The operator of the Pollo Tropical chain said Monday it will close all restaurants in that brand in Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin and Nashville, as it looks to revitalize the brand and sister chain Taco Cabana.

The last 13 Pollo Tropical locations in North Texas closed Monday, a spokesman said. He did not know how many local employees were impacted or whether any were transferred to Taco Cabana locations.

Altogether the company will close 30 Pollo Tropical Restaurants in Texas, Tennessee and Georgia.

The chain, which features a Caribbean-themed chicken menu, saw explosive growth in North Texas, jumping from one location to nearly 20 in a few years. The company announced the closing of five Pollo Tropical locations last fall.

Both Pollo Tropical and the Mexican-themed Taco Cabana are part of the Addison-based Fiesta Restaurant Group.

Richard Stockinger, Fiesta's new president and chief executive, said the company's expansion into new markets, including parts of Texas, produced "disappointing ... results. " He said in a statement the company's "recent growth initiatives diverted resources from our core markets and some amount of renewal is required to restore momentum in these markets.

"While the decision to close restaurants is never easy, we believe it is vital to focus the company's resources and efforts on markets and locations that have proven successful for our brands," he said.

In announcing the closures, the company in a statement offered a preliminary look at its financials for the first quarter, which ended April 2.

Same-store sales, a key measure of chain health, fell 6.7 percent at Pollo Tropical and 4.5 percent at Taco Cabana.

Fiesta expects to post impairment charges of about $33 million to $37 million in the first quarter, and related lease and other charges of $9 million to $12 million in the second quarter, based on the actual timing of restaurant closures.

The targetted restaurants contributed about $27.0 million of restaurant sales and $14.6 million of pre-tax operating losses, including $4.9 million of depreciation expense and $1.8 million of pre-opening costs, to results in 2016.

The company estimates that for the first quarter of 2017, the restaurants will account for about $6.2 million of restaurant sales and $3.8 million of pre-tax operating losses, including $1.2 million of depreciation expense.

Fiesta will retain 19 Pollo Tropical restaurants, including 13 in Atlanta, two in Houston and four in San Antonio, where the company plans to "apply and prove successful regional strategies for future Pollo Tropical expansion beyond Florida," the brand's strongest market.

Atlanta and the remaining Texas restaurants "will provide us a low-risk opportunity to refine and test our long-term growth potential," he said.

"Prior disappointing expansion results in the Northeast and Texas notwithstanding, we believe the Pollo Tropical brand, featuring its fire-grilled marinated chicken, will serve as a platform for ... substantial long-term growth," he said. "Taco Cabana is a Texas icon with enormous brand currency, and we believe it will benefit substantially from our revitalization plan. We will execute our plan with measured urgency.

The closures are part of a broader companywide "renewal plan," in which Fiesta plans to relaunch the Pollo Tropical brand in September of this year and to relaunch the Taco Cabana brand late in the year "once priority initiatives under the renewal plan are achieved."

As part of the plan, the company plans to cut costs and reduce advertising spending.

The company's stock gained nearly 3 percent to close at $24.60. That's down from more than $65 a share in March of 2015.

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