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Five Guys franchise — is it worth it?

Medium risk Growing network

What Five Guys's most recent Franchise Disclosure Document says about the money, the litigation, and the franchisee churn — before you wire a five- or six-figure franchise fee.

Everything below is free, read straight off Five Guys's registered filing, with where the numbers land against category peers. Weighing Five Guys against other options? Get a free shortlist of franchises that fit your budget.

Figures above are as disclosed in Five Guys's most recent FDD (registered 2026). Source: Minnesota Dept. of Commerce — CARDS franchise registrations · filing 37173-202608-08 — check it yourself. See every other Minnesota-registered franchise.

Five Guys franchise profit — what the FDD discloses

Plainly: Five Guys 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 Five Guys — any number quoted elsewhere is an estimate, not a disclosure. The absence is itself worth weighing; the fees, litigation and outlet churn Five Guys's FDD does contain are on this page. For brands that put earnings on paper, see Other franchises with disclosed Item 19 earnings.

Five Guys lawsuits & legal history (FDD Item 3)

Five Guys's most recently filed Franchise Disclosure Document (2026) 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 Five Guys 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.

Five Guys closures & failure rate

Before you sign, Five Guys 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 Five Guys's most recent filing shows, and whether it's normal for a franchise 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. Five Guys's latest tables show a growing franchised network. Its franchised-outlet closure rate — closures, terminations and non-renewals against outlets — is 1.3%. Net franchised outlets moved +25 to 970 in the latest reported year.

Who owns Five Guys?

Five Guys's franchise is offered by FIVE GUYS FRANCHISOR, 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 MN CARDS; it identifies the franchisor, not necessarily the ultimate parent company behind it. The same franchisor files separate FDDs for other brands, which is worth knowing — sibling brands share a franchise-support organization but disclose their own numbers:

Franchises at a similar investment level at a similar investment level

Anyone weighing Five Guys 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.

Five Guys franchise — frequently asked