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We extract fees, Item 19 financials, franchisee contacts, SBA default rates, litigation, and outlet data from every FDD — so you can compare brands in minutes, not months. Used by multi-unit operators, consultants, and franchise development teams.

Captain D's

Captain D's

Captain D’s franchises fast-casual seafood restaurants offering freshly-prepared, high-quality items like signature hand-battered fried fish, grilled fish, shrimp, chicken, and home-style side dishes such as hushpuppies, coleslaw, and okra. The business model involves development agreements for multiple locations and individual franchise agreements for each restaurant prototype, including traditional 32-44 seat models, express, endcap, and inline formats. They target consumers in the competitive fast-food market seeking quick, affordable seafood meals in 24 U.S. states.

229locations
$662K–$1862K
Since 2000
Food & BeverageNashville, TNCentre Capital Investors VII, L.P.www.captainds.comDisclaimer

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Franchise Costs

Franchise Fee
$35,000
Initial Investment
$662,000 – $1,862,100
Royalty Rate
4.50%
Brand Fund
1.00%
Fixed Monthly Fees
$236 – $236

4.5% royalty + 1% advertising fee + 2% local marketing expenditures (suspended) + up to 1.5% advertising marketing contribution + up to $236/mo for POS/training systems

Financial Performance

Item 19 Financial Performance

Average Gross Revenue
$1,082,533
Median Gross Revenue
$1,042,475
Top Quartile Revenue
$1,524,798
Bottom Quartile Revenue
$698,105

Data Based On: 210 franchised restaurants operating continuously for the full fiscal year ended December 28, 2025, segmented into three thirds.

* Weighted average gross revenue calculated from the three thirds of franchised restaurants: (70 units * $1,524,798 + 70 units * $1,024,694 + 70 units * $698,105) / 210 units = $1,082,533. No specific franchised gross profit, net income, net profit, or EBITDA data is provided. Expense data in Item 19, Point 6 and in the 'Company-Owned Comparable Restaurants' table specifically excludes occupancy costs and does not include royalty fees (4.5% of gross sales) or full advertising fees (up to 4.5% of gross sales) that franchisees incur. Therefore, a reliable profit range for franchisees cannot be estimated from the provided information.

Extracted Item 19 Section

Avg. Revenue: $1,082,533

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How Captain D's Compares

Key Insights

  • Higher investment than 76% of Fast Casual franchises
  • Lower than average SBA loan default rate in Fast Casual
FranchiseInvestmentFeeRoyaltyLocations
Captain D's
Current
$662K – $1.9M$35K4.5%229
Tropical Smoothie Cafe$276K – $771K$35K6.0%1,650
TROPICAL SMOOTHIE CAFÉ$300K – $721K$35K6.0%1,371
FIREHOUSE SUBS RESTAURANTS (UNIT)$405K – $1.6M$20K6.0%1,249
Zaxby's$1.4M – $3.8M$35K6.0%826
Qdoba$548K – $1.3M$40K5.0%652
Fast Casual Average
107 franchises
$520K – $1.2M$39K5.6%–

* Comparison based on latest FDD filings. Investment ranges from Item 7, fees from Item 5. Showing top 5 of 107 Fast Casual franchises by location count.

Locations & Growth

Outlet Growth Over Time

Total outlets at end of each year

Geographic Distribution (2025)

Outlets by state across the United States

Top States
1GA
40
2TN
38
3KY
20
4TX
19
5VA
19
6NC
18
7MS
13
8MO
12
9AL
9
10OH
8
11IL
7
12FL
6
13LA
6
14SC
3
15CO
3

+6 more states

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SBA Loan History

Historical SBA 7(a) loan data for Captain D's franchisees (2012 – 2025)

Total Loans
23
Average Loan
$914,057
Total Volume
$21.0M
Default Rate
8.7%

Loans by Year

SBA 7(a) loan activity over time

* Data sourced from SBA 7(a) FOIA loan records. Default rate calculated from charged-off loans.

23 SBA loans on record

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Franchisee Contacts

313 franchisee contacts on file from official FDD filings.

313 Contacts Available

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Due Diligence

Litigation (Item 3)

Franchisee Cases0
No litigation involving franchisees reported

Bankruptcy (Item 4)

Bankruptcy HistoryNo
No bankruptcy history reported

System Health (Item 20)

Franchise system changes reported in the most recent fiscal year

Terminations
0
Non-Renewals
0
Reacquired
0
Ceased Ops
13
Transfers
0
Sold to Franchisees
0
Projected New
6

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Frequently Asked Questions

The total initial investment to open a Captain D's franchise ranges from $662,000 to $1,862,100. This includes a franchise fee of $35,000. Ongoing royalty fees are 4.5% of gross sales.