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McDonald's vs Sonic Drive-In — which franchise is the better buy?

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

	McDonald's	Sonic Drive-In
Disclosure honesty	C	C
Investment from	—	$670,200
Total fees	9%	9.15%
Outlets	13,457	3,120
Lawsuits	19	2

McDonald's: what their numbers say

Discloses avg $3.96M franchised sales + pro forma operating income before occupancy at 3 tiers; excludes rent, royalty, D&A, interest — overstates profitability

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.

Get the real owner take-home for either — $149

Full net-profit math, financing, red flags. See a sample →