Long John Silver's
Bottom line
- Total investment $691K – $4.2M including a $35K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
- No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
- Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 64/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 61 loans (below the industry average).
- System contracting at -29.4% CAGR over 3 years. Investigate whether closures are franchisor-driven (consolidation) or franchisee-driven (economics).
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 Long John Silver's unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
4%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Overview
About
Franchisees operate seafood quick-service restaurants (primarily fried fish and chips) in traditional standalone locations or non-traditional venues (convenience stores, travel plazas, co-branded locations). Day-to-day operations include managing food preparation, inventory, staffing, customer service, and compliance with brand standards while remitting 5-6% of gross receipts as royalties regardless of profitability.
Item 7 · what it costs
The Vitals
Item 19
Financial Performance
This franchisor did not disclose financial performance representations in Item 19, or our extractor could not parse them.
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 14 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
Long John Silver's presents high-risk investment opportunity due to accelerating unit decline, lack of financial transparency, and unclear path to profitability in a shrinking system.
Score breakdown · what drove the 64 / 100 rating
- 01MEDSevere unit decline of 13.5% YoY (485 units) indicates systemic contraction and loss of franchisee confidence
- 02MINORNo average revenue or net income disclosure (Item 19) prevents informed ROI analysis and suggests poor unit economics
- 03MEDHigh initial investment range ($690.5K-$4.16M) with 5-6% royalties on undisclosed revenues creates profitability uncertainty
- 04MED20-year term locks franchisees into declining brand with limited exit options
- 05MINORNon-traditional restaurant format requiring 6% royalty on likely lower volumes suggests margin compression strategy
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
23 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Long John Silver's · FDD (2025) PDF