TGI Fridays Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
- Investment
- $1.4M – $4.5M
- Disclosed sales
- $5.0M
- gross sales, not profit
- SBA charge-off
- Limited · 10 loans
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
TGI Fridays is a casual-dining franchise serving American bar-and-grill food and cocktails in a lively setting. Franchisees run full-service restaurants managing kitchen, bar, and a large service staff.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A TGI Fridays franchise requires a total initial investment of $1.4M – $4.5M, including a $50K franchise fee and an ongoing 4.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $5.0M[2]. FranchiseVerdict grade: D (Below average), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Sources, dates and evidence
FDD issued: · Data extracted: · Last cited check: · Staleness risk: low - issued within the last 12 months
Evidence: strong✓ Investment (Item 7)✓ Item 19 status✓ Units and owners (Item 20)✓ SBA loan coverage✓ Litigation (Item 3)✓ Financial statements (Item 21)✓ Franchisor identityhow this is scored8 of 8 headline figures on this page cite a page of the filing.
Overview
- Investment
- $1.4M – $4.5M
- 36th pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $5.0M
- 14th pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- 4.0%
- 3rd pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 120
- 32nd pct Service Resta…
- SBA charge-off
- N/A
Quick verdict · Full-Service Restaurants · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Full-Service Restaurants median · No shading = within ±10% · Red = unfavorable by >10% · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
Bottom line
- COSTTotal investment $1.4M – $4.5M including a $50K franchise fee, 4.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSAverage unit revenue of $5.0M/year (median $3.1M).
- RISKVerdict D (Below average), verdict score 36/100 (higher is better).
- GROWTHNegative: net -48 franchised outlets in the latest year (0 opened, 48 closed) (Item 20).
- FLAGAuditor disclosed a going-concern note, which flagged doubt about the franchisor's ability to continue operations. Verify against the latest FDD.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- TGI Fridays Franchisor, LLC
- Parent company
- TGIF Funding, LLC
- FDD Item 1, page 9 of the 2025 FDD
- Ultimate parent
- TGIF Holdings, LLC
- FDD Item 1, page 9 of the 2025 FDD
- Predecessor
- TGI Friday's Inc.
- Prior franchisor entity
- CEO title
- Chief Executive Officer
- Raymond A. Blanchette
- Incorporated in
- Delaware
- HQ
- 19111 Dallas Parkway, Suite 165, Dallas, TX 75287
- Auditor
- BDO USA, P.C.
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $70.9M
- vs $53.4M prior year
- ⚠ Going-concern note
- Disclosed in FDD 2025
- Auditor flagged doubt about continued operations. Verify against the latest FDD before deciding.
Overview
About
- CEO
- Raymond A. Blanchette
- Headquarters
- TX
- Founded
- 1972
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 23
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 337% above the typical full-service restaurants franchise.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 5–7
Full Item 7 breakdown19 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Franchise Feenot refundable | $50K | $50K | |
| Furniture, Fixtures, Decor & Sound System/TVs | $100K | $185K | |
| Exterior Signage | $15K | $100K | |
| Kitchen/Bar Equipment | $231K | $495K | |
| Kitchen/Bar Accessories | $40K | $50K | |
| Computer POS Systems/KDS/Installation | $18K | $23K | |
| Purchasing Agent Feesnot refundable | $0 | $60K | |
| I.T. Service and Support Feenot refundable | $1K | $1K | |
| Opening Inventory | $70K | $90K | |
| Hiring Expenses; Employees and Training | $65K | $200K | |
| NSO Supportnot refundable | $0 | $241K | |
| Liquor License | — | — | |
| Building & Improvements | $600K | $2.3M | |
| Site Improvements | $70K | $345K | |
| Developmental Costs | $65K | $100K | |
| Insurance (3 months) | $13K | $25K | |
| Miscellaneous Costs | $10K | $100K | |
| Online Orderingnot refundable | $600 | $600 | |
| Additional Funds (3 months) | $60K | $200K | |
| Total initial investment | $1.4M | $4.6M |
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.
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $1.4M – $4.5M
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $60K – $200K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $50K – $50K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Royalty
- 4.0%
- typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 4.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 8.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 4.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 4.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $5K |
| Transfer fee | $5K |
| Renewal fee | $25K |
| Inventory (initial) | $70K – $90K |
| Total fee load | 8.0% of rev |
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales run 209% above the full-service restaurants norm.
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 19
Single-unit · not modelled
Returns at a glance
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit, and the operating costs that turn one into the other are in no filing. We publish no modelled return for TGI Fridays until someone supplies them — yours, in the models below.
—
Not modelled yet
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
Total invested capital · disclosed
$3.1M
Item 7 initial investment plus working capital, as filed — the one figure here that needs no assumption.
ROI & LBO modelsSingle-unit · 25-unit portfolio · editable
What one unit earns on your invested capital
Model A · Single-Unit Return
Computes unlevered return on invested capital (ROIC) for a single franchise unit, read against the 30–60% reference band · Yale SOM, Post-MBA Path Exhibit 2 (2023). Below that band a passive index fund likely outperforms; above it the franchisor has pricing power you're subsidizing.
Note: Item 19 revenue is what the franchisor discloses, and it is the top line only — gross sales are not profit. No FDD discloses the operating costs that turn one into the other, so those fields start empty and nothing is modelled until you supply them from your own lease quote, labor market and build-out budget.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one TGI Fridays unit return on the cash you put in?
Illustrative category typicals — not sourced to any filing, survey or sample. Replace them with figures from franchisee validation calls before you rely on the output.
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Your modelled return on total invested capital, before any debt financing.
—
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
What 25 units return when you use SBA financing
Model B · Return on Equity: Debt-Financed Acquisition
Models a 25-unit portfolio acquisition financed with an SBA 7(a) loan. Shows equity IRR (your return on cash invested), DSCR (how safely the cash flow covers debt service), and the capital stack (SBA + seller + equity breakdown).
This is the “search fund” or “entrepreneurship through acquisition” scenario: you buy an existing multi-unit operator, use leverage to amplify returns, and either operate or hire management. The 25-unit size is the typical minimum for an SBA-backed franchise portfolio acquisition to pencil as a full-time income.
What “return on equity” means here: if you put in $500K of your own cash and the business generates enough EBITDA to pay down debt and grow, your equity IRR is the annual return on that $500K, including the value created when you eventually sell. Target IRR for a search fund is typically 25–35%.
Not modelled yet
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
A 25-unit return is built on a per-unit EBITDA. Fill in the operating costs in Model A above and this model runs on that figure, or take the whole scenario to the full ROI workbench, where the portfolio and LBO models accept your own per-unit economics directly.
These models are for research and scenario planning only. Not investment advice. Actual results depend on your specific location, management, and market conditions. Consult a franchise attorney and accountant before signing any franchise agreement.
Item 19 · Source: 2025 FDD
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $5.0M
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $3.1M
Gross sales are revenue before expenses — not profit. Actual owner earnings depend on rent, labor, royalties, marketing fees, and debt service.
- Item 19 type
- historical gross sales by segment (company-operated and franchised), reported in quartile bands
- Sample size
- 81 outlets
- vs category median 18 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $1.1M→$12.8MCited, not corroborated — printed on page 61 of the 2025 FDD. Nothing else in our record independently restates or re-derives it.
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Reporting year
- 2024
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2025
- Disclosed in the 2025 filing, covering 2024
- Transparency
- 4 / 10
- vs category median 3 / 10 · above
Compared against 801 Full-Service Restaurants brands
Operator outlook
What the numbers say
Data-driven interpretation of this brand's financial disclosures, fee structure, and system trajectory.
Unit economics
Average unit generates $5.0M/year in gross sales. Median is $3.1M — top performers pull the average up, so a typical unit earns less. Revenue-to-investment ratio: 1.7x.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 8.0% (near the Full-Service Restaurants median).
Disclosure
Transparency score 4/10 — this franchisor discloses detailed breakdowns (quartiles, segments, or cohort data). Buyers can model unit economics with higher confidence.
Multi-unit rate
Only 7% of franchisees own multiple units. Could indicate challenging economics or a young system where operators haven't had time to expand.
Source: FDD Item 19 financial performance representations and publicly filed FDD data. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Verify all figures with the franchisor and current franchisees before making any investment decision.
vs Full-Service Restaurants medians
How TGI Fridays Compares
Category median of published Full-Service Restaurants brands that report the figure; the middle half spans the 25th to 75th percentile and n counts the brands behind it. Medians are used because a few very large systems pull an average far from the typical brand. Revenue is disclosed gross sales, not profit.
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 120
- Opened
- 0
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 48
- Terminated
- 0
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 0
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 40.0%
- Company-owned
- 39
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 68%
- vs corporate-owned
- Multi-unit owners
- 6.7%
Last fiscal year · Item 20 exits and transfers
- Terminated
- 0
- Not renewed
- 0
- Signed, not yet open
- 0
- 0.00 per open outlet · Item 20 Table 5
- Projected new
- 0
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
- Transfer rate
- 70.0%
- Owners selling to other franchisees
- Ceased ops
- 10.0%
- Units that stopped operating
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 12 · 23 states reported
The Territory Map
FDD Item 12 reports the state count, but the specific list isn't in our current data. The map will appear once we re-extract from the FDD or enough franchisee contacts are available.
23
states with franchisees (per FDD Item 12)
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
- Total loans
- 10
- Loan volume
- $8.0M
- Median loan
- $797K
- average
- Charge-off rate
- Limited · 10 loans
- Limited SBA coverage: 10 loans, rate hidden until 10 have resolved and loans reach 2% of franchised units
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- Limited · 10 loans
- 5-yr charge-off
- Limited · 10 loans
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 4
- Defaults
- 1
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
What could kill this investment?
The auditor flagged going-concern doubt (Item 21) — the single biggest risk here.
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA · FDD Items 3, 21
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 4, 8, 16, 21
Risk & Legal
Litigation (Item 3)
Subject: officers or affiliates. The franchisor is not a named party in these cases.
No litigation disclosed in Item 3
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
Subject: an officer. An officer’s own bankruptcy or a company an officer ran, not the franchisor’s
Bankruptcy Court for the Northen District of Texas; filed on November 2, 2024. Our predecessor, TGI Friday’s Inc., and the Debtors sought bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code to facilitate a financial reorganization of the company. As of the issuance date of this Disclosure
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · BDO USA, P.C.⚠ Going-concern note flagged
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Financials are for TGI Fridays Franchisor, LLC and are UNAUDITED (Exhibit H labeled "Audited Financial Statements" but the statements state they are unaudited/preliminary pending completion of the 2025 audit), as of and for the eleven fiscal periods ended November 24, 2025, presented in thousands (all figures scaled x1000). Balance sheet reconciles: assets 73,520 = liabilities 129,489 + member's equity (55,969). Statement of operations shows total revenue 42,761 (franchisee revenue 26,613 + licensing 16,148), income from operations 38,148, income tax 1,863; the bottom line is labeled "NET LOSS 36,285" although the arithmetic yields positive income of 36,285 — recorded here as +36,285,000 per the operating flow; treat sign with caution given the label. Only one reporting period is disclosed, so no prior-year revenue.
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: No
- Kickbacks from required suppliers: Yes
- Must buy proprietary products: No
- Restricted to system-approved products: No
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 36 / 100 verdict
- 01MINORPredecessor + 17 affiliates filed Chapter 11 Nov 2024 (recent, though franchisor not a debtor)
- 02MINORNegative net worth -$55,969,000
- 03MINORFinancial distress flagged; offset by $36.3M net income and Item 19 disclosure
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 8.0% of sales (royalty + ad fund), before rent and labor.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 11, 12, 17
FDD Items 12, 15, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 5 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 2 |
| Protected territory | No |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Online sales rights | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Required |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 3 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| RoFR response window | 30 days |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Termination groundsℹ | 11 |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 7 |
| Mandatory arbitration | No |
| Arbitration location | Dallas, Texas (non-binding mediation via AAA, not binding arbitration) |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Texas |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
No litigation disclosed in Item 3
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 112 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 350 hrs
- Training location
- On-site and corporate
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Site selection
- franchisee selects, franchisor approves
- Franchisor financing
- Offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- Toast POS
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Toast POS
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
130 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a TGI Fridays franchise?
The total investment to open a TGI Fridays franchise ranges from $1.4M – $4.5M, with an initial franchise fee of $50K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do TGI Fridays franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the TGI Fridays FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $5.0M. The median is $3.1M. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
Who owns TGI Fridays?
TGI Fridays is franchised by TGI Fridays Franchisor, LLC. Its parent company is TGIF Funding, LLC. The ultimate parent named in the FDD is TGIF Holdings, LLC. Source: FDD Item 1, 2025 filing.
What is Item 19 in the TGI Fridays FDD?
The FDD section where a franchisor may disclose financial performance of its outlets. Disclosure is optional and formats vary; figures are typically gross sales, which is revenue before expenses, not profit. FranchiseVerdict extracts these figures directly from the TGI Fridays FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is TGI Fridays's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for TGI Fridays (fewer than 10 loans on file). Charge-off rates are one way to gauge franchise risk, but not all franchise loans go through the SBA program. We recommend reviewing turnover and closure data in the FDD and speaking with current franchisees.
How many TGI Fridays franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, TGI Fridays has 120 total units in the United States, including 81 franchised units and 39 company-owned units.
Is TGI Fridays a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates TGI Fridays as a D-grade franchise with a verdict score of 36 out of 100 (higher is better). The grade is a deterministic score built from six weighted dimensions — financial health, unit economics, unit growth, scale, legal, and transparency — then calibrated against SBA loan charge-off rates and FDD age. Transparency is one of the six, so a filing that discloses less scores lower on that dimension than one that discloses more. 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.
For franchisors
Are you the franchisor?
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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.