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Dave's Hot Chicken
Dave’s Hot Chicken franchises fast-casual restaurants featuring Nashville-style hot chicken tenders and sliders with made-to-order spice levels, along with related food and drink items in a fun dining format. The business model primarily offers multi-unit area development franchises requiring a minimum of three restaurants in a designated area, with options for single-unit franchises in traditional, non-traditional, or food truck formats. It targets multi-unit operators and entrepreneurs in the quick-service restaurant industry seeking high-investment opportunities in spicy chicken concepts.
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Franchise Costs
6% royalty + 4% creative fund + $1070-$2300/mo fixed fees
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 dataHow Dave's Hot Chicken Compares
Key Insights
- Top 10 largest franchise system in Fast Casual
- One of the lowest SBA loan default rates in Fast Casual
| Franchise | Investment | Fee | Royalty | Locations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Dave's Hot Chicken Current | $617K – $2.6M | $40K | 6.0% | 348 |
| Tropical Smoothie Cafe | $276K – $771K | $35K | 6.0% | 1,650 |
| TROPICAL SMOOTHIE CAFÉ | $300K – $721K | $35K | 6.0% | 1,371 |
| FIREHOUSE SUBS RESTAURANTS (UNIT) | $405K – $1.6M | $20K | 6.0% | 1,249 |
| Zaxby's | $1.4M – $3.8M | $35K | 6.0% | 826 |
| Qdoba | $548K – $1.3M | $40K | 5.0% | 652 |
Fast Casual Average 108 franchises | $519K – $1.2M | $39K | 5.6% | – |
* Comparison based on latest FDD filings. Investment ranges from Item 7, fees from Item 5. Showing top 5 of 108 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
+29 more states
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Unlock location growth dataSBA Loan History
Historical SBA 7(a) loan data for Dave's Hot Chicken franchisees (2023 – 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.
5 SBA loans on record
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Unlock SBA loan historyFranchisee Contacts
1 franchisee contacts on file from official FDD filings.
1 Contacts Available
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Unlock contactsDue Diligence
Litigation (Item 3)
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 Dave's Hot Chicken franchise ranges from $616,800 to $2,632,500. This includes a franchise fee of $40,000. Ongoing royalty fees are 6.0% of gross sales.