Franchise Facts Report → brands → Dave's Hot Chicken
Dave's Hot Chicken franchise — is it worth it?
Medium risk Growing network
Dave's Hot Chicken is a quick-service restaurant brand with a significant footprint of 348 outlets.
Everything below is free, read straight off Dave's Hot Chicken's registered filing, with where the numbers land against quick-service restaurant peers. Weighing Dave's Hot Chicken against other options? Get a free shortlist of franchises that fit your budget.
Figures above are as disclosed in Dave's Hot Chicken's most recent FDD (registered 2026). Source: Wisconsin Dept. of Financial Institutions — Franchise Registration · filing 641604 — check it yourself. See every other Wisconsin-registered franchise.
Considering Dave's Hot Chicken? 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. Dave's Hot Chicken will be on it if it fits.
Dave's Hot Chicken franchise profit — what the FDD discloses
Plainly: Dave's Hot Chicken 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 Dave's Hot Chicken — any number quoted elsewhere is an estimate, not a disclosure. The absence is itself worth weighing (56% of quick-service restaurant franchisors in our corpus do disclose); the fees, litigation and outlet churn Dave's Hot Chicken's FDD does contain are on this page. For brands that put earnings on paper, see Fast food & quick-service restaurant franchises with disclosed Item 19 earnings.
Dave's Hot Chicken lawsuits & legal history (FDD Item 3)
Dave's Hot Chicken's most recently filed Franchise Disclosure Document (2026) does disclose 4 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 Dave's Hot Chicken 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.
Dave's Hot Chicken closures & failure rate
Before you sign, Dave's Hot Chicken 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 Dave's Hot Chicken'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. Dave's Hot Chicken's latest tables show a growing franchised network. Its franchised-outlet closure rate — closures, terminations and non-renewals against outlets — is 0.9%, against a quick-service restaurant median of 2.9% — at or better than the category. Net franchised outlets moved +115 to 348 in the latest reported year.
Who owns Dave's Hot Chicken?
Dave's Hot Chicken's franchise is offered by Dave's Hot Chicken Franchise Co. SPV LLC — the franchisor named on the cover of its most recently filed Franchise Disclosure Document (2026), and the entity a franchisee actually signs with. That name comes straight off the filing at WI DFI; it identifies the franchisor, not necessarily the ultimate parent company behind it.
Quick-service restaurant franchises at a similar investment level
Anyone weighing Dave's Hot Chicken 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.
Dave's Hot Chicken franchise — frequently asked
Who owns Dave's Hot Chicken — who is the franchisor?
Dave's Hot Chicken's most recently filed FDD (2026) names Dave's Hot Chicken Franchise Co. SPV 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 Dave's Hot Chicken franchise cost?
Dave's Hot Chicken's most recently filed FDD (Item 7) puts the total estimated initial investment at $823,800 – $4,121,900, with an initial franchise fee of $20,000 and a 6% royalty. That price is the franchisor's own estimate of what it takes to open, not a quote. Against quick-service restaurant peers it sits in the bottom quartile (median $604,609).
How much profit does a Dave's Hot Chicken franchise make?
Dave's Hot Chicken makes no Item 19 financial performance representation, so there is no franchisor-disclosed revenue or profit figure for Dave's Hot Chicken 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 Dave's Hot Chicken disclose financial performance (Item 19)?
No — Dave's Hot Chicken's most recent FDD makes no Item 19 financial performance representation. Its absence is worth weighing: 56% of quick-service restaurant franchisors in our corpus do disclose.
Are there lawsuits against Dave's Hot Chicken?
Dave's Hot Chicken's most recently filed FDD (2026) discloses 4 legal proceedings in Item 3. Item 3 covers the franchisor, its predecessors, parents and affiliates — so a disclosed case is not necessarily a suit against Dave's Hot Chicken itself, and a disclosure is not a finding of wrongdoing.
Is Dave's Hot Chicken a good franchise to buy?
Nobody can answer that from Dave's Hot Chicken's numbers alone — it comes down to how its investment, earnings, litigation and franchisee churn stack up against quick-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 Dave's Hot Chicken 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 state registries this page is built on.