BurgerFiFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A BurgerFi franchise requires a total initial investment of $705K – $1.2M, including a $35K franchise fee and an ongoing 5.5% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $1.3M[2]. SBA 7(a) loans show a 6.7% charge-off rate across 26 loans[1]. Verdict grade: C. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 18, 2026 · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $705K – $1.2M
- 39th pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $1.3M
- 13th pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- 5.5%
- 24th pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 82
- 40th pct Service Resta…
- SBA default
- 6.7%
- system-wide median varies by category
Quick verdict · Full-Service Restaurants · color = vs category peers
Green = >15% above Full-Service Restaurants avg · No shading = within ±15% · Red = >15% below avg · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
Started franchising in 2025. Newer systems carry more uncertainty but may offer better territories.
The system contracted 15% year-over-year. Investigate why units are closing.
Bottom line
- Total investment $705K – $1.2M including a $35K franchise fee, 5.5% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $1.3M/year (median $1.2M).
- Verdict C (Average) with a risk score of 68/100. SBA loan charge-off rate of 6.7% across 26 loans (near or below the 16% franchise average, based on all SBA 7(a) franchise lending, 2010–2024).
- System contracting at -25.0% CAGR over 3 years. Investigate whether closures are franchisor-driven (consolidation) or franchisee-driven (economics).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
- Legal entity
- BurgerFi Franchise, LLC
- Parent company
- BurgerFi Partners, LLC
- Incorporated in
- MI
- HQ
- 30955 Northwestern Hwy., Suite 300, Farmington Hills, Michigan 48334
- Auditor
- UHY LLP
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $0
- Most recent fiscal year
Affiliated brands
- and owns our Proprietary
- BFI Restaurant Group
Other brands the franchisor or its parent operates (Item 1).
Overview
About
BurgerFi franchisees operate fast-casual burger restaurants focused on premium, craft-style burgers and natural frozen custard. Day-to-day operations include food preparation, inventory management, staff scheduling, customer service, and POS/delivery platform management across dine-in, takeout, and third-party delivery channels. Franchisees must maintain brand standards for sourcing and preparation while managing typical QSR labor and food costs in a high-investment location.
- CEO
- Happy Asker
- Headquarters
- MI
- Founded
- 2024
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 18
FDD Item 7 · 2025 filing · 15 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Franchise Feenot refundable | $35K | $35K | |
| Rentnot refundable | $11K | $33K | |
| Security Deposits | $10K | $25K | |
| Leasehold Improvementsnot refundable | $356K | $564K | |
| Equipment, Furniture and Fixturesnot refundable | $235K | $325K | |
| Insurancenot refundable | $6K | $10K | |
| Permits and Licensesnot refundable | $2K | $15K | |
| Initial Inventorynot refundable | $6K | $18K | |
| Signagenot refundable | $4K | $15K | |
| Grand Opening Advertisingnot refundable | $15K | $30K | |
| Architecture & MEP Drawingsnot refundable | $13K | $20K | |
| Travel Expenses for Trainingnot refundable | $0 | $15K | |
| Professional Feesnot refundable | $3K | $7K | |
| Opening Assistancenot refundable | $0 | $15K | |
| Additional Funds (3 months)not refundable | $10K | $45K | |
| Total initial investment | $705K | $1.2M |
Line items extracted from FDD Item 7. Ranges reflect the franchisor's stated low and high per line. Total is the sum of line-item lows / highs — actual costs may fall outside this range depending on market and build-out scope.
Single-unit · estimated
Returns at a glance
Indicative numbers using FDD Item 7 / Item 19 inputs and category-benchmarked cost ratios. Full single-unit, 25-unit portfolio, and LBO models (with every input editable to stress-test your own scenario) live on the financials page.
Store EBITDA · annual
$132K
10.5% margin
Unlevered ROIC
14%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
7.3 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $705K – $1.2M
- Better than avg vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $10K – $45K
- Better than avg vs category
- Franchise fee
- $35K – $35K
- Better than avg vs category
- Royalty
- 5.5%
- Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 2.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 7.5%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 5.5% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 2.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $100 |
| Transfer fee | $9K |
| Renewal fee | $9K |
| Total fee load | 7.5% of rev |
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $1.3M
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $1.2M
- Item 19 type
- gross_sales
- Sample size
- 55 units
- vs category median 13 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $648K→$1.9M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Quartile band
- $648K→$1.9M
- Bottom 25% → top 25%
- Transparency
- 4 / 5
- vs category median 4 / 5 · typical
Compared against 1264 Full-Service Restaurants brands
vs Full-Service Restaurants averages
How BurgerFi Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 82
- Opened
- 8
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 0
- Turnover rate
- 0.0%
- Company-owned
- 16
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 81%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (yr3)
- -15.4%
- Net unit change last year
- 3-yr CAGR
- -25.0%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Closed (3yr)
- 1
- Terminated (3yr)
- 10
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 0
- Transfers (3yr)
- 2
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 4
- Franchisor bought back
- Ceased ops
- 16.7%
- Units that stopped operating
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 15 states with active franchisees
The Territory Map
Derived from franchisee contact records. Shows states with at least one current operator. Not where the franchisor is registered to sell new units (that data is re-extracting in a future refresh).
States derived from franchisee contact records (FDD Item 20). Shows states with at least one current operator on file. Full state registration data (Item 12) will appear on a future FDD refresh.
Available to sell in · Item 12
- Michigan
- Washington
States where the franchisor is registered to sell new franchises (FDD registration filings).
A system losing more than 10% of its units year-over-year is a red flag. Check whether closures are concentrated in specific regions.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
- Total loans
- 26
- Loan volume
- $16.0M
- Median loan
- $575K
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- 6.7%
- rates vary by category · see methodology
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- 100.0%
- 5-yr charge-off
- 0.0%
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 15
- Defaults
- 1
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Premium insight
SBA Lending Report
Deep-dive into BurgerFi's SBA lending history: lender network, geographic footprint, interest rates, and more.
SBA Lending Report
- Principal loss rate and NAICS industry benchmark
- 10 lenders with concentration factor
- Per-state charge-off rates across 10 states
- Startup risk premium and job creation velocity
- 9-year lending trend
- SBA 504 real estate/equipment data
Instant access. No subscription.
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
BurgerFi presents extreme risk: contracting franchise system (-15.4% YoY), going concern status, officer criminal indictment for tax fraud, multiple active lawsuits alleging fraudulent inducement, and undisclosed net income make this unsuitable for most investors.
Litigation (Item 3)
6 case reference(s): 0 pending, 4 settled.
Largest disclosed settlement: $3
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · UHY LLP
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: No
- Must buy proprietary products: No
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
Score breakdown · what drove the 68 / 100 rating
- 01HIGHGoing Concern status is FALSE — indicates potential solvency/viability issues at corporate level
- 02MEDUnit count declined 15.4% YoY (82 units) — system is actively contracting, not growing
- 03HIGHMultiple active litigation cases including fraud allegations, criminal indictment of officers for tax fraud conspiracy, and negligent misrepresentation claims — pattern of disputes with franchisees
- 04MEDNet income not disclosed in FDD Item 19 — cannot validate the $1.26M average revenue translates to acceptable profitability after 5.5% royalty + CoGS
- 05MINORHigh investment threshold ($704K-$1.17M) paired with declining unit count creates poor risk/reward profile
- 06HIGHCriminal indictment against named officers (Happy Asker, Maher Bashi) for conspiracy to defraud U.S. and filing false tax returns — raises questions about corporate integrity and financial reporting accuracy
- 07HIGHMultiple franchisee refund disputes and fraud inducement claims suggest corporate may have misrepresented unit economics or support
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 5 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 2 |
| Territory type | Radius |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Online sales rights | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Optional |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 2 |
| Mandatory arbitration | No |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Michigan |
| Litigation count | 4 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
6 case reference(s): 0 pending, 4 settled.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 33 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 205 hrs
- Training location
- On-site and corporate
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
46 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
BurgerFi · FDD (2025) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a BurgerFi franchise?
The total investment to open a BurgerFi franchise ranges from $705K – $1.2M, with an initial franchise fee of $35K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do BurgerFi franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the BurgerFi FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $1.3M. The median is $1.2M. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is BurgerFi's franchise failure rate?
Based on SBA 7(a) loan data, BurgerFi has a charge-off rate of 6.7% across 26 loans, meaning 6.7% of franchise loans were charged off. Charge-off rates are one proxy for franchise risk, though they do not capture all closures. This data comes from FOIA-sourced SBA lending records.
How many BurgerFi franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, BurgerFi has 82 total units in the United States, including 24 franchised units and 16 company-owned units. 8 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is BurgerFi a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates BurgerFi as a C-grade franchise with a risk score of 68 out of 100, based on our analysis of investment costs, revenue data, SBA loan performance, and growth trends. Our rating is based solely on publicly available FDD and government data; we recommend speaking with current franchisees before making any investment decision. This is not investment advice.
Data sourced from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) FOIA records. Not financial advice.
For franchisors
Are you the franchisor?
If you represent BurgerFi, you can request corrections or provide updated information.
Claim this brandOther Full-Service Restaurants franchises
Compare similar franchise opportunities in the Full-Service Restaurants category
Data extracted from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) loan disclosures (FOIA). This information is provided for research purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Verify all figures with the franchisor's current Franchise Disclosure Document before making any investment decision.