Wienerschnitzel franchise
Wienerschnitzel: — total investment, $32,000 franchise fee, 6% total ongoing fee. Read out of the filings.
Compiled from public filings and operator sites Reviewed 2026-08-15
6%
Total ongoing fee
—
Total investment
323
Units, 2024
1961
Founded
1965
Franchising since
CA
Irvine
—
Typical size, sq ft
Yes
Item 19
The oldest system here, franchising since 1965, and the only one with no right of renewal and no right to sell the business.
Fees
| Initial franchise fee | $32,000 |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 5% |
| Brand fund | 1% |
| Local advertising | Not required |
| Total ongoing | 6% of gross sales |
Opening one
| Total investment | — |
|---|---|
| Training | 48 hours classroom, 480 on the job |
| Territory | No protected area |
| Initial term | 20 years |
The system
| Format | Drive-through hot dogs |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Irvine, CA |
| Founded | 1961 |
| Franchising since | 1965 |
| Units | 323, of which 246 franchised and 77 company-owned |
| Item 19 | Yes. A financial performance representation is made. |
Figures from May 2024 comparative study of published FDDs · dataset year 2024.
The age and scale benchmark
Wienerschnitzel is the oldest system in this set. Its official history dates the first Southern California hot-dog stand to 1961, and the dataset records franchising from 1965. The May 2024 comparative study reports 323 outlets: 246 franchised and 77 company-owned.
It is a drive-through hot-dog chain, not a kebab operator. Its purpose in this directory is to show how a mature, vehicle-oriented QSR compares on fees, training and agreement structure with younger counter-service systems. Brand age gives it a longer operating history; it does not prove that a new franchisee will perform better.
A low stack with unusually strict exit terms
The comparable fee stack is 6%: 5% royalty and 1% brand fund. That is among the lower disclosed percentages in the set. There is an Item 19, and training is 48 classroom hours plus 480 on the job, the longest on-the-job commitment in the dataset.
The source files behind this directory do not contain an Item 7 range for Wienerschnitzel. The brand is therefore omitted from the investment ranking rather than assigned a total from a portal or newer source. Missing entry cost does not mean zero entry cost.
The agreement runs 20 years and has no protected territory. The study also records no right of renewal and no right to sell the business, a combination not shared by another row in this set. Those controls are more consequential than the favorable fee-stack rank for an owner thinking about exit value.
Trade reporting on the system’s expansion strategy adds current company context, but the 323-unit count and agreement terms here remain tied to the May 2024 study. Scale, current ambitions and disclosed rights are three separate facts.