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indicates the clear winner per row. Ties and missing data are not highlighted.
How winners are chosen
Lower is better for investment, liquid capital, franchise fee, royalty and ad-fund rates, SBA charge-off rate, and owner turnover.
Higher is better for disclosed revenue and owner earnings, verdict score, total units, net unit growth, and franchisee contacts. For the letter grade, A ranks highest.
A row is highlighted only when one brand clearly leads. Ties are never highlighted, and missing data never counts as a win. Some rows (earnings-metric type, loan counts, contract terms) are informational and have no winner.
These figures come from FDDs of different years (2025, 2026). Costs, fees and unit counts change from one filing to the next, so the older column may be out of date.
Focus by buyer type
| Brand |  BAbove averageSteak N Shake Full-Service Restaurants 2026 FDD Remove | D CAverageDailybeer Full-Service Restaurants 2025 FDD Remove |  AStrongest tierFirehouse Subs Full-Service Restaurants 2026 FDD Remove |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vitals | |||
FDD filing | FDD issued May 8, 2026 | FDD issued Jul 22, 2025 | FDD issued Mar 25, 2026 |
Investment range | $259K – $998K | $430K – $809K | $405K – $876K |
Liquid capital | $239K – $833K | $60K – $80K | $10K – $45K |
Franchise fee | $10K | $100K | $20K |
Royalty rate | Set by a formula | 3.0% | 6.0% |
Ad fund rate | 10.0% | 3.0% | 5.0% |
| Performance | |||
Avg gross sales | Partial, no system average | No Item 19 representation | $974KOutlet subset |
Median gross sales | Not extracted | Not disclosed | $939KOutlet subset |
Avg owner earnings Metric varies by brand. Check type below | Not extracted | Not disclosed | Not extracted |
Earnings metric | Not classified | Not classified | Not classified |
| Risk | |||
Rating | BAbove average | CAverage | AStrongest tier |
Verdict score | 56 / 100 | 41 / 100 | 84 / 100 |
SBA charge-off rate | 15.2% (n=38) | Not SBA-matched | 11.1% (n=638) |
SBA loans on record | 38 | N/A | 638 |
| Scale | |||
Total units | 387 | 0 | 1,291 |
Net change (latest yr) | -5 | 0 | +43 |
Signed, not yet open | Not extracted | 0 | Not extracted |
Turnover rate | Not extracted | Not extracted | 2.3% |
| Contract | |||
Initial term (years) | Not extracted | 5 | 10 |
Renewal term (years) | 1 | 5 | 10 |
Initial training (hrs) | 240 | 33 | 272 |
| Contacts | |||
Franchisee phones | 92 | 0 | 0 |
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