Franchise Facts Report → brands → Crafty Crab
Crafty Crab franchise — is it worth it?
Medium risk No franchised units open yet
Crafty Crab Franchising LLC is a full-service restaurant concept requiring an initial investment between $952,800 and $1,831,399.
Everything below is free, read straight off Crafty Crab's registered filing, with where the numbers land against full-service restaurant peers. Weighing Crafty Crab against other options? Get a free shortlist of franchises that fit your budget.
Figures above are as disclosed in Crafty Crab's most recent FDD (registered 2023). Source: California Dept. of Financial Protection and Innovation — Franchise Registration · filing app-28954 — check it yourself. See every other California-registered franchise.
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Tell us your budget and the industries you're open to. We'll match you with 5–10 franchises whose own FDDs fit — ranked by earnings disclosure, growth and closure rate — and email you the list. Crafty Crab will be on it if it fits.
Crafty Crab franchise profit — what the FDD discloses
Plainly: Crafty Crab 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 Crafty Crab — any number quoted elsewhere is an estimate, not a disclosure. The absence is itself worth weighing (54% of full-service restaurant franchisors in our corpus do disclose); the fees, litigation and outlet churn Crafty Crab's FDD does contain are on this page. For brands that put earnings on paper, see Full-service restaurant franchises with disclosed Item 19 earnings.
Crafty Crab lawsuits & legal history (FDD Item 3)
Crafty Crab's most recently filed Franchise Disclosure Document (2023) 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.
Crafty Crab closures & failure rate
Before you sign, Crafty Crab 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 Crafty Crab's most recent filing shows, and whether it's normal for a full-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. Crafty Crab reports no franchised units open yet — there is no operating track record to churn.
Who owns Crafty Crab?
Crafty Crab's franchise is offered by Crafty Crab Franchising LLC — the franchisor named on the cover of its most recently filed Franchise Disclosure Document (2023), 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.
Full-service restaurant franchises at a similar investment level
Anyone weighing Crafty Crab 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.
Crafty Crab franchise — frequently asked
Who owns Crafty Crab — who is the franchisor?
Crafty Crab's most recently filed FDD (2023) names Crafty Crab 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 Crafty Crab franchise cost?
Crafty Crab's most recently filed FDD (Item 7) puts the total estimated initial investment at $952,800 – $1,831,399 and a 1.5% royalty. That price is the franchisor's own estimate of what it takes to open, not a quote. Against full-service restaurant peers it sits in the upper quartile (median $1,392,100).
How much profit does a Crafty Crab franchise make?
Crafty Crab makes no Item 19 financial performance representation, so there is no franchisor-disclosed revenue or profit figure for Crafty Crab 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 Crafty Crab disclose financial performance (Item 19)?
No — Crafty Crab's most recent FDD makes no Item 19 financial performance representation. Its absence is worth weighing: 54% of full-service restaurant franchisors in our corpus do disclose.
Are there lawsuits against Crafty Crab?
No — Crafty Crab's most recently filed FDD (2023) 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 Crafty Crab a good franchise to buy?
Nobody can answer that from Crafty Crab's numbers alone — it comes down to how its investment, earnings, litigation and franchisee churn stack up against full-service restaurant peers and against your own budget. Our read on this filing is medium risk. Every figure behind that read is on this page for free. If you're comparing options, the free shortlist on this page matches you with 5–10 franchises that fit your budget and industry.
Get a free email when something changes on Crafty Crab or full-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 state registries this page is built on.