SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

                             WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

                                    FORM 8-K

                                 CURRENT REPORT

                     Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the
                         Securities Exchange Act of 1934

                        Date of Report (Date of Earliest
                        Event Reported): September 17, 1996




                       CHECKERS DRIVE-IN RESTAURANTS, INC.
             ------------------------------------------------------
             (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)




       Delaware                     0-19649                  58-1654960
- ----------------------------      ------------           -------------------
(State or other jurisdiction      (Commission              (IRS Employer
     of incorporation)            File Number)           Identification No.)





    600 Cleveland Street, 8th Floor
         Clearwater, Florida                                 34615
- ----------------------------------------                   ----------
(Address of principal executive offices)                   (Zip Code)




Registrant's telephone number, including area code:              813-441-3500



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                        This Instrument contains 3 pages.

                           There is no Exhibit Index.






Item 5. Other Events.
        ------------
  
        Checkers Drive-In Restaurants,  Inc. ("Checkers") announced on September
17, 1996,  that it had reached an  agreement in principal on debt  restructuring
with the new lending group that acquired its  outstanding  debt under its credit
facility on July 30, 1996.

        The term of the credit facility has been extended by one year until July
31, 1999.  The principal repayment schedule has been reduced  during the term to
a level that fits  within the  Company's  current business  plan.  The agreement
provides  that no principal  payments are scheduled through the first  reporting
period  of 1997.  In  reporting  periods 2 through  8 of 1997,  the  Company  is
scheduled to make  principal  reduction  payments of $200,000 per period.  Those
payments  increase to $275,000 in reporting periods 9 through 13 in 1997, and to
$350,O0O  thereafter.  The Company has agreed to a fixed interest rate of 13.75%
per annum. Additionally,  the agreement provides for a restructuring fee of $4.0
million  payable at maturity (July 31 1999),  which can be converted into common
stock at the  option of the  Company  and/or  the  lender  group  under  certain
specified circumstances.

        The firms which have acquired  the  debt are  the Galileo Fund, L.P. (an
affiliate  of  DDJ  Capital  Management LLC) of Boston, Massachusetts;  Foothill
Capital Corporation of Los Angeles, California; Pearl Street L.P. (a division of
Goldman, Sachs & Company) of New York, New York; and Canpartners Investments IV,
LLC of Los Angeles, California.

        The agreement is subject to definitive documentation, which  is expected
to be completed in approximately 45 days.



























                                       -2-





                                    SIGNATURE
                                    ---------


               Pursuant to the  requirements  of the Securities  Exchange Act of
1934, as amended, the Registrant has duly caused this Report to be signed on its
behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.

                                       CHECKERS DRIVE-IN RESTAURANTS, INC.



                                       By:     /s/ Albert J. DiMarco
                                          --------------------------------------
                                           Albert J. DiMarco
                                           President and Chief Executive Officer

Dated:  September 18, 1996