Dave's Hot Chicken franchise: what it costs
Opening a free-standing Dave's Hot Chicken restaurant runs $823,800 to $4,121,900. That figure comes from the 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD), papers a brand must hand you before you buy.
Item-by-item cost of a Dave's Hot Chicken franchise
- Total opening cost
- $823,800 to $4,121,900 Item 7, 2026 FDD
- Franchise fee you pay one time at the start
- $40,000 Item 5, 2026 FDD
- Royalty, your ongoing payments to the brand
- A 6% share of gross sales Item 6, 2026 FDD
- Marketing fund, which covers shared advertising
- A 4% share of gross sales Item 6, 2026 FDD
- Figures on sales or earnings
- No figures shared Item 19, 2026 FDD
- Location count as 2025 ended
- Franchise owners ran 348; the company ran 10 Item 20, 2026 FDD
The 2026 Dave's Hot Chicken Franchise Disclosure Document, filed with the Minnesota Department of Commerce by Dave's Hot Chicken Franchise Co. SPV LLC, is where each figure above comes from. Each small label points to the numbered part of the FDD where that figure sits.
Inside the Dave's Hot Chicken FDD: Sales and earnings figures
The FDD stays silent on location sales or profit because Dave's Hot Chicken puts no such figures in Item 19. Ask the owners listed under Item 20, the FDD's list covering locations and owners, how much they earn.
Our guide shows the way to read Item 19 before you trust any number from it.
Other chicken franchises next to Dave's Hot Chicken
On this site, most chicken franchises cost more to open than Dave's Hot Chicken; $1.19M is where the middle one starts.
| Brand | Total cost to opentotal, lowest to highest | Upfront feeone-time fee | Royaltyongoing, usually a % of sales | Sales or earnings showndoes the brand show sales figures | Year filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chick-fil-A | $318K to $3.46M | $10,000 | 15% + 50% of profit | Yes | 2026 |
| Chicken Salad Chick | $777K to $999K | $50,000 | 5% | Yes | 2026 |
| Dave's Hot Chicken | $824K to $4.12M | $40,000 | 6% | No | 2026 |
| Slim Chickens | $1.19M to $4.94M | $30,000 | 5% | Yes | 2026 |
| Popeyes | $1.22M to $3.92M | $50,000 | 5% | Yes | 2026 |
| Zaxby's | $1.45M to $3.81M | $35,000 | 6% | Yes | 2025 |
| KFC | $2.11M to $4.16M | $45,000 | 5% | Yes | 2026 |
Before you buy, a brand has to hand over its Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD); the brand's latest one is where every figure comes from. After you open, the royalty is what you still pay the brand: part of sales or a set amount. "Sales or earnings shown" tells whether the brand says what its locations take in. A K stands for thousand, an M for million. The filing year is the year that FDD was listed with the Minnesota Department of Commerce.
All chicken franchises, side by side
The number of Dave's Hot Chicken locations
Franchise owners ran 97% (Item 20) of the 358 Dave's Hot Chicken locations in the United States when 2025 ended. In that same part of the FDD, you get phone numbers for owners still running stores and ones who left. Your best way to learn how these costs play out in real life is to call a few of them.
Get the Dave's Hot Chicken FDD read by a franchise attorney
Before you sign, one franchise attorney can go through the Dave's Hot Chicken FDD and franchise agreement with you.