Friendly’sFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Friendly’s franchise requires a total initial investment of $1.1M – $2.7M, including a $30K franchise fee and an ongoing 6.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $1.6M[2]. SBA 7(a) loans show a 8.3% charge-off rate across 26 loans[1]. Verdict grade: A. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 18, 2026 · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $1.1M – $2.7M
- 44th pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $1.6M
- 17th pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- 26th pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 95
- 41st pct Service Resta…
- SBA default
- 8.3%
- 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
Franchising since 1986. Systems this mature have refined operations and brand recognition.
Bottom line
- Total investment $1.1M – $2.7M including a $30K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $1.6M/year.
- Verdict A (Top Quintile) with a risk score of 44/100. SBA loan charge-off rate of 8.3% across 26 loans (near or below the 16% franchise average, based on all SBA 7(a) franchise lending, 2010–2024).
- System growing at 95.8% CAGR over 3 years with 95 total units. Strong expansion trajectory.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
- Legal entity
- Friendly’s Restaurants Franchising Co, LLC
- Parent company
- BRIX Holdings, LLC
- Incorporated in
- TX
- HQ
- 14860 Montfort Drive, Suite 150 PMB 34, Dallas, Texas 75254
- Auditor
- A&G LLP
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $6.9M
- vs $10.6M prior year
Independent franchisee associations
- Franchise Advisory Council (FAC)
Franchisee-led councils or alliances disclosed in Item 20. Indicates operator voice.
Affiliated brands
- CJ Fresh Holdings FC
Other brands the franchisor or its parent operates (Item 1).
Overview
About
Franchisees operate casual dining restaurants (ice cream parlor/diner hybrid) serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner to families. Day-to-day operations include managing staff across front-of-house (servers, hosts) and back-of-house (kitchen, prep), inventory procurement, food cost management, and ice cream production/service, while maintaining brand standards and local marketing.
- CEO
- Sherif Mityas
- Headquarters
- TX
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 11
FDD Item 7 · 2025 filing · 16 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Fee | $30K | $30K | |
| Site Selection Fee | $4K | $4K | |
| Project Management Fee | $4K | $4K | |
| Lease, Deposits & Rent | $25K | $50K | |
| Architect; Engineer; Drawings | $16K | $30K | |
| Construction of Restaurant (excluding malls) | $400K | $1.6M | |
| Furniture, Equipment, Signs and Computers | $328K | $460K | |
| Grand Opening Campaign | $10K | $10K | |
| Miscellaneous Pre-Opening Expenses | $13K | $37K | |
| Insurance (3 months) | $6K | $8K | |
| Inventory of Food, Supplies, Small-wares and Uniforms | $39K | $65K | |
| Transportation and Living Expenses for Your Management Team's Initial Training | $10K | $34K | |
| Opening Team Expenses | $25K | $79K | |
| Professional Fees | $2K | $6K | |
| Additional Funds for 3 Months of Operation | $200K | $300K | |
| Development Fee | $60K | $60K | |
| Total initial investment | $1.2M | $2.7M |
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
$155K
9.5% margin
Unlevered ROIC
7%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
13.9 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $1.1M – $2.7M
- Near category avg vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $200K – $300K
- Near category avg vs category
- Franchise fee
- $15K – $30K
- Better than avg vs category
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- Net Sales · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 2.5%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 8.5%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 6.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 2.5% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $2K |
| Transfer fee | $10K |
| Renewal fee | $15K |
| Total fee load | 8.5% of rev |
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $1.6M
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- N/A
- Item 19 type
- Actual Sales
- Sample size
- 93 units
- vs category median 13 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $495K→$2.8M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Quartile band
- $879K→$2.0M
- Bottom 25% → top 25%
- Transparency
- 0 / 5
- vs category median 4 / 5 · below
Compared against 1264 Full-Service Restaurants brands
Revenue is only 0.9x the investment. This means each unit may take 5+ years to recoup the initial outlay at typical margins.
vs Full-Service Restaurants averages
How Friendly’s Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 95
- Opened
- 13
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 4
- Turnover rate
- 4.2%
- Company-owned
- 1
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 99%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (yr3)
- +9.3%
- Net unit change last year
- 3-yr CAGR
- +95.8%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Terminated (3yr)
- 34
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 1
- Transfers (3yr)
- 3
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 9 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
States where the franchisor is registered to sell new franchises (FDD registration filings).
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
- $21.9M
- Median loan
- $875K
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- 8.3%
- 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)
- 91.7%
- 5-yr charge-off
- N/A
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 16
- Defaults
- 2
Vintage analysis
Friendly’s charge-off rate by loan vintage
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Friendly's presents elevated risk due to a contracting unit base, opaque unit economics, material litigation history, and undisclosed profitability—making it difficult to validate ROI justification for $1.1M–$2.7M investment.
Litigation (Item 3)
5 case reference(s): 0 pending, 1 settled.
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · A&G 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 44 / 100 rating
- 01MEDSignificant unit contraction: 95 units represents declining system with only 9.3% YoY growth, suggesting maturity or decline phase
- 02MINORNo financial disclosure: Franchisor does not disclose Item 19 (average unit volumes or net income), making ROI analysis impossible
- 03MEDHigh initial investment ($1.1M–$2.7M) paired with undisclosed profitability creates asymmetric risk
- 04HIGHLitigation history including asset/lease disputes with franchisees and SEC judgment against CEO raises governance concerns
- 05HIGHGoing concern status is False, indicating potential balance sheet or operational sustainability issues
- 06MINOR6% royalty on net sales with high capex requirements typical of casual dining creates margin pressure in low-AUV environments
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 | 10 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 1 |
| Territory type | Radius |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Online sales rights | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Required |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 3 |
| Mandatory arbitration | No |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Texas |
| Litigation count | 2 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
5 case reference(s): 0 pending, 1 settled.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 13 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 186 hrs
- Training location
- On-site and off-site
- Franchisor financing
- Offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- Revel Systems
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Revel Systems
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
48 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Friendly’s · FDD (2025) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Friendly’s franchise?
The total investment to open a Friendly’s franchise ranges from $1.1M – $2.7M, with an initial franchise fee of $30K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Friendly’s franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Friendly’s FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $1.6M. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Friendly’s's franchise failure rate?
Based on SBA 7(a) loan data, Friendly’s has a charge-off rate of 8.3% across 26 loans, meaning 8.3% 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 Friendly’s franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Friendly’s has 95 total units in the United States, including 48 franchised units and 1 company-owned units. 13 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Friendly’s a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Friendly’s as a A-grade franchise with a risk score of 44 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.
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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.