Koo Koo Roo Enterprises Becomes Prandium Inc.

Koo Koo Roo Enterprises Inc., owner of four restaurant chains that combined operate more than 300 eateries, said Friday it is changing its name for the third time in six years.

The Irvine-based parent of the Koo Koo Roo, El Torito, Chi-Chi’s and Hamburger Hamlet chains said it became known as Prandium Inc. beginning at the end of the business day Friday. The newest name comes from a Latin derivative for the English word “prandial,” which means “of or relating to a meal.”

“The old name didn’t reflect all of what we are,” said Kevin S. Relyea the company’s chairman. “It made a lot of people think we were just Koo Koo Roo and we’re much more than that.”

The name change is the latest in a series on moniker overhauls in the 1990s. Last year, the company changed its name from Family Restaurants Inc. after merging with the Koo Koo Roo, which then was based in Santa Monica. Before that, the company was known as Restaurant Enterprises Group.

The company’s new ticker symbol will be PDIM when trading in the stock resumes Monday.

Also Friday, former Chrysler Corp. Chairman Lee Iacocca announced he is stepping down from Koo Koo Roo’s board of directors to devote his attention to EV Global Motors, a new venture of which he is chairman and chief executive. Iacocca, 74, will retain his stake in the company.

Iacocca was named acting chairman of financially struggling Koo Koo Roo in March 1998, three months before it announced the merger with Family Restaurants. Iacocca became a director of the combined companies after the deal was completed last October.

“Now that we have completed the merger and I have spent some time working with the management team, I feel confident they are in a good position to proceed forward,” Iacocca said in a statement.