Ruth's Chris Steak House
Bottom line
- Total investment $2.5M – $6.4M including a $100K 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 55/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 6 loans (below the industry average).
- No Item 19 financial performance representation. Without franchisor-disclosed revenue data, you'll need to gather unit economics directly from existing franchisees.
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 Ruth's Chris Steak House unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
3%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Overview
About
Franchisees operate upscale steakhouse restaurants featuring USDA Prime beef served on heated plates, with full bar operations and table service. Daily operations include kitchen/FOH staff management, inventory/food cost control, marketing within protected territory, and maintaining brand standards across a high-touch, labor-intensive dining experience.
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 · 29 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
Ruth's Chris presents moderate-to-caution risk due to system contraction, missing financial transparency, and high capital requirements in a declining fine-dining category.
Score breakdown · what drove the 55 / 100 rating
- 01MINORDeclining unit count (-1.9% YoY) indicates system contraction and potential market saturation or operational challenges
- 02MINORNo Item 19 (average revenue/income) disclosure prevents accurate ROI assessment despite high capital requirement ($2.5M-$6.4M)
- 03MINORHigh initial investment with 5% royalty on net sales creates significant break-even threshold; lack of profitability data obscures actual unit economics
- 04MINOR15-year term locks franchisees into long-term commitment during period of restaurant industry consolidation and changing consumer preferences
- 05MINORFine dining steakhouse category faces structural headwinds (declining occasions, demographic shifts, labor cost inflation)
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
100 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Ruth's Chris Steak House · FDD (2025) PDF