Fat Shack franchise: cost, fees & unit track record
Opening a Fat Shack franchise takes $183,250 – $487,600 all-in, per its franchise disclosure filings (data as of 2026-05). The initial franchise fee is $44,500 – $51,100. Ongoing, franchisees pay a royalty of 6% on sales plus an ad-fund contribution of up to 2%. Anything the filings do not state is marked "Not disclosed" below — never estimated.
Fat Shack franchise costs and fees
| Verification mark | Cost item | Low | High | Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise feeOne-time, paid to the franchisor at signing | $44,500 | $51,100 | $44,500 to $51,100 | |
| Initial investment (all-in)FDD Item 7-derived range: build-out, equipment, opening costs | $183,250 | $487,600 | $183,250 to $487,600 | |
| Net worth requiredFranchisor's stated qualification minimum | Not disclosed1 | Not disclosed1 | ||
| Liquid cash requiredFranchisor's stated qualification minimum | Not disclosed1 | Not disclosed1 | ||
| Cash to open (all-in range) | $183,250 | $487,600 | $183,250 to $487,600 | |
- 1 "Not disclosed" means Fat Shack's filings do not state this figure. We publish the gap instead of estimating it.
| RoyaltyOngoing, % of sales | 6% |
|---|---|
| Ad fundOngoing, % of sales | Up to 2% |
| Initial termLength of the first franchise agreement | 7 years |
See the full Fat Shack cost breakdown — what's in that number and what isn't
How Fat Shack's cost compares
A dollar figure means more with a yardstick. Here is where Fat Shack's disclosed cost sits against the Food & Beverage category:
- Minimum startup cost of $183,250 — about 35% below the Food & Beverage median of $282,500.
- Initial franchise fee of $44,500 — about 1.3× 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
Free info kit — costs, fees, and unit track record. You choose who may follow up.
Figures look outdated? Report outdated info.
How Fat Shack's units have held up
Openings and closures from FDD Item 20-style unit history, 2015–2022: began the window at 0 units; 24 units opened, 0 closed, ending at 24 units. (partial records: 2017, 2018 are not in the source data — totals span the reported years only.)
What about earnings?
We don't publish per-brand earnings figures — for Fat Shack 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 Fat Shack 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 Fat Shack 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 Fat Shack 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 Fat Shack 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 Fat Shack franchise
Fat Shack is a food & beverage franchisor with 24 units at the end of 2022 (FDD Item 20-style unit history). Between 2015 and 2022, it began the window at 0 units; its filings record 24 unit openings and 0 closures, ending at 24 units (partial records: 2017, 2018 are not in the source data — totals span the reported years only). Its parent company is Fat Shack America, 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
Fat Shack Inc. is offering franchises for the operation of specialty quick service sandwich restaurants under the name Fat Shack®. A Fat Shack® Restaurant features “Fat Sandwiches,” burgers and wings, together with appetizers, desserts and hot and cold beverages, and related merchandise, for dine in, takeout and delivery. Fat Shack® Restaurants specialize in late night delivery of its products to its customers.
Fat Shack franchise: quick answers
- How much does a Fat Shack franchise cost?
- $183,250 – $487,600 all-in to open, per Fat Shack's franchise disclosure filings (data as of 2026-05).
- How many Fat Shack units are there?
- 24 units at the end of 2022 (FDD Item 20-style unit history).
- How have Fat Shack's units held up?
- 100% of units at risk between 2020 and 2022 did not close, per our metric recomputed from FDD Item 20-style unit history (methodology published on our verification page).