Chuck’s Hot Chicken
Bottom line
- Total investment $499K – $817K including a $30K franchise fee, 5.5% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $1.1M/year (median $1.2M).
- Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 63/100.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Yale framework · single-unit ROIC
Returns Analysis
Pulls Item 7 (investment) and Item 19 (revenue) from this brand's FDD into the Yale unlevered-ROIC formula. Override any input to stress-test it against your own assumptions.
The model · Yale framework
What would one Chuck’s Hot Chicken unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
27%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Chuck’s Hot Chicken units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
46.6%
6.76× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.94×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$2.4M
on $10.5M purchase
Total debt
$8.2M
SBA $5.0M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Chuck's Hot Chicken franchisees operate fast-casual restaurants serving hand-breaded hot chicken sandwiches, tenders, and sides with customizable heat levels. Day-to-day operations include food prep, customer service, inventory management, and marketing in a quick-service environment with limited table seating or drive-thru formats. Franchisees manage staffing, local marketing compliance, and royalty/rent obligations while adhering to brand operational standards and supply chain requirements.
Item 7 · what it costs
The Vitals
Item 19
Financial Performance
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 18 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 phone area codes (Item 20). Approximate — ported numbers may show the original state, not the franchisee's current location.
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
No SBA loan data available for this brand.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Minimal franchise system size, undisclosed unit-level profitability, franchisor going concern issues, and recent litigation create substantial execution and financial transparency risks despite strong headline revenue figures.
Score breakdown · what drove the 63 / 100 rating
- 01HIGHGoing Concern status is False — indicates potential financial instability at franchisor level despite revenue claims
- 02MEDNo disclosed net income data — inability to verify actual profitability; average revenue of $1.1M may not translate to franchisee-level returns after 5.5% royalty + operating costs
- 03HIGHActive litigation in 2023 (breach of contract settlement) — suggests franchisor-franchisee relationship tensions and enforcement willingness
- 04MINOROnly 6 units with 150% YoY growth — extremely small system size creates concentration risk and limits operational data reliability
- 05MEDHigh investment range ($499K-$817K) paired with undisclosed profitability — ROI timeline and payback period cannot be validated
- 06MED5-year term with no renewal information disclosed — short initial commitment increases risk if franchisor encounters financial distress
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
Item 11
Training & Operations
Item 20
Franchisee Contacts
Phone numbers extracted directly from this brand's FDD Item 20. After purchase, you'll also receive a list of validation questions tailored to this brand.
Franchisee contacts
21 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Chuck’s Hot Chicken · FDD (2025) PDF