Advantica Chairman Outlines Growth Strategy At Annual Meeting.

SPARTANBURG, S.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 19, 1999--

At the Advantica Restaurant Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: DINE) annual meeting of shareholders held today in New York, James B. Adamson, chairman and chief executive officer, presented a comprehensive strategy for achieving enhanced operating results at its restaurant brands.

Commenting on the company's strategy to remain focused on family dining and current restaurant brands, Adamson said, "We believe family dining offers us an attractive growth opportunity, and with the financial resources we now have, we are in the best position to capitalize on this opportunity. Plans are underway to reposition and grow our current portfolio."

The company, which owns Denny's, the nation's largest family restaurant chain, as well as Coco's and Carrows, two regional family restaurants, plans to increase its market share in family dining through a reinvestment program and franchise development.

"Initial test results of reimage prototypes at our Denny's and Coco's have been just short of phenomenal, with double digit sales increases," Adamson said.

Adamson noted that the company is allocating the majority of investment capital to remodel Denny's which accounts for 70 percent of Advantica's revenues. Denny's began rollout this month of a new reimage program with a retro theme that capitalizes on the brand's heritage as "America's Original Breakfast Diner." This year, 150 Denny's restaurants will be remodeled at an average investment of $200,000 to $300,000 per unit.

Adamson said plans are underway to reposition Coco's at the higher end of the family dining segment. Based on the success of three prototype restaurants, which feature a specialty coffee and bakery counter, the company plans to expand this initiative to 30 Coco's this year.

In addition, Adamson said El Pollo Loco, which operates primarily in Southern California, will expand to new locations in the Southwest with the opening of 20 new company-operated restaurants this year.

During the annual meeting, Advantica stockholders re-elected nine directors for the coming year and ratified the appointment of Deloitte & Touche LLP as the principal independent auditors. Stockholders also approved Advantica's 1999 employee incentive program and an amendment to the Advantica Stock Option Plan to increase the number of shares issuable under this plan.

Advantica Restaurant Group, Inc. is one of the nation's largest restaurant companies in the United States, operating over 2,600 moderately-priced restaurants in the mid-scale and quick-service dining segments. Advantica owns and operates the Denny's, Coco's, Carrows and El Pollo Loco restaurant brands. Advantica news releases, fact sheets and financial information are available on the company's corporate web site at http:\\www.advantica-dine.com

Certain matters discussed in this release constitute forward looking statements and involve risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause the actual performance of Advantica Restaurant Group, Inc., its subsidiaries and underlying concepts to be materially different from the performance indicated or implied by such statements. Such factors include, among others: the competitive pressures from within the restaurant industry; the level of success of the Company's operating initiatives and advertising and promotional efforts, including the initiatives and efforts specifically mentioned above; they ability of the Company to mitigate the impact of the Year 2000 issue successfully; adverse publicity; changes in business strategy or development plans; terms and availability of capital; regional weather conditions; overall changes in the general economy, particularly at the retail level; and other factors from time to time set forth in the Company's SEC reports, including but not limited to the discussion in Management's Discussion and Analysis in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10K for the year ended December 30, 1998 (and in the Company's subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q).