QSR Landscape

Quick-service franchise brands, ranked by what they cost to run.

Mad for Chicken franchise

Mad for Chicken: $320,125–$687,700 total investment, $35,000 franchise fee, 8% total ongoing fee. Read out of the filings.

Compiled from public filings and operator sites Reviewed 2026-08-15

8% Total ongoing fee
$320,125–$687,700 Total investment
19 Units, 2023
2017 Founded
2019 Franchising since
NY Westbury
2,000–4,000 Typical size, sq ft
Yes Item 19

The Item 7 range is for a full restaurant of 2,000 to 4,000 square feet. An express format is disclosed at $242,500–$466,700. The brand fund and the media marketing fee can each rise to 2%.

Fees

Initial franchise fee $35,000
Royalty 5%
Brand fund 1% brand fund plus 1% media marketing
Local advertising 1%
Total ongoing 8% of gross sales
Grand opening $15,000
Transfer fee $10,000

Opening one

Total investment $320,125–$687,700
Typical size 2,000–4,000 sq ft
Training 25 hours classroom, 106 on the job
Territory Non-exclusive. Minimum five-mile radius in the suburbs, a quarter-mile in a city, sized after the site is approved.
Initial term 10 years
Renewal Two successor terms of ten years each

The system

Format Korean fried chicken
Headquarters Westbury, NY
Founded 2017
Franchising since 2019
Units 19, of which 5 franchised and 14 company-owned
Item 19 Yes. Unaudited 2022 and 2023 gross revenue for twelve affiliate outlets and three franchised outlets. Revenue only, no costs or profit.

Corporate-heavy Korean fried chicken

Mad for Chicken is a Westbury, New York Korean fried-chicken system founded in 2017 and franchising since 2019. The FDD issued 3 May 2024 records 19 outlets at year-end 2023: 14 company-owned and five franchised. Most of the disclosed system was therefore corporate, a useful fact when interpreting both operating history and Item 19.

The filing distinguishes physical formats. The full restaurant assumes 2,000 to 4,000 square feet and an Item 7 range of $320,125 to $687,700. It separately discloses an express range of $242,500 to $466,700. The operator’s franchise page now describes mall, QSR and storefront concepts, reinforcing why a buyer must match the investment table to the exact agreement instead of combining the lowest cost with the largest restaurant.

Escalating funds and a revenue-only Item 19

The comparable stack starts at 8%: 5% royalty, a 1% brand fund, 1% media marketing and 1% local advertising. The brand-fund and media-marketing components can each rise to 2%, so the starting rank does not express the maximum permitted advertising burden.

Item 19 presents unaudited 2022 and 2023 gross revenue for twelve affiliate outlets and three franchised outlets. It reports revenue, not costs or profit, and the populations are not balanced between ownership types. A prospect would need to separate those groups and account for the chosen format before drawing an earnings conclusion.

Training is 25 classroom hours and 106 on the job. Territory is non-exclusive: at least a five-mile radius in suburban markets and a quarter-mile in cities, sized after site approval. Mad for Chicken is an adjacent chicken benchmark because it shows how format, ownership mix and an escalatable marketing burden can matter more than a single fee-stack rank.

Figures from FDD issued 3 May 2024 · dataset year 2024.