Verified — real FDD extraction
SBA-eligible · directory code S1739 since 2017
The Counter
Food & Dining · independent · est. —
The Counter is a build-your-own burger restaurant where customers customize burgers from a checklist of patties, toppings, buns, and sauces, with table or counter service. It positions itself as a more upscale, customizable casual-dining burger experience. A franchisee operates a sit-down restaurant under parent company MTY's system.
The Counter net unit count declined -36.0% 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
Too new to judge
Distress
24 franchised units over 3 disclosed years is not a track record — systems this early have realized only a fraction of their eventual failures. Judge the disclosures, not a verdict.
Exit rate · latest year
15.8%
vs 8.2% across 146 food & dining systems
Cost to open
$724K–$2.0M
Item 7 total investment range
SBA loan defaults
Too few resolved
8 loans exist; too few resolved to rate
Market density · California
Typical density
12% denser than the national average
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, 3 of 19 franchised outlets left the system — a 15.8% annualized exit rate, vs 8.2% across 146 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 | 26 | 25 | 19 |
| Opened | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Transfers | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Terminations | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Non-renewals | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Ceased — other reasons | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| Outlets at end | 25 | 19 | 16 |
| Net change | -1 | -6 | -3 |
The lender's view
SBA 7(a)/504 loan performance · FY1991–present
Banks have made 8 SBA-backed loans to The Counter franchisees since 2012. Most are still open, so there is not yet a resolved cohort large enough to rate.
—
7 resolved · too thin to rate
—
avg. charged-off $ ÷ approved $
—
default rate × loss severity
$979,813
what recent franchisees borrowed
—
approval → charge-off, defaulted loans
0 vs 2
distinct banks — pulling back
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 THE COUNTER BY FRANCHISE NAME · RESOLVED = CHARGED-OFF + PAID-IN-FULL
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 $724K–$2.0M (Item 7). The franchisor publishes an earnings claim (Item 19) — read its methodology closely.
To open (Item 7)
$724K–$2.0M
all-in investment range
Franchise fee (Item 5)
$35K
upfront, one-time
Royalty (Item 6)
6%
of sales, ongoing
Your figure — cross-check against this brand's Item 19 and current-owner validation.
Royalty you'd pay / yr
$60K
6% of sales, before profit
Over a 10-yr term
$600K
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 The Counter with an independent CPAModeled risk
FDD Risk Score · modeled from the public record
The public record puts this brand toward the riskier end of the systems we score — but the evidence is thin, so treat it as a range, not a number.
Risk percentile (range)
76–100 / 100
Directional
Modeled SBA charge-off
19.2%
Observed SBA charge-off
0.0%
Top drivers: System size (log units) (raises) · Net unit growth (raises) · Investment ceiling (log) (lowers) · Item 20 exit rate (raises). Thin loan history — treat this as a range, not a number. 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
news:ABC7 Bay Area · 4mo ago
Tenderloin corner store sold meth over the counter, lawsuit alleges
news:KRON4 · 4mo ago
The Counter Cupertino to permanently close, two other locations transfer ownership
news:Palo Alto Online · 30mo ago
8 questions to ask a The Counter franchisee
Built from this brand's own disclosures · take it to your validation calls
The franchisor will give you a list of owners to call. Most buyers ask whether they like it. These are the questions built from what The Counter has actually disclosed — each one carries the number it came from, so you can tell whether the answer squares with the record.
- 01
The Counter’s own Item 20 shows 3 of 19 franchised outlets left the system in fiscal 2023 — about 15.8%. Do you know any of those owners, and do you know why they left?
A franchisor will call these “transitions.” An owner three doors down usually knows whether they sold at a profit or handed the keys back.
FDD Item 20 · FY2023
- 02
The system went from 25 units to 16 over 3 disclosed years. What's the explanation you've been given, and do you believe it?
A shrinking system means fewer owners funding the ad fund and support staff you're paying for.
FDD Item 20 · FY2021–FY2023
- 03
You pay 6.0% royalty on gross sales, plus the ad fund, before any of your own costs. On your actual revenue last year, what did you take home as the owner — not revenue, take-home?
Royalty is charged on sales, not profit. This is the number the brochure never shows and the one your life actually runs on.
FDD Item 6
- 04
The Counter makes an earnings claim in Item 19. Does your unit look like that number — and do you know which units they included to build it?
Item 19 is legal to build from a flattering subset. Ask whether they excluded new units, closed units, or company stores.
FDD Item 19 · 2024
- 05
How many months did it take to cover your own costs, and how much cash did you burn getting there?
Ramp-to-breakeven working capital is the most underestimated line in any franchise purchase, and the most common reason otherwise-good units fail.
Not disclosed in any FDD — ask an owner
- 06
What does the franchisor charge for that you didn't expect — required tech fees, mandatory remodels, approved-supplier pricing?
Required spending appears across Items 6, 8 and 11 rather than in one place, so buyers routinely miss the total.
FDD Items 6, 8, 11
- 07
If your agreement came up for renewal tomorrow at current terms, would you sign again?
The single most predictive question you can ask. A hesitation is the answer.
Ask every owner you speak to
- 08
Who else should I call — including someone who left?
The franchisor's list is curated by definition. Former franchisees are where the unflattering truth lives, and current owners usually know how to reach them.
Ask every owner you speak to
Want this as a checklist you can take to the calls?
I'll email you the printable version, and tell you if The Counter’s numbers move — a new filing, a rising exit rate, a distress signal. Unsubscribe in one click.
A broker is paid by the franchisor to place you. I'm paid by you — and the job is pressure-testing The Counter's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
This page is what buyers see before they call you for validation. If the record above is wrong — or right in a way the numbers can't show — say so. Corrections are checked against the filings; nothing you write is published with your name unless you agree to it.
The Counter franchise questions, answered from the filings
What percentage of The Counter franchises closed last year?
In The Counter's latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2023), 3 of 19 franchised outlets left the system — an annualized exit rate of 15.8% — compared with 8.2% across 146 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 The Counter franchise cost?
Per The Counter's 2024 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $35K (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $724K–$2.0M (Item 7).
What royalty does The Counter charge?
The Counter charges an ongoing royalty of 6.0% of gross sales, per Item 6 of its 2024 FDD.
Does The Counter disclose earnings (Item 19)?
Yes — The Counter makes a financial performance representation in Item 19 of its 2024 FDD. Read it closely: franchisors choose which units and which metrics to include.