QSR Landscape

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

Shah's Halal Food franchise

Shah's Halal Food: $197,000–$405,000 total investment, $30,000 franchise fee, 7% total ongoing fee. Read out of the filings.

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

7% Total ongoing fee
$197,000–$405,000 Total investment
58 Units, 2023
2005 Founded
Franchising since
NY Amityville
1,200–2,000 Typical size, sq ft
No Item 19

Forty-four of the 58 outlets operate under a license agreement rather than a franchise. Item 20 states that no franchises were operating as of the filing.

Fees

Initial franchise fee $30,000
Royalty 5%
Brand fund 1%
Local advertising 1%
Total ongoing 7% of gross sales
Grand opening $1,000–$5,000
Transfer fee 50% of the then-current franchise fee

Opening one

Total investment $197,000–$405,000
Typical size 1,200–2,000 sq ft
Training 19 hours classroom, 85 on the job
Territory Up to five miles by driving distance, smaller in cities. Non-traditional sites are excluded.
Initial term 10 years
Renewal One additional ten-year term

The system

Format New York-area chicken and rice
Headquarters Amityville, NY
Founded 2005
Units 58, of which 0 franchised and 14 company-owned
Item 19 No financial performance representation. The filing states that no financial performance representation is made.

Brand footprint is not franchise footprint

Shah’s Halal Food is a New York-area chicken-and-rice system founded in 2005 and based in Amityville. The FDD issued 10 April 2024 records 58 outlets at year-end 2023. Fourteen were company-owned and 44 operated under license agreements; Item 20 says no franchised outlets were operating.

That distinction prevents a common overstatement. The row is a 58-outlet brand footprint, not evidence of 58 franchisees operating under the agreement being offered. Shah’s current company history claims a much larger international footprint in 2026. It is a later operator-reported count with different geography and possibly different agreement types, so it does not replace the 2023 FDD snapshot.

Certification, arithmetic and economics

Shah’s publishes dated halal certificates on its official site. Those documents support the operator’s certification claim; the FDD separately governs the franchise comparison. Keeping the two source types distinct avoids treating “halal” as either a cuisine synonym or a financial credential.

The comparable fee stack is 7%: 5% royalty, 1% brand fund and 1% local advertising. The 2024 franchise fee is $30,000. Item 7 prints a total range of $197,000 to $405,000 for 1,200 to 2,000 square feet. Its fifteen high-column line items sum to $410,000. This directory preserves the filing’s printed $405,000 total and reports the $5,000 discrepancy instead of silently correcting an issued document.

There is no Item 19 financial performance representation. Training is 19 classroom hours and 85 on the job. Territory extends up to five miles by driving distance and shrinks in dense cities; non-traditional sites are excluded. The combination of licensed growth, no operating franchises in the source year and no Item 19 makes the current franchise agreement more important than the visibility of the consumer brand.

Figures from FDD issued 10 April 2024 · dataset year 2024.