Bennigan's franchise: cost, fees & unit track record
Opening a Bennigan's franchise takes $1,040,300 – $3,043,550 all-in, per its franchise disclosure filings (data as of 2026-05). The initial franchise fee is $50,000. Ongoing, franchisees pay a royalty of 4% on sales plus an ad-fund contribution of up to 1%. To qualify, Bennigan's asks for $750,000 in liquid cash. Anything the filings do not state is marked "Not disclosed" below — never estimated.
Bennigan's franchise costs and fees
| Verification mark | Cost item | Low | High | Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise feeOne-time, paid to the franchisor at signing | $50,000 | $50,000 | $50,000 | |
| Initial investment (all-in)FDD Item 7-derived range: build-out, equipment, opening costs | $1,040,300 | $3,043,550 | $1,040,300 to $3,043,550 | |
| Net worth requiredFranchisor's stated qualification minimum | Not disclosed1 | Not disclosed1 | ||
| Liquid cash requiredFranchisor's stated qualification minimum | $750,000 | $750,000 | $750,000 | |
| Cash to open (all-in range) | $1,040,300 | $3,043,550 | $1,040,300 to $3,043,550 | |
- 1 "Not disclosed" means Bennigan's's filings do not state this figure. We publish the gap instead of estimating it.
| RoyaltyOngoing, % of sales | 4% |
|---|---|
| Ad fundOngoing, % of sales | Up to 1% |
| Initial termLength of the first franchise agreement | 15 years |
See the full Bennigan's cost breakdown — what's in that number and what isn't
How Bennigan's's cost compares
A dollar figure means more with a yardstick. Here is where Bennigan's's disclosed cost sits against the Food & Beverage category:
- Minimum startup cost of $1,040,300 — about 3.7× the Food & Beverage median of $282,500.
- Initial franchise fee of $50,000 — about 1.4× the Food & Beverage median of $35,000.
Category medians are computed from the Food & Beverage brands in our data that disclosed each figure — a benchmark for scale, not a quality judgment. See all Food & Beverage franchises
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How Bennigan's's units have held up
Openings and closures from FDD Item 20-style unit history, 2012–2016: began the window at 35 units; 10 units opened, 24 closed, ending at 15 units.
What about earnings?
We don't publish per-brand earnings figures — for Bennigan's or anyone else. The only primary source is Item 19 of the brand's own franchise disclosure document (FDD), and no law requires a franchisor to publish one, so the "average owner income" numbers circulating elsewhere are usually unsourced or survivorship-biased. Ask Bennigan's for its current FDD and read Item 19 yourself — and if there is no Item 19, that silence is information too.
What this data can't tell you
Everything on this page comes from disclosure filings — fees, ranges, and unit counts. Four questions that matter just as much are not in any filing we can source, so we say so instead of guessing:
- The hours and the labor
- No dataset field says whether Bennigan's is a manage-from-a-laptop business or a 60-hour week in disguise. Item 15 of the FDD states whether you're obligated to run the business personally, and Item 11 lists what the franchisor actually does for you — then ask current owners what their week looks like (validation calls), not the sales team.
- How hands-on the ownership really is
- "Semi-absentee" is a pitch, not a filing field. Treat any hands-off claim as unverified until it's consistent with Item 15 and with what multiple current franchisees tell you — what absentee ownership actually means.
- Your territory — whether it's protected, and whether it's open
- Two territory questions sit outside our data. Whether Bennigan's grants a protected or exclusive area is set in Item 12 of the FDD and varies brand to brand — some grant none, and the carve-outs (online sales, national accounts) matter as much as the map. And filing data can't say what's open in your market this month; only Bennigan's can confirm current availability. Ask both before you inquire, and get the answer in writing.
- What owners earn
- Covered honestly above: our dataset has no earnings fields, the only primary source is the brand's own Item 19, and here is how to read that evidence.
About the Bennigan's franchise
Bennigan's is a food & beverage franchisor with 15 units at the end of 2016 (FDD Item 20-style unit history). Between 2012 and 2016, it began the window at 35 units; its filings record 10 unit openings and 24 closures, ending at 15 units. Its parent company is Bennigan's Franchising Company, LLC.
No franchise-related lawsuits reported in the disclosure data we hold (FDD Item 3, as of 2026-05) — an absence in our sources, not a guarantee; confirm against the brand's current FDD.
From the franchisor's materials
The franchisee will operate a Bennigan’s® restaurant that offers a wide variety of menu items featuring moderately-priced meals, including steak, prime rib, seafood, chicken, salads, sandwiches, and other dinner and luncheon entrees, along with a full bar. You may also offer a “Bennigan’s-on-the-Fly™” restaurant. Bennigan’s-on-the-Fly restaurants are usually developed within a host facility like an airport, shopping mall food court, office building, college or university, sports stadium, sports arena, entertainment center, or military base.
Bennigan's franchise: quick answers
- How much does a Bennigan's franchise cost?
- $1,040,300 – $3,043,550 all-in to open, per Bennigan's's franchise disclosure filings (data as of 2026-05).
- How many Bennigan's units are there?
- 15 units at the end of 2016 (FDD Item 20-style unit history).
- How have Bennigan's's units held up?
- 51.7% of units at risk between 2014 and 2016 did not close, per our metric recomputed from FDD Item 20-style unit history (methodology published on our verification page).