Franchise Facts Report → brands → Straw Hat
Straw Hat franchise — is it worth it?
Medium risk Growing network Item 19 disclosed
Straw Hat is a quick-service restaurant franchise with a moderate investment range.
Everything below is free, read straight off Straw Hat's registered filing, with where the numbers land against quick-service restaurant peers. Weighing Straw Hat against other options? Get a free shortlist of franchises that fit your budget.
Figures above are as disclosed in Straw Hat's most recent FDD (registered 2024). Source: California Dept. of Financial Protection and Innovation — Franchise Registration · filing app-27814 — check it yourself. See every other California-registered franchise.
Considering Straw Hat? 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. Straw Hat will be on it if it fits.
How much does a Straw Hat franchise make?
Straw Hat 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 $551,535 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.
Straw Hat 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 Straw Hat's 4% royalty, the ad fund, rent, payroll, supplies and debt service. No FDD tells you a Straw Hat franchise's profit, because profit depends on your site, your rent and how you run it — so treat any "Straw Hat franchise profit" figure quoted elsewhere as someone's estimate, not a disclosure. On $551,535 of revenue, a 4% royalty alone is about $22,061 a year before any other cost.
Straw Hat lawsuits & legal history (FDD Item 3)
We do not publish a litigation answer for Straw Hat. Item 3 could not be read reliably from this particular filing, and a claim that a company has no legal history is not one to make on a failed parse — so we say we do not know instead. Item 3 of the FDD itself is the place to check; the methodology page explains what we do and do not machine-read.
Straw Hat closures & failure rate
Before you sign, Straw Hat 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 Straw Hat'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. Straw Hat's latest tables show a growing franchised network. Net franchised outlets moved +1 to 29 in the latest reported year.
Who owns Straw Hat?
Straw Hat's franchise is offered by Straw Hat Restaurants, 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.
Quick-service restaurant franchises at a similar investment level
Anyone weighing Straw Hat 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.
Straw Hat franchise — frequently asked
Who owns Straw Hat — who is the franchisor?
Straw Hat's most recently filed FDD (2024) names Straw Hat Restaurants, 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 Straw Hat franchise cost?
Straw Hat's most recently filed FDD (Item 7) puts the total estimated initial investment at $145,000 – $1,568,000, with an initial franchise fee of $30,000 and a 4% 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 lower quartile (median $604,609).
How much profit does a Straw Hat franchise make?
Straw Hat discloses unit earnings in Item 19, but that figure is revenue — sales — not profit. Royalties (4% of gross for Straw Hat), the ad fund, rent, payroll and supplies all come out of it, and no FDD discloses what an owner nets. Any Straw Hat franchise profit number quoted elsewhere is an estimate. The headline figure Straw Hat discloses is $551,535 in average unit revenue.
Does Straw Hat disclose financial performance (Item 19)?
Yes — Straw Hat reports unit-level earnings in Item 19. The headline figure is $551,535 in average unit revenue, as the franchisor states it.
Are there lawsuits against Straw Hat?
We do not publish a litigation answer for Straw Hat: Item 3 could not be read reliably from this filing, and we would rather say so than assert a clean record we have not verified. Item 3 of the FDD itself is the place to check.
Is Straw Hat a good franchise to buy?
Nobody can answer that from Straw Hat'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 Straw Hat 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.