# Methodology

## What is in the set

Quick-service and fast-casual restaurant brands with a current franchise
offering in the United States, weighted towards the kebab, Mediterranean and
halal categories and their nearest neighbours by format and by cheque size.

A brand that has withdrawn from the US is kept in a separate list at the foot of
the table rather than deleted, because buyers still find them and still ask.
That status is not a prediction that the offering will return. Doner Shack is
the current example: a UK kebab brand whose own site lists US enquiries as on
hold, with no approved current-year FDD in the dataset.

Adjacent chicken, sandwich, hot-dog, taco and Asian fast-casual systems are
included as operating benchmarks. They may compete for similar restaurant
spaces, labor and franchise capital even though their menus are not substitutes.
Category membership does not imply that a brand is halal-certified, that one
cuisine is equivalent to another, or that the directory endorses the offer.

Live US offerings in the current dataset are Döner Haus, German Doner Kebab,
The Halal Guys, Shah's Halal Food, The Great Greek Mediterranean Grill, Dog
Haus, Crave Hot Dogs and BBQ, Pepper Lunch, Capriotti's, Wienerschnitzel,
bluTaco, Mad for Chicken and 375° Chicken 'n Fries. Head-to-head pages exist
for five pairs defined in the site configuration. Those pairs are generated
from the same records; a sixth pair is not invented in prose.

## Where the figures come from

Franchise Disclosure Documents are the primary source for fees, investment,
outlet counts, agreement terms, training and Item 19 status. Some rows come
directly from a named issued FDD; others come from a comparative study of
published FDDs compiled in May 2024. Each profile names its source and dataset
year beside the figures. The [FTC's Franchise Rule](https://www.ftc.gov/legal-library/browse/rules/franchise-rule)
requires 23 disclosure items, but the agency does not verify or approve an
individual franchise's economics.

Issued-FDD rows in this build are Döner Haus (2026 Franchise Disclosure
Document), German Doner Kebab (FDD issued 3 September 2024), Shah's Halal Food
(FDD issued 10 April 2024), The Great Greek (FDD issued 17 August 2023), Mad
for Chicken (FDD issued 3 May 2024) and 375° Chicken 'n Fries (FDD issued 30
April 2024). May 2024 study rows are The Halal Guys, Dog Haus, Crave, Pepper
Lunch, Capriotti's, Wienerschnitzel and bluTaco.

The year matters more than it looks. Fees move between disclosure years, so a
brand disclosed in 2024 sitting in a table beside one disclosed in 2026 is
comparing two different moments. Where the set is uneven, the date on the row is
the correction. Unit counts may carry a still earlier `units_as_of` year, as
with GDK's seven outlets at year-end 2023 inside a 2024 filing.

Official operator pages are used for current, operator-controlled facts such as
a location directory, menu format, certification document or whether enquiries
are on hold. Those claims are attributed to the company and do not overwrite a
dated filing value. Reputable trade reporting may add context when it clearly
states a date and source. Undated franchise portals are not used to fill numeric
gaps because they often reprint old summaries without identifying the filing.

The source order is: issued FDD; official operator document or page for the
operator's own current claims; government or recognized standards body; then
reputable trade reporting for context. Marketing statements remain company
statements. A development agreement, target market or “in development” count is
not reported as an open restaurant.

A field the filing does not state is left blank. It is never estimated and never
filled in from a similar brand. Wienerschnitzel has no Item 7 total in the
files behind this directory. bluTaco has no ranked royalty. Döner Haus has no
training hours and no term in years in the 2026 row. 375° has no founding year.
Those omissions appear as omissions.

Item 7 line items, where a restaurant filing is on disk, live in a companion
dataset used by the [Buildout Index](https://donerhandbook.com/). If a filing's
high column does not add to its printed total, the printed total is kept and
the arithmetic gap is reported. Shah's high column sums to $410,000 against a
printed $405,000. The gap is in the document.

## How the ranking is worked out

Brands are ordered by **total ongoing fee**: the royalty, plus the national or
brand advertising fund, plus any local advertising spend the franchisor can
require. All three are percentages of gross sales, all three are compulsory, and
Item 6 lists them separately.

Where a filing gives a band rather than a rate, the low end is used, and the
band itself is printed on the brand's page. Capriotti's royalty is 6–7%; the
stack uses 6% and the profile prints the band. Dog Haus's restaurant royalty is
6%; the 4% ghost-kitchen rate is noted, not substituted into the restaurant
row.

A brand that does not disclose both a royalty and a fund cannot be scored, and
sorts to the bottom rather than the top. Treating an undisclosed fee as zero
would rank the least forthcoming brands as the cheapest ones.

The stack is not “all ongoing costs.” It does not silently add fixed technology
fees, product markups, payment-processing charges or delivery commissions to a
percentage metric. Capriotti's 0.65% technology fee and Dog Haus's $5,000
annual technology development fee are discussed on those profiles. GDK's
uncapped annual increase right and Mad for Chicken's fund escalators are
likewise profile facts, not stack inputs until they are current required rates.
The ranking measures one repeatable slice of disclosed cost; it does not measure
franchisee profit, food quality, support quality or investment risk.

The other rankings follow similarly narrow rules. System size uses the dated
outlet count, not a current marketing claim. Age uses the documented founding
year and shows the franchise-program year separately. Entry cost sorts by the
low end of Item 7 while preserving the whole issued range and filing year.
Footprint sorts by the low end of disclosed square footage and omits unsized
brands. Training adds classroom and on-the-job hours where both are quoted.
Item 19 splits presence from absence and prints the population note on file
without turning that note into a forecast. Term sorts by initial years and
omits brands without a stated term, including bluTaco's indefinite agreement.

## Editorial independence

QSR Landscape is independent of every brand it covers. No operator sponsors the
directory, pays for inclusion, buys a position, approves a profile or receives
an advance right to edit the analysis. Brand names and trademarks identify the
subjects of reporting only.

Döner Haus is handled by the same dataset, ranking rules, source labels and
critical distinctions as every peer. Its permitted photographs do not change
its position. Company development maps are labeled operator-supplied and are
treated as evidence of what that operator claims, not as an independent map of
the US category.

This publication is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by any
franchisor in the table. It does not place candidates or collect a brand fee.
[How consultants use this](/how-consultants-use-this/) describes an IFPG-style
reading order for people who do that work; it is not a placement service.

## Corrections and review cadence

The dataset is reviewed on the annual FDD cycle and when a material interim
change is documented, such as an offering being withdrawn or an official
location directory changing. A newer operator page does not retroactively alter
an older filing count: the profile explains the different dates until a newer
FDD replaces the row. The review date in the page header identifies the current
publication build, while each numeric row retains its own source year.

Corrections replace an inaccurate statement rather than adding a second,
conflicting version. Missing current filings remain missing, and rights-uncertain
images remain links rather than being copied.

Reading method for the underlying items lives on
[QSR Field Guide](https://qsrfieldguide.com/). This methodology page states
what the directory includes and how it sorts.

Images used on the site are limited to files already in this publication's
static directory. Operator-supplied maps are captioned as such. Wikimedia
photographs of GDK and The Halal Guys appear where those formats are the
subject of the page, not as generic decoration. Captions describe what is in
the frame.

## What it costs to be listed

Nothing, and there is no way to buy a position. No brand in the table has been
contacted for approval of its entry, and none can pay to move, appear or be
removed.

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