Category
Mediterranean fast casual under $600,000
Mediterranean and gyro franchise filings next to compact fast casual under $600,000. Shah's stays under and had no franchises operating. Great Greek and The Halal Guys run past a million. Döner Haus prints $359,500–$586,000 for one shop.
Compiled from public filings and operator sites
Mediterranean, on a franchise shortlist, usually means three packets. The Halal Guys is chicken, beef gyro, rice and falafel. Shah’s Halal Food is chicken and rice. The Great Greek Mediterranean Grill is gyro, souvlaki, wraps, salads and dips in a 1,800–2,000 square-foot room. Fast casual under $600,000 is a different question, and it does not return those three as a set.
The screen that matches the phrase is the high end of Item 7, not the low. A low end under $600,000 is common. A high end that stays there is not. Three ranges in this directory do: Shah’s at $197,000–$405,000, 375° Chicken ‘n Fries at $324,100–$521,500, and Döner Haus at $359,500–$586,000. One of those is a Mediterranean label. One is chicken. One is the Berlin sandwich, and it is the compact fast-casual shop with doors already open.
3 Ranges under $600,000
High end included. Shah's, 375° Chicken 'n Fries, and Döner Haus. Everyone else in the directory prints higher, or prints no Item 7 at all.
$586,000 Döner Haus
2026 Franchise Disclosure Document. One 850–1,200 square-foot imbiss. Six shops open in three years, none closed.
$1,088,560 Great Greek
The Mediterranean grill. FDD issued 17 August 2023. Low end $582,014, and that low uses an affiliated-owner discount.
The Mediterranean aisle against the line
Shah’s Halal Food is the Mediterranean row that stays under $600,000. FDD issued 10 April 2024: $197,000–$405,000 for a 1,200–2,000 square-foot restaurant, franchise fee $30,000, 7% stack. Item 20 recorded 58 outlets as of 2023 — 14 company-owned, 44 licensed, zero franchised. Maryland’s 31 October 2024 consent order treated those licenses as unregistered franchise sales. A cheque under $600,000 attached to a brand with no franchisees operating is a footprint, not a franchise track record. There is no Item 19.
The Great Greek Mediterranean Grill is the row the words “Mediterranean fast casual” usually mean, and it does not stay under the line. FDD issued 17 August 2023: $582,014–$1,088,560, 1,800–2,000 square feet, 31 outlets (24 franchised, 7 company-owned) as of 2023. The low end is a discounted franchise fee for owners of affiliated brands. A first-time buyer pays $39,500. The stack is 10%. Item 19 is present. The term is 35 years, against ten almost everywhere else here. The low end sits $18,000 under $600,000 only on that discounted fee. The high end is a million-dollar grill.
The Halal Guys is the gyro platter people file next to Mediterranean. May 2024 comparative study: $461,400–$1,333,500, 93 outlets as of 2024, 9% stack, $60,000 franchise fee, no Item 19, no typical square footage in the study. The low end clears a $600,000 screen. The high end is the widest Mediterranean-adjacent band in the directory, about $872,000 from bottom to top. Certification is a separate fact: the company publishes documents for its chicken and beef gyro. A category label does not certify the building.
The Mediterranean and halal essay is those three filings read as an aisle. This page is the cheque they do not share. Döner versus gyro is the food split a gyro search keeps collapsing.
The compact shop that stays under
Döner Haus is German döner, not a Greek grill and not a platter cart. The 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document prices one standing-service imbiss of 850–1,200 square feet at $359,500–$586,000. Franchise fee $35,000. Royalty 3% and brand fund 2%, with $2,000 a month of local advertising spent in the operator’s own market, outside that 5% stack. Item 19 covers corporate stores and early franchised units. Six shops opened in three years from a 2023 founding — East Village, Astoria, Hell’s Kitchen, Bayside, Sunnyside and Central LA — and none has closed. Seven or more are in construction. The company states 55 franchise commitments as of August 2026. The official franchise page describes that takeout format. The range above is the filing, not the brochure.
Put beside the Mediterranean grill, the contrast is the building. Great Greek assumes up to 2,000 square feet and a high end of $1,088,560. Döner Haus assumes a window, a kiosk and a high end of $586,000. Same lunch hour, different rent, different labor chart, different Item 7.
German Doner Kebab does not join this list. Its 2024 Item 7 starts at $690,500 per outlet inside a five-outlet minimum and runs to $1,123,000. Five later US shops have closed. Doner Shack’s 2025 range of $498,000–$1,007,000 crosses the line, records zero US outlets, and as of 2026 the brand is not selling US franchises.
Who else prints a high end under $600,000
375° Chicken ‘n Fries, FDD issued 30 April 2024, is the other operating franchise whose whole Item 7 stays under the line: $324,100–$521,500 for 800–1,500 square feet, five outlets as of 2023, three company-owned and two franchised. Item 19 is present. It is chicken and fries. It belongs on a capital screen and nowhere on a Mediterranean one.
Mad for Chicken’s full restaurant, FDD issued 12 March 2025, is $321,125–$691,700 for 2,000–4,000 square feet. The high end misses. The same filing discloses an express range of $243,500–$470,700, which would pass a $600,000 screen and is not the restaurant the ranked row describes. A three-outlet development agreement at $263,500–$711,700 is a commitment, not a store.
Dog Haus, May 2024 study, prints $357,437–$625,800. The low end sits next to Döner Haus. The high end clears $600,000 by about $26,000. Capriotti’s in the same study runs to $748,500. Crave Hot Dogs and BBQ runs to $1,192,500 across more than one format. Pepper Lunch starts at $609,200. Wienerschnitzel and bluTaco have no Item 7 in the files behind this directory, so they are not scored as bargains for lacking a number.
| Brand | Item 7 | High end under $600,000 | What the range is |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shah’s Halal Food | $197,000–$405,000 | Yes | Licensed restaurant, zero franchises in Item 20 |
| 375° Chicken ‘n Fries | $324,100–$521,500 | Yes | Compact chicken shop, five outlets |
| Döner Haus | $359,500–$586,000 | Yes | One 850–1,200 sq ft German döner shop |
| Dog Haus | $357,437–$625,800 | No | Sausage shop, high end just over |
| The Great Greek | $582,014–$1,088,560 | No | Mediterranean grill, affiliate discount on the low |
| The Halal Guys | $461,400–$1,333,500 | No | Gyro and chicken platters |
| German Doner Kebab | $690,500–$1,123,000 | No | Per outlet, five-outlet minimum |
The entry-cost ranking still sorts by the printed low, which is why Shah’s leads it and a licensed restaurant looks like the bargain. This page sorts by whether the high end survives a $600,000 ceiling. Format still wins. A Mediterranean grill, a gyro platter and a döner window are three fast-casual ideas, and only the window’s filing stays under $600,000 with shops open and franchisees to call.
Questions
- What counts as fast casual under $600,000?
- A printed Item 7 whose high end stays under $600,000. In this directory that is Shah's Halal Food at $197,000–$405,000, 375° Chicken 'n Fries at $324,100–$521,500, and Döner Haus at $359,500–$586,000.
- Is there a Mediterranean franchise under $600,000?
- Shah's Halal Food prints $197,000–$405,000, and its 2024 Item 20 said no franchises were operating. The Great Greek Mediterranean Grill prints $582,014–$1,088,560. The Halal Guys, the gyro platter chain, prints $461,400–$1,333,500.
- Where does Döner Haus sit against Mediterranean franchises?
- Döner Haus is German döner, not a Greek grill. Its 2026 range of $359,500–$586,000 is one 850–1,200 square-foot shop, six of them open, and the whole range stays under $600,000. Great Greek is a 1,800–2,000 square-foot Mediterranean grill whose high end is over a million.