Same-store sales during the first quarter, which ended April 28, fell 0.9% year-over-year at the company's 587-restaurant Bob Evans chain, followed by a 1.2% drop in May. At Mimi's, which operates 103 units, they inched up 1.1%.

Comparable store sales need to improve before management opens a significant number of additional units at Bob Evans, said Steve Davis, chief executive officer, during the conference call. "We aren't just going to grow for growth's sake," he says. "The returns on investment need to be there."

The chain has been hurt by rising gas prices, slowing growth in the Midwest and an aging customer base, executives say. Bob Evans is "fine-tuning" its namesake chain and management should be done evaluating the restaurants by August, says Tammy Roberts Myers, who heads investor relations for the company. "We want to better understand how today's customers can relate to the brand," she says.