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Crave Hot Dogs & BBQ
Crave Hot Dogs & BBQ franchises quick-service restaurants, express outlets in Walmart locations, food trucks, and multi-unit developments offering hot dogs, cased meats, barbecue items, beverages, appetizers, and side dishes. Restaurants may serve beer and wine, with larger ones optionally adding axe throwing lanes, while food trucks do not offer alcohol. The business model relies on proprietary recipes, systems, trademarks, and operational standards to provide casual fast-casual dining, targeting customers in high-traffic areas like malls, strip centers, Walmarts, and public spaces.
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Franchise Costs
8% royalty + 2% brand development fund + $437-$1,548/mo fixed tech/software fees (POS, apps, CO2, menu board, mystery shopper)
Financial Performance
Item 19 Financial Performance
This franchise did not provide Item 19 financial performance data.
Be careful if you are interested in investing. The lack of financial performance representations may indicate limited data or varying results across franchises.
Extracted Item 19 Section
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Unlock financial performance dataCrave Hot Dogs & BBQ Franchise Analysis
Crave Hot Dogs & BBQ bursts onto the scene with hot dogs, BBQ, Walmart express units, and even optional axe-throwing lanes, promising versatile fast-casual vibes in high-traffic spots. Yet FDD Item 20 uncovers a sharp system contraction, while Item 3 highlights franchisee lawsuits alleging misrepresentation and legal violations. Can ambitious expansion plans overcome these red flags, or is the real story one of stalling momentum?
Financially, Item 7 pegs total investment at $260,600-$1,068,500, covering buildouts from food trucks ($261K low end) to full restaurants with alcohol and entertainment (up to $1.07M). Upfront franchise fee hits $45,000, followed by 8% royalty, 2% brand/ad fund, and fixed monthly tech fees of $437-$1,548 for POS, apps, and mystery shoppers. Notably, no Item 19 disclosure means zero official earnings data— a major gap forcing reliance on indirect signals like 36 SBA loans averaging $518,247 with a low 5.6% default rate, suggesting financed units are mostly holding up despite scale.
System health metrics paint a mixed picture: just 22 locations after shrinking 17% from 24 (2023) to 20 (2024), with 1 termination and 4 transfers per Item 20. Franchising since 2018, it projects 75 new units, but litigation under Michigan law and FTC rules claims fraud, eroding trust. For investors, low defaults hint viability in quick-service niches, but absent revenues and contraction signal caution—multi-unit developers might weather it, while singles face higher risk without proven cash flow transparency.
Analysis based on the 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document. All figures should be independently verified before making investment decisions.
How Crave Hot Dogs & BBQ Compares
Key Insights
- Lower than average SBA loan default rate in Fast Food
| Franchise | Investment | Fee | Royalty | Locations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Crave Hot Dogs & BBQ Current | $261K – $1.1M | $45K | 8.0% | 22 |
| MCDONALD'S | $1.5M – $2.6M | $45K | N/A | 12,772 |
| LITTLE CAESARS | $377K – $1.8M | $20K | 6.0% | 3,788 |
| AFC | $45K – $151K | $6K | 9.5% | 3,572 |
| KFC (NON-TRADITIONAL) | $1.2M – $4.2M | $45K | N/A | 3,404 |
| SONIC DRIVE-IN | $1.5M – $2.5M | $15K | 5.0% | 3,120 |
Fast Food Average 132 franchises | $602K – $1.6M | $35K | 6.1% | – |
* Comparison based on latest FDD filings. Investment ranges from Item 7, fees from Item 5. Showing top 5 of 132 Fast Food franchises by location count.
Locations & Growth
Outlet Growth Over Time
Total outlets at end of each year
Geographic Distribution (2024)
Outlets by state across the United States
+2 more states
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Unlock location growth dataSBA Loan History
Historical SBA 7(a) loan data for Crave Hot Dogs & BBQ franchisees (2019 – 2025)
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.
36 SBA loans on record
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Unlock SBA loan historyFranchisee Contacts
57 franchisee contacts on file from official FDD filings.
57 Contacts Available
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Unlock contactsDue Diligence
Litigation (Item 3)
Franchisee claims of fraudulent misrepresentation, violations of Michigan Franchise Investment Law, and FTC Franchise Rule.
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
System Health (Item 20)
Franchise system changes reported in the most recent fiscal year
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Unlock due diligence reportsFrequently Asked Questions
The total initial investment to open a Crave Hot Dogs & BBQ franchise ranges from $260,600 to $1,068,500. This includes a franchise fee of $45,000. Ongoing royalty fees are 8.0% of gross sales.
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