Impairment of Long-Lived Assets and Other Lease Charges

The Company reviews its long-lived assets, principally property and equipment, for impairment at the restaurant level. If an indicator of impairment exists for any of its assets, an estimate of the undiscounted future cash flows over the life of the primary asset for each restaurant is compared to that long-lived asset’s carrying value. If the carrying value is greater than the undiscounted cash flow, the Company then determines the fair value of the asset and if an asset is determined to be impaired, the loss is measured by the excess of the carrying amount of the asset over its fair value. For closed restaurant locations, the Company reviews the future minimum lease payments and related ancillary costs from the date of the restaurant closure to the end of the remaining lease term and records a lease charge for the lease liabilities to be incurred, net of any estimated sublease recoveries.

The Company determined the fair value of restaurant equipment, for those restaurants reviewed for impairment, based on current economic conditions and the Company’s history of using these assets in the operation of its business. These fair value asset measurements rely on significant unobservable inputs and are considered Level 3 in the fair value hierarchy.

During the three months ended September 27, 2015, the Company recorded asset impairment charges of $0.4 million, resulting primarily from capital expenditures at previously impaired restaurants. During the nine months ended September 27, 2015, the Company recorded other lease charges of $1.5 million associated with the closure of ten of the Company's restaurants and asset impairment charges of $1.2 million, including $1.0 million of capital expenditures at previously impaired restaurants.

During the three months ended September 28, 2014, the Company recorded impairment and other lease charges of $0.8 million consisting of asset impairment charges of $0.4 million due primarily to capital expenditures at previously impaired restaurants and other lease charges of $0.3 million associated with the closure of two of the Company's restaurants. During the nine months ended September 28, 2014, the Company recorded other lease charges of $0.8 million associated with the closure of three of the Company's restaurants, including $0.1 million to terminate an operating lease, and asset impairment charges of $1.0 million consisting of approximately $0.6 million of capital expenditures at previously impaired restaurants and approximately $0.5 million related to initial impairment charges for five underperforming restaurants.

The following table presents the activity in the accrual for closed restaurant locations:



	Nine Months Ended			Year Ended
	September 27, 2015			December 28, 2014
Balance, beginning of the period	$	1,721		$	1,466
Provisions for restaurant closures	1,472			724
Changes in estimates of accrued costs	(45		)	87
Payments, net	(1,003		)	(721		)
Other adjustments, including the effect of discounting future obligations	157			165
Balance, end of the period	$	2,302		$	1,721