Duff’s Famous Wings
Formerly known as The DFG
Bottom line
- Total investment $535K – $1.2M including a $30K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $3.5M/year (median $3.9M).
- Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 60/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 5 loans (below the industry average).
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 Duff’s Famous Wings unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
63%
Above typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Duff’s Famous Wings units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
25.5%
3.12× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
3.27×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$17.0M
on $31.4M purchase
Total debt
$14.4M
SBA $5.0M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Franchisees operate casual dining wing restaurants serving Duff's branded chicken wings, sauces, and complementary menu items. Day-to-day responsibilities include managing kitchen operations, food prep, staff scheduling, customer service, inventory management, and local marketing to drive dine-in and potentially delivery revenue.
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 · 13 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.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Duff's Wings presents CAUTION-level risk due to an underdeveloped franchise system (5 units only), undisclosed profitability metrics, franchisor going concern issues, and insufficient data to validate the ROI on a $500k+ investment.
Score breakdown · what drove the 60 / 100 rating
- 01MINOROnly 5 units in system with unknown growth trajectory — extremely small and potentially stagnant franchise
- 02MINORNo net income disclosure (Item 19) prevents validation of profitability claims and ROI projections
- 03MINORHigh investment range ($534k-$1.15M) against only 5 existing units raises questions about unit economics and franchisor viability
- 04HIGHGoing Concern status is False — potential financial instability at franchisor level
- 05MINOR5% royalty on $3.48M average revenue ($174k annually per unit) may not sustain franchisor with only 5 franchisees
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
14 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Duff’s Famous Wings · FDD (2025) PDF