Verified — real FDD extraction
Not found in the SBA Franchise Directory under this name — though SBA loans to its franchisees exist; verify eligibility with your lender
LONG JOHN SILVER'S, LLC; LONG JOHN SILVER'S;
Food & Dining · independent · est. —
Long John Silver's is a fast-food restaurant chain specializing in battered and fried seafood, especially fish and shrimp, plus sides like hush puppies and fries. It serves an American take on a seaside fish-and-chips menu through counter and drive-through service. A franchisee operates a quick-service seafood restaurant with kitchen and front-counter staff.
LONG JOHN SILVER'S, LLC; LONG JOHN SILVER'S; net unit count declined -5.0% from 2021–2023 per its FDD Item 20.
New to franchising? Start here
A franchise is a business where you (the franchisee) pay a company (the franchisor) for the right to open and run a location using their brand and system — think a local Anytime Fitness or Taco John's owned by a small-business owner, not the corporation.
Before you can buy in, U.S. law requires the franchisor to give you a Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) — a long legal filing covering its fees, finances, and history. The numbers on this page come straight from that document:
- Franchise fee — the one-time cost to buy in.
- Royalty — the ongoing cut of your sales you pay the franchisor.
- Item 20 — how many locations opened and closed, the basis for our verdict (from Proven & strong down to Distressed — or Too new to judge).
The verdict
Showing strain
Distress
The disclosed record shows weakness — shrinking units, elevated exits, or churn — worth reading closely before going further.
Exit rate · latest year
16.6%
vs 8.6% across 137 food & dining systems
Cost to open
$814K–$2.1M
Item 7 total investment range
SBA loan defaults
27.3%
vs 14.8% avg across rated brands
Behind the verdict
the record, factor by factor · Item 20
3-yr trend · Item 20 Table 1
terminations + ceased-ops vs. all exits · Table 3
transfers vs. base · Table 3
actual vs. projected openings · Table 5
Item 19 disclosure + completeness
Systemwide units
2021–2023
Survival record
FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year
In fiscal 2023, 60 of 362 franchised outlets left the system — a 16.6% annualized exit rate, vs 8.6% across 137 food & dining systems. Not every exit is a failure — but this is the measurable floor.
Show the outlet tables ↓Hide the evidence ↑
| Status (FTC) | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outlets at start | 674 | 635 | 587 |
| Opened | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Transfers | 22 | 15 | 24 |
| Terminations | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Non-renewals | 0 | 1 | 14 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 25 | 9 | 20 |
| Ceased — other reasons | 36 | 41 | 46 |
| Outlets at end | 635 | 587 | 603 |
| Net change | -39 | -48 | +16 |
The lender's view
SBA 7(a)/504 loan performance · FY1991–present
Banks have made 74 SBA-backed loans to LONG JOHN SILVER'S, LLC; LONG JOHN SILVER'S; franchisees since 1991. Of the 55 that have resolved, 27.3% were charged off (defaulted) rather than paid in full, versus 14.8% across 576 rated brands.
27.3%
15 of 55 resolved defaulted
63.7%
avg. charged-off $ ÷ approved $
17.4%
default rate × loss severity
$900,000
what recent franchisees borrowed
88 mo
approval → charge-off, defaulted loans
—
distinct banks lending
Charge-off rate by loan approval year (%)
Loan performance by state
SOURCE: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA LOAN DATA (DATA.SBA.GOV), FY1991–PRESENT · MATCHED TO LONG JOHN SILVER'S, LLC; LONG JOHN SILVER'S; BY FRANCHISE NAME · RESOLVED = CHARGED-OFF + PAID-IN-FULL
The owner's side of the deal
FDD × federal loan record
Who finances it
Fifth Third Bank
16.7% of this brand's loans
That lender charges off 28.2% of its loans to other franchise brands, vs 14.8% nationally.
Who buys it
85.3%
first-time franchise owners
The rest already owned at least one other franchise. Across the corpus, brands bought mostly by repeat operators charge off at roughly 10% versus 17% for brands sold mostly to newcomers.
Does experience help here?
Not enough resolved loans to split
Computed from 74 SBA 7(a)/504 loans to LONG JOHN SILVER'S, LLC; LONG JOHN SILVER'S; franchisees joined to the brand's own FDD. Debt service assumes level amortization at the average disclosed term and rate. A lender's rate excludes its loans to this brand, so it reads the lender, not the brand.
What it costs — and what it drags
FDD Items 5–7 · fees, investment, royalty
Buying in means a $35K franchise fee (Item 5) and a total investment of $814K–$2.1M (Item 7). The franchisor publishes no earnings claim (Item 19) — ask current and former franchisees for real numbers.
To open (Item 7)
$814K–$2.1M
all-in investment range
Franchise fee (Item 5)
$35K
upfront, one-time
Royalty (Item 6)
5%
of sales, ongoing
Your figure — this brand discloses no Item 19 earnings; validate with current & former owners.
Royalty you'd pay / yr
$50K
5% of sales, before profit
Over a 10-yr term
$500K
royalties alone, excl. ad fund
This is not profit. It's the only money the FDD actually pins down — what you put in, and the royalty you owe on every dollar of sales. Your real take-home depends on labor, rent, food cost, and ramp-to-breakeven, none of which any FDD discloses.
Build a real pro-forma for LONG JOHN SILVER'S, LLC; LONG JOHN SILVER'S; with an independent CPAModeled risk
FDD Risk Score · modeled from the public record
Modeled from the public record, this brand sits mid-pack: riskier than 63% of systems we score.
Risk percentile
63 / 100
Loan-corroborated
Modeled SBA charge-off
14.5%
Observed SBA charge-off
27.3%
Top drivers: Share financed by high-loss lenders (raises) · Investment ceiling (log) (lowers) · System size (log units) (lowers) · Item 20 exit rate (raises). 15+ resolved loans stand behind this estimate. A linear scorecard built from this brand's own disclosure figures plus the federal loan record behind its franchisees; full spec and cross-validated accuracy on the methodology page. A score is context, not a verdict.
Distress signals
news-sourced · bankruptcies, closures, lawsuits
No recent closures, bankruptcies, or major lawsuits found in the news for LONG JOHN SILVER'S, LLC; LONG JOHN SILVER'S;. That's a good sign — but it reflects news coverage, not a guarantee.
A broker is paid by the franchisor to place you. An independent CPA is paid by you — and the job is pressure-testing LONG JOHN SILVER'S, LLC; LONG JOHN SILVER'S;'s numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
Talk to an independent CPA before you buy →LONG JOHN SILVER'S, LLC; LONG JOHN SILVER'S; franchise questions, answered from the filings
What percentage of LONG JOHN SILVER'S, LLC; LONG JOHN SILVER'S; franchises closed last year?
In LONG JOHN SILVER'S, LLC; LONG JOHN SILVER'S;'s latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2023), 60 of 362 franchised outlets left the system — an annualized exit rate of 16.6% — compared with 8.6% across 137 food & dining systems tracked here. That counts terminations, non-renewals, and "ceased operations — other reasons." There is no official failure rate, and not every exit is a failure, but this is the measurable floor.
How much does a LONG JOHN SILVER'S, LLC; LONG JOHN SILVER'S; franchise cost?
Per LONG JOHN SILVER'S, LLC; LONG JOHN SILVER'S;'s 2024 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $35K (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $814K–$2.1M (Item 7).
What royalty does LONG JOHN SILVER'S, LLC; LONG JOHN SILVER'S; charge?
LONG JOHN SILVER'S, LLC; LONG JOHN SILVER'S; charges an ongoing royalty of 5.0% of gross sales, per Item 6 of its 2024 FDD.
Does LONG JOHN SILVER'S, LLC; LONG JOHN SILVER'S; disclose earnings (Item 19)?
No — LONG JOHN SILVER'S, LLC; LONG JOHN SILVER'S;'s 2024 FDD makes no financial performance representation in Item 19. That is legal and common, but it means the franchisor publishes no earnings claim; ask current franchisees for real numbers.
How often do SBA loans for LONG JOHN SILVER'S, LLC; LONG JOHN SILVER'S; franchises default?
Across 74 SBA-backed loans to LONG JOHN SILVER'S, LLC; LONG JOHN SILVER'S; franchisees since 1991, 15 of the 55 that have resolved were charged off — a 27.3% default rate, versus about 14.8% across all rated franchise brands. This is the lender's-eye view of franchisee failure, drawn from public SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA data and independent of the franchisor's own disclosures.