Franchise Facts Report → brands → The Original Mel's
The Original Mel's franchise — is it worth it?
Medium risk Item 19 disclosed
The Original Mel's is a full-service restaurant franchise with a relatively low initial investment range.
Everything below is free, read straight off The Original Mel's's registered filing, with where the numbers land against full-service restaurant peers. Weighing The Original Mel's against other options? Get a free shortlist of franchises that fit your budget.
Figures above are as disclosed in The Original Mel's's most recent FDD (registered 2025). Source: California Dept. of Financial Protection and Innovation — Franchise Registration · filing app-32751 — check it yourself. See every other California-registered franchise.
Considering The Original Mel's? 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. The Original Mel's will be on it if it fits.
How much does a The Original Mel's franchise make?
The Original Mel's 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 $2,196,736 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 full-service restaurant brand that discloses earnings in the Full-service restaurant franchises with disclosed Item 19 earnings ranking.
The Original Mel's 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 The Original Mel's's 4.5% royalty, the ad fund, rent, payroll, supplies and debt service. No FDD tells you a The Original Mel's franchise's profit, because profit depends on your site, your rent and how you run it — so treat any "The Original Mel's franchise profit" figure quoted elsewhere as someone's estimate, not a disclosure. On $2,196,736 of revenue, a 4.5% royalty alone is about $98,853 a year before any other cost.
The Original Mel's lawsuits & legal history (FDD Item 3)
The Original Mel's's most recently filed Franchise Disclosure Document (2025) does disclose 1 legal proceeding 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 The Original Mel's 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. 1 of those proceedings were brought by franchisees against the franchisor — the split that actually matters, because franchisees suing their franchisor is the signal a buyer is looking for. Item 3 of the source FDD describes each case.
The Original Mel's closures & failure rate
Before you sign, The Original Mel's 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 The Original Mel's'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. The Original Mel's's outlet tables did not machine-read cleanly; Item 20 of the source FDD has them.
Who owns The Original Mel's?
The Original Mel's's franchise is offered by The Original Mel's Investment Group LLC — 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.
Full-service restaurant franchises at a similar investment level
Anyone weighing The Original Mel's 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.
The Original Mel's franchise — frequently asked
Who owns The Original Mel's — who is the franchisor?
The Original Mel's's most recently filed FDD (2025) names The Original Mel's Investment Group 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 The Original Mel's franchise cost?
The Original Mel's's most recently filed FDD (Item 7) puts the total estimated initial investment at $5,500 – $25,000, with an initial franchise fee of $35,000 and a 4.5% royalty. 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 The Original Mel's franchise make?
The Original Mel's discloses unit earnings in Item 19, but that figure is revenue — sales — not profit. Royalties (4.5% of gross for The Original Mel's), the ad fund, rent, payroll and supplies all come out of it, and no FDD discloses what an owner nets. Any The Original Mel's franchise profit number quoted elsewhere is an estimate. The headline figure The Original Mel's discloses is $2,196,736 in average unit revenue.
Does The Original Mel's disclose financial performance (Item 19)?
Yes — The Original Mel's reports unit-level earnings in Item 19. The headline figure is $2,196,736 in average unit revenue, as the franchisor states it.
Are there lawsuits against The Original Mel's?
The Original Mel's's most recently filed FDD (2025) discloses 1 legal proceeding in Item 3. Item 3 covers the franchisor, its predecessors, parents and affiliates — so a disclosed case is not necessarily a suit against The Original Mel's itself, and a disclosure is not a finding of wrongdoing. 1 of the disclosed proceedings were brought by franchisees against the franchisor.
Is The Original Mel's a good franchise to buy?
Nobody can answer that from The Original Mel's'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 The Original Mel's 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.