Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

COVID-19 Pandemic – The global crisis resulting from the spread of COVID-19 had a substantial impact on our restaurant operations during the third and fourth fiscal quarters of 2020. During portions of the month of March 2020 through late May 2020, all of the Company’s Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar restaurants were open only for delivery and carry-out service, with dining rooms closed by government orders. Beginning in late May 2020, we began to re-open dining rooms at Bad Daddy’s as local regulations allowed. By early June, we had re-opened all the dining rooms at Bad Daddy’s, which remained open through the end of the fiscal year. Although our dining rooms were open, all were operating at some reduction of capacity, whether driven by explicit capacity reductions under government orders, or due to social distancing protocols that are either mandated by the same government orders, or which we abide by under our own internal protocols designed to maintain a safe foodservice environment, both for our employees and for our customers.

Our operating results substantially depend upon our ability to drive traffic to our restaurants, and for our Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar restaurants, to serve guests in our dining rooms. We cannot currently estimate the duration of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business; neither are we able to predict how the pandemic will evolve nor how various government entities will respond to its evolution. In November 2020 several of our dining rooms in Colorado closed again due to government requirements, which we expect to result in lower average weekly sales for those restaurants. Should additional dining room closures occur, our business would be adversely affected. Even without government orders, customers may choose to reduce or eliminate in-restaurant dining because of increasing numbers of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, or deaths.

Additionally, in connection with spread of COVID-19, there have been disruptions in various food supply chains in the United States. Our operating results substantially depend upon our ability to obtain sufficient quantities of products such as beef, bacon, and other products used in the production of items served and sold to our guests. Ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic could result in product shortages and in turn could require us to serve a limited menu, restrict number of items purchased per guest, or close some or all of our restaurants for an indeterminate period of time. Ongoing material adverse impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic could result in reduced revenue and cash flow and could affect our assessments of impairment of intangible assets, long-lived assets, or goodwill.

We took extraordinary actions to increase our liquidity in response to COVID-19, including temporarily reducing employee pay, reductions in force, and obtaining Paycheck Protection Program (the “PPP”) loans. The PPP is sponsored by the Small Business Administration (the “SBA”). The PPP is part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”). We have since significantly increased employment levels and restored pay to employees as of the date of this report. Although we currently have a meaningful cash balance and generated significant cash flow from operations during the fourth fiscal quarter, should business decline significantly as a result of the pandemic we would not likely be able to take some of the same actions without negatively impacting the long-term viability of the business. The COVID-19 pandemic is adversely affecting the availability of liquidity generally in the credit markets, and there can be no guarantee that additional liquidity will be available on favorable terms, or at all, especially the longer the COVID-19 pandemic lasts or if it were to reoccur.

Principles of Consolidation

Principles of Consolidation – The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Good Times, its subsidiaries, one limited partnership in which the Company exercises control as general partner, and five limited liability companies, in which the Company exercises control as managing member. The Company owns an approximate 54% interest in the Drive Thru limited partnership, is the sole general partner, and receives a management fee prior to any distributions to the limited partner. Because the Company owns an approximate 54% interest in the partnership and exercises complete management control over all decisions for the partnership, except for certain veto rights, the financial statements of the partnership are consolidated into the Company’s consolidated financial statements. The Company owns an approximate 50% to 75% interest in four of the Bad Daddy’s limited liability companies and a 23% interest in one. The Company is the managing member and receives royalty and management fees prior to any distributions to the other members. Because the Company exercises complete management control over all decisions for the five companies, except for certain veto rights, the financial statements of the limited liability companies are consolidated into the Company’s financial statements. The equity interests of the unrelated limited partner and members are shown on the accompanying consolidated balance sheets in the stockholders’ equity section as a non-controlling interest and is adjusted each period to reflect the limited partners’ and members’ share of the net income or loss as well as any cash distributions to the limited partners and members for the period. The limited partners’ or members’ share of the net income or loss in the entities is shown as non-controlling interest income or expense in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations. All inter-company accounts and transactions are eliminated in consolidation.

Accounting Estimates

Accounting Estimates – The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles requires management to make estimates of and assumptions related to the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Examples include provisions for bad debts and inventory reserves, accounting for business combinations, valuation of reporting units for purposes of assessing goodwill and other indefinite-lived intangible assets for impairment, valuation of asset groups for impairment testing, accruals for employee benefits, and certain contingencies. We base our estimates on historical experience, market participant fair value considerations, projected future cash flows, and various other factors that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. Actual results could differ from those estimates. Additionally, in the context of the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic, future facts and circumstances could change and impact our estimates.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

Cash and Cash Equivalents – The Company considers all highly liquid debt instruments purchased with an initial maturity of three months or less to be cash equivalents. The Company maintains cash and cash equivalents at financial institutions with balances that generally exceed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) insured limits of up to $250,000. The Company has not experienced any losses related to such accounts and management believes that the Company is not exposed to any significant risks on these accounts. Certain of the Company’s accounts exceeded the FDIC insured limits as of September 29, 2020.

Inventories

Inventories – Inventories are stated at the lower of cost or net realizable value, determined by the first-in first-out method, and consist of restaurant food items and related packaging supplies.

Trademarks

Trademarks – Trademarks have been determined to have an indefinite life. We evaluate our trademarks for impairment annually and on an interim basis as events and circumstances warrant by comparing the fair value of the trademarks with their carrying amount. No trademark impairment charges were recognized during 2020 or 2019.

Impairment of Long-Lived Assets

Impairment of Long-Lived Assets – We review our long-lived assets including land, property and equipment for impairment when there are factors that indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable. We assess recovery of assets at the individual restaurant level and typically include an analysis of historical cash flows, future operating plans, and cash flow projections in assessing whether there are indicators of impairment. Recoverability of assets to be held and used is measured by comparing the net book value of the assets of an individual restaurant to the fair value of those assets. This impairment process involves significant judgment in the use of estimates and assumptions pertaining to future projections and operating results.

Given the results of our analysis at September 24, 2019, we identified five restaurants where the expected future cash flows would not be sufficient to recover the carrying value of the associated assets.

Two of these restaurants are Good Times restaurants in Colorado. We recorded a non-cash charge of $391,000, related to the impairment of these restaurants in the fiscal quarter ending September 24, 2019. In July of 2019, the Company entered into a sublease agreement for one of the two restaurants and the tenant took possession on January 1, 2020 and the sublease commenced in May 2020.

Three of these restaurants are Bad Daddy’s restaurants, two in Colorado and one in South Carolina. We recorded non-cash charges of $2,380,000 related to the impairment of these restaurants during the fiscal quarter ending September 24, 2019.

Given the results of our analysis at March 31, 2020, we identified five additional restaurants where the expected future cash flows would not be sufficient to recover the carrying value of the associated assets.

The restaurants are all Bad Daddy’s restaurants, two in North Carolina and one each in Tennessee, Georgia and Colorado. We recorded non-cash charges of $4,359,000 related to the impairment of these restaurants during the quarter ending March 31, 2020.

Given the results of our analysis at June 30, 2020, we identified one additional Bad Daddy’s restaurant in Colorado where the expected future cash flows would not be sufficient to recover the carrying value of the associated assets and recorded non-cash charges of $932,000 related to the impairment of this restaurant during the quarter ending June 30, 2020.

Given the results of our analysis at September 29, 2020, we identified one additional Good Times restaurant where the expected future cash flows would not be sufficient to recover the carrying value of the associated assets and recorded non-cash charges of $315,000 related to the impairment of this restaurant during the quarter ending September 29, 2020.

Deferred Liabilities

Deferred Liabilities – As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and pursuant to the CARES Act, the Company began deferring payment of applicable employment taxes in April 2020 and will continue to do so as allowed under the CARES Act until December 31, 2020. The amount deferred as of September 29, 2020 is $1.2M. Under the CARES Act, 50% of the total deferred employment tax is to be repaid on December 31, 2021, with the remaining amount due on December 31, 2022. As such, the Company has recorded the entirety of the deferred employment tax as a long-term liability.

Preopening Costs

Preopening Costs – Restaurant opening costs are expensed as incurred.

Net Income (Loss) Per Common Share

Net Income (Loss) Per Common Share – Basic Earnings per Share is calculated by dividing the income (loss) available to common stockholders by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding for the period. Diluted EPS reflects the potential dilution that could occur if securities or other contracts to issue common stock were exercised or converted into common stock. Options and restricted stock units for 722,871 and 868,439 shares of common stock were not included in computing diluted EPS for the annual periods ending September 29, 2020 and September 24, 2019, respectively, because their effects were anti-dilutive.

Stock-Based Compensation

Stock-Based Compensation – Stock-based compensation is measured at the grant date, based on the calculated fair value of the award, and is recognized as an expense over the requisite service period (generally the vesting period of the grant). See Note 8 for additional information.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

Fair Value of Financial Instruments –Fair value is defined as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. Valuation techniques used to measure fair value maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs.

The following three levels of inputs may be used to measure fair value and require that the assets or liabilities carried at fair value are disclosed by the input level under which they were valued.

Level 1:		Quoted market prices in active markets for identical assets and liabilities.

Level 2:		Observable inputs other than defined in Level 1, such as quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities; quoted prices in markets that are not active; or other inputs that are observable or can be corroborated by observable market data for substantially the full term of the assets or liabilities.

Level 3:		Unobservable inputs that are not corroborated by observable market data.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Recent Accounting Pronouncements - The Company adopted ASU 2016-02 Leases (Topic 842) on September 25, 2019, the first day of fiscal year 2020. 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 standard was effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2018.

We elected the optional transition method option to apply the standard as of the effective date and therefore, we will not apply the standard to the comparative periods presented in our consolidated financial statements. The adoption of this standard had a significant impact on the Company’s consolidated balance sheets as we recognized the right-of-use assets and lease liabilities for our operating leases. The adoption had an immaterial impact on the Company’s consolidated statements of operations, cash flows and overall liquidity.

We elected to utilize the three practical expedients permitted within the standard, which eliminates the requirement to reassess the conclusions about historical lease identifications, lease classifications, and initial direct costs. We did not elect the hindsight practical expedient, which permits the use of hindsight when determining lease terms and impairments of right-of-use assets. Additionally, we elected to utilize the short-term lease exception policy, which allows us to not apply the recognition requirements of this standard to leases with a term of 12 months or less.

In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-04, “Intangibles – Goodwill and Other (Topic 350) – Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment,” which eliminates Step 2 from the impairment test applied to goodwill. Under the new standard, goodwill impairment tests will compare the fair value of a reporting unit with its carrying amount. An impairment charge will be recognized for the amount by which the carrying amount exceeds the reporting unit’s fair value, not to exceed the total amount of goodwill. This pronouncement is effective for annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2019 and should be applied on a prospective basis. We adopted this ASU effective as of the quarter-end March 26, 2019. The adoption of the new standard did not have a material impact on our financial position or results from operations.

The Company reviewed all other recently issued accounting pronouncements and concluded that they were either not applicable or not expected to have a significant impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.