Franchise Facts Report → brands → Famous Dave's®
Famous Dave's® franchise — is it worth it?
High risk
Famous Dave's® is a quick-service restaurant concept.
Everything below is free, read straight off Famous Dave's®'s registered filing. Weighing Famous Dave's® against other options? Get a free shortlist of franchises that fit your budget.
Figures above are as disclosed in Famous Dave's®'s most recent FDD (registered 2026). Source: Wisconsin Dept. of Financial Institutions — Franchise Registration · filing 640491 — check it yourself. See every other Wisconsin-registered franchise.
Considering Famous Dave's®? See what else fits your budget
Tell us your budget and the industries you're open to. We'll match you with 5–10 franchises whose own FDDs fit — ranked by earnings disclosure, growth and closure rate — and email you the list. Famous Dave's® will be on it if it fits.
Famous Dave's® franchise profit — what the FDD discloses
Plainly: Famous Dave's® does not disclose franchise profit or revenue. Its most recent FDD makes no Item 19 financial performance representation, so there is no franchisor-backed earnings figure for Famous Dave's® — any number quoted elsewhere is an estimate, not a disclosure. The absence is itself worth weighing (56% of quick-service restaurant franchisors in our corpus do disclose); the fees, litigation and outlet churn Famous Dave's®'s FDD does contain are on this page. For brands that put earnings on paper, see Fast food & quick-service restaurant franchises with disclosed Item 19 earnings.
Famous Dave's® lawsuits & legal history (FDD Item 3)
Famous Dave's®'s most recently filed Franchise Disclosure Document (2026) does disclose 5 legal proceedings 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 Famous Dave's® 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. 5 of those proceedings were brought by franchisees against the franchisor — the split that actually matters, because franchisees suing their franchisor is the signal a buyer is looking for. Item 3 of the source FDD describes each case.
Famous Dave's® closures & failure rate
Before you sign, Famous Dave's® 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 Famous Dave's®'s most recent filing shows, and whether it's normal for a quick-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. Famous Dave's®'s outlet tables did not machine-read cleanly; Item 20 of the source FDD has them.
Who owns Famous Dave's®?
Famous Dave's®'s franchise is offered by Famous Dave's of America, 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.
Other quick-service restaurant franchises
Anyone weighing Famous Dave's® 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.
Famous Dave's® franchise — frequently asked
Who owns Famous Dave's® — who is the franchisor?
Famous Dave's®'s most recently filed FDD (2026) names Famous Dave's of America, Inc. as the franchisor — the entity you would actually sign the franchise agreement with, as stated on the disclosure document itself. A registry filing names the franchisor, not necessarily its ultimate parent company.
How much does a Famous Dave's® franchise cost?
Famous Dave's®'s most recently filed FDD (Item 7) puts the total estimated initial investment at a range disclosed in Item 7. That price is the franchisor's own estimate of what it takes to open, not a quote.
How much profit does a Famous Dave's® franchise make?
Famous Dave's® makes no Item 19 financial performance representation, so there is no franchisor-disclosed revenue or profit figure for Famous Dave's® at all — and profit would never be disclosed even where earnings are, because it depends on your rent, labor and how you operate. Any profit figure quoted elsewhere is an estimate, not a disclosure.
Does Famous Dave's® disclose financial performance (Item 19)?
No — Famous Dave's®'s most recent FDD makes no Item 19 financial performance representation. Its absence is worth weighing: 56% of quick-service restaurant franchisors in our corpus do disclose.
Are there lawsuits against Famous Dave's®?
Famous Dave's®'s most recently filed FDD (2026) discloses 5 legal proceedings in Item 3. Item 3 covers the franchisor, its predecessors, parents and affiliates — so a disclosed case is not necessarily a suit against Famous Dave's® itself, and a disclosure is not a finding of wrongdoing. 5 of the disclosed proceedings were brought by franchisees against the franchisor.
Is Famous Dave's® a good franchise to buy?
Nobody can answer that from Famous Dave's®'s numbers alone — it comes down to how its investment, earnings, litigation and franchisee churn stack up against quick-service restaurant peers and against your own budget. Our read on this filing is high risk. Every figure behind that read is on this page for free. If you're comparing options, the free shortlist on this page matches you with 5–10 franchises that fit your budget and industry.
Get a free email when something changes on Famous Dave's® or quick-service restaurant: a new FDD registration, a new lawsuit, an outlet count that shifts, or Item 19 earnings going from undisclosed to disclosed. Pulled straight from the same state registries this page is built on.