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Clean Eatz vs Sonic Drive-In — which franchise is the better buy?

Side by side from the public FDDs — no franchisor spin.

	Clean Eatz	Sonic Drive-In
Disclosure honesty	B	C
Investment from	$353,700	$670,200
Total fees	8%	9.15%
Outlets	98	3,120
Lawsuits	0	2

Clean Eatz: what their numbers say

2023 data: 67 franchises open 18+ months. Average gross sales $1,086,720; median $976,634. Bottom 25% averaged $616,104. EBITDA averaged $153,230 (excludes owner salary). 40% achieved/exceeded average.

Sonic Drive-In: what their numbers say

Discloses AUVs (gross sales only) for 3,057 franchised traditional restaurants by quartile and venue type. No costs, expenses, or net income shown. Excludes 56 closed locations and underperforming non-traditional units, skewing results upward.

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