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Del Taco vs Sonic Drive-In — which franchise is the better buy?

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

	Del Taco	Sonic Drive-In
Disclosure honesty	C	C
Investment from	$1,497,200	$670,200
Total fees	9%	9.15%
Outlets	594	3,120
Lawsuits	12	2

Del Taco: what their numbers say

Franchised restaurants: avg sales $1,613,899 (2024). Company-owned: avg sales $1,804,158, operating profit $383,324 before rent. Data from 387 franchised, 116 company-owned locations. No audited verification.

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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