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Buttermilk CAFÉ franchise — is it worth it?

Low risk No franchised units open yet Item 19 disclosed

BUTTERMILK CAFÉ is a full-service restaurant brand requiring a substantial initial investment of $1.08M-$2.35M.

Everything below is free, read straight off Buttermilk CAFÉ's registered filing, with where the numbers land against full-service restaurant peers. Weighing Buttermilk CAFÉ against other options? Get a free shortlist of franchises that fit your budget.

Figures above are as disclosed in Buttermilk CAFÉ's most recent FDD (registered 2026). Source: Wisconsin Dept. of Financial Institutions — Franchise Registration · filing 642167 — check it yourself. See every other Wisconsin-registered franchise.

How much does a Buttermilk CAFÉ franchise make?

Buttermilk CAFÉ is one of the franchisors that answers this on the record: its most recent FDD makes an Item 19 financial performance representation — actual unit earnings figures, disclosed by the franchisor itself. The headline figure is $2,937,639 in average unit revenue — read it alongside what Item 19 says about which units it covers (often only mature or top-performing locations). See every full-service restaurant brand that discloses earnings in the Full-service restaurant franchises with disclosed Item 19 earnings ranking.

Buttermilk CAFÉ franchise profit vs. revenue

Revenue is not profit. An Item 19 almost always reports sales — what a location takes in — not what an owner keeps. Out of that number come Buttermilk CAFÉ's 5% royalty, the ad fund, rent, payroll, supplies and debt service. No FDD tells you a Buttermilk CAFÉ franchise's profit, because profit depends on your site, your rent and how you run it — so treat any "Buttermilk CAFÉ franchise profit" figure quoted elsewhere as someone's estimate, not a disclosure. On $2,937,639 of revenue, a 5% royalty alone is about $146,882 a year before any other cost.

Buttermilk CAFÉ lawsuits & legal history (FDD Item 3)

Buttermilk CAFÉ's most recently filed Franchise Disclosure Document (2026) does disclose 1 legal proceeding in Item 3 . Item 3 is the item where a franchisor must put its material legal history on the record. Two things it is not: it covers the franchisor and its predecessors, parents and affiliates, so a disclosed case is not necessarily a suit against Buttermilk CAFÉ itself; and a disclosure is a fact, not a finding of wrongdoing — most entries are contract disputes with former franchisees, which every large system accumulates. Item 3 of the source FDD describes each case.

Buttermilk CAFÉ closures & failure rate

Before you sign, Buttermilk CAFÉ will hand you a list of current owners to call as references — and they choose who's on that list. It won't include the owners who quit, got bought out, or were forced out last year. The FDD does report that number, even though the reference list leaves those people off. Below is what Buttermilk CAFÉ's most recent filing shows, and whether it's normal for a full-service restaurant of this kind.

The closest thing an FDD has to a failure rate is Item 20 — outlet openings, closures, terminations and non-renewals, reported by the franchisor. Buttermilk CAFÉ reports no franchised units open yet — there is no operating track record to churn.

Who owns Buttermilk CAFÉ?

Buttermilk CAFÉ's franchise is offered by Buttermilk Franchise Group, Inc. — the franchisor named on the cover of its most recently filed Franchise Disclosure Document (2026), and the entity a franchisee actually signs with. That name comes straight off the filing at WI DFI; it identifies the franchisor, not necessarily the ultimate parent company behind it.

Full-service restaurant franchises at a similar investment level

Anyone weighing Buttermilk CAFÉ is really weighing it against the other brands their money could go into. These are the closest by total initial investment (FDD Item 7), each with its own FDD-based page.

Buttermilk CAFÉ franchise — frequently asked