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Casual Dining Franchise Opportunities

Casual dining franchises offer a full-service restaurant experience with a proven operational model. While investment levels are typically higher than quick-service concepts, successful casual dining franchises generate substantial revenue per unit. This category has evolved significantly, with many brands adapting to off-premise dining trends.

§ Drawn from 86 casual-dining FDDs on file · latest filings

What 86 filings say

The category, read from the documents.

Not estimates — every figure below is aggregated from the disclosure documents themselves.

Total initial investment · distribution

Where 86 disclosed ranges land. Median $1,154,000.

The $1–1.5M band holds the median filing. The middle half of these brands sit between $629,000 and $2,024,000.

72%

disclose an Item 19

62 of 86 brands on file, against 73% across every brand in the database.

34

median U.S. unit count

Across the 83 brands that disclose an outlet count in their latest filing.

5%

median royalty

Across the 86 brands that state a single rate; the rest tie royalties to sales tiers or charge none.

+1.8%

median outlet change, 2025 to 2026

Across the 19 brands that filed in both years: 12 grew, 7 shrank.

Figures are drawn straight from each brand’s latest FDD. See our franchise industry reports for the trends behind these numbers.

Casual Dining Franchise Brands

Showing 9 of 86 casual-dining franchises with a published breakdown. Search all casual dining brands →

Applebee's

FDD 2025–2026

Total investment

$616K–$5.9M

U.S. units

1,480

Royalty

4%

Item 19

Disclosed

Buffalo Wild Wings

FDD 2025–2026

Total investment

$2.4M–$5M

U.S. units

1,178

Royalty

5%

Item 19

Disclosed

Captain D's

FDD 2024–2026

Total investment

$662K–$1.9M

U.S. units

518

Royalty

4.5%

Item 19

Disclosed

Denny's

FDD 2025–2026

Total investment

$1.6M–$3.1M

U.S. units

1,274

Royalty

7%

Item 19

Disclosed

Freddy's

FDD 2025–2026

Total investment

$854K–$2.9M

U.S. units

580

Royalty

5%

Item 19

Disclosed

Fujisan Fresh Harvest

FDD 2025–2026

Total investment

$28K–$105K

U.S. units

773

Royalty

15%

Item 19

Not disclosed

Golden Corral

FDD 2025–2026

Total investment

$1.4M–$6.2M

U.S. units

348

Royalty

4%

Item 19

Disclosed

Panda Express

FDD 2025–2026

Total investment

$514K–$3.3M

U.S. units

2,607

Royalty

8%

Item 19

Disclosed

Panera Bread

FDD 2025–2026

Total investment

$1.3M–$4.6M

U.S. units

2,214

Royalty

5%

Item 19

Disclosed

Past the table

Every number above has a page it comes from.

A Workspace opens the brand’s actual FDD next to its Clearly Report — every figure cited to the Item and page, questions answered from this filing only, and both years side by side when the brand has filed twice.

See a Workspace →
The ClearlyFDD Workspace showing an FDD page beside the extracted figures for a franchise brand.