing comprehensive general liability insurance, we may still be subject to a judgment in excess of our insurance coverage, and we may not be able to obtain or continue to maintain such insurance coverage at reasonable costs, if at all. Regardless of whether any claims against us are valid or whether we are liable, we may be adversely affected by publicity resulting from such laws.

Our marketing programs may not be successful.

We expend resources in our marketing efforts using a variety of media, including social media. We expect to continue to conduct brand awareness programs and customer initiatives to attract and retain customers. These initiatives may not be successful, resulting in expenses incurred without the benefit of higher revenues. Additionally, some of our competitors have greater financial resources, which enable them to spend significantly more on marketing and advertising than we are able to. Should our competitors increase spending on marketing and advertising or our marketing funds decrease for any reason, or should our advertising and promotions be less effective than our competitors, there could be a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

The impact of new restaurant openings could result in fluctuations in our financial performance.

Quarterly results have been, and in the future may continue to be, significantly impacted by the timing of new restaurant openings (often dictated by factors outside of our control), including associated restaurant pre-opening costs and operating inefficiencies, as well as changes in our geographic concentration due to the opening of new restaurants. We typically incur the most significant portion of restaurant pre-opening expenses associated with a given restaurant within the five months immediately preceding and the month of the opening of the restaurant. As the regional and national economies in which we operate improve, we may encounter

Table of Contents

more competition in obtaining lease sites and, as a result, may be unable to negotiate similar levels of tenant incentives under our new leases. If we are unable to obtain similar levels of tenant incentives for a particular unit, we would expect to incur increased capital expenditures in advance of opening and pay lower rent with respect to the restaurant. Our experience has been that labor and operating costs associated with a newly opened restaurant for the first several months of operation are materially greater than what can be expected after that time, both in aggregate dollars and as a percentage of revenues. Our new restaurants commonly take nine months to one year to reach planned operating levels due to inefficiencies typically associated with new restaurants, including the training of new personnel, lack of market awareness, inability to hire sufficient qualified staff and other factors. Accordingly, the volume and timing of new restaurant openings has had, and may continue to have, a meaningful impact on our profitability. Due to the foregoing factors, results for any one quarter are not necessarily indicative of results to be expected for any other quarter or for a full fiscal year, and these fluctuations may cause our operating results to be below expectations of public market analysts and investors.

Opening new restaurants in existing markets may negatively affect sales at our existing restaurants.

The consumer target area of our restaurants varies by location, depending on a number of factors such as population density, local retail and business attractions, area demographics and geography. As a result, the opening of a new restaurant in or near markets in which we already have existing restaurants could adversely impact the sales of new or existing restaurants. Our core business strategy does not entail opening new restaurants that materially impact sales at our existing restaurants but we may selectively open new restaurants in and around areas of existing restaurants that are operating at or near capacity. There can be no assurance that sales cannibalization between our restaurants will not occur or become more significant in the future as we continue to expand our operations.

Our business operations and future development could be significantly disrupted if we lose key members of our management team.

The success of our business continues to depend to a significant degree upon the continued contributions of our senior officers and key employees, both individually and as a group. Our future performance will be substantially dependent in particular on our ability to retain and motivate Steve Hislop, our Chief Executive Officer, and our other senior officers. We currently have employment agreements in place with Messrs. Hislop, Howie and Hatcher and Mrs. Russell. The loss of the services of our CEO, other senior officers or other key employees could have a material adverse effect on our business and plans for future development. We currently have no effective replacement for any of these individuals due to their experience, reputation in the industry and special role in our operations. We also do not maintain any key man life insurance policies for any of our employees.

Our growth may strain our infrastructure and resources, which could slow our development of new restaurants and adversely affect our ability to manage our existing restaurants.

During fiscal years 2015, 2016 and 2017 we opened ten, twelve and eleven restaurants, respectively. During 2018, we plan to open a total of eight to twelve restaurants for the year. Our future growth may strain our administrative staff, management systems and resources, financial controls and information systems. Those demands on our infrastructure and resources may also adversely affect our ability to manage our existing restaurants. If we fail to continue to improve our infrastructure or to manage other factors necessary for us to meet our expansion objectives, our operating results could be materially and adversely affected. Likewise, if sales decline, we may be unable to reduce our infrastructure quickly enough to prevent sales deleveraging, which would adversely affect our profitability.

Our insurance policies may not provide adequate levels of coverage against all claims, and fluctuating insurance requirements and costs could negatively impact our profitability.

We believe our insurance coverage is customary for businesses of our size and type. However, there are types of losses we may incur that cannot be insured against or that we believe are not commercially reasonable to insure. These losses, if they occur, could have a material and adverse effect on our business and results of operations. In addition, the cost of workers’ compensation insurance, general liability insurance and directors’ and officers’ liability insurance fluctuates based on our historical trends, market conditions and availability. Additionally, health insurance costs in general have risen significantly over the past few years and are expected to continue to increase. These increases, as well as federal legislation requiring employers to provide specified levels of health insurance to all employees, could have a negative impact on our profitability, and there can be no assurance that we will be able to successfully offset the effect of such increases with plan modifications and cost control measures, additional operating efficiencies or the pass-through of such increased costs to our customers.

Limitations in our Revolving Credit Facility may limit our ability to invest in the ongoing needs of our business and if we are unable to comply with our financial covenants, our liquidity and results of operations could be adversely affected.

At December 31, 2017 we had no outstanding indebtedness under our Revolving Credit Facility.

Our Revolving Credit Facility places certain conditions on us, including that it:


•	limits our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business or the industries in which we operate;

Table of Contents


•	makes us more vulnerable to increases in interest rates, as borrowings under our Revolving Credit Facility are at variable rates;


•	limits our ability to obtain additional financing in the future for working capital or other purposes; and


•	could place us at a competitive disadvantage compared to our competitors that have less indebtedness.

Our Revolving Credit Facility places certain limitations on our ability to incur additional indebtedness. However, subject to the qualifications and exceptions in our Revolving Credit Facility, we may incur substantial additional indebtedness under that facility and may incur obligations that do not constitute indebtedness under that facility. The Revolving Credit Facility also places certain limitations on, among other things, our ability to enter into certain types of transactions, financing arrangements and investments, to make certain changes to our capital structure and to guarantee certain indebtedness. The Revolving Credit Facility also places certain restrictions on the payment of dividends and distributions. These restrictions limit or prohibit, among other things, our ability to:


•	pay dividends on, redeem or repurchase our stock or make other distributions;


•	incur or guarantee additional indebtedness;


•	sell stock in our subsidiaries;


•	create or incur liens;


•	make acquisitions or investments;


•	transfer or sell certain assets or merge or consolidate with or into other companies; and


•	enter into certain transactions with our affiliates.

Failure to comply with certain covenants or the occurrence of a change of control under our Revolving Credit Facility could result in the acceleration of our obligations under the Revolving Credit Facility, which would have an adverse effect on our liquidity, capital resources and results of operations.

Our Revolving Credit Facility also requires us to comply with certain financial covenants including a minimum fixed charge coverage ratio and a maximum total lease adjusted leverage ratio. Changes with respect to these financial covenants may increase our interest rate and failure to comply with these covenants could result in a default and an acceleration of our obligations under the Revolving Credit Facility, which would have an adverse effect on our liquidity, capital resources and results of operations.

We may be unable to obtain debt or other financing on favorable terms or at all.

There are inherent risks in our ability to borrow. Our lenders may be unable to lend to us or tighten their lending standards, which could make it more difficult for us to increase the available commitment under our Revolving Credit Facility, refinance our existing indebtedness or to obtain other financing on favorable terms or at all. Our financial condition and results of operations would be adversely affected if we were unable to draw funds under our Revolving Credit Facility because of a lender default or to obtain other cost-effective financing.

Longer term disruptions in the capital and credit markets as a result of uncertainty, changing or increased regulation, reduced alternatives, failures of significant financial institutions or other events could adversely affect our access to liquidity needed for our business. Any disruption could require us to take measures to conserve cash until the markets stabilize or until alternative credit arrangements or other funding for our business can be arranged. Such measures could include deferring capital expenditures (including the opening of new restaurants) and reducing or eliminating other discretionary uses of cash.

We may be required to record asset impairment charges in the future.

In accordance with accounting guidance as it relates to the impairment of long-lived assets, we review long-lived assets, such as property and equipment and intangibles subject to amortization, for impairment when events or circumstances indicate the carrying value of the assets may not be recoverable. In determining the recoverability of the asset value, an analysis is performed at the individual restaurant level and primarily includes an assessment of historical cash flows and other relevant factors and circumstances. Deficient restaurant-level cash flow (defined as restaurant net income plus depreciation, gain and/or loss on assets and pre-opening expense) over the previous 24-month period in a stabilized location is considered a potential impairment indicator. In such situations, the Company evaluates future cash flow projections in conjunction with qualitative factors and future operating plans. Recoverability of assets to be held and used is measured by a comparison of the carrying amount of the restaurant to the estimated undiscounted future cash flow expected to be generated by the restaurant. If the carrying amount of the restaurant exceeds estimated future cash flow, an impairment charge is recognized for the amount by which the asset’s carrying amount exceeds its fair value. As a result of the above-mentioned review process, we recognized a non-cash loss on asset impairment of $4.4 million related to three restaurants in fiscal 2015. We did not recognize an impairment charge during fiscal 2017 or 2016.

Table of Contents

Economic weakness within our respective markets could adversely impact consumer discretionary spending and may result in lower restaurant sales. Unfavorable fluctuations in our commodity costs, supply costs and labor rates, which may or may not be within our control, may also impact our operating margins. Any of these factors could as a result affect the estimates used in our impairment analysis and require additional impairment tests and charges to earnings. We continue to assess the performance of our restaurants and monitor the need for future impairment. There can be no assurance that future impairment tests will not result in additional charges to earnings.

Security breaches of confidential customer information in connection with our electronic processing of credit and debit card transactions may adversely affect our business.

The majority of our restaurant sales are by credit or debit cards. Other restaurants and retailers have experienced security breaches in which credit and debit card information of their customers has been stolen. We may in the future become subject to lawsuits or other proceedings for purportedly fraudulent transactions arising out of the actual or alleged theft of our customers’ credit or debit card information. In addition, most states have enacted legislation requiring notification of security breaches involving personal information, including credit and debit card information. Any such claim, proceeding, or mandatory notification could cause us to incur significant unplanned expenses, which could have an adverse impact on our financial condition and results of operations. Further, adverse publicity resulting from these allegations may have a material adverse effect on us and our restaurants.

We may not be able to adequately protect our intellectual property, which, in turn, could harm the value of our brand and adversely affect our business.

Our ability to implement our business plan successfully depends in part on our ability to build brand recognition in the areas surrounding our locations using our trademarks and other proprietary intellectual property, including our brand names, logos and the unique ambience of our restaurants. We have registered or applied to register a number of our trademarks. We cannot assure you that our trademark applications will be approved. Also, as a result of the settlement agreement with an unaffiliated entity, Baja Chuy’s, we may not use “Chuy’s” in Nevada, California or Arizona, which may have an adverse effect on our growth plans in these states. Additionally, our brand value may be diluted as a result of their use of “Chuy’s” in these states. Third parties may also oppose our trademark applications, or otherwise challenge our use of the trademarks. In the event that our trademarks are successfully challenged, we could be forced to rebrand our goods and services, which could result in loss of brand recognition, and could require us to devote resources to advertising and marketing new brands.

We enforce our rights through a number of methods, including the issuance of cease-and-desist letters or making infringement claims in federal court. If our efforts to register, maintain and protect our trademarks or other intellectual property are inadequate, or if any third party misappropriates, dilutes or infringes on our intellectual property, the value of our brand may be harmed, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and might prevent our brand from achieving or maintaining market acceptance. We may also face the risk of claims that we have infringed third parties’ intellectual property rights. A successful claim of infringement against us could result in our being required to pay significant damages or enter into costly licensing or royalty agreements in order to obtain the right to use a third party’s intellectual property, any of which could have a negative impact on our results of operations and harm our future prospects. If such royalty or licensing agreements are not available to us on acceptable terms or at all, we may be forced to stop the sale of certain products or services. Any claims of intellectual property infringement, even those without merit, could be expensive and time consuming to defend, require us to rebrand our services, if feasible, and divert management’s attention.

We also rely on trade secrets and proprietary know-how to protect our brand. Our methods of safeguarding this information may not be adequate. Moreover, we may face claims of misappropriation or infringement of third parties’ rights that could interfere with our use of this information. Defending these claims may be costly and, if unsuccessful, may prevent us from continuing to use this proprietary information in the future and may result in a judgment or monetary damages. We do not maintain confidentiality agreements with all of our team members or suppliers. Even with respect to the confidentiality agreements we have, we cannot assure you that those agreements will not be breached, that they will provide meaningful protection, or that adequate remedies will be available in the event of an unauthorized use or disclosure of our proprietary information. If competitors independently develop or otherwise obtain access to our trade secrets or proprietary know-how, the appeal of our restaurants could be reduced and our business could be harmed. In addition, if we default under our lease agreements at certain of our locations, our landlord at those locations, Young/Zapp GP, LLC (“Young/Zapp”) and its subsidiaries, may have the right to operate a Tex-Mex or Mexican food restaurant at that location using our recipes and our trade dress. If such default were to occur, the brand value of our recipes and our trade dress might suffer.

Information technology system failures or breaches of our network security could interrupt our operations and adversely affect our business.

We rely on our computer systems and network infrastructure across our operations, including point-of-sale processing at our restaurants. Our operations depend upon our ability to protect our computer equipment and systems against damage from physical theft, fire, power loss, telecommunications failure or other catastrophic events, as well as from internal and external security breaches, viruses, worms and other disruptions. Any damage or failure of our computer systems or network infrastructure that

Table of Contents

causes an interruption in our operations could have a material adverse effect on our business and subject us to litigation or actions by regulatory authorities. Further, adverse publicity resulting from such an event may have a material adverse affect on us and our restaurants. Although we have employed both internal resources and external consultants to audit our systems, and test them for vulnerability, and we have implemented firewalls, data encryption and other security controls and intend to maintain and upgrade our security technology and operational procedures to prevent damage, breaches or other disruptions, these measures may not eliminate all risks.

A major natural or man-made disaster could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Most of our corporate systems, processes and corporate support for our restaurant operations are centralized at our headquarters in Austin, Texas, with certain systems and processes being concurrently stored at an offsite storage facility in accordance with our disaster recovery plan. As part of our disaster recovery plan, we have backup processes for our core systems at our co-location facility. If we are unable to fully implement this new disaster recovery plan, we may experience failures or delays in recovery of data, delayed reporting and compliance, inability to perform necessary corporate functions and other breakdowns in normal operating procedures that could have a material adverse effect on our business and create exposure to administrative and other legal claims against us.

We incur increased costs and demands upon management as a result of complying with the laws and regulations affecting public companies, particularly after we are no longer an “emerging growth company,” which could adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition.

As a public company, we incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses. We are subject to the reporting requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”), the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and the rules and regulations of the Nasdaq Stock Market. These requirements have increased and will continue to increase our legal, accounting and financial compliance costs. Further, we expect that our management and other personnel will need to divert attention from operational and other business matters to devote substantial time to these public company requirements.

At the end of fiscal 2017, we lost our status as an “emerging growth company” as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the "JOBs Act"). As a result, we are no longer able to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements. We expect that the loss of our "emerging growth company" status and compliance with the additional requirements will increase our legal and financial compliance costs and make some activities more time consuming and costly.

Failure of our internal control over financial reporting could adversely affect our business and financial results.

Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Internal control over financial reporting is a process to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting for external purposes in accordance with GAAP. Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting is not intended to provide absolute assurance that we would prevent or detect a misstatement of our financial statements or fraud. Any failure to maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting could limit our ability to report our financial results accurately and timely or to detect and prevent fraud. The identification of a material weakness could indicate a lack of controls adequate to generate accurate financial statements that, in turn, could cause a loss of investor confidence and decline in the market price of our common stock. We cannot assure you that we will be able to timely remediate any material weaknesses that may be identified in future periods or maintain all of the controls necessary for continued compliance. Likewise, we cannot assure you that we will be able to retain sufficient skilled finance and accounting personnel, especially in light of the increased demand for such personnel among publicly traded companies.

Federal, state and local tax laws may adversely impact our results of operations and financial position.

We are subject to federal, state and local taxes in the U.S. If the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) or other taxing authority disagrees with the positions we have taken on our tax returns, we could face additional tax liability, including interest and penalties. If material, payment of such additional amounts upon final adjudication of any disputes could have a material impact on our results of operations and financial position. In addition, complying with new tax laws, rules or regulations could impact our financial condition, and increases to federal or state statutory tax rates and other changes in tax laws, rules or regulations may increase our effective tax rate. Any increase in our effective tax rate could have a material impact on our financial results.

Risks Relating to Ownership of our Common Stock

The price of our common stock may be volatile and you could lose all or part of your investment.

Volatility in the market price of our common stock may prevent you from being able to sell your shares at or above the price you paid for your shares. The market price of our common stock could fluctuate significantly for various reasons, which include:


•	our quarterly or annual earnings or those of other companies in our industry;

Table of Contents


•	changes in laws or regulations, or new interpretations or applications of laws and regulations, that are applicable to our business;


•	the public’s reaction to our press releases, our other public announcements and our filings with the SEC;


•	changes in accounting standards, policies, guidance, interpretations or principles;


•	additions or departures of our senior management personnel;


•	sales of our common stock by our directors and executive officers;


•	adverse market reaction to any indebtedness we may incur or securities we may issue in the future;


•	actions by stockholders;


•	the level and quality of research analyst coverage for our common stock, changes in financial estimates or investment recommendations by securities analysts following our business or failure to meet such estimates;


•	the financial disclosure we may provide to the public, any changes in such disclosure or our failure to meet such disclosure;


•	various market factors or perceived market factors, including rumors, whether or not correct, involving us, our distributors or suppliers or our competitors;


•	acquisitions or strategic alliances by us or our competitors;


•	short sales, hedging and other derivative transactions in our common stock;


•	the operating and stock price performance of other companies that investors may deem comparable to us; and


•	other events or factors, including changes in general conditions in the United States and global economies or financial markets (including those resulting from acts of God, war, incidents of terrorism or responses to such events).

Recently, the stock market has experienced considerable price and volume fluctuations. This volatility has had an impact on the market price of securities issued by many companies, including companies in our industry. The price of our common stock could fluctuate based upon factors that have little or nothing to do with our company, and these fluctuations could materially reduce our share price.

In the past, following periods of market volatility in the price of a company’s securities, security holders have often instituted class action litigation. If the market value of our common stock experiences adverse fluctuations and we become involved in this type of litigation, regardless of the outcome, we could incur substantial legal costs and our management’s attention could be diverted from the operation of our business, causing our business to suffer.

Future sales of our common stock in the public market could lower our share price, and the exercise of stock options and any additional capital raised by us through the sale of our common stock may dilute your ownership in us.

Sales of substantial amounts of our common stock in the public market by our existing stockholders except from registration or upon the exercise of outstanding stock options or stock options granted in the future may adversely affect the market price of our common stock. Such sales could also create public perception of difficulties or problems with our business. These sales might also make it more difficult for us to sell securities in the future at a time and price that we deem appropriate.

As of December 31, 2017, we have 706,101 shares of common stock reserved for issuance under the 2012 Omnibus Equity Incentive Plan. Additionally there were 274,110 shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of outstanding options, of which 248,745 of these options were fully vested.

If securities analysts or industry analysts downgrade our shares, publish negative research or reports, or do not publish reports about our business, our share price and trading volume could decline.

The trading market for our common stock is influenced by the research and reports that industry or securities analysts publish about us, our business and our industry. If one or more analysts adversely change their recommendation regarding our shares or our competitors’ stock, our share price would likely decline. If one or more analysts cease coverage of us or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which in turn could cause our share price or trading volume to decline.

Anti-takeover provisions in our charter documents and under Delaware law could make an acquisition of us more difficult, limit attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management and limit the market price of our common stock.

Provisions in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws, as amended and restated, may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control or changes in our management. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws include provisions that:

Table of Contents


•	authorize our board of directors to issue, without further action by the stockholders, up to 15,000,000 shares of undesignated preferred stock;


•	require that any action to be taken by our stockholders be effected at a duly called annual or special meeting and not by written consent;


•	specify that special meetings of our stockholders can be called only by a majority of our board of directors, the Chair of our board of directors, or our Chief Executive Officer;


•	establish an advance notice procedure for stockholder proposals to be brought before an annual meeting, including proposed nominations of persons for election to our board of directors;


•	establish that our board of directors is divided into three classes, with each class serving three-year staggered terms;


•	prohibit cumulative voting in the election of directors;


•	provide that our directors may be removed only for cause by the holders of a supermajority of our outstanding shares of capital stock;


•	provide that vacancies on our board of directors may be filled only by a majority of directors then in office, even though less than a quorum; and


•	require the approval of our board of directors or the holders of a supermajority of our outstanding shares of capital stock to amend our bylaws and certain provisions of our certificate of incorporation.

These provisions may frustrate or prevent any attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management by making it more difficult for stockholders to replace members of our board of directors, which is responsible for appointing the members of our management. In addition, because we are incorporated in Delaware, we are governed by the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which generally prohibits a Delaware corporation from engaging in any of a broad range of business combinations with any “interested” stockholder (any stockholder with 15% or more of our capital stock) for a period of three years following the date on which the stockholder became an “interested” stockholder.

Since we do not expect to pay any dividends for the foreseeable future, investors may be forced to sell their stock in order to realize a return on their investment.

Since we do not expect to pay any dividends for the foreseeable future, investors may be forced to sell their shares in order to realize a return on their investment. Other than the dividend paid in connection with entering into our old credit facility, which was terminated in connection with entering into our Revolving Credit Facility in November 2012, we have not declared or paid any dividends on our common stock. We do not anticipate that we will pay any dividends to holders of our common stock for the foreseeable future. Any payment of cash dividends will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on our financial condition, capital requirements, legal requirements, earnings and other factors. Our ability to pay dividends is restricted by the terms of our Revolving Credit Facility and might be restricted by the terms of any indebtedness that we incur in the future. Consequently, you should not rely on dividends in order to receive a return on your investment. See Item 5. “Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities—Dividend Policy.”

Our reported financial results may be adversely affected by changes in accounting principles applicable to us.

Our reported financial results may be adversely affected by changes in accounting principles applicable to us. Generally accepted accounting principles in the U.S. (“GAAP”) are subject to interpretation by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”), the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the SEC and various bodies formed to promulgate and interpret appropriate accounting principles. A change in these principles or interpretations could have a significant effect on our reported financial results, and could affect the reporting of transactions completed before the announcement of a change. In addition, the SEC has announced a multi-year plan that could ultimately lead to the use of International Financial Reporting Standards by U.S. issuers in their SEC filings. Any such change could have a significant effect on our reported financial results.

Our ability to raise capital in the future may be limited.

Our ability to raise capital in the future may be limited. Our business and operations may consume resources faster than we anticipate. In the future, we may need to raise additional funds through the issuance of new equity securities, debt or a combination of both. Additional financing may not be available on favorable terms, or at all. If adequate funds are not available on acceptable terms, we may be unable to fund our capital requirements. If we issue new debt securities, the debt holders would have rights senior to common stockholders to make claims on our assets, and the terms of any debt could restrict our operations, including our ability to pay dividends on our common stock. If we issue additional equity securities, existing stockholders will experience dilution, and the new equity securities could have rights senior to those of our common stock. Because our decision to issue securities in any future offering will depend on market conditions and other factors beyond our control, we cannot predict or

Table of Contents

estimate the amount, timing or nature of our future offerings. Thus, our stockholders bear the risk of our future securities offerings, diluting their interest and reducing the market price of our common stock.

Conflicts of interest may arise with some of our directors.

John Zapp, one of our founders, serves as Chairman of our board of directors. He could invest in entities that directly or indirectly compete with us. As a result of our relationship with John Zapp, when conflicts arise between his interests and the interests of our stockholders, he may not be disinterested.


ITEM 1B.	UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

None

Table of Contents

ITEM 2. PROPERTIES

As of March 7, 2018, we operated 91 Chuy’s restaurants located in the following states:



LOCATION	NUMBER OF RESTAURANTS
Alabama	2
Arkansas	3
Colorado	2
Florida	8
Georgia	4
Illinois	2
Indiana	2
Louisiana	1
Kentucky	4
Kansas	1
Maryland	2
Missouri	1
North Carolina	4
Ohio	4
Oklahoma	3
South Carolina	1
Tennessee	6
Texas	35
Virginia	6
Total	91

As of March 7, 2018 we have also signed leases and are in development for 10 additional restaurants in New Tampa, Doral, Kendall and Miami, Florida; Orland Park, Illinois; Lakewood and Greenwood Village, Colorado; Houston, Texas; Overland Park, Kansas and Huntsville, Alabama. We lease all of the land, parking lots and buildings used in our restaurant operations under various long-term operating lease agreements. For additional information regarding our obligations under our leases, see Note 9 to our Consolidated Financial Statements.

All of our restaurant leases provide for base (fixed) rent, plus the majority provide for additional rent based on gross sales (as defined in each lease agreement) in excess of a stipulated amount, multiplied by a stated percentage. A significant percentage of our restaurant leases also provide for periodic escalation of minimum annual rent either based upon increases in the Consumer Price Index or a pre-determined schedule. Typically, the initial lease term is 10 or 15 years in length with two to three five-year extension options. The initial terms of our leases currently expire between 2019 and 2039. We are also generally obligated to pay certain real estate taxes, insurances, common area maintenance charges and various other expenses related to the properties. Our corporate headquarters is also leased and is located at 1623 Toomey Road, Austin, Texas 78704. We subleased additional office space from certain related parties to expand our corporate headquarters in fiscal year 2017.


ITEM 3.	LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

Occasionally we are a party to various legal actions arising in the ordinary course of our business including claims resulting from “slip and fall” accidents, employment related claims and claims from customers or employees alleging illness, injury or other food quality, health or operational concerns. None of these types of litigation, most of which are covered by insurance, has had a material effect on us, and as of December 31, 2017, we are not a party to any material pending legal proceedings and are not aware of any claims that could have a materially adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows.


ITEM 4.	MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES

None

Table of Contents

PART II


ITEM 5.	MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

Market Information

Our common shares are traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “CHUY”. The following table sets forth, for the periods indicated, the high and low sales prices of our common stock, as reported by the Nasdaq Global Select Market:



	High		Low
Fourth Quarter of 2017 (September 25, 2017 – December 31, 2017)	$	28.50	$	28.00
Third Quarter of 2017 (June 26, 2017 – September 24, 2017)	$	25.70	$	18.00
Second Quarter of 2017 (March 27, 2017 – June 25, 2017)	$	32.10	$	21.59
First Quarter of 2017 (December 26, 2016 – March 26, 2017)	$	33.60	$	26.60
Fourth Quarter of 2016 (September 26, 2016 – December 25, 2016)	$	35.30	$	25.87
Third Quarter of 2016 (June 27, 2016 – September 25, 2016)	$	37.78	$	27.78
Second Quarter of 2016 (March 28, 2016 – June 26, 2016)	$	35.94	$	28.43
First Quarter of 2016 (December 28, 2015 – March 27, 2016)	$	37.34	$	27.00

On March 7, 2018, the closing price of our common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market was $27.40 per share.

Holders

As of March 7, 2018, there were approximately 8 holders of record of our common stock. The number of holders of record is based upon the actual numbers of holders registered at such date and does not include holders of shares in “street name” or persons, partnerships, associates, corporations or other entities in security position listings maintained by depositories.

Dividend Policy and Stock Repurchases

During the fiscal years ended December 31, 2017 and December 25, 2016 we did not declare or pay any dividends on our common stock. We currently expect to retain future earnings, if any, for use in the operation, growth of our business and, to the extent that our board of directors believes appropriate in light of market conditions, the repurchase of shares of our common stock pursuant to the board-approved share repurchase plan. We currently do not anticipate paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Any future determination to pay cash dividends will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on our financial condition, operating results, capital requirements and such other factors as our board of directors deems relevant. In addition, in certain circumstances, our Revolving Credit Facility restricts our ability to pay dividends. For additional information, see Item 7. “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources.”

On October 26, 2017, the Company's board of directors approved a share repurchase program under which it authorized the Company, at its discretion, to repurchase up to $30 million of its common shares outstanding through December 31, 2019. Repurchases of the Company's outstanding common stock will be made in accordance with applicable laws and may be made at management's discretion from time to time in the open market, through privately negotiated transactions or otherwise, including pursuant to Rule 10b5-1 trading plans. There is no guarantee as to the exact number of shares to be repurchased by the Company. The timing and extent of repurchases will depend upon several factors, including market and business conditions, regulatory requirements and other corporate considerations, and repurchases may be discontinued at any time. As of December 31, 2017, we had $30.0 million yet to be repurchased under this plan.

Table of Contents

Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer

The table below provides information with respect to our purchase of shares of our common stock during the three months ended December 31, 2017:



Period	Total Number of Shares Purchased ⁽¹⁾	Average Price Paid Per Share		Total number of shares purchased as part of publicly announced plans or programs	Approximate dollar value of shares that may yet be purchased under the plans or programs (in millions) ⁽²⁾
September 25, 2017 - October 22, 2017	—	$	—	—	$	—
October 23, 2017 - November 19, 2017	217	23.4		—	30.0
November 20, 2017 - December 31, 2017	—	—		—	30.0
Total	217	$	23.4	—


(1)	Includes shares that were surrendered to the Company to satisfy tax withholding obligations in connection with vesting of restricted stock units.


(2)	On November 2, 2017, we announced that our Board of Directors authorized us to repurchase an indeterminate number of our common stock through December 31, 2019 at an aggregate market value of up to $30.0 million.

Table of Contents

Stock Performance Chart

The following graph compares the cumulative five-year stockholder return on our common stock relative to the Nasdaq Composite, the S&P 600 Restaurants Index and a peer group consisting of: Bloomin' Brands, Inc., Bravo Brio Restaurant Group, Brinker International, Inc., Buffalo Wild Wings, Inc., The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated, BJ's Restaurants, Inc., Famous Dave's of America, Inc., Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc. and Texas Roadhouse, Inc. The peer group consists of companies which compete in the casual dining segment of the restaurant industry. The comparison assumes a $100 initial investment and the reinvestment of dividends. This graph is furnished and not filed with the SEC. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary set forth in any of our previous filings made under the Securities Act of 1933 or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that incorporate future filings made by us under those statutes, the below stock performance graph is not to be incorporated by reference in any prior filings, nor shall it be incorporated by reference into any future filings made by us under those statutes.



	12/30/2012		12/29/2013		12/28/2014		12/27/2015		12/25/2016		12/31/2017
Chuy's Holdings, Inc.	$	100.00	$	163.31	$	86.89	$	138.83	$	146.90	$	125.06
S&P 600 Restaurants	$	100.00	$	163.95	$	205.81	$	197.30	$	234.29	$	243.20
Peer Group ⁽¹⁾	$	100.00	$	157.43	$	185.92	$	163.18	$	190.27	$	185.54
NASDAQ Composite Index	$	100.00	$	140.41	$	162.38	$	170.54	$	184.53	$	233.20

⁽¹⁾ We believe a peer group performance provides a better comparison to the company's stock performance than the S&P 600 Restaurants Index because it consists of our direct competitors in the casual dining segment of the restaurant industry.

Table of Contents

ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA

The following selected consolidated financial and operating data for each of the five fiscal years in the period ended December 31, 2017 are derived from our audited consolidated financial statements. Not all periods shown below are discussed in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. This selected consolidated financial and operating data should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and other financial information included elsewhere in the Annual Report on Form 10-K. Historical results are not necessarily indicative of future performance.



	Fiscal Years Ended ⁽¹⁾
	December 31, 2017			December 25, 2016			December 27, 2015			December 28, 2014			December 29, 2013
	(Amounts are shown in thousands, except per share amounts)
Consolidated Statements of Income:
Revenue	$	369,589		$	330,613		$	287,062		$	245,101		$	204,361
Costs and Expenses:
Cost of sales	96,270			85,542			75,686			69,159			55,894
Labor	128,846			110,730			93,625			82,665			66,565
Operating	51,462			45,900			39,954			33,897			29,279
Occupancy	25,642			22,204			19,019			15,167			12,262
General and administrative	18,661			17,560			16,176			11,693			10,015
Secondary offering costs	—			—			—			—			925
Marketing	2,756			2,390			2,249			1,719			1,306
Restaurant pre-opening	6,233			5,348			4,417			4,539			3,883
Impairment and closure costs	—			1,517			4,360			—			—
Gain on insurance settlements	(1,362		)	—			—			—			—
Depreciation and amortization	17,560			15,081			12,827			10,310			8,858
Total cost and expenses	346,068			306,272			268,313			229,149			188,987
Income from operations	23,521			24,341			18,749			15,952			15,374
Interest expense, net	65			63			110			124			109
Income before income taxes	23,456			24,278			18,639			15,828			15,265
Income tax (benefit) expense	(5,500		)	7,034			5,743			4,337			4,196
Net income	$	28,956		$	17,244		$	12,896		$	11,491		$	11,069
Per Share Data:
Basic net income per share	$	1.71		$	1.03		$	0.78		$	0.70		$	0.68
Diluted net income per share	$	1.70		$	1.02		$	0.77		$	0.69		$	0.66
Weighted average common stock outstanding
Basic	16,894,986			16,676,073			16,470,278			16,427,732			16,276,999
Diluted	17,003,233			16,887,882			16,739,387			16,709,471			16,677,387
Consolidated Balance Sheets Data:
Cash and cash equivalents	$	8,785		$	13,694		$	8,529		$	3,815		$	5,323
Net working capital (deficit)	929			(417		)	(7,785		)	(4,823		)	(4,849		)
Total assets	271,967			240,728			201,448			179,212			151,162
Total debt	—			—			—			8,750			6,000
Total stockholders’ equity	$	188,962		$	157,065		$	133,057		$	118,188		$	104,488


(1)	We utilize a 52- or 53-week accounting period which ends on the last Sunday of the calendar year. The fiscal year ended December 31, 2017 was comprised of 53 weeks and the other four fiscal years were comprised of 52 weeks.


ITEM 7.	MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The following discussion should be read in conjunction with Item 6. “Selected Financial Data” and our consolidated financial statements and the related notes to those statements included in Item 8. “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”

The following discussion contains, in addition to historical information, forward-looking statements that include risks and uncertainties. Our actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors, including those set forth under the heading Item 1A. “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this report.

Table of Contents

The following discussion summarizes the significant factors affecting the consolidated operating results, financial condition, liquidity and cash flows of our company as of and for the periods presented below.

Overview

We are a fast-growing, full-service restaurant concept offering a distinct menu of authentic, freshly-prepared Mexican and Tex-Mex inspired food. We were founded in Austin, Texas in 1982 by Mike Young and John Zapp, and as of December 31, 2017, we operated 91 Chuy’s restaurants across 19 states.

We are committed to providing value to our customers through offering generous portions of made-from-scratch, flavorful Mexican and Tex-Mex inspired dishes. We also offer a full-service bar in all of our restaurants providing our customers a wide variety of beverage offerings. We believe the Chuy’s culture is one of our most valuable assets, and we are committed to preserving and continually investing in our culture and our customers’ restaurant experience.

Our restaurants have a common décor, but we believe each location is unique in format, offering an “unchained” look and feel, as expressed by our motto “If you’ve seen one Chuy’s, you’ve seen one Chuy’s!” We believe our restaurants have an upbeat, funky, eclectic, somewhat irreverent atmosphere while still maintaining a family-friendly environment.

Our Growth Strategies and Outlook

Our growth is based primarily on the following strategies:


•	Pursue new restaurant development in major markets;


•	Backfill smaller existing markets to build brand awareness;


•	Deliver consistent same store sales by providing high-quality food and service at a considerable value; and


•	Leverage our infrastructure.

We opened eleven restaurants in fiscal 2017. During 2018, we plan to open a total of eight to twelve restaurants for the year. We have an established presence in Texas, the Southeast and the Midwest, with restaurants in multiple large markets in these regions. Our growth plan over the next five years focuses on developing additional locations in our existing core markets and major new markets while continuing to "backfill" our smaller existing markets in order to build our brand awareness. For additional discussion of our growth strategies and outlook, see Item 1. “Business—Our Business Strategies.”

Newly opened restaurants typically experience normal inefficiencies in the form of higher cost of sales, labor and direct operating and occupancy costs for several months after their opening in both percentage and dollar terms when compared with our more mature, established restaurants. Accordingly, the number and timing of newly opened restaurants has had, and is expected to continue to have, an impact on restaurant opening expenses, cost of sales, labor and occupancy and operating expenses. Additionally, initial restaurant openings in new markets may experience even greater inefficiencies for several months, if not longer, due to lower initial sales volumes, which results from initially low consumer awareness levels, and a lack of operating cost leverage until additional restaurants can be opened in these markets and build the overall consumer awareness in the market.

Performance Indicators

We use the following performance indicators in evaluating our performance:

•

Number of Restaurant Openings. Number of restaurant openings reflects the number of restaurants opened during a particular fiscal period. For restaurant openings we incur pre-opening costs, which are defined below, before the restaurant opens. Typically new restaurants open with an initial start-up period of higher than normalized sales volumes, which decrease to a steady level approximately six to twelve months after opening. However, operating costs during this initial six to twelve month period are also higher than normal, resulting in restaurant operating margins that are generally lower during the start-up period of operation and increase to a steady level approximately nine to twelve months after opening.

•

Comparable Restaurant Sales. We consider a restaurant to be comparable in the first full quarter following the eighteenth month of operations. Changes in comparable restaurant sales reflect changes in sales for the comparable group of restaurants over a specified period of time. Changes in comparable sales reflect changes in customer count trends as well as changes in average check. Our comparable restaurant base consisted of 70, 61 and 51 restaurants at December 31, 2017, December 25, 2016 and December 27, 2015, respectively.

Table of Contents


•	Average Check. Average check is calculated by dividing revenue by total entrées sold for a given time period. Average check reflects menu price increases as well as changes in menu mix. Our management team uses this indicator to analyze trends in customers’ preferences, effectiveness of menu changes and price increases and per customer expenditures.


•	Average Weekly Customers. Average weekly customers is measured by the number of entrées sold per week. Our management team uses this metric to measure changes in customer traffic.

•

Average Unit Volume. Average unit volume consists of the average sales of our comparable restaurants over a certain period of time. This measure is calculated by dividing total comparable restaurant sales within a period of time by the total number of comparable restaurants within the relevant period. This indicator assists management in measuring changes in customer traffic, pricing and development of our brand.


•	Operating Margin. Operating margin represents income from operations as a percentage of our revenue. By monitoring and controlling our operating margins, we can gauge the overall profitability of our company.

The following table presents operating data for the periods indicated:



	Year Ended
	December 31, 2017				December 25, 2016			December 27, 2015
Total restaurants (at end of period)	91				80			69
Total comparable restaurants (at end of period)	70				61			51
Average unit volumes (in thousands)	$	4,439		⁽¹⁾	$	4,581		$	4,729
Change in comparable restaurant sales	(0.7		)%	⁽¹⁾	0.8		%	3.1		%
Average check	$	14.75			$	14.48		$	14.23


⁽¹⁾	We consider a restaurant to be comparable in the first full quarter following the eighteenth month of operations. Change in comparable restaurant sales reflect changes in sales for the comparable group of restaurants over a specified period of time. As a result, our comparable restaurant sales calculation above for 2017 is based on the comparable 52- week period.

Our Fiscal Year

Key Financial Definitions

Revenue. Revenue primarily consists of food and beverage sales and also includes sales of our t-shirts, sweatshirts and hats. Revenue is presented net of discounts associated with each sale. Revenue in a given period is directly influenced by the number of operating weeks in such period, the number of restaurants we operate and comparable restaurant sales growth.

Cost of Sales. Cost of sales consists primarily of food, beverage and merchandise related costs. The components of cost of sales are variable in nature, change with sales volume and are subject to increases or decreases based on fluctuations in commodity costs.

Labor Costs. Labor costs include restaurant management salaries, front- and back-of-house hourly wages and restaurant-level manager bonus expense, employee benefits and payroll taxes.

Operating Costs. Operating costs consist primarily of restaurant-related operating expenses, such as supplies, utilities, repairs and maintenance, travel cost, insurance, credit card fees, recruiting, delivery service and security. These costs generally increase with sales volume but may increase or decrease as a percentage of revenue.

Occupancy Costs. Occupancy costs include rent charges, both fixed and variable, as well as common area maintenance costs, property insurance and taxes, the amortization of tenant allowances and the adjustment to straight-line rent. These costs are generally fixed but a portion may vary with an increase in sales when the lease contains percentage rent.

General and Administrative Expenses. General and administrative expenses include costs associated with corporate and administrative functions that support our operations, including senior and supervisory management and staff compensation (including stock-based compensation) and benefits, travel, legal and professional fees, information systems, corporate office rent and other related corporate costs.

Marketing. Marketing costs include costs associated with our restaurant marketing programs, community service and sponsorship activities, our menus and other promotional activities.

Table of Contents

Restaurant Pre-Opening Costs. Restaurant pre-opening costs consist of costs incurred before opening a restaurant, including manager salaries, relocation costs, supplies, recruiting expenses, initial new market public relations costs, pre-opening activities, employee payroll and related training costs for new employees. Restaurant pre-opening costs also include rent recorded during the period between date of possession and the restaurant opening date.

Impairment and closure costs. Impairment costs include impairment of long-lived assets associated with restaurants where the carrying amount of the asset is not recoverable and exceeds the fair value of the asset. Closure costs consist of any costs associated with the closure of a restaurant, including lease termination costs, rent payments and other miscellaneous closing costs.

Depreciation and Amortization. Depreciation and amortization principally include depreciation on fixed assets, including equipment and leasehold improvements, and amortization of certain intangible assets for restaurants.

Interest Expense. Interest expense consists primarily of interest on our outstanding indebtedness and the amortization of our debt issuance costs reduced by capitalized interest.

Results of Operations

53 Weeks Ended December 31, 2017 Compared to the 52 Weeks Ended December 25, 2016

The following table presents, for the periods indicated, the consolidated statement of operations (in thousands):



	Year Ended
	December 31, 2017			% of Revenue		December 25, 2016		% of Revenue		Change			% Change
Revenue	$	369,589		100.0	%	$	330,613	100.0	%	$	38,976		11.8	%
Costs and expenses:
Cost of sales	96,270			26.0	%	85,542		25.9	%	10,728			12.5	%
Labor	128,846			34.9	%	110,730		33.5	%	18,116			16.4	%
Operating	51,462			13.9	%	45,900		13.9	%	5,562			12.1	%
Occupancy	25,642			6.9	%	22,204		6.7	%	3,438			15.5	%
General and administrative	18,661			5.0	%	17,560		5.3	%	1,101			6.3	%
Marketing	2,756			0.7	%	2,390		0.7	%	366			15.3	%
Restaurant pre-opening	6,233			1.7	%	5,348		1.6	%	885			16.5	%
Impairment and closure costs	—			—	%	1,517		0.5	%	(1,517		)	*
Gain on insurance settlements	(1,362		)	(0.3	)%	—		—	%	(1,362		)	*
Depreciation and amortization	17,560			4.8	%	15,081		4.6	%	2,479			16.4	%
Total costs and expenses	346,068			93.6	%	306,272		92.7	%	39,796			13.0	%
Income from operations	23,521			6.4	%	24,341		7.3	%	(820		)	(3.4	)%
Interest expense, net	65			0.1	%	63		—	%	2			3.2	%
Income before income taxes	23,456			6.3	%	24,278		7.3	%	(822		)	(3.4	)%
Income tax (benefit) expense	(5,500		)	(1.5	)%	7,034		2.1	%	(12,534		)	(178.2	)%
Net income	$	28,956		7.8	%	$	17,244	5.2	%	$	11,712		67.9	%

* Not meaningful

Revenue. Revenue increased $39.0 million, or 11.8%, to $369.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2017, as compared to $330.6 million for the year ended December 25, 2016. The Company's fiscal year 2017 included 53 weeks compared 52 weeks in fiscal year 2016. Revenue attributed to the extra operating week was $7.3 million. In addition to the extra operating week, the increase was primarily driven by $44.6 million in incremental revenue from an additional 567 operating weeks provided by 23 new restaurants opened during and subsequent to the year ended December 25, 2016. This increase was partially offset by a decrease in our comparable sales, a $1.9 million decrease during the second half of the fiscal year as a result of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma as well as revenue from our non-comparable restaurants that are not included in the incremental revenue discussed above. Revenue related to non-comparable restaurants is historically lower as the stores transition out of the 'honeymoon' period that follows a restaurant's initial opening. The honeymoon period refers to the weeks following a restaurant's initial opening, during which sales are typically higher than normal.

Comparable restaurant sales decreased 0.7% during the year for the 52-weeks ended December 24, 2017 compared to the same period in 2016. The decrease in comparable restaurant sales was primarily driven by a 2.3% decrease in average weekly customers, partially offset by a 1.6% increase in average weekly check. Our comparable restaurant sales and average weekly customers were negatively affected by the weather conditions and sporting events by approximately 40 basis points ("bps") and strategic

Table of Contents

cannibalization of approximately 40 bps from two Austin restaurants. This decrease was partially offset by about 20 bps as a result of an extra operating day in fiscal 2017 due to the Company’s restaurant closing schedule on Christmas Day in fiscal year 2016. Our total revenue mix attributed to bar sales increased to 18.4% during the year ended December 31, 2017 compared to 18.3% during the same period in 2016.

Cost of Sales. Cost of sales as a percentage of revenue increased to 26.0% during the year ended December 31, 2017, from 25.9% during the comparable period in 2016, primarily as a result of an increase in produce of approximately 20 bps, an increase in chicken of approximately 20 bps, increases in grocery and dairy costs of approximately 20 bps, partially offset by a decrease in beef costs of approximately 40 bps and a decrease in bar costs of approximately 10 bps.

Labor Costs. Labor costs as a percentage of revenue increased to 34.9% during the year ended December 31, 2017, from 33.5% during the comparable period in 2016, primarily due to new store labor inefficiencies, increased management labor as a result of delayed openings in new markets and hourly labor rate inflation of approximately 2.5%.

Operating Costs. Operating costs as a percentage of revenue remained relatively flat at 13.9% during the year ended December 31, 2017 compared to the same period in 2016. This remained flat because higher utilities and insurance costs of 30 bps and higher credit card and delivery charges of 5 bps were offset by hourly health care accrual adjustment of 30 bps and increased operating leverage due to an extra week in the current year.

Occupancy Costs. Occupancy costs as a percentage of revenue increased to 6.9% during the year ended December 31, 2017 from 6.7% during the comparable period in 2016, primarily as a result of higher rental expense at certain newly opened restaurants as we continue our expansion into larger markets, partially offset by 10 bps increase in operating leverage due to an extra week in the current year.

General and Administrative Expenses. General and administrative expenses increased $1.1 million, or 6.3%, to $18.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2017, as compared to $17.6 million during the comparable period in 2016. This increase was primarily driven by an increase in management salaries and equity compensation of $1.9 million due to additional headcount to support our growth, $0.3 million in additional rent expense driven by our corporate office expansion, $0.1 million of additional public company costs, and $0.3 million of various other miscellaneous administrative expenses, partially offset by a $1.5 million decrease in performance based bonuses.

Marketing Costs. Marketing costs as a percentage of revenue remained relatively flat at 0.7% during the year ended December 31, 2017 as compared to the same period in 2016.

Restaurant Pre-opening Costs. Restaurant pre-opening costs increased by $0.9 million, or 16.5%, to $6.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2017, as compared to $5.3 million during the comparable period in 2016. This increase is primarily due to timing of our development schedules and delayed openings in new markets in fiscal year 2017. During the year ended December 31, 2017 we incurred pre-opening costs for eleven new restaurants opened during 2017 as well as nine restaurants which will be opened during fiscal year 2018. During the year ended December 25, 2016 we incurred pre-opening costs for twelve new restaurants and four restaurants which opened in fiscal year 2017.

Impairment and closure costs. Closure costs were $1.5 million for the year ended December 25, 2016 related to the closure and relocation of one restaurant.

Gain on insurance settlements. During the third quarter of 2017, parts of Texas and the Southeast were struck by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. As a result of the hurricanes, the Company incurred operating losses as well as property damage. The property damage was mainly related to a restaurant in the Houston region which was closed through the middle of the fourth quarter of 2017 and required a complete reconstruction. Most operating losses were offset by the recovery proceeds from our insurance in the same period they were incurred. The insurance settlements related to the property losses were resulted in a gain of $1.4 million recorded in the fourth quarter of 2017.

Depreciation and Amortization. Depreciation and amortization costs increased $2.5 million to $17.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2017, as compared to $15.1 million during the comparable period in 2016, primarily as the result of an increase in equipment and leasehold improvement costs associated with our new restaurants.

Income Tax Expense. Our effective income tax benefit rate is 23.4% for the year ended December 31, 2017 as compared to the effective income tax expense rate of 29.0% during the comparable period in 2016. The decrease in our effective tax rate is primarily related to a non-recurring deferred tax balance revaluation adjustment of $11.7 million recorded in the fourth quarter of 2017 as a result of a decrease in federal statutory tax rate from 35% to 21% effective January 1, 2018. Excluding the impact of the revaluation adjustment, our effective tax rate for fiscal year 2017 was 26.4% as compared to 29.0% for the comparable period in 2016. Our effective tax rate was impacted by several other favorable discrete tax items during the fiscal year 2017 as compared to fiscal year 2016. The effective tax rates differ from the statutory rates primarily due to wage and employment tax related credits, non-deductible expenses, and discrete items.

Table of Contents

Net Income. As a result of the foregoing, net income increased by $11.7 million to $28.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2017 as compared to $17.2 million during the comparable period in 2016.

52 Weeks Ended December 25, 2016 Compared to the 52 Weeks Ended December 27, 2015

The following table presents, for the periods indicated, the consolidated statement of operations (in thousands):



	Year Ended
	December 25, 2016		% of Revenue		December 27, 2015		% of Revenue		Change			% Change
Revenue	$	330,613	100.0	%	$	287,062	100.0	%	$	43,551		15.2	%
Costs and expenses:
Cost of sales	85,542		25.9	%	75,686		26.4	%	9,856			13.0	%
Labor	110,730		33.5	%	93,625		32.6	%	17,105			18.3	%
Operating	45,900		13.9	%	39,954		13.9	%	5,946			14.9	%
Occupancy	22,204		6.7	%	19,019		6.6	%	3,185			16.7	%
General and administrative	17,560		5.3	%	16,176		5.6	%	1,384			8.6	%
Marketing	2,390		0.7	%	2,249		0.8	%	141			6.3	%
Restaurant pre-opening	5,348		1.6	%	4,417		1.5	%	931			21.1	%
Impairment and closure costs	1,517		0.5	%	4,360		1.6	%	(2,843		)	(65.2	)%
Depreciation and amortization	15,081		4.6	%	12,827		4.5	%	2,254			17.6	%
Total costs and expenses	306,272		92.7	%	268,313		93.5	%	37,959			14.1	%
Income from operations	24,341		7.3	%	18,749		6.5	%	5,592			29.8	%
Interest expense	63		—	%	110		—	%	(47		)	(42.7	)%
Income before income taxes	24,278		7.3	%	18,639		6.5	%	5,639			30.3	%
Income tax expense	7,034		2.1	%	5,743		2.0	%	1,291			22.5	%
Net income	$	17,244	5.2	%	$	12,896	4.5	%	$	4,348		33.7	%

Revenue. Revenue increased $43.6 million, or 15.2%, to $330.6 million for the year ended December 25, 2016, as compared to $287.1 million for the year ended December 27, 2015. This increase was primarily driven by $47.0 million in incremental revenue from an additional 596 operating weeks provided by 22 new restaurants opened during and subsequent to the year ended December 27, 2015 and increased revenue at our comparable restaurants. These increases were partially offset by a decrease in revenue related to non-comparable restaurants that are not included in the incremental revenue discussed above. Revenue related to non-comparable restaurants is historically lower as the stores transition out of the 'honeymoon' period that follows a restaurant's initial opening. The honeymoon period refers to the weeks following a restaurant's initial opening, during which sales are typically higher than normal.

Comparable restaurant sales increased 0.8% during the year ended December 25, 2016 compared to the same period in 2015. The increase in comparable restaurant sales was driven primarily by a 1.5% increase in average check, offset by a 0.7% decrease in average weekly customers. Our comparable restaurant sales and average weekly customers were negatively affected by approximately 20 to 40 bps during fiscal 2016 primarily due to unfavorable weather and Christmas shifting from Friday to Sunday. Our revenue mix attributed to bar sales increased to 18.3% during the year ended December 25, 2016 compared to 18.2% during the same period in 2015.

Cost of Sales. Cost of sales as a percentage of revenue decreased to 25.9% during the year ended December 25, 2016, from 26.4% during the comparable period in 2015, primarily as a result of decreases in grocery and chicken costs, partially offset by increases in produce and beef costs.

Labor Costs. Labor costs as a percentage of revenue increased to 33.5% during the year ended December 25, 2016, from 32.6% during the comparable period in 2015, primarily due to new store labor inefficiencies as we opened twelve new restaurants during 2016 compared to ten new store openings in 2015 and hourly labor rate inflation of approximately 4.0%.

Operating Costs. Operating costs as a percentage of revenue remained flat at 13.9% during the year ended December 25, 2016 from the comparable period in 2015.

Occupancy Costs. Occupancy costs as a percentage of revenue increased to 6.7% during the year ended December 25, 2016 from 6.6% during the comparable period in 2015, primarily as a result of higher rental expense as a percentage of sales in our newer locations, offset by lower real estate and personal property taxes in the current year.

Table of Contents

General and Administrative Expenses. General and administrative expenses increased $1.4 million, or 8.6%, to $17.6 million for the year ended December 25, 2016, as compared to $16.2 million during the comparable period in 2015.This increase was primarily driven by an increase in management salaries and equity compensation of $1.7 million due to additional headcount to support our growth, $0.5 million in professional services and other miscellaneous administrative expenses offset by a $0.8 million decrease in performance based bonuses.

Marketing Costs. Marketing costs as a percentage of revenue remained relatively flat at 0.7% during the year ended December 25, 2016, compared to 0.8% during the comparable period in 2015.

Restaurant Pre-opening Costs. Restaurant pre-opening costs increased by $0.9 million, or 21.1%, to $5.3 million for the year ended December 25, 2016, as compared to $4.4 million during the comparable period in 2015. This increase is primarily the result of differences in the timing of our development schedule. During the year ended December 25, 2016, we incurred pre-opening costs for twelve new restaurants compared to ten new restaurants during the comparable period in 2015.

Impairment and closure costs. Closure costs were $1.5 million for the year ended December 25, 2016 related to the closure and relocation of one restaurant. Impairment charges were $4.4 million during the comparable period in 2015 related to three underperfoming restaurants.

Depreciation and Amortization. Depreciation and amortization costs increased $2.3 million to $15.1 million for the year ended December 25, 2016, as compared to $12.8 million during the comparable period in 2015, primarily as the result of an increase in equipment and leasehold improvement costs associated with our new restaurants.

Income Tax Expense. Our effective tax rate decreased to 29.0% for the year ended December 25, 2016 from 30.8% during the comparable period in 2015. The decrease in our effective tax rate is primarily related to an increase in employee tax credits as compared to taxable income for the year ended December 25, 2016 as compared to the comparable period in 2015. Additionally, we recorded a $0.4 million tax item to increase our deferred tax liabilities as a result of our federal statutory tax rate increasing from 34% to 35% during the comparable period in 2015. The effective tax rates differ from the statutory rates primarily due to wage and employment tax related credits, non-deductible expenses, and the above discrete item.

Net Income. As a result of the foregoing, net income increased $4.3 million to $17.2 million for the year ended December 25, 2016 from $12.9 million during the comparable period in 2015.

Liquidity

Our principal sources of cash are net cash provided by operating activities, which includes tenant improvement allowances from our landlords, and borrowings, if any, under our Revolving Credit Facility, which we entered into on November 30, 2012 and amended on October 30, 2015. Our need for capital resources is driven by our restaurant expansion plans, ongoing maintenance of our restaurants, investment in our corporate and information technology infrastructure, obligations under our operating leases and interest payments on our debt, if any. Based on our current growth plans, we believe our expected cash flows from operations, expected tenant improvement allowances and available borrowings under our Revolving Credit Facility will be sufficient to finance our planned capital expenditures and other operating activities for at least the next twelve months.

Consistent with many other restaurant and retail chain store operations, we use operating lease arrangements for our restaurants. We believe that these operating lease arrangements provide appropriate leverage of our capital structure in a financially efficient manner. We have entered into operating leases with certain related parties with respect to six of our restaurants and our corporate headquarters. In 2017, we also subleased additional office space from certain related parties to expand our corporate headquarters.

On October 26, 2017, the Company's board of directors approved a share repurchase program under which it authorized the Company, at its discretion, to repurchase up to $30.0 million of its common shares outstanding through December 31, 2019. Repurchases of the Company's outstanding common stock will be made in accordance with applicable laws and may be made at management's discretion from time to time in the open market, through privately negotiated transactions or otherwise, including pursuant to Rule 10b5-1 trading plans. There is no guarantee as to the exact number of shares to be repurchased by the Company. The timing and extent of repurchases will depend upon several factors, including market and business conditions, regulatory requirements and other corporate considerations, and repurchases may be discontinued at any time. As of December 31, 2017, we have $30.0 million yet to be repurchased under this plan.

Our liquidity may be adversely affected by a number of factors, including a decrease in customer traffic or average check per customer due to changes in economic conditions, as described in Item 1A. “Risk Factors.”

Table of Contents

Cash Flows for the Years Ended December 31, 2017, December 25, 2016 and December 27, 2015

The following table summarizes the statements of cash flows for the years ended December 31, 2017, December 25, 2016 and December 27, 2015 (in thousands):



	Year Ended
	December 31, 2017			December 25, 2016			December 27, 2015
Net cash provided by operating activities	$	44,382		$	42,638		$	45,393
Net cash used in investing activities	(49,134		)	(41,885		)	(32,000		)
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities	(157		)	4,412			(8,679		)
Net (decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents	(4,909		)	5,165			4,714
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year	13,694			8,529			3,815
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	$	8,785		$	13,694		$	8,529

Operating Activities. Net cash provided by operating activities increased $1.8 million to $44.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2017, from $42.6 million during the same period in 2016. Our business is almost exclusively a cash business. Almost all of our receipts come in the form of cash and cash equivalents and a large majority of our expenditures are paid within a 30 day period. The increase in net cash provided by operating activities during the year ended December 31, 2017 compared to the same period in 2016 was primarily due to an increase in net income of $11.7 million, partially offset by a decrease in non-cash reconciling items of $6.1 million and decreases in cash flow from operating assets and liabilities of $3.8 million. The decrease in non-cash items of $6.1 million was primarily due to a $10.8 million decrease in deferred taxes mainly related to H.R.1, commonly referred to as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and a $1.4 million decrease in impairment and closure costs, partially offset by $3.3 million increase from excess tax benefits, $2.5 million increase related to depreciation and amortization and an increase of $0.3 million in other changes. The decrease in working capital of $3.8 million was primarily due to net changes in accounts receivable, accounts payable, accrued liabilities and deferred lease incentives of $7.9 million, of which $1.3 million relates to an insurance receivable recorded in the fourth quarter of 2017, partially offset by net changes in income tax receivables, prepaid expenses and other current assets as well as inventories of $4.1 million.

Net cash provided by operating activities decreased $2.8 million to $42.6 million for the year ended December 25, 2016, from $45.4 million during the same period in 2015. The decrease in net cash provided by operating activities during the year ended December 25, 2016 compared to the same period in 2015 was primarily due to decreases in non-cash reconciling items of $3.6 million and decreases in cash flow from operating assets and liabilities of $3.5 million partially offset by an increase in net income of $4.3 million. The decreases in non-cash reconciling items were primarily related to decreases in excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation of $3.2 million, decreases in impairment and closure costs of $3.0 million and decreases in deferred lease amortization of $0.4 million, offset by increases in depreciation and amortization of $2.3 million as a result of our continued expansion, increases in stock based compensation of $0.5 million and increases in deferred income taxes of $0.4 million. The net decreases from changes in operating assets and liabilities of $3.5 million primarily related to net changes in prepaid expenses and other current assets, income tax receivables and accounts receivable of $2.6 million and net decreases in accounts payable, accrued liabilities and deferred lease incentives of $0.8 million.

Investing Activities. Net cash used in investing activities increased $7.2 million to $49.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2017, from $41.9 million for the year ended 2016. This increase was mainly the result of the timing of our construction schedule and the related payments associated with the construction of our eleven new restaurants that opened during the year ended December 31, 2017, as well as expenditures related to the reconstruction of one restaurant that was severely damaged by Hurricane Harvey and eight additional unopened restaurants under construction at December 31, 2017 as compared to twelve new restaurants opened and four additional restaurants under construction during the comparable period in 2016. This increase was partially offset by $0.5 million of insurance proceeds from property claims.

Net cash used in investing activities increased $9.9 million to $41.9 million for the year ended December 25, 2016, from $32.0 million for the year ended 2015. This change was the result of the timing of our construction schedule and the related construction payments associated with the construction of our twelve new restaurants that opened during the year ended December 25, 2016, as well as expenditures related to four additional unopened restaurants under construction at December 25, 2016 as compared to ten new restaurants opened and six additional restaurants under construction during the comparable period in 2015.

Financing Activities. Net cash used in financing activities was $0.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2017 as compared to $4.4 million provided by financing activities during the same period in 2016. The decrease in net cash provided by financing activities was primarily the result of $3.3 million decrease in excess tax benefits, $0.2 million decrease in indirect repurchases of shares and $1.1 million decrease in proceeds from the exercise of stock options during the year ended December 31, 2017.

Table of Contents

Net cash provided by financing activities increased $13.1 million to $4.4 million for the year ended December 25, 2016 from $8.7 million used in financing activities during the same period in 2015. This increase in net cash provided by financing activities was primarily the result of an $8.8 million decrease in net payments on the Revolving Credit facility, a $3.2 million increase in excess tax benefits and $1.3 million increase in proceeds from the exercise of stock options during the year ended December 25, 2016. These were partially offset by a decrease of $0.3 million related to the indirect repurchase of shares for minimum tax withholdings.

As of December 31, 2017, we leased six of our restaurant locations and our corporate office from entities owned by our founders and one of our executive officers. We had no other financing transactions, arrangements or other relationships with any unconsolidated affiliates or related parties. Additionally, we had no financing arrangements involving synthetic leases or trading activities involving commodity contracts.

Capital Resources

Long-Term Capital Requirements

Our capital requirements are primarily dependent upon the pace of our growth plan and resulting new restaurants. Our growth plan is dependent upon many factors, including economic conditions, real estate markets, restaurant locations and the nature of our lease agreements. Our capital expenditure outlays are also dependent on maintenance and remodel costs in our existing restaurants as well as information technology and other general corporate capital expenditures.

The capital resources required for a new restaurant depend on whether the restaurant is a ground-up construction or a conversion. For our new unit openings, we estimate the cost of a conversion or ground-up buildout will require a total cash investment of $2.6 million to $3.6 million (net of estimated tenant incentives of between zero and $1.0 million). In addition, we expect to spend approximately $400,000 to $475,000 per restaurant for restaurant pre-opening costs. We currently target a cash-on-cash return beginning in the third operating year of 30.0%, and a sales to investment ratio of 1.9:1 for our new restaurants.

For 2018, we currently estimate capital expenditure outlays will range between $30.0 million and $40.0 million, net of agreed upon tenant improvement allowances and excluding approximately $3.7 million to $5.5 million of restaurant pre-opening costs for new restaurants that are not capitalized. These capital expenditure estimates are based on average new restaurant capital expenditures of $2.9 million (net of estimated tenant improvement allowances) each for the opening of 8 to 12 new restaurants as well as $8.7 million to maintain and remodel our existing restaurants, expand our corporate office and for other general corporate purposes.

Based on our growth plans, we believe our combined expected cash flows from operations, available borrowings under our Revolving Credit Facility and expected tenant improvement allowances will be sufficient to finance our planned capital expenditures and other operating activities in fiscal 2018.

Short-Term Capital Requirements

Our operations have not required significant working capital and, like many restaurant companies, we operate with negative working capital. Restaurant sales are primarily paid for in cash or by credit card, and restaurant operations do not require significant inventories or receivables. In addition, we receive trade credit for the purchase of food, beverages and supplies, therefore reducing the need for incremental working capital to support growth. We had a net working capital surplus of $0.9 million at December 31, 2017, compared to a deficit of $0.4 million at December 25, 2016.

Revolving Credit Facility

On November 30, 2012, we entered into our $25.0 million Revolving Credit Facility with Wells Fargo Bank, National Association. On October 30, 2015, we entered into an amendment to our Revolving Credit Facility to, among other things, (1) extend the maturity date of the Revolving Credit Facility to October 30, 2020 from November 30, 2017 and (2) revise the applicable margins and leverage ratios that determine the commitment fees and interest rates payable by the Company under the Revolving Credit Facility. As of December 31, 2017 we had no outstanding indebtedness under our Revolving Credit Facility.

Under our Revolving Credit Facility, we may request to increase the size of our Revolving Credit Facility by up to $25.0 million, in minimum principal amounts of $5.0 million or the remaining amount of the $25.0 million if less than $5.0 million (the "Incremental Revolving Loan"), the Incremental Revolving Loan will be effective after 10 days written notice to the agent. In the event that any of the lenders fund the Incremental Revolving Loan, the terms and provisions of the Incremental Revolving Loan will be the same as under our Revolving Credit Facility.

Borrowings under the Revolving Credit Facility generally bear interest at a variable rate based upon our election, of (i) the base rate (which is the highest of prime rate, federal funds rate plus 0.5% or one month LIBOR plus 1%), or (ii) LIBOR, plus, in either case, an applicable margin based on our consolidated total lease adjusted leverage ratio (as defined in the Revolving Credit Facility agreement). Our Revolving Credit Facility also requires payment for commitment fees that accrue on the daily unused commitment of the lender at the applicable margin, which varies based on our consolidated total lease adjusted leverage ratio. In addition, the revolving line of credit requires compliance with a fixed charge coverage ratio, a lease adjusted leverage ratio and certain non-

Table of Contents

financial covenants as well as places certain restrictions on the payment of dividends and distributions. Under the Revolving Credit Facility, Chuy's may declare and make dividend payments so long as (i) no default or event of default has occurred and is continuing or would result therefrom and (ii) immediately after giving effect to any such dividend payment, on a pro forma basis, the lease adjusted leverage ratio does not exceed 3.50 to 1.00.

As of December 31, 2017, we were in compliance with all covenants under our Revolving Credit Facility. Based on our capital expenditure plans, contractual commitments and cash flow from operations, we expect to be able to comply with these covenants in the near and long term.

Contractual Obligations

The following table summarizes contractual obligations at December 31, 2017 (in thousands):



	Payment Due By Period
	Total		Less Than 1 Year		1-3 Years		3-5 Years		More Than 5 Years
Contractual Obligations:
Long-Term Debt Obligations ⁽¹⁾	$	88	$	31	$	57	$	—	$	—
Operating Lease Obligations ⁽²⁾	404,691		23,834		48,886		48,465		283,506
Purchase Obligations ⁽³⁾	29,056		28,515		541		—		—
Total	$	433,835	$	52,380	$	49,484	$	48,465	$	283,506


(1)	Reflects fees on unused revolver commitments under our Revolving Credit Facility. As of December 31, 2017, no indebtedness was outstanding. All amounts under our Revolving Credit Facility are due October 30, 2020.


(2)	Reflects the aggregate minimum lease payments for our restaurant operations and corporate office. Operating lease obligations excludes contingent rent payments that may be due under certain of our leases based on a percentage of sales.


(3)	Includes contractual purchase commitments for the purchase of goods related to restaurant operations and commitments for construction of new restaurants.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

As part of our on-going business, we do not participate in transactions that generate relationships with unconsolidated entities or financial partnerships, such as entities referred to as structured finance or variable interest entities, which would have been established for the purpose of facilitating off-balance sheet arrangements or other contractually narrow or limited purposes. As of December 31, 2017, we are not involved in any variable interest entities transactions and do not otherwise have any off-balance sheet arrangements.

Critical Accounting Policies

Our consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes are prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Preparing consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue and expenses. These estimates and assumptions are affected by the application of our accounting policies. Our significant accounting policies are described in Note 2 to our Consolidated Financial Statements. Critical accounting estimates are those that require application of management’s most difficult, subjective or complex judgments, often as a result of matters that are inherently uncertain and may change in subsequent periods. While we apply our judgment based on assumptions believed to be reasonable under the circumstances, actual results could vary from these assumptions. It is possible that materially different amounts would be reported using different assumptions. The following is a description of what we consider to be our most significant critical accounting policies.

Leases and Leasehold Improvements. We lease land, buildings and/or certain equipment for the majority of our restaurants under noncancelable lease agreements. Our land and building leases typically have initial terms ranging from 10 to 15 years, and certain renewal options for two or more five-year periods. When determining the lease term, we include option periods for which failure to renew the lease imposes a penalty on us in such an amount that a renewal appears, at the inception of the lease, to be reasonably assured. The primary penalty to which we are subject is the economic detriment associated with the existence of leasehold improvements which might become impaired if we choose not to continue the use of the leased property.

Certain of our operating leases contain predetermined fixed escalations of the minimum rent during the original term of the lease. For these leases, we recognize the related rent expense on a straight-line basis over the lease term and record the difference between the amounts charged to operations and amounts paid as deferred rent. We may receive rent holidays, which would begin on the possession date and end on the date construction of the restaurant begins, during which no cash rent payments are typically due under the terms of the lease. Rent holidays are included in the lease term when determining straight-line rent expense.

Table of Contents

Additionally, certain of our operating leases contain clauses that provide for additional contingent rent based on a percentage of sales greater than certain specified target amounts. We recognize contingent rent expense prior to the achievement of the specified target that triggers the contingent rent, provided achievement of the target is considered probable. This may result in some variability in rent expense as a percentage of revenues over the term of the lease in restaurants where we pay contingent rent.

We make judgments regarding the probable term for each restaurant property lease, which can impact the classification and accounting for a lease as capital or operating, the rent holiday and/or escalations in payments that are taken into consideration when calculating straight-line rent and the term over which leasehold improvements and deferred lease incentives for each restaurant are amortized. These judgments may produce materially different amounts of depreciation, amortization and rent expense than would be reported if different assumed lease terms were used.

Impairment of Long-Lived Assets. We review long-lived assets, such as property and equipment and intangibles, subject to amortization, for impairment when events or circumstances indicate the carrying value of the assets may not be recoverable. We have determined that our asset group for impairment testing is comprised of the assets and liabilities of each of our individual restaurants, as this is the lowest level of identifiable cash flows and primarily includes an assessment of historical cash flows and other relevant factors and circumstances. The other factors and circumstances include changes in the economic environment, changes in the manner in which assets are used, unfavorable changes in legal factors or business climate, incurring excess costs in construction of the asset, overall restaurant operating performance and projections for future performance. These estimates result in a wide range of variability on a year to year basis due to the nature of the criteria.

We regularly review restaurant-level cash flow over the previous 24-month period to determine if potential impairment indicators exist and if further testing is warranted. In such situations, we evaluate future undiscounted cash flow projections in conjunction with qualitative factors and future operating plans. Our impairment assessment process requires the use of estimates and assumptions regarding future undiscounted cash flows and operating outcomes, which are based upon a significant degree of management’s judgment. In performing our impairment testing, we forecast our future undiscounted cash flows by looking at recent restaurant level performance, restaurant level operating plans, sales trends, and cost trends for cost of sales, labor and operating expenses. We believe that this combination of information gives us a fair benchmark to estimate future undiscounted cash flows. We compare this cash flow forecast to the carrying value of the restaurant. Based on this analysis, if we believe the carrying amount of the assets are not recoverable, an impairment charge is recognized based upon the amount by which the long-lived assets carrying value exceeds fair value. As a result of the above mentioned review process, we recognized a $4.4 million non-cash loss on asset impairment related to three restaurants in fiscal 2015. We did not recognize an impairment charge during fiscal 2017 and 2016.

Economic deterioration within our respective markets may adversely impact consumer discretionary spending and may result in lower restaurant sales. Unfavorable fluctuations in our commodity costs, supply costs and labor rates, which may or may not be within our control, may also impact our operating margins. Any of these factors could as a result affect the estimates used in our impairment analysis and require additional impairment tests and charges to earnings. We continue to assess the performance of our restaurants and monitor the need for future impairment. There can be no assurance that future impairment tests will not result in additional charges to earnings.

Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets. Goodwill and indefinite life intangible assets are not amortized but are tested annually on the first day of the fourth quarter, or more frequently if events or changes in circumstances indicate that the assets might be impaired. In assessing the recoverability of goodwill and indefinite life intangible assets, the Company must make assumptions about the estimated future cash flows and other factors to determine the fair value of these assets.

For goodwill, the Company performs tests to assess potential impairments on the first day of the fourth quarter or during the year if an event or other circumstance indicates that goodwill may be impaired. The first step of the goodwill quantitative impairment test compares the implied estimated fair value of the reporting unit to the carrying amount, including goodwill. The Company considers all of its stores in total as one reporting unit. If the estimated fair value of the reporting unit is less than the carrying amount, then it is more likely than not that a goodwill impairment exits and a second step must be completed in order to determine the amount of the goodwill impairment. In the second step, the implied fair value of the goodwill is determined by allocating fair value to all of its assets and liabilities, other than goodwill, in a manner similar to a purchase price allocation. If the resulting implied fair value of the goodwill that results from the application of this second step is less than the carrying amount of the goodwill, an impairment charge is recorded for the difference. Our analysis indicated that no impairments of goodwill or indefinite-lived intangibles occurred during fiscal 2017, 2016 or 2015.

Similarly, for the impairment evaluation for indefinite life intangible assets, which includes our trade names, we first perform a quantitative assessment to determine whether the estimated fair value of the indefinite-lived intangible asset is less than its carrying value. We calculate the estimated fair value of the indefinite-lived intangible asset and compare it to the carrying value. Fair value is estimated primarily using future discounted cash flow projections in conjunction with qualitative factors and future operating plans. When the carrying value exceeds fair value, an impairment charge is recorded for the amount of the difference. An intangible asset is determined to have an indefinite useful life when there are no legal, regulatory, contractual, competitive, economic or other factors that may limit the period over which the asset is expected to contribute directly or indirectly to the future cash flows

Table of Contents

of the Company. The Company also annually evaluates intangible assets that are not being amortized to determine whether events and circumstances continue to support an indefinite useful life. If an intangible asset that is not being amortized is determined to have a finite useful life, the asset will be amortized prospectively over the estimated remaining useful life and accounted for in the same manner as intangible assets subject to amortization.

Income Taxes. Income tax provisions consist of federal and state taxes currently due, plus deferred taxes. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the future tax consequences attributable to temporary differences between the financial statement carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax basis. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. Deferred tax assets are recognized when management considers the realization of those assets in future periods to be more likely than not. Future taxable income, adjustments in temporary difference, available carryforward periods and changes in tax laws could affect these estimates.

Stock-Based Compensation. Compensation cost for stock options and deferred shares (these deferred shares were granted under the Chuy's Holdings, Inc. 2012 Omnibus Equity Incentive Plan, and are referred to as "restricted stock units") granted is determined based on the fair value of the security at the date of grant and is recognized, net of estimated forfeitures, over the award’s requisite service period on a straight-line basis. The fair value of the restricted stock units is the quoted market value of our common stock on the date of grant. We use the Black-Scholes valuation model to determine the fair value of our stock options, which requires assumptions to be made regarding our stock price volatility, the expected life of the award, risk-free interest rate, and expected dividend rates. The volatility assumptions were derived from the volatilities of comparable public restaurant companies. If factors change and we employ different assumptions, stock-based compensation expense may differ significantly from what we have recorded in the past. If there is a difference between the assumptions used in determining stock-based compensation expense and the actual factors which become known over time, we may change the input factors used in determining stock-based compensation costs for future grants. These changes, if any, may materially impact our results of operations in the period such changes are made. We expect to continue to grant stock options and restricted stock units in the future, and to the extent that we do, our actual stock-based compensation expense recognized in future periods will likely increase.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

The information regarding recent accounting pronouncements materially affecting our consolidated financial statements is included in Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements.

Inflation

Our profitability is dependent, among other things, on our ability to anticipate and react to changes in the costs of key operating resources, including food and other raw materials, labor, energy and other supplies and services. Substantial increases in costs and expenses could impact our operating results to the extent that such increases cannot be passed along to our restaurant customers. The impact of inflation on food, labor, energy and occupancy costs can significantly affect the profitability of our restaurant operations.

Many of our restaurant staff members are paid hourly rates related to the federal minimum wage. Labor costs related to hourly wages have been impacted by and will continue to be impacted by mandated increases in minimum wage rates at the federal, state and local levels. Certain operating costs, such as taxes, insurance and other outside services increase with the general level of inflation and may also be subject to other cost and supply fluctuations outside of our control.

While we have been able to partially offset inflation and other changes in the costs of key operating resources by gradually increasing prices for our menu items, more efficient purchasing practices, productivity improvements and greater economies of scale, there can be no assurance that we will be able to continue to do so in the future. From time to time, competitive conditions could limit our menu pricing flexibility. In addition, macroeconomic conditions could make additional menu price increases imprudent. There can be no assurance that all future cost increases can be offset by increased menu prices or that increased menu prices will be fully absorbed by our restaurant customers without any resulting changes in their visit frequencies or purchasing patterns. A majority of the leases for our restaurants provide for contingent rent obligations based on a percentage of revenue. There can be no assurance that we will continue to generate increases in comparable restaurant sales in amounts sufficient to offset inflationary or other cost pressures.

Table of Contents


ITEM 7A.	QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK

Interest Rate Risk

We are subject to interest rate risk in connection with our long-term indebtedness. Our principal interest rate exposure relates to loans outstanding under our Revolving Credit Facility. All outstanding indebtedness under our Revolving Credit Facility bears interest at a variable rate based on LIBOR. Each quarter point change in interest rates on the variable portion of indebtedness under our Revolving Credit Facility would result in an annualized change to our interest expense of approximately $2,500 per every million dollars borrowed. As of December 31, 2017, we had no borrowings under our Revolving Credit Facility.

Commodity Price Risk

We are exposed to market price fluctuation in food product prices. Given the historical volatility of certain of our food product prices, including produce, chicken, beef and cheese, these fluctuations can materially impact our food and beverage costs. While we have taken steps to enter into long term agreements for some of the commodities used in our restaurant operations, there can be no assurance that future supplies and costs for such commodities will not fluctuate due to weather and other market conditions outside of our control.

Consequently, such commodities can be subject to unforeseen supply and cost fluctuations. Dairy costs can also fluctuate due to government regulation. Because we typically set our menu prices in advance of our food product prices, we cannot immediately take into account changing costs of food items. To the extent that we are unable to pass the increased costs on to our customers through price increases, our results of operations would be adversely affected. We do not use financial instruments to hedge our risk to market price fluctuations in our food product prices at this time.


ITEM 8.	FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA

Our consolidated financial statements, notes thereto and the report of RSM US LLP, our independent registered public accounting firm, are set forth beginning on page F-1 hereto and are incorporated herein by reference.


ITEM 9.	CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE

None


ITEM 9A.	CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

Disclosure Controls and Procedures

We carried out an evaluation, under the supervision and with the participation of our chief executive officer and chief financial officer, of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule 13a-15(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934) as of the end of the period covered by this report. Based on this evaluation, our principal executive officer and principal financial officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule 13a-15(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934) are effective as of the end of the period covered by this report to provide reasonable assurance that material information required to be included in our periodic SEC reports is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the relevant SEC rules and forms.

Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting. As defined in Exchange Act Rule 13a-15(f), internal control over financial reporting is a process designed by, or under the supervision of, our principal executive officer and principal financial officer and effected by our Board of Directors, management and other personnel, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with GAAP and includes those policies and procedures that (i) pertain to the maintenance of records that in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the Company; (ii) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with GAAP, and that receipts and expenditures of the Company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the Company; and (iii) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of the Company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements. The design of any system of control is based upon certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events, and there can be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving its stated objectives under all future events, no matter how remote, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may not deteriorate. Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Accordingly, even effective internal control over financial reporting can only provide reasonable assurance of achieving their control objectives. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

Table of Contents

Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our chief executive officer and chief financial officer, we carried out an evaluation of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2017 based on the criteria in Internal Control — Integrated Framework (2013 Framework) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (“COSO”). Based on this evaluation, our management concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was effective as of December 31, 2017.

RSM US LLP, the Company's independent registered public accounting firm, has audited the financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, and has issued an attestation report on our internal control over financial reporting, which is included herein.

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

There have been no changes in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during our most recent fiscal quarter that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

Table of Contents

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

To the Stockholders and the Board of Directors of Chuy’s Holdings, Inc.

Opinion on the Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

We have audited Chuy’s Holdings, Inc. and its subsidiaries' (the Company) internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2017, based on criteria established in Internal Control - Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission in 2013. In our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2017, based on criteria established in Internal Control - Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission in 2013.

We have also audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the consolidated balance sheets of the Company as of December 31, 2017 and December 25, 2016, the related consolidated statements of income, stockholders' equity and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2017 and the related notes to the consolidated financial statements (collectively, the financial statements) of the Company and our report dated March 15, 2018 expressed an unqualified opinion.

Basis for Opinion

The Company’s management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting in the accompanying Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audit included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, and testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk. Our audit also included performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Definition and Limitations of Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

A company's internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company's internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of the company's assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

/s/ RSM US LLP

Dallas, Texas

March 15, 2018

Table of Contents


ITEM 9B.	OTHER INFORMATION

None

Table of Contents

PART III

The information required by Items 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 will be furnished (and are incorporated by reference) by an amendment hereto that will contain such information.

Table of Contents

PART IV

ITEM 15: EXHIBITS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES

The following documents are filed as a part of this Report:


(1)	Financial Statements - see Index to Financial Statements appearing on page F-1.


(2)	Financial Statement Schedules – None.


(3)	Exhibits - The exhibits listed on the accompanying Exhibit Index are filed or incorporated by reference as part of this report.

Table of Contents

Exhibit Index



Exhibit No.		Description of Exhibit
3.1		Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed on July 27, 2012)
3.2		Amended and Restated Bylaws (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed on October 30, 2013)
4.1		Form of Common Stock Certificate (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.1 of Amendment No. 7 to the Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-176097), filed on July 11, 2012)
10.1*		Chuy’s Holdings, Inc. 2012 Omnibus Equity Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 of Amendment No. 7 to the Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-176097), filed on July 11, 2012)
10.2*		Form of Restricted Share Agreement (2012 Omnibus Equity Incentive Plan) (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.4 of Amendment No. 7 to the Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-176097), filed on July 11, 2012)
10.3*		Form of Option Agreement (2012 Omnibus Equity Incentive Plan) (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.5 of Amendment No. 7 to the Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-176097), filed on July 11, 2012)
10.4*		Form of Restricted Stock Unit Agreement (2012 Omnibus Equity Incentive Plan) (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.6 to the Company's Annual Report on form 10-K, filed on March 11, 2014)
10.5*		Form of Restricted Stock Unit Agreement (Amended 2015)(2012 Omnibus Equity Incentive Plan) (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.4 to the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed on March 12, 2015)
10.6*		Form of Option Agreement (Amended 2015)(2012 Omnibus Equity Incentive Plan)(incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, filed on May 8, 2015)
10.7*		Chuy’s Holdings, Inc. Amended and Restated 2006 Stock Option Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.37 of Amendment No. 5 to the Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-176097), filed on May 17, 2012)
10.8*		Chuy’s Holdings, Inc. 2006 Stock Option Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.6 to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-176097), filed on August 5, 2011)
10.9*		Form of Stock Option Award Agreement (2006 Stock Option Plan) (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.7 to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-176097), filed on August 5, 2011)
10.10*		Form of Director and Officer Indemnification Agreement (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.8 of Amendment No. 7 to the Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-176097), filed on July 11, 2012)
10.11		Letter Agreement regarding Arbor Trails Chuy’s, dated November 7, 2006, by and between Chuy’s Opco, Inc. and Three Star Management, Ltd. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.9 to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-176097), filed on August 5, 2011)
10.12		Recipe License Agreement, dated November 7, 2006, by and between Chuy’s Opco, Inc. and MY/ZP IP Group, Ltd. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.10 to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-176097), filed on August 5, 2011)
10.13		Cross-Marketing License Agreement, dated November 7, 2006, by and between Chuy’s Opco, Inc. and MY/ZP IP Group, Ltd. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.12 to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-176097), filed on August 5, 2011)
10.14*		Management Agreement, dated November 7, 2006, by and between Chuy’s Opco, Inc. and Three Star Management, Ltd. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.13 to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-176097), filed on August 5, 2011)
10.15		Management System License Agreement, dated November 7, 2006, by and between Chuy’s Opco, Inc. and MY/ZP IP Group, Ltd. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.14 to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-176097), filed on August 5, 2011)
10.16		Parade Sponsorship Agreement, dated November 7, 2006, by and between Chuy’s Opco, Inc. and MY/ZP IP Group, Ltd. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.15 to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-176097), filed on August 5, 2011)
10.17		Form of License Exercisable Upon Event of Default Under Lease Agreement (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.21 to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-176097), filed on August 5, 2011)
10.18		Lease Agreement, dated November 7, 2006, between Young Zapp Graceland, Ltd. and Chuy’s Opco, Inc. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.23 to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-176097), filed on August 5, 2011)

Table of Contents



10.19		Lease Agreement, dated January 1, 2002, between Young Zapp North Lamar, Ltd. and Chuy’s Opco, Inc., as amended, modified and assigned (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.24 to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-176097), filed on August 5, 2011)
10.20		Lease Agreement, dated November 1, 1998, between Young-Zapp Joint Venture II and Chuy’s Opco, Inc., as amended, modified and assigned (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.25 to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-176097), filed on August 5, 2011)
10.21		Lease Agreement, dated November 19, 1996, between Young Zapp Joint Venture-IV and Chuy’s Opco, Inc., as amended, modified and assigned (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.26 to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-176097), filed on August 5, 2011)
10.22		Lease Agreement, dated January 22, 2001, between Young Zapp JVRR, Ltd. and Chuy’s Opco, Inc., as amended, modified and assigned (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.27 to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-176097), filed on August 5, 2011)
10.23		Lease Agreement, dated June 1, 2003, between Young Zapp Shenandoah, Ltd. and Chuy’s Opco, Inc., as amended, modified and assigned (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.28 to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-176097), filed on August 5, 2011)
10.24		Lease Agreement, dated April 22, 2008, between Young Zapp Arbor Trails, Ltd. and Chuy’s Opco, Inc. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.29 to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-176097), filed on August 5, 2011)
10.25		Sublease Agreement, dated December 1, 2016, between Young Zapp Graceland, Ltd. and Chuy’s Opco, Inc.
10.26		Form of Right to Repurchase Agreement (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.30 of Amendment No. 2 to the Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-176097), filed on October 27, 2011)
10.27*		Employment Agreement, dated November 16, 2011, between Chuy’s Holdings, Inc., Chuy’s Opco, Inc. and Steven J. Hislop (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.31 of Amendment No. 3 to the Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-176097), filed on November 17, 2011)
10.28*		Employment Agreement, dated November 16, 2011, between Chuy’s Holdings, Inc., Chuy’s Opco, Inc. and Jon W. Howie (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.32 of Amendment No. 3 to the Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-176097), filed on November 17, 2011)
10.29*		Form of Employment Agreement, between Chuy’s Holdings, Inc., Chuy’s Opco, Inc. and certain employees (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.33 of Amendment No. 3 to the Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-176097), filed on November 17, 2011)
10.30*		Chuy’s Holdings, Inc. Senior Management Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.34 of Amendment No. 7 to the Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-176097), filed on July 11, 2012)
10.31		Credit Agreement, dated November 30, 2012, by and among Chuy’s Holdings, Inc., as borrower, the subsidiaries of Chuy’s Holdings, Inc., as guarantors, and Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, as administrative agent, swingline lender, issuing lender and lender (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed on December 6, 2012)
10.32		First Amendment to the Credit Agreement, dated October 30, 2015, by and among Chuy’s Holdings, Inc., as borrower, the guarantors party thereto and Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, as administrative agent (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed on November 3, 2015)
21.1+		Subsidiaries of Chuy’s Holdings, Inc.
23.1+		Consent of RSM US LLP
31.1+		Certification of Chief Executive Officer pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
31.2+		Certification of Chief Financial Officer pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
32.1+		Certification of Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes- Oxley Act of 2002
101.INS+		XBRL Instance Document
101.SCH+		XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema
101.CAL+		XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document
101.DEF+		XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document
101.LAB+		XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document
101.PRE+		XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document

* Indicates management contract or compensatory plan or arrangement.

+ Filed herewith

Table of Contents

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.




Date:	March 15, 2018	CHUY’S HOLDINGS, INC.

		By:	/s/ STEVEN J. HISLOP
			Steven J. Hislop
			President and Chief Executive Officer

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.




Name	Title	Date
/s/ STEVE HISLOP
Steve Hislop	Director, President and Chief Executive Officer (principal executive officer)	3/15/2018
/s/ JON HOWIE
Jon Howie	Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (principal financial and accounting officer)	3/15/2018
/s/ JOHN ZAPP
John Zapp	Chairman of the Board, Director	3/15/2018
/s/ STARLETTE JOHNSON
Starlette Johnson	Director	3/15/2018
/s/ SAED MOHSENI
Saed Mohseni	Director	3/15/2018
/s/ RANDALL DEWITT
Randall DeWitt	Director	3/15/2018
/s/ IRA ZECHER
Ira Zecher	Director	3/15/2018

Table of Contents

INDEX TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS




Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm	F - 2
Consolidated Financial Statements:
Consolidated Balance Sheets	F - 3
Consolidated Statements of Income	F - 4
Consolidated Statements of Stockholders’ Equity	F - 5
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows	F - 6
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements	F - 7

F - 1

Table of Contents

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

To the Stockholders and Board of Directors of Chuy's Holdings, Inc.

Opinion on the Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Chuy’s Holdings, Inc. and its subsidiaries (the Company) as of December 31, 2017 and December 25, 2016, the related consolidated statements of income, stockholders' equity and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2017, and the related notes to the consolidated financial statements (collectively, the financial statements). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2017 and December 25, 2016, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2017, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

We have also audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the Company's internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2017, based on criteria established in Internal Control - Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission in 2013, and our report dated March 15, 2018 expressed an unqualified opinion on the effectiveness of the Company's internal control over financial reporting.

Basis for Opinion

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

/s/ RSM US LLP

We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2006.

Dallas, Texas

March 15, 2018

F - 2

Table of Contents

CHUY’S HOLDINGS, INC.

Consolidated Balance Sheets

(In thousands, except share and per share data)



	December 31, 2017		December 25, 2016
Assets
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$	8,785	$	13,694
Accounts receivable	2,696		1,132
Lease incentives receivable	6,351		4,022
Inventories	1,605		1,451
Income tax receivable	1,225		2,183
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	5,924		5,207
Total current assets	26,586		27,689
Property and equipment, net	197,255		165,150
Other assets and intangible assets, net	2,157		1,920
Trade name	21,900		21,900
Goodwill	24,069		24,069
Total assets	$	271,967	$	240,728
Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	$	6,396	$	8,014
Accrued liabilities	16,488		17,757
Deferred lease incentives	2,773		2,335
Total current liabilities	25,657		28,106
Deferred tax liability, net	6,438		13,769
Accrued deferred rent	11,764		9,169
Deferred lease incentives, less current portion	39,146		32,619
Total liabilities	83,005		83,663

Commitments and contingencies
Stockholders’ equity:
Common stock, $0.01 par value; 60,000,000 shares authorized; 16,923,741 shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 2017 and 16,839,348 shares issued and outstanding at December 25, 2016	169		168
Preferred stock, $0.01 par value; 15,000,000 shares authorized and no shares issued or outstanding at December 31, 2017 and December 25, 2016	—		—
Paid-in capital	100,140		97,200
Retained earnings	88,653		59,697
Total stockholders’ equity	188,962		157,065
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity	$	271,967	$	240,728

See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

F - 3

Table of Contents

CHUY’S HOLDINGS, INC.

Consolidated Statements of Income

(In thousands, except share and per share data)



	Fiscal Year Ended
	December 31, 2017			December 25, 2016		December 27, 2015
Revenue	$	369,589		$	330,613	$	287,062
Costs and expenses:
Cost of sales	96,270			85,542		75,686
Labor	128,846			110,730		93,625
Operating	51,462			45,900		39,954
Occupancy	25,642			22,204		19,019
General and administrative	18,661			17,560		16,176
Marketing	2,756			2,390		2,249
Restaurant pre-opening	6,233			5,348		4,417
Impairment and closure costs	—			1,517		4,360
Gain on insurance settlements	(1,362		)	—		—
Depreciation and amortization	17,560			15,081		12,827
Total costs and expenses	346,068			306,272		268,313
Income from operations	23,521			24,341		18,749
Interest expense, net	65			63		110
Income before income taxes	23,456			24,278		18,639
Income tax (benefit) expense	(5,500		)	7,034		5,743
Net income	$	28,956		$	17,244	$	12,896
Net income per common share:
Basic	$	1.71		$	1.03	$	0.78
Diluted	$	1.70		$	1.02	$	0.77
Weighted-average shares outstanding:
Basic	16,894,986			16,676,073		16,470,278
Diluted	17,003,233			16,887,882		16,739,387

See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

F - 4

Table of Contents

CHUY’S HOLDINGS, INC.

Consolidated Statements of Stockholders’ Equity

For the Fiscal Years Ended December 31, 2017, December 25, 2016 and December 27, 2015

(In thousands, except share and per share data)



	Common Stock				Paid-in Capital			Retained Earnings
	Shares		Amount		Paid-in Capital			Retained Earnings		Total
Balance, December 28, 2014	16,440,906		$	164	$	88,467		$	29,557	$	118,188
Stock-based compensation	—		—		1,832			—		1,832
Proceeds from exercise of stock options	28,520		1		163			—		164
Excess tax benefit from stock-based compensation	—		—		34			—		34
Settlement of restricted stock units	23,590		—		—			—		—
Indirect repurchase of shares for minimum tax withholdings	(2,416	)	—		(57		)	—		(57		)
Net Income	—		—		—			12,896		12,896
Balance, December 27, 2015	16,490,600		165		90,439			42,453		133,057
Stock-based compensation	—		—		2,352			—		2,352
Proceeds from exercise of stock options	312,165		3		1,468			—		1,471
Excess tax benefit from stock-based compensation	—		—		3,265			—		3,265
Settlement of restricted stock units	46,004		—		—			—		—
Indirect repurchase of shares for minimum tax withholdings	(9,421	)	—		(324		)	—		(324		)
Net Income	—		—		—			17,244		17,244
Balance, December 25, 2016	16,839,348		168		97,200			59,697		157,065
Stock-based compensation	—		—		3,098			—		3,098
Proceeds from exercise of stock options	35,170		—		340			—		340
Settlement of restricted stock units	67,198		1		(1		)	—		—
Indirect repurchase of shares for minimum tax withholdings	(17,975	)	—		(497		)	—		(497		)
Net Income	—		—		—			28,956		28,956
Balance, December 31, 2017	16,923,741		$	169	$	100,140		$	88,653	$	188,962

See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

F - 5

Table of Contents

CHUY’S HOLDINGS, INC.

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

(In thousands)



	Fiscal Year Ended
	December 31, 2017			December 25, 2016			December 27, 2015
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net income	$	28,956		$	17,244		$	12,896
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:
Depreciation and amortization	17,560			15,081			12,827
Amortization of loan origination costs	34			33			43
Impairment and closure costs	—			1,367			4,360
Stock-based compensation	2,880			2,193			1,718
Excess tax benefit from stock-based compensation	—			(3,265		)	(34		)
Gain on insurance related to property and equipment	(61		)	—			—
Loss on disposal of property and equipment	107			43			108
Amortization of deferred lease incentives	(2,517		)	(2,125		)	(1,684		)
Deferred income taxes	(7,331		)	3,488			3,074
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Accounts receivable	(1,564		)	(14		)	(196		)
Inventories	(154		)	(265		)	(268		)
Income tax receivable	958			(1,196		)	(1,362		)
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	(717		)	(2,574		)	448
Accounts payable	(2,248		)	(1,471		)	(1,708		)
Accrued liabilities and deferred rent	1,326			5,975			7,529
Deferred lease incentives	7,153			8,124			7,642
Net cash provided by operating activities	44,382			42,638			45,393
Cash flows from investing activities:
Purchase of property and equipment, net	(49,185		)	(41,566		)	(31,628		)
Insurance proceeds from property claims	501			—			—
Purchase of other assets	(450		)	(319		)	(372		)
Net cash used in investing activities	(49,134		)	(41,885		)	(32,000		)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Borrowings under revolving line of credit	—			2,000			1,000
Payments under revolving line of credit	—			(2,000		)	(9,750		)
Loan origination costs	—			—			(70		)
Excess tax benefit from stock-based compensation	—			3,265			34
Proceeds from the exercise of stock options	340			1,471			164
Indirect repurchase of shares for minimum tax withholdings	(497		)	(324		)	(57		)
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities	(157		)	4,412			(8,679		)
Net (decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents	(4,909		)	5,165			4,714
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period	13,694			8,529			3,815
Cash and cash equivalents, end of period	$	8,785		$	13,694		$	8,529

Supplemental disclosure of non-cash investing and financing activities:
Property and equipment and other assets acquired by accounts payable	$	630		$	2,191		$	3,081

Supplemental cash flow disclosures:
Cash paid for interest	$	39		$	33		$	95
Cash paid for income taxes	$	908		$	1,385		$	4,091

See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

F - 6

Table of Contents

CHUY’S HOLDINGS, INC.

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

(Tabular dollar amounts in thousands, except share and per share data)

1. Description of Business

Chuy’s Holdings, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), through its subsidiaries owns and operates restaurants in Texas and 19 states in the Southeastern and Midwestern United States. All of the Company’s restaurants operate under the name Chuy’s. The Company had 91, 80, and 69 restaurants, as of December 31, 2017, December 25, 2016, and December 27, 2015, respectively.

Chuy’s was founded in Austin, Texas in 1982 and prior to 2006, operated as Chuy’s Comida Deluxe, Inc. (“Chuy’s”). The Company was incorporated in November 2006.

2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Principles of Consolidation

The accompanying consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its subsidiaries. All significant intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated.

Fiscal Year

The Company utilizes a 52- or 53-week fiscal year that ends on the last Sunday of the calendar year. The fiscal year ended December 31, 2017 consisted of 53 weeks and fiscal years ended December 25, 2016 and December 27, 2015 each consisted of 52 weeks.

Accounting Estimates

The preparation of the consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles ("GAAP") requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect certain reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses for the period. Actual results could differ from estimates.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

The Company considers all cash and short-term investments with original maturities of three months or less as cash equivalents. Amounts receivable from credit card processors are considered cash equivalents because they are both short in term and highly liquid in nature, and are typically converted to cash within three business days of the sales transactions.

Lease Incentives Receivable

Lease incentives receivable consist of receivables from landlords provided for under the lease agreements to reimburse the Company for leasehold improvements.

Inventories

Inventories consist of food, beverage, and merchandise and are stated at the lower of cost (first-in, first-out method) or market.

Property and Equipment

Property and equipment are recorded at cost, less accumulated depreciation. Equipment consists primarily of restaurant equipment, furniture, fixtures and smallwares. Depreciation is calculated using the straight-line method over the estimated useful life of the related asset, which ranges from three to seven years. Expenditures for major additions and improvements are capitalized. Leasehold improvements are capitalized and amortized using the straight-line method over the shorter of the lease term, including option periods that are reasonably assured of renewal, or the estimated useful life of the asset, which ranges from five to 20 years.

Leases

The Company leases land and/or buildings for its corporate office and all of its restaurants under various long-term operating lease agreements. The Company uses a lease life that begins on the date that the Company takes possession under the lease, including the pre-opening period during construction, when in many cases the Company is not making rent payments (“Rent Holiday”).

Certain of the Company’s operating leases contain predetermined fixed escalations of the minimum rent during the original term of the lease. For these leases and those with a Rent Holiday, the Company recognizes the related rent expense on a straight-line basis over the lease term and records the difference between the amounts charged to operations and amounts paid, as accrued deferred rent.

In addition, certain of the Company’s operating leases contain clauses that provide for additional contingent rent based on a percentage of sales greater than certain specified target amounts. The Company recognizes contingent rent expense prior to the achievement of the specified target that triggers the contingent rent, provided achievement of the target is considered probable.

F - 7

Table of Contents

CHUY’S HOLDINGS, INC.

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Continued)

(Tabular dollar amounts in thousands, except share and per share data)

Leasehold improvements financed by the landlord through lease incentive allowances are capitalized with the lease incentive allowances recorded as deferred lease incentives. Such leasehold improvements are amortized on a straight-line basis over the lesser of the life of the asset or the defined lease term, which includes option periods which are reasonably assured of renewal. Deferred lease incentives are amortized on a straight-line basis over the same defined lease term, and are recorded as a reduction of occupancy expense.

Other Assets and Intangible Assets

Other assets and intangible assets include liquor licenses, lease acquisition costs and loan origination costs and are stated at cost, less accumulated amortization.

Goodwill

Goodwill represents the excess of cost over the fair value of assets of the businesses acquired. Goodwill is not amortized, but is subject to impairment tests at least annually. The Company performs tests to assess potential impairments on the first day of the fourth quarter or during the year if an event or other circumstance indicates that goodwill may be impaired. The first step of the goodwill quantitative impairment test compares the implied estimated fair value of the reporting unit to the carrying amount, including goodwill. The Company considers all of its stores in total as one reporting unit. If the estimated fair value of the reporting unit is less than the carrying amount, then it is more likely than not that a goodwill impairment exits and a second step must be completed in order to determine the amount of the goodwill impairment. In the second step, the implied fair value of the goodwill is determined by allocating fair value to all of its assets and liabilities, other than goodwill, in a manner similar to a purchase price allocation. If the resulting implied fair value of the goodwill that results from the application of this second step is less than the carrying amount of the goodwill, an impairment charge is recorded for the difference. No goodwill impairment charges were recognized during 2017, 2016, or 2015.

Indefinite Life Intangibles

Intangible assets acquired in a business combination and determined to have an indefinite useful life are not amortized because there is no foreseeable limit to the cash flows generated by the intangible asset, and have no legal, contractual, regulatory, economic or competitive limiting factors.

The annual impairment evaluation for indefinite life intangible assets includes a quantitative assessment to determine whether the fair value of the indefinite life intangible assets is less than their carrying value. We calculate the estimated fair value of the indefinite-lived intangible asset and compare it to the carrying value. Fair value is estimated primarily using future discounted cash flow projections in conjunction with qualitative factors and future operating plans. When the carrying value exceeds fair value, an impairment charge is recorded for the amount of the difference. An intangible asset is determined to have an indefinite useful life when there are no legal, regulatory, contractual, competitive, economic or other factors that may limit the period over which the asset is expected to contribute directly or indirectly to the future cash flows of the Company. The Company also annually evaluates intangible assets that are not being amortized to determine whether events and circumstances continue to support an indefinite useful life. If an intangible asset that is not being amortized is determined to have a finite useful life, the asset will be amortized prospectively over the estimated remaining useful life and accounted for in the same manner as intangible assets subject to amortization. No indefinite life intangible impairment charges were recognized during 2017, 2016, or 2015.

Impairment of Long-lived Assets

The Company reviews long-lived assets, such as property and equipment and intangibles, subject to amortization, for impairment when events or circumstances indicate the carrying value of the assets may not be recoverable. In determining the recoverability of the asset value, an analysis is performed at the individual restaurant level and primarily includes an assessment of historical cash flows and other relevant factors and circumstances. The Company evaluates future cash flow projections in conjunction with qualitative factors and future operating plans and regularly reviews any restaurants with a deficient level of cash flows for the previous 24 months to determine if impairment testing is necessary. Recoverability of assets to be held and used is measured by a comparison of the carrying amount of the restaurant to the estimated fair value. Based on this analysis, if the carrying amount of the restaurant exceeds the estimated fair value, an impairment charge is recognized by the amount by which the carrying amount exceeds the fair value.

As a result of the above mentioned review process, the Company recognized a $4.4 million non-cash loss on asset impairment as a result of the performance related to three restaurants in fiscal 2015. The Company did not recognize an impairment charge during fiscal 2017 and 2016.

The Company’s impairment assessment process requires the use of estimates and assumptions regarding future cash flows and operating outcomes, which are based upon a significant degree of management judgment. The estimates used in the impairment analysis represent a Level 3 fair value measurement. The Company continues to assess the performance of restaurants and monitors

F - 8

Table of Contents

CHUY’S HOLDINGS, INC.

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Continued)

(Tabular dollar amounts in thousands, except share and per share data)

the need for future impairment. Changes in economic environment, real estate markets, capital spending and overall operating performance could impact these estimates and result in future impairment charges.

Estimated Fair Value of Financial Instruments

The Company uses a three-tier value hierarchy, which classifies the inputs used in measuring fair values, in determining the fair value of the Company's non-financial assets and non-financial liabilities. These tiers include: Level 1, defined as observable inputs such as quoted prices for identical instruments in active markets; Level 2, defined as inputs other than quoted prices in active markets that are either directly or indirectly observable; and Level 3, defined as unobservable inputs in which little or no market data exists, therefore requiring an entity to develop its own assumptions. There were no changes in the methods or assumptions used in measuring fair value during the period.

The carrying amounts of cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable and accounts payable at December 31, 2017 and December 25, 2016 approximate their fair value due to the short-term maturities of these financial instruments.

In regards to the Company's impairment analysis, we generally estimate long-lived asset fair values, including property and equipment and leasehold improvements, using either the cost and/or the income approach. The inputs used to determine fair value relate primarily to the assumptions regarding the long-lived assets exit cost at their highest and best use and future assumptions regarding restaurant sales and profitability. These inputs are categorized as Level 3 inputs. The inputs used represent assumptions about what information market participants would use in pricing the assets and are based upon the best information available at the time of the analysis.

Loan Origination Costs

Loan origination costs are capitalized and amortized over the term of the related debt and is included in Interest expense, net on the consolidated statements of income.

Revenue Recognition

Revenue from restaurant operations (food, beverage and alcohol sales) and merchandise sales are recognized upon payment by the customer at the time of sale. Revenues are reflected net of sales tax and certain discounts and allowances.

Proceeds from the sale of gift cards are recorded as deferred revenue at the time of sale and recognized as revenue upon redemption by the customer. Breakage is recognized on unredeemed gift cards based upon historical redemption patterns when the Company determines the likelihood of redemption of the gift card by the customer is remote. We recorded $0.3 million of gift card breakage in the fiscal year 2017. Gift card breakage in previous periods presented was immaterial.

Marketing

The Company expenses the printing of menus and other promotional materials as incurred. The costs of community service and sponsorship activities are expensed on the expected timing of those events. Marketing expense was $2.8 million, $2.4 million, and $2.2 million for the years ended December 31, 2017, December 25, 2016 and December 27, 2015, respectively.

Restaurant Pre-opening Costs

Restaurant pre-opening costs consist primarily of manager salaries, relocation costs, supplies, recruiting expenses, travel and lodging, pre-opening activities, employee payroll and related training costs for employees at the new location. The Company expenses such pre-opening costs as incurred. Pre-opening costs also include rent recorded during the period between date of possession and the restaurant opening date.

Stock-Based Compensation

The Company maintains an equity incentive plan under which it allows the Company's board of directors to grant stock options, restricted stock units, and other equity-based awards to directors, officers, and key employees of the Company. The plans provide for granting of options to purchase shares of common stock at an exercise price not less than the fair value of the stock on the date of grant. The Company recognizes stock-based compensation in accordance with the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC") Topic 718 ("Topic 718"). Stock-based compensation cost includes compensation cost for all share-based payments granted based on the grant date fair value estimated in accordance with the provisions of Topic 718. Compensation cost is recognized on a straight-line basis, net of estimated forfeitures, over the requisite service period of each award.

F - 9

Table of Contents

CHUY’S HOLDINGS, INC.

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Continued)

(Tabular dollar amounts in thousands, except share and per share data)

Income Tax Matters

Income tax provisions are comprised of federal and state taxes currently due, plus deferred taxes. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for future tax consequences attributable to the temporary difference between the financial statement carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax basis. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. Deferred tax assets are recognized when management considers the realization of those assets in future periods to be more likely than not. Future taxable income, adjustments in temporary differences, available carryforward periods and changes in tax laws could affect these estimates.

Segment Reporting

ASC Topic No. 280, "Segment Reporting," establishes standards for disclosures about products and services, geographic areas and major customers. The Company currently operates one reporting segment; full-service, casual dining, Mexican food restaurants. Additionally, we operate in one geographic area: the United States of America.

Revenue from customers is derived principally from food and beverage sales and the Company does not rely on any major customers as a source of revenue.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

The Company's management reviewed all significant newly-issued accounting pronouncements and concluded that, with the exception of the pronouncements below, they either are not applicable to the Company's operations or that no material effect is expected on the Company's consolidated financial statements as a result of future adoption.

Leases

In February 2016, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") 2016-02, "Leases (Topic 842)." This update requires a lessee to recognize on the balance sheet the right-of-use assets and lease liabilities for leases with a lease term of more than twelve months. This update also requires additional disclosures about the amount, timing, and uncertainty of cash flows arising from leases. This ASU is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2018 and requires a modified retrospective approach to adoption for lessees existing at, or entered into after the beginning of the earliest comparative period presented in the financial statements, with certain practical expedients available.

We had operating leases with remaining rental payments of $404.7 million as of December 31, 2017. The discounted minimum remaining rental payments will be the starting point for determining the assets and liabilities for the rights and obligations created by those leases. While the Company is still evaluating the guidance and the impact on its consolidated financial statements, we expect the adoption of this standard will have a significant impact on the Company’s consolidated balance sheet as we will recognize the right-of-use assets and liabilities for current operating leases, but will likely have an insignificant impact on the consolidated statement of income or cash flows and overall liquidity. In preparation for the adoption of the guidance, the Company will implement controls and key systems changes to enable the preparation of financial information.

Revenue Recognition

In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-09, "Revenue with Contracts from Customers (Topic 606)." ASU 2014-09 supersedes the current revenue recognition guidance, including industry-specific guidance. The guidance introduces a five-step model to achieve its core principal of the entity recognizing revenue to depict the transfer of goods or services to customers at an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. This ASU is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017 and early adoption is permitted only for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2016.

The Company's revenue is comprised of food and beverage sales. ASU 2014-09 will not have an impact on revenue recognition related to food and beverage sales. However, it requires gift card breakage to be recognized as revenue proportionate to the pattern of gift card redemptions. The Company records gift card breakage as a component of revenue.

We will adopt this guidance in the first quarter of 2018. The Company does not expect the adoption of this ASU to have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

Stock Compensation

In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-09, "Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting (Topic 718)." This update simplifies several aspects of the accounting for share-based payment transactions, including income tax consequences, classification of awards as either equity or liabilities, and classification on the statement of cash flows. This ASU was effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2016. The Company adopted ASU 2016-09 in the first quarter of 2017 and elected to apply this adoption prospectively. All excess tax benefits and deficiencies are recognized in the income tax

F - 10

Table of Contents

CHUY’S HOLDINGS, INC.

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Continued)

(Tabular dollar amounts in thousands, except share and per share data)

expense line item on the Company's consolidated income statement, and are included within the changes in the income tax receivable line item on the consolidated statement of cash flows. The Company has elected to recognize forfeitures for awards with a requisite service period as they occur. The adoption of this ASU was immaterial to the Company's consolidated financial statements.

3. Net Income Per Share

Basic net income per share of common stock was computed by dividing net income by the weighted-average number of shares of common stock outstanding for the period.

Diluted net income per share of common stock is computed on the basis of the weighted-average number of shares of common stock plus the effect of dilutive potential shares of common stock equivalents outstanding during the period using the treasury stock method for dilutive options and deferred shares (these shares were granted under the Chuy's Holdings, Inc. 2012 Omnibus Equity Incentive Plan, and are referred to as "restricted stock units").

There were approximately 33,800, 1,000 and 26,000 shares of common stock equivalents that have been excluded from the calculation of diluted net income per share because their inclusion would have been anti-dilutive for the years ended December 31, 2017, December 25, 2016 and December 27, 2015, respectively.

The computations of basic and diluted net income per share is as follows:



	Year Ended
	December 31, 2017		December 25, 2016		December 27, 2015
BASIC
Net income	$	28,956	$	17,244	$	12,896
Weighted-average common shares outstanding	16,894,986		16,676,073		16,470,278
Basic net income per common share	$	1.71	$	1.03	$	0.78

DILUTED
Net income	$	28,956	$	17,244	$	12,896
Weighted-average common shares outstanding	16,894,986		16,676,073		16,470,278
Dilutive effect of stock options	108,247		211,809		269,109
Weighted-average of diluted shares	17,003,233		16,887,882		16,739,387
Diluted net income per common share	$	1.70	$	1.02	$	0.77

4. Prepaid Expenses and Other Current Assets

The major classes of prepaid expenses and other current assets at December 31, 2017 and December 25, 2016 are summarized as follows:



	December 31, 2017		December 25, 2016
Deposits on equipment	$	948	$	1,143
Prepaid expenses	4,716		3,694
Other current assets	260		370
Total prepaid expenses and other current assets	$	5,924	$	5,207

F - 11

Table of Contents

CHUY’S HOLDINGS, INC.

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Continued)

(Tabular dollar amounts in thousands, except share and per share data)

5. Property and Equipment

The major classes of property and equipment as of December 31, 2017 and December 25, 2016 are summarized as follows:



	December 31, 2017			December 25, 2016
Leasehold improvements	$	174,767		$	143,494
Furniture, fixtures and equipment	85,043			71,305
Construction in progress	13,684			11,089
	273,494			225,888
Less accumulated depreciation	(76,239		)	(60,738		)
Total property and equipment, net	$	197,255		$	165,150

Depreciation expense was $17.4 million, $15.0 million and $12.7 million for the years ended December 31, 2017, December 25, 2016, and December 27, 2015, respectively.

6. Other Assets and Intangible Assets

The major classes of other assets and intangibles assets along with related accumulated amortization at December 31, 2017 and December 25, 2016 are summarized as follows:



	Average Life at December 31, 2017	2017							2016
	Average Life at December 31, 2017	Gross Amount		Accumulated Amortization			Net Amount		Gross Amount		Accumulated Amortization			Net Amount
Finite-lived assets:
Loan origination costs	2.9	$	294	$	(202	)	$	92	$	294	$	(169	)	$	125
Lease acquisition costs	16.0	2,561		(571		)	1,990		2,173		(453		)	1,720
Total finite-lived assets		2,855		(773		)	2,082		2,467		(622		)	1,845
Indefinite-lived assets:
Liquor license		75		—			75		75		—			75
Total indefinite-lived assets		75		—			75		75		—			75
Total other assets and intangible assets		$	2,930	$	(773	)	$	2,157	$	2,542	$	(622	)	$	1,920

Amortization expense was $0.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2017 and $0.1 million for both years ended December 25, 2016 and December 27, 2015.

The following table represents the total estimated amortization of finite-lived intangible assets for the five succeeding fiscal years and thereafter:



For the Fiscal Years Ending:
2018	$	164
2019	174
2020	167
2021	140
2022	132
Thereafter	1,305
	$	2,082

7. Long-Term Debt

Revolving Credit Facility

On November 30, 2012, the Company entered into a $25.0 million Revolving Credit Facility with Wells Fargo Bank, National Association. On October 30, 2015, we entered into an amendment to our Revolving Credit Facility to, among other things, (1) extend the maturity date of the Revolving Credit Facility to October 30, 2020 from November 30, 2017 and (2) revise the applicable

F - 12

Table of Contents

CHUY’S HOLDINGS, INC.

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Continued)

(Tabular dollar amounts in thousands, except share and per share data)

margins and leverage ratios that determine the commitment fees and interest rates payable by the Company under the Revolving Credit Facility. As of December 31, 2017 and December 25, 2016 the Company had no outstanding indebtedness under the Company's amended Revolving Credit Facility.

Under the Company's Revolving Credit Facility, the Company may request to increase the size of the Company's Revolving Credit Facility by up to $25.0 million, in minimum principal amounts of $5.0 million or the remaining amount of the $25.0 million if less than $5.0 million (the "Incremental Revolving Loan"), which Incremental Revolving Loan will be effective after 10 days written notice to the agent. In the event that any of the lenders fund the Incremental Revolving Loan, the terms and provisions of the Incremental Revolving Loan will be the same as under the Company's Revolving Credit Facility.

Borrowings under the Revolving Credit Facility generally bear interest at a variable rate based upon the Company's election, of (i) the base rate (which is the highest of prime rate, federal funds rate plus 0.5% or one month LIBOR plus 1%), or (ii) LIBOR, plus, in either case, an applicable margin based on the Company's consolidated total lease adjusted leverage ratio (as defined in the Revolving Credit Facility agreement). Our Revolving Credit Facility also requires payment for commitment fees that accrue on the daily unused commitment of the lender at the applicable margin, which varies based on our consolidated total lease adjusted leverage ratio.

The revolving line of credit also requires compliance with a fixed charge coverage ratio, a lease adjusted leverage ratio and certain non-financial covenants. The Revolving Credit Facility also places certain restrictions on the payment of dividends and distributions. Under the Revolving Credit Facility, the Company may declare and make dividend payments so long as (i) no default or event of default has occurred and is continuing or would result therefrom and (ii) immediately after giving effect to any such dividend payment, on a pro forma basis, the lease adjusted leverage ratio does not exceed 3.50 to 1.00.

The obligations under the Company’s Revolving Credit Facility are secured by a first priority lien on substantially all of the Company’s assets.

8. Accrued Liabilities

The major classes of accrued liabilities at December 31, 2017 and December 25, 2016 are summarized as follows:



	December 31, 2017		December 25, 2016
Accrued compensation and related benefits	$	5,964	$	7,572
Other accruals	4,037		3,061
Sales and use tax	3,131		2,200
Deferred gift card revenue	2,098		2,074
Property tax	1,194		1,191
Accrued closure costs	64		1,659
Total accrued liabilities	$	16,488	$	17,757

9. Leases

The Company leases land and buildings for its corporate office and all of its restaurants under various long-term operating lease agreements. The initial lease terms range from 10 years to 15 years and currently expire between 2019 and 2039. The leases typically include renewal options for 10 to 15 years, which are exercisable at the Company's option. Some of the leases provide for base rent, plus additional rent based on gross sales, as defined in each lease agreement. The Company is also generally obligated to pay certain real estate taxes, insurance and common area maintenance (“CAM”) charges, and various other expenses related to properties.

Rent expense is paid to various landlords including several companies owned and controlled by the Company’s founders and one of its executive officers. In 2017, we also subleased additional office space from certain related parties to expand our corporate headquarters.

Future minimum lease payments under noncancelable operating leases include renewal option periods for certain leases when such option periods are included for purposes of calculating straight line rents. At December 31, 2017, future minimum rentals for each of the next five years and in total are as follows:

F - 13

Table of Contents

CHUY’S HOLDINGS, INC.

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Continued)

(Tabular dollar amounts in thousands, except share and per share data)



	Unrelated Parties		Related Party		Total
Fiscal year ending:
2018	$	21,520	$	2,314	$	23,834
2019	22,845		1,670		24,515
2020	22,970		1,401		24,371
2021	23,314		1,413		24,727
2022	23,345		393		23,738
Thereafter	281,830		1,676		283,506
Total minimum lease payments	$	395,824	$	8,867	$	404,691

The above future minimum rental amounts exclude the amortization of deferred lease incentives, renewal options that are not reasonably assured of renewal, and contingent rent. The Company generally has escalating rents over the term of the leases and records rent expense on a straight-line basis.

Rent expense, excluding real estate taxes, CAM charges, insurance, deferred lease incentives and other expenses related to operating leases for the years ended December 31, 2017, December 25, 2016 and December 27, 2015 consists of the following:



	2017		2016		2015
Minimum rent—related parties	$	2,215	$	1,988	$	1,901
Contingent rent—related parties	621		663		646
Total rent—related parties	2,836		2,651		2,547
Minimum rent—unrelated parties	18,304		15,419		12,401
Contingent rent—unrelated parties	397		312		355
Total rent—unrelated parties	18,701		15,731		12,756
Total minimum and contingent rent	$	21,537	$	18,382	$	15,303

10. Employee Benefit Plan

The Chuy’s Opco, Inc. 401(k) plan, (the “401(k) Plan”), is a defined contribution plan covering all eligible employees. The 401(k) Plan provides for employee salary deferral contributions up to the maximum amount allowable by the Internal Revenue Service, as well as Company discretionary matching contributions. Company contributions relating to the 401(k) Plan were approximately $292,000, $229,000 and $209,000 for the years ended December 31, 2017, December 25, 2016 and December 27, 2015, respectively.

11. Stock-Based Compensation

The Company has outstanding awards under the 2006 Stock Option Plan (the “2006 Plan”). The outstanding options under the 2006 Plan are fully vested as of December 31, 2017. In connection with the Company's Initial Public Offering (the "IPO"), the Company terminated the 2006 Plan, and no further awards will be granted under the 2006 Plan. The termination of the 2006 Plan did not affect awards outstanding under the 2006 Plan at the time of its termination and the terms of the 2006 Plan continue to govern those outstanding awards.

In connection with the IPO, the Company adopted the Chuy's Holdings, Inc. 2012 Omnibus Equity Incentive Plan (the “2012 Plan”) which allows the Company’s board of directors to grant stock options, restricted stock, restricted stock units and other equity-based awards to directors, officers, and key employees of the Company. The 2012 Plan provides for granting of options to purchase shares of common stock at an exercise price not less than the fair value of the stock on the date of grant. The outstanding options under the 2012 Plan vest 20% on each of the first five anniversaries of the date of grant and have a maximum term of ten years. The outstanding restricted stock units vest ratably on each of the first four or five anniversaries of the date of grant. As of December 31, 2017, a total of 706,101 shares of common stock are reserved and remain available for issuance under the 2012 Plan.

Stock-based compensation cost recognized in the consolidated statements of income was $2.9 million, $2.2 million and $1.7 million for the years ended December 31, 2017, December 25, 2016 and December 27, 2015, respectively. Stock-based compensation recognized as capitalized development was approximately $218,000, $160,000 and $114,000 for the years ended December 31, 2017, December 25, 2016 and December 27, 2015, respectively. Capitalized stock-based compensation is included in Property and equipment, net on the consolidated balance sheets.

F - 14

Table of Contents

CHUY’S HOLDINGS, INC.

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Continued)

(Tabular dollar amounts in thousands, except share and per share data)

Stock Options

A summary of stock-based compensation activity and changes related to stock options for the year ended December 31, 2017 are as follows:



	Shares		Weighted Average Exercise Price		Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Term (Years)	Aggregate Intrinsic Value
Outstanding at December 25, 2016	316,027		$	18.64
Granted	—		—
Exercised	(35,170	)	9.67
Forfeited	(6,747	)	28.91
Outstanding at December 31, 2017	274,110		$	19.54	4.16	$	2,429
Exercisable as of December 31, 2017	248,745		$	18.59	4.05	$	2,427

The aggregate intrinsic value in the table above is obtained by subtracting the weighted average exercise price from the estimated fair value of the underlying common stock as of December 31, 2017 and multiplying this result by the related number of options outstanding and exercisable at December 31, 2017. The estimated fair value of the common stock as of December 31, 2017 used in the above calculation was $28.05 per share, the closing price of the Company’s common stock on December 29, 2017, the last trading day of the year. The total intrinsic value of options exercised was $0.6 million and $9.1 million for the years ended December 31, 2017 and December 25, 2016, respectively. During the years ended December 31, 2017, December 25, 2016 and December 27, 2015 the total fair value of options vested was $0.3 million, $0.5 million, and $0.6 million, respectively.

There was approximately $0.1 million of total unrecognized compensation costs related to options granted under the 2006 Plan and the 2012 Plan as of December 31, 2017. These costs will be recognized through the year 2019.

Restricted Stock Units

A summary of stock-based compensation activity and changes related to restricted stock units for the year ended December 31, 2017 are as follows:



	Shares		Weighted Average Fair Value		Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Term (Years)
Outstanding at December 25, 2016	206,750		$	31.57
Granted	129,751		27.89
Vested	(67,167	)	32.13
Forfeited	(10,848	)	30.06
Outstanding at December 31, 2017	258,486		$	29.64	2.63

The fair value of the restricted stock units is the quoted market value of our common stock on the date of grant. As of December 31, 2017, total unrecognized stock-based compensation expense related to non-vested restricted stock units was approximately $5.3 million, which is expected to be recognized through the year 2022.

12. Impairment and Closure Costs

We recorded impairment and closure costs of $1.5 million and $4.4 million for the years ended December 25, 2016 and December 27, 2015, respectively, related to long-lived asset impairments or costs associated with the closure of restaurants. There was no impairment or closure costs recognized for the year ended December 31, 2017.

Impairment and closure costs in 2016 included $1.5 million of closure costs associated with the closure and relocation of one restaurant.

Impairment and closure costs in 2015 included $4.4 million of impairment charges associated with three restaurants.

F - 15

Table of Contents

CHUY’S HOLDINGS, INC.

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Continued)

(Tabular dollar amounts in thousands, except share and per share data)

13. Gain on insurance settlements

During the third quarter of 2017, parts of Texas and Southeast were struck by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. As a result of the hurricanes, the Company incurred operating losses as well as property damage. The property damage was mainly related to a restaurant in the Houston region which was closed through the middle of the fourth quarter of 2017 and required a complete reconstruction. Additionally, we incurred property damage from a fire that took place at one restaurant during the second quarter of 2017.

The Company recovered $2.3 million in insurance settlements, of which $1.0 million was received during the fourth quarter of 2017 and $1.3 million accrued in our accounts receivables at December 31, 2017. Approximately $0.5 million of insurance settlements was recognized as a reduction to certain direct expenses which were incurred as a result of the storms. The remainder was allocated to a replacement of damaged property and equipment resulting in a gain of $1.4 million recorded in the fourth quarter of 2017.

The Company's operating losses and property damages as well as related insurance settlements during the year ended December 31, 2017 were as follows:



	December 31, 2017
Insurance settlements	$	(2,262	)
Costs and expenses	460
Assets disposed, net	440
Gain on insurance settlements	$	(1,362	)

14. Income Taxes

The provision for federal and state income taxes for the years ended December 31, 2017, December 25, 2016 and December 27, 2015 consisted of the following:



	2017			2016		2015
Current:
Federal	$	972		$	2,933	$	1,724
State	859			613		945
Total current income tax expense	1,831			3,546		2,669
Deferred:
Federal	(7,761		)	2,827		2,903
State	430			661		171
Total deferred income tax (benefit) expense	(7,331		)	3,488		3,074
Total income tax (benefit) expense	$	(5,500	)	$	7,034	$	5,743

In December 2017, the U.S. government enacted H.R.1, commonly referred to as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ("Tax Act"). The Tax Act impacts the Company in many ways, most notably by a reduction in the federal statutory tax rate from 35% to 21% effective January 1, 2018. As a result of this change, we were required to revalue our deferred tax balances at the 21% rate, resulting in a non-recurring deferred tax balance adjustment with a corresponding decrease to the provision for income taxes of $11.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2017. The company recognized the income tax effects of the Tax Act in accordance with Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 118 ("SAB 118"), which provides guidance relating to the application of ASC Topic 740, Income Taxes, in the reporting period in which the Tax Act was signed into law. As such, the company’s financial results reflect the income tax effects of the Tax Act for which the accounting under ASC Topic 740 is complete and provisional amounts for those specific income tax effects of the Tax Act for which the accounting under ASC Topic 740 is incomplete but a reasonable estimate could be determined. The company did not identify items for which the income tax effects of the Tax Act have not been completed and no significant provisional estimates were made as of December 31, 2017.

Temporary differences between tax and financial reporting basis of assets and liabilities which give rise to the deferred income tax assets (liabilities) and their related tax effects as of December 31, 2017 and December 25, 2016 are as follows:

F - 16

Table of Contents

CHUY’S HOLDINGS, INC.

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Continued)

(Tabular dollar amounts in thousands, except share and per share data)



	2017			2016
Deferred tax assets:
Accrued liabilities	$	12,819		$	17,236
General business tax credits	13,653			12,653
Stock-based compensation	1,024			1,222
Other	238			403
Total deferred tax assets	27,734			31,514
Deferred tax liability:
Intangibles	(7,394		)	(10,609		)
Prepaid expenses	(1,339		)	(1,673		)
Property and equipment	(25,439		)	(33,001		)
Total deferred tax liabilities	(34,172		)	(45,283		)
Deferred tax liabilities, net	$	(6,438	)	$	(13,769	)

December 31, 2017 deferred tax balances were measured using a 21% federal statutory rate as a result of the Tax Act as compared to 35% in previous years.

We had approximately $9.2 million of tax benefits ($3.3 million net of tax) related to excess stock compensation which was recorded to additional paid-in-capital during the fiscal year ended December 25, 2016. Under the "tax law ordering" method, as described in ASC 740, this amount was also used as tax deductions and reduced taxable income for fiscal year ended December 25, 2016. As of December 31, 2017, the Company has general business tax credits of $13.7 million expiring in 2035.

Deferred tax assets are reduced by a valuation allowance if, based on the weight of the available evidence, it is more likely than not that some or all of the deferred taxes will not be realized. Both positive and negative evidence is considered in forming management’s judgment as to whether a valuation allowance is appropriate, and more weight is given to evidence that can be objectively verified. The tax benefits relating to any reversal of the valuation allowance on the deferred tax assets would be recognized as a reduction of future income tax expense. The Company believes that it will realize all of the deferred tax assets. Therefore, no valuation allowance has been recorded.

The following is a reconciliation of the expected federal income taxes at the statutory rate of 35% for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2017, December 25, 2016, and December 27, 2015 to the actual provision for income taxes:



	2017			2016			2015
Expected income tax expense	$	8,210		$	8,497		$	6,524
State tax expense, net of federal benefit	838			829			725
FICA tip credit	(2,250		)	(1,936		)	(1,924		)
Deferred tax balance adjustment	(11,696		)	—			—
Other	(602		)	(356		)	418
Income tax (benefit) expense	$	(5,500	)	$	7,034		$	5,743

Federal tax standards require that a position taken or expected to be taken in a tax return be recognized in the financial statements when it is more likely than not (i.e. a likelihood of more than 50%) that the position would be sustained upon examination by tax authorities. A recognized tax position is measured at the largest amount of benefit that is greater than 50% likely of being realized upon settlement. The standards also require that changes in judgment that result in subsequent recognition, derecognition or change in a measurement of a tax position taken in a prior annual period (including any related interest and penalties) be recognized as a discrete item in the interim period in which the change occurs. As of December 31, 2017 and December 25, 2016 the Company recognized no liability for uncertain tax positions.

It is the Company’s policy to include any penalties and interest related to income taxes in its income tax provision. However, the Company currently has no penalties or interest related to income taxes.

15. Commitments and Contingencies

The Company is involved in various claims and legal actions arising in the normal course of business. In the opinion of management, the ultimate disposition of these matters will not have a material effect on the Company’s consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

F - 17

Table of Contents

16. Related Party Transactions

The Company leases its corporate office and six restaurant locations from entities owned by its founders and one of its executive officers. See Note 9 Leases.

In addition, the Company entered into a management agreement in November 2006 with Three Star Management, Ltd. (an entity owned by its founders) to provide management services, such as administrative, accounting and human resources support, to Three Star Management’s restaurants. In connection with this agreement, the Company received management fees of $40,000 for fiscal years 2017, 2016 and 2015.

17. Quarterly Financial Data (Unaudited)

The following tables set forth certain unaudited consolidated financial information for each of the four quarters in fiscal years 2017 and 2016:



	2017
	March 26		June 25		September 24		December 31
Revenue	$	86,904	$	94,472	$	92,193	$	96,020
Income from operations ⁽¹⁾	6,461		7,358		4,187		5,515
Net income⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾	4,550		5,329		3,195		15,882
Basic net income per share	$	0.27	$	0.32	$	0.19	$	0.94
Diluted net income per share	$	0.27	$	0.31	$	0.19	$	0.93
	2016
	March 27		June 26		September 25		December 25
Revenue	$	78,054	$	87,909	$	85,597	$	79,053
Income from operations ⁽³⁾	6,489		8,330		6,740		2,782
Net income⁽³⁾	4,532		5,780		4,599		2,333
Basic net income per share	$	0.27	$	0.35	$	0.27	$	0.14
Diluted net income per share	$	0.27	$	0.34	$	0.27	$	0.14


(1)	Contains a gain from the insurance settlements that increased income from operations by $1.4 million and net income by $1.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2017.


(2)	Contains a deferred tax balance adjustment that increased net income by $11.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2017.


(3)	Contains closure costs that decreased income from operations by $0.4 million and $1.1 million and net income by $0.3 million and $1.0 million related to one restaurant in the third and fourth quarter of 2016, respectively.

18. Subsequent Events

Subsequent to December 31, 2017, the Company opened one new restaurant on March 13, 2018, for a total of 92 restaurants in 19 states.

F - 18