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Buffalo Spot franchise — is it worth it?

Low risk Growing network Item 19 disclosed

Buffalo Spot is a quick-service restaurant franchise that provides Item 19 financial performance representations, a positive indicator of transparency.

Everything below is free, read straight off Buffalo Spot's registered filing. Weighing Buffalo Spot against other options? Get a free shortlist of franchises that fit your budget.

Figures above are as disclosed in Buffalo Spot's most recent FDD (registered 2024). Source: California Dept. of Financial Protection and Innovation — Franchise Registration · filing app-27239 — check it yourself. See every other California-registered franchise.

How much does a Buffalo Spot franchise make?

Buffalo Spot is one of the franchisors that answers this on the record: its most recent FDD makes an Item 19 financial performance representation — actual unit earnings figures, disclosed by the franchisor itself. The headline figure did not machine-read cleanly from this filing, so we don't print one; Item 19 of the source FDD has the tables. See every quick-service restaurant brand that discloses earnings in the Fast food & quick-service restaurant franchises with disclosed Item 19 earnings ranking.

Buffalo Spot franchise profit vs. revenue

Revenue is not profit. An Item 19 almost always reports sales — what a location takes in — not what an owner keeps. Out of that number come Buffalo Spot's 5% royalty, the ad fund, rent, payroll, supplies and debt service. No FDD tells you a Buffalo Spot franchise's profit, because profit depends on your site, your rent and how you run it — so treat any "Buffalo Spot franchise profit" figure quoted elsewhere as someone's estimate, not a disclosure.

Buffalo Spot lawsuits & legal history (FDD Item 3)

Buffalo Spot's most recently filed Franchise Disclosure Document (2024) does disclose legal proceedings in Item 3 . Item 3 is the item where a franchisor must put its material legal history on the record. Two things it is not: it covers the franchisor and its predecessors, parents and affiliates, so a disclosed case is not necessarily a suit against Buffalo Spot itself; and a disclosure is a fact, not a finding of wrongdoing — most entries are contract disputes with former franchisees, which every large system accumulates. Item 3 of the source FDD describes each case.

Buffalo Spot closures & failure rate

Before you sign, Buffalo Spot 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 Buffalo Spot'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. Buffalo Spot's latest tables show a growing franchised network. Its franchised-outlet closure rate — closures, terminations and non-renewals against outlets — is 0%, against a quick-service restaurant median of 2.9% — at or better than the category. Net franchised outlets moved +1 to 30 in the latest reported year.

Who owns Buffalo Spot?

Buffalo Spot's franchise is offered by The Buffalo Spot Global, LLC — the franchisor named on the cover of its most recently filed Franchise Disclosure Document (2024), 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.

Other quick-service restaurant franchises

Anyone weighing Buffalo Spot 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.

Buffalo Spot franchise — frequently asked