Franchise Facts Report → brands → Crazy Otto's Diner
Crazy Otto's Diner franchise — is it worth it?
Medium risk Shrinking network
Crazy Otto's Diner is a full-service restaurant concept with a single existing franchised outlet.
Everything below is free, read straight off Crazy Otto's Diner's registered filing, with where the numbers land against full-service restaurant peers. Weighing Crazy Otto's Diner against other options? Get a free shortlist of franchises that fit your budget.
Figures above are as disclosed in Crazy Otto's Diner's most recent FDD (registered 2024). Source: California Dept. of Financial Protection and Innovation — Franchise Registration · filing app-30630 — check it yourself. See every other California-registered franchise.
Considering Crazy Otto's Diner? See what else fits your budget
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. Crazy Otto's Diner will be on it if it fits.
Crazy Otto's Diner franchise profit — what the FDD discloses
Plainly: Crazy Otto's Diner 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 Crazy Otto's Diner — 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 Crazy Otto's Diner'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.
Crazy Otto's Diner lawsuits & legal history (FDD Item 3)
Crazy Otto's Diner's most recently filed Franchise Disclosure Document (2024) 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.
Crazy Otto's Diner closures & failure rate
Before you sign, Crazy Otto's Diner 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 Crazy Otto's Diner'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. Crazy Otto's Diner's latest tables show a shrinking franchised network — more units left than opened. Net franchised outlets moved -1 to 1 in the latest reported year.
Who owns Crazy Otto's Diner?
Crazy Otto's Diner's franchise is offered by Engine No.9, Inc. — 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.
Full-service restaurant franchises at a similar investment level
Anyone weighing Crazy Otto's Diner 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.
Crazy Otto's Diner franchise — frequently asked
Who owns Crazy Otto's Diner — who is the franchisor?
Crazy Otto's Diner's most recently filed FDD (2024) names Engine No.9, Inc. 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 Crazy Otto's Diner franchise cost?
Crazy Otto's Diner's most recently filed FDD (Item 7) puts the total estimated initial investment at $563,200 – $760,400, with an initial franchise fee of $25,000. 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 top quartile (median $1,392,100).
How much profit does a Crazy Otto's Diner franchise make?
Crazy Otto's Diner makes no Item 19 financial performance representation, so there is no franchisor-disclosed revenue or profit figure for Crazy Otto's Diner 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 Crazy Otto's Diner disclose financial performance (Item 19)?
No — Crazy Otto's Diner'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 Crazy Otto's Diner?
No — Crazy Otto's Diner's most recently filed FDD (2024) 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 Crazy Otto's Diner a good franchise to buy?
Nobody can answer that from Crazy Otto's Diner'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 Crazy Otto's Diner 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.