CKE Restaurants, Inc. Announces Completion of Sale of La Salsa Fresh Mexican GrillR Restaurants

“CKE Restaurants, Inc. , owner, operator and franchisor of the Carl’s Jr.(R) and Hardee’s(R) restaurant brands, announced today that it has completed its previously announced sale of its La Salsa Fresh Mexican Grill restaurant chain. The buyer is Thousand Oaks, Calif.-based Baja Fresh Mexican Grill(R). The investment group is led by David Kim, and included GarMark Partners II, LP, which is based in Stamford, CT., and M Plus Capital, which is based in Santa Monica, Calif. Under the agreement, Santa Barbara Restaurant Group, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of CKE, sold its 100 percent equity interest in La Salsa, Inc. and La Salsa of Nevada, Inc. The transaction is not expected to have a material impact on the future earnings of CKE on a consolidated basis.

Andrew F. Puzder, CKE president and chief executive officer said, “With the closing of this transaction we can now shift our resources and focus towards growing Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s, as well as dual-branding them with our Mexican brands, Green Burrito(R) and Red Burrito(TM). We believe these initiatives offer the best opportunity to improve our future earnings and cash flow. We are pleased to have completed the sale of La Salsa Fresh Mexican Grill, and we wish the new owners of La Salsa the best with their investment.”

As of the end of its fiscal 2008 first quarter ended May 21, 2007, CKE Restaurants, Inc., through its subsidiaries, had a total of 3,022 franchised, licensed or company-operated restaurants in 43 states and in 13 countries, including 1,101 Carl’s Jr. restaurants and 1,905 Hardee’s restaurants.”

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