Franchise Facts Report → brands → A.b.'s Smokehouse
A.b.'s Smokehouse franchise — is it worth it?
Medium risk No franchised units open yet
A.B.'S SMOKEHOUSE FRANCHISING LLC offers a quick-service restaurant franchise with an initial investment ranging from $382,000 to $678,000.
Everything below is free, read straight off A.b.'s Smokehouse's registered filing. The $99 report is the part a single FDD can't give you: the fee and churn detail, and where every number lands against quick-service restaurant peers.
The numbers above tell you what A.b.'s Smokehouse discloses. The report tells you whether that's good:
- What the missing Item 19 means here — how many quick-service restaurant franchisors do disclose, so you know whether this silence is ordinary or not.
- Where every number ranks — investment, fees, royalty, earnings and churn against quick-service restaurant median and quartile. This is the part no single FDD, and no AI reading one, can produce.
- What's driving the medium risk read — the specific figures behind it, not the label.
- The litigation, split properly — each case, and which ones franchisees brought against the franchisor rather than the reverse.
- The questions to ask before you sign — drawn from what A.b.'s Smokehouse's own filing leaves open, in the words to use on the call.
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Compare 3 brands — $249 See a sample reportFigures above are as disclosed in A.b.'s Smokehouse's most recent FDD (registered 2025). Source: California Dept. of Financial Protection and Innovation — Franchise Registration · filing app-33729 — check it yourself. The Item 19 figures, where each number ranks against peers, and the litigation & churn detail are in the full report.
A.b.'s Smokehouse franchise profit — what the FDD discloses
Plainly: A.b.'s Smokehouse does not disclose franchise profit or revenue. Its most recent FDD makes no Item 19 financial performance representation, so there is no franchisor-backed earnings figure for A.b.'s Smokehouse — any number quoted elsewhere is an estimate, not a disclosure. The absence is itself worth weighing (many quick-service restaurant franchisors do disclose), and the full report reads the risk signals A.b.'s Smokehouse's FDD does contain — fees, litigation, and outlet churn — against peers. For brands that put earnings on paper, see Fast food & quick-service restaurant franchises with disclosed Item 19 earnings.
A.b.'s Smokehouse lawsuits & legal history (FDD Item 3)
A.b.'s Smokehouse's most recently filed Franchise Disclosure Document (2025) discloses no litigation in Item 3. That is a real signal rather than a gap: the FTC Franchise Rule requires a franchisor to disclose material litigation involving itself, its predecessors, parents, affiliates and management, so an empty Item 3 in a current filing means there was nothing it was required to report. It is worth reading alongside the churn numbers — a system can have a clean Item 3 and still be losing franchisees, which is what Item 20 shows.
A.b.'s Smokehouse closures & failure rate
Before you sign, A.b.'s Smokehouse will hand you a list of current owners to call as references — and they choose who's on that list. It won't include the owners who quit, got bought out, or were forced out last year. The FDD does report that number, even though the reference list leaves those people off. Below is what A.b.'s Smokehouse's most recent filing shows, and whether it's normal for a quick-service restaurant of this kind.
The closest thing an FDD has to a failure rate is Item 20 — outlet openings, closures, terminations and non-renewals, reported by the franchisor. A.b.'s Smokehouse reports no franchised units open yet — there is no operating track record to churn. The actual closure and termination counts, and how A.b.'s Smokehouse's churn ranks against quick-service restaurant peers, are in the full report.
What the fee, litigation and churn signals imply, every number ranked against quick-service restaurant peers, and the litigation and churn detail — delivered instantly, yours to keep.
Not useful? Reply to your delivery email within 14 days for a refund — no forms, no argument.
Who owns A.b.'s Smokehouse?
A.b.'s Smokehouse's franchise is offered by A.B.'S SMOKEHOUSE FRANCHISING LLC — the franchisor named on the cover of its most recently filed Franchise Disclosure Document (2025), and the entity a franchisee actually signs with. That name comes straight off the filing at CA DFPI; it identifies the franchisor, not necessarily the ultimate parent company behind it.
Quick-service restaurant franchises at a similar investment level
Anyone weighing A.b.'s Smokehouse is really weighing it against the other brands their money could go into. These are the closest by total initial investment (FDD Item 7), each with its own FDD-based page.
A.b.'s Smokehouse franchise — frequently asked
Who owns A.b.'s Smokehouse — who is the franchisor?
A.b.'s Smokehouse's most recently filed FDD (2025) names A.B.'S SMOKEHOUSE FRANCHISING LLC as the franchisor — the entity you would actually sign the franchise agreement with, as stated on the disclosure document itself. A registry filing names the franchisor, not necessarily its ultimate parent company.
How much does a A.b.'s Smokehouse franchise cost?
A.b.'s Smokehouse's most recently filed FDD (Item 7) puts the total estimated initial investment at $382,000 – $678,000 and a 5% royalty. That price is the franchisor's own estimate of what it takes to open, not a quote. The full report breaks down every fee line and benchmarks it against quick-service restaurant peers.
How much profit does a A.b.'s Smokehouse franchise make?
A.b.'s Smokehouse makes no Item 19 financial performance representation, so there is no franchisor-disclosed revenue or profit figure for A.b.'s Smokehouse at all — and profit would never be disclosed even where earnings are, because it depends on your rent, labor and how you operate. Any profit figure quoted elsewhere is an estimate, not a disclosure.
Does A.b.'s Smokehouse disclose financial performance (Item 19)?
No — A.b.'s Smokehouse's most recent FDD makes no Item 19 financial performance representation. Its absence is worth weighing; the report focuses on the verifiable risk signals instead.
Are there lawsuits against A.b.'s Smokehouse?
No — A.b.'s Smokehouse's most recently filed FDD (2025) discloses no litigation in Item 3. Franchisors must disclose material litigation involving themselves, their predecessors, parents, affiliates and management, so an empty Item 3 is a genuine signal rather than an omission.
Is A.b.'s Smokehouse a good franchise to buy?
Nobody can answer that from A.b.'s Smokehouse's numbers alone — it comes down to how its investment, earnings, litigation and franchisee churn stack up against quick-service restaurant peers, which is what the full report is for. Our read on this filing is medium risk, stated free above. For $99 you get the figures driving that read, the actual Item 19 earnings (absent from this FDD — and how unusual that is for the category), where every figure ranks against peers, and the specific questions to ask the franchisor before you sign.
A A.b.'s Smokehouse franchise is a $382,000 – $678,000 decision you make once, on a ten-year agreement, usually with a personal guarantee behind it. For $99 you get an independent read of the document that decides it: what the absent Item 19 earnings imply, and how unusual that absence is for the category, every figure ranked against quick-service restaurant peers, the litigation split into franchisee and corporate matters, the churn behind the outlet count — and the questions to put to the franchisor before you sign. If it tells you nothing new, reply within 14 days and we'll refund it.
Not useful? Reply to your delivery email within 14 days for a refund — no forms, no argument.
Compare 3 brands — $249Get a free email when something changes on A.b.'s Smokehouse or quick-service restaurant: a new FDD registration, a new lawsuit, an outlet count that shifts, or Item 19 earnings going from undisclosed to disclosed. Pulled straight from the same registries every report is built on.