Moe's Southwest Grill franchise: cost, fees & unit track record
Opening a Moe's Southwest Grill franchise takes $745,325 – $1,819,050 all-in, per its franchise disclosure filings (data as of 2026-05). The initial franchise fee is $30,640 – $99,402. Ongoing, franchisees pay a royalty of 5% on sales plus an ad-fund contribution of up to 2%. Anything the filings do not state is marked "Not disclosed" below — never estimated.
Moe's Southwest Grill franchise costs and fees
| Verification mark | Cost item | Low | High | Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise feeOne-time, paid to the franchisor at signing | $30,640 | $99,402 | $30,640 to $99,402 | |
| Initial investment (all-in)FDD Item 7-derived range: build-out, equipment, opening costs | $745,325 | $1,819,050 | $745,325 to $1,819,050 | |
| 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) | $745,325 | $1,819,050 | $745,325 to $1,819,050 | |
- 1 "Not disclosed" means Moe's Southwest Grill's filings do not state this figure. We publish the gap instead of estimating it.
| RoyaltyOngoing, % of sales | 5% |
|---|---|
| Ad fundOngoing, % of sales | Up to 2% |
| Initial termLength of the first franchise agreement | 20 years |
See the full Moe's Southwest Grill cost breakdown — what's in that number and what isn't
How Moe's Southwest Grill's cost compares
A dollar figure means more with a yardstick. Here is where Moe's Southwest Grill's disclosed cost sits against the Food & Beverage category:
- Minimum startup cost of $745,325 — about 2.6× the Food & Beverage median of $282,500.
- Initial franchise fee of $30,640 — about in line with 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 Moe's Southwest Grill's units have held up
Openings and closures from FDD Item 20-style unit history, 2012–2022: began the window at 436 units; 428 units opened, 237 closed, ending at 636 units. (partial records: 2018 is not in the source data — totals span the reported years only.)
What about earnings?
We don't publish per-brand earnings figures — for Moe's Southwest Grill 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 Moe's Southwest Grill 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 Moe's Southwest Grill 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 Moe's Southwest Grill 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 Moe's Southwest Grill 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 Moe's Southwest Grill franchise
Moe's Southwest Grill is a food & beverage franchisor with 636 units at the end of 2022 (FDD Item 20-style unit history). Between 2012 and 2022, it began the window at 436 units; its filings record 428 unit openings and 237 closures, ending at 636 units (partial records: 2018 is not in the source data — totals span the reported years only). Its parent company is Focus Brands. The filings indicate financing options are available; terms come from the franchisor, not from us.
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
You will operate a Moe’s Southwest Grill restaurant (a "Restaurant"). Moe’s Southwest Grill Restaurants are fast casual restaurants featuring southwestern food products.
Moe's Southwest Grill franchise: quick answers
- How much does a Moe's Southwest Grill franchise cost?
- $745,325 – $1,819,050 all-in to open, per Moe's Southwest Grill's franchise disclosure filings (data as of 2026-05).
- How many Moe's Southwest Grill units are there?
- 636 units at the end of 2022 (FDD Item 20-style unit history).
- How have Moe's Southwest Grill's units held up?
- 83.7% 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).
- Is Moe's Southwest Grill SBA-eligible?
- Moe's Southwest Grill is flagged SBA-eligible in our dataset (as of 2026-05). Confirm current status on the SBA Franchise Directory before relying on it for financing.