Lee's Famous Recipe®
Disclosure honesty
Lee's Famous Recipe® discloses earnings (Item 19) — but the grade is how honestly. We graded it B.
What their own earnings claim actually says
2025 affiliate-owned location data: average gross sales $2.13M, 4-Wall EBITDAR $365K (17.1%). Top third averaged $2.81M sales, $584K EBITDAR. Only 40% met average performance.
Is Lee's Famous Recipe® worth it? — how it compares to 105 similar franchises
| Ongoing fees | 8% of sales | lower than most (median 8%) |
| Startup cost | from $1,340,600 | pricier than 86% of peers |
| Disclosure honesty | Grade B | more honest than 83% of quick service restaurants franchises |
| Closure rate | 0.8% of outlets | better than most (median 1.2%) |
| Disclosed lawsuits | 0 | fewer than most |
Benchmarked against every quick service restaurants franchise we've graded from public FDDs — the context the franchisor's pitch never gives you.
Owner take-home for a Lee's Famous Recipe®
The franchisor's framing: 2025 affiliate-owned location data: average gross sales $2.13M, 4-Wall EBITDAR $365K (17.1… We reconstruct what an owner actually keeps, from their own FDD.
- Reconstructed owner P&L — net take-home after royalty, ad fund, rent, labor & debt
- Break-even timeline + cash-on-cash ROI
- Full fee stack + required-purchase markups
- Decoded real failure / closure rate
- How it ranks vs comparable franchises
- Validation-call playbook — the exact questions to ask
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Lee's Famous Recipe® franchise — frequently asked
- How much does a Lee's Famous Recipe® franchise cost?
- The FDD lists a total initial investment of about $1,340,600–$2,564,000, including a $35,000 initial franchise fee.
- How much do Lee's Famous Recipe® franchise owners make?
- 2025 affiliate-owned location data: average gross sales $2.13M, 4-Wall EBITDAR $365K (17.1%). Top third averaged $2.81M sales, $584K EBITDAR. Only 40% met average performance. We grade this disclosure B for honesty.
- What is the Lee's Famous Recipe® franchise failure rate?
- Franchised outlets declined 13 units (2024), 1 unit (2025); reacquisitions indicate company buybacks.
- Is a Lee's Famous Recipe® franchise worth it?
- It depends on the numbers, not the pitch. Lee's Famous Recipe® scores B on disclosure honesty, carries about 8% of sales in ongoing fees. Get the real owner take-home before you sign.
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Compare Lee's Famous Recipe® to similar franchises
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Source: WI DFI Franchise Registration (2026). FranchiseValidate is independent and not affiliated with Lee's Famous Recipe® or its franchisor. Figures are extracted from the franchisor's own public disclosure document; verify against the current FDD before any decision.