Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 25, 2025

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Schedule of Components of the Provision for Income Taxes

The components of income tax expense are as follows:

	Fiscal Year Ended
in thousands	December 25, 2025		December 26, 2024		December 28, 2023
Current expense:
Federal	$	67,320	$	40,764	$	29,737
State	11,250		8,574		12,092
Total current expense	78,570		49,338		41,829
Deferred expense (benefit):
Federal	(18,160)		1,024		24,792
State	(2,396)		(2,831)		(1,070)
Total deferred (benefit) expense	(20,556)		(1,807)		23,722
Income tax expense	$	58,014	$	47,531	$	65,551

Schedule of Effective Income Tax Reconciliation

The following is a summary of the differences in amounts and percentages between the federal statutory tax rate of 21% and the Company’s effective tax rate for each of the last three fiscal years:

	Fiscal Year Ended
	December 25, 2025				December 26, 2024				December 28, 2023
dollars in thousands	Amount		Percent		Amount		Percent		Amount		Percent
U.S. federal statutory tax rate	$	55,999	21.0	%	$	53,215	21.0	%	$	65,421	21.0	%
State and local income taxes, net of federal income tax effect (1) (2)	6,995		2.6		4,538		1.8		8,824		2.8
Tax credits:
Energy-related tax credits	(4,401)		(1.6)		(248)		(0.1)		(257)		(0.1)
Other tax credits	(1,736)		(0.7)		(2,029)		(0.8)		(1,762)		(0.6)
Nontaxable or nondeductible items:
Share-based payment awards	(1,433)		(0.5)		(10,769)		(4.2)		(8,748)		(2.8)
Other	2,244		0.8		3,013		1.2		1,714		0.6
Changes in unrecognized tax benefits	471		0.2		810		0.3		—		—
Other adjustments	(125)		—		(999)		(0.4)		359		0.1
Effective tax rate	$	58,014	21.8	%	$	47,531	18.8	%	$	65,551	21.0	%

(1)For fiscal 2025, California, New Jersey, and New York contributed to the majority of the tax effect in this category. For fiscal 2024, California and Texas contributed to the majority of the tax effect in this category. For fiscal 2023, California, Georgia, and Illinois contributed to the majority of the tax effect in this category.

(2)Includes state excess tax benefits related to stock-based compensation awards for fiscal years 2025, 2024, and 2023 of $0.3 million, $2.1 million, and $1.8 million, respectively.

Schedule of Net Cash Paid for Income Taxes

Cash paid for income taxes, net of refunds, consisted of the following:

	Fiscal Year Ended
in thousands	December 25, 2025		December 26, 2024		December 28, 2023
Federal	$	50,130	$	33,100	$	45,405
State:
California	2,692		2,313		3,629
Other	11,139		7,462		11,993
Total	$	63,961	$	42,875	$	61,027

Schedule of Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities

The tax effects of temporary differences that give rise to significant portions of the deferred income tax assets and (liabilities) are presented below:

in thousands	December 25, 2025		December 26, 2024
Deferred tax assets:
Lease liabilities	$	454,752	$	375,909
Accruals not currently deductible for tax purposes	27,024		24,011
Inventories	11,519		11,552
Stock-based compensation	8,805		7,559
Other intangibles	2,539		8,292
Gift card liability	2,286		1,682
Other	1,832		1,853
Total deferred tax assets	508,757		430,858
Deferred tax liabilities:
Right-of-use assets	(406,371)		(332,596)
Fixed assets	(99,707)		(116,400)
Intangible assets	(27,506)		(27,358)
Other	(5,354)		(5,254)
Total deferred tax liabilities	(538,938)		(481,608)
Net deferred tax liabilities	$	(30,181)	$	(50,750)

Schedule of Unrecognized Tax Benefits Roll Forward

The following is a reconciliation of the beginning and ending balance of unrecognized tax benefits for the periods presented:

	Fiscal Year Ended
in thousands	December 25, 2025		December 26, 2024
Unrecognized tax benefits balance at beginning of fiscal year	$	810	$	—
Additions based on tax positions related to the current year	471		334
Additions for tax positions of prior years	—		476
Unrecognized tax benefits balance at end of fiscal year	$	1,281	$	810