Franchise Facts Report → brands → Philly's Best
Philly's Best franchise — is it worth it?
Medium risk Shrinking network Item 19 disclosed
Philly's Best offers a quick-service restaurant franchise opportunity specializing in cheesesteaks and hoagies, with an initial investment ranging from $334,500 to $867,000.
Everything below is free, read straight off Philly's Best's registered filing, with where the numbers land against quick-service restaurant peers. Weighing Philly's Best against other options? Get a free shortlist of franchises that fit your budget.
Figures above are as disclosed in Philly's Best's most recent FDD (registered 2025). Source: California Dept. of Financial Protection and Innovation — Franchise Registration · filing app-33039 — check it yourself. See every other California-registered franchise.
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How much does a Philly's Best franchise make?
Philly's Best 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 is $687,565 in average unit revenue — read it alongside what Item 19 says about which units it covers (often only mature or top-performing locations). See every quick-service restaurant brand that discloses earnings in the Fast food & quick-service restaurant franchises with disclosed Item 19 earnings ranking.
Philly's Best 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 Philly's Best's 6% royalty, the ad fund, rent, payroll, supplies and debt service. No FDD tells you a Philly's Best franchise's profit, because profit depends on your site, your rent and how you run it — so treat any "Philly's Best franchise profit" figure quoted elsewhere as someone's estimate, not a disclosure. On $687,565 of revenue, a 6% royalty alone is about $41,254 a year before any other cost.
Philly's Best lawsuits & legal history (FDD Item 3)
Philly's Best's most recently filed Franchise Disclosure Document (2025) 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.
Philly's Best closures & failure rate
Before you sign, Philly's Best 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 Philly's Best'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. Philly's Best's latest tables show a shrinking franchised network — more units left than opened. Its franchised-outlet closure rate — closures, terminations and non-renewals against outlets — is 5.9%, against a quick-service restaurant median of 2.9% — worse than the category. Net franchised outlets moved -1 to 16 in the latest reported year.
Who owns Philly's Best?
Philly's Best's franchise is offered by Philly Foods, Inc. — the franchisor named on the cover of its most recently filed Franchise Disclosure Document (2025), 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.
Quick-service restaurant franchises at a similar investment level
Anyone weighing Philly's Best 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.
Philly's Best franchise — frequently asked
Who owns Philly's Best — who is the franchisor?
Philly's Best's most recently filed FDD (2025) names Philly Foods, 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 Philly's Best franchise cost?
Philly's Best's most recently filed FDD (Item 7) puts the total estimated initial investment at $334,500 – $867,000, with an initial franchise fee of $25,000 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 upper quartile (median $604,609).
How much profit does a Philly's Best franchise make?
Philly's Best discloses unit earnings in Item 19, but that figure is revenue — sales — not profit. Royalties (6% of gross for Philly's Best), the ad fund, rent, payroll and supplies all come out of it, and no FDD discloses what an owner nets. Any Philly's Best franchise profit number quoted elsewhere is an estimate. The headline figure Philly's Best discloses is $687,565 in average unit revenue.
Does Philly's Best disclose financial performance (Item 19)?
Yes — Philly's Best reports unit-level earnings in Item 19. The headline figure is $687,565 in average unit revenue, as the franchisor states it.
Are there lawsuits against Philly's Best?
No — Philly's Best's most recently filed FDD (2025) 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 Philly's Best a good franchise to buy?
Nobody can answer that from Philly's Best'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 Philly's Best 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.