Sample data — illustrative, not for citation
SBA-eligible · directory code S1095 since 2017
McAlister's Deli
sandwich · GoTo Foods · est. 1989
McAlister's Deli is a fast-casual restaurant chain serving deli sandwiches, soups, salads, spuds, and sweet tea. A franchisee builds and operates a dine-in restaurant with counter ordering and table delivery, managing a kitchen and service team for lunch and dinner customers.
McAlister's Deli net unit count grew +6.3% from 2023–2025 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
Not enough disclosure
Distress
No verified FDD extraction to judge from. Any figures shown are labelled sample data or independent federal records.
SBA loan defaults
7.1%
28 loans resolved — directional only
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
2023–2025
Survival record
FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year
Show the outlet tables ↓Hide the evidence ↑
| Status (FTC) | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outlets at start | 536 | 553 | 570 |
| Opened | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| Transfers | 22 | 22 | 23 |
| Terminations | 4 | 5 | 5 |
| Non-renewals | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ceased — other reasons | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Outlets at end | 553 | 570 | 588 |
| Net change | +17 | +17 | +18 |
The lender's view
SBA 7(a)/504 loan performance · FY1991–present
Banks have made 55 SBA-backed loans to McAlister's Deli franchisees since 2014. Only 28 have resolved so far — too thin for a reliable default rate, but 2 of them charged off.
—
28 resolved · too thin to rate
—
avg. charged-off $ ÷ approved $
—
default rate × loss severity
$986,585
what recent franchisees borrowed
69 mo
approval → charge-off, defaulted loans
11 vs 12
distinct banks still 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 MCALISTER'S DELI BY FRANCHISE NAME · RESOLVED = CHARGED-OFF + PAID-IN-FULL
The owner's side of the deal
FDD × federal loan record
Who finances it
Live Oak Banking Company
16.0% of this brand's loans
That lender charges off 3.6% of its loans to other franchise brands, vs 14.8% nationally.
Who buys it
56.5%
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 55 SBA 7(a)/504 loans to McAlister's Deli 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
To open (Item 7)
$889K–$1.2M
all-in investment range
Franchise fee (Item 5)
$40K
upfront, one-time
Royalty (Item 6)
5%
of sales, ongoing
Your figure — cross-check against this brand's Item 19 and current-owner validation.
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 McAlister's Deli with an independent CPALabor record
US Dept. of Labor enforcement · franchisee-level · FY2005–present
Federal investigators have concluded 20 wage cases against operators of this system, recovering $24K in back wages for 86 workers, including 6 child-labor cases. Some of these cases are recent, not ancient history. These cases name franchisee-owned locations, not the franchisor itself.
Concluded cases
20
Back wages owed
$24K
Employees affected
86
Since 2020
2
6 of these cases involved child-labor violations, covering 71 minors across the system's franchised locations.
Read this carefully. The employers in these cases are individual McAlister's Deli franchisees — separately owned businesses operating under the brand name — not McAlister's Deli itself. The franchisor is not the respondent and in most cases is not a party. What the record shows is how this system's operators run their payrolls, which is worth knowing before you become one of them. Counts rise with system size and with age: a 20-year-old, 10,000-unit system will out-count a young one regardless of conduct. Source: DOL Wage and Hour Division concluded compliance actions, FY2005–present, most recent finding 2025.
Distress signals
news-sourced · bankruptcies, closures, lawsuits
Bartlesville woman sues McAlister's Deli after alleged discrimination due to vision impairment
news:fox23.com · 14mo ago
McAlister's Deli location at Asheville Mall announces permanent closure
news:WLOS · 36mo ago
McAlister's Deli closes remaining Fort Collins store
news:The Coloradoan · 104mo ago
A broker is paid by the franchisor to place you. An independent CPA is paid by you — and the job is pressure-testing McAlister's Deli's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
Talk to an independent CPA before you buy →