Verified — real FDD extraction
SBA-eligible · directory code S1666 since 2017
TGI FRIDAYS
Other · independent · est. —
TGI Fridays is a casual dining restaurant and bar chain serving American fare such as burgers, ribs, and appetizers alongside a full bar. A franchisee operates a full-service restaurant with a substantial build-out and staff, serving lunch, dinner, and evening bar customers.
TGI FRIDAYS net unit count declined -72.6% from 2022–2025 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
Showing strain
Distress
The disclosed record shows weakness — shrinking units, elevated exits, or churn — worth reading closely before going further.
Exit rate · latest year
35.0%
fiscal 2025, per Item 20
Cost to open
$1.4M–$4.5M
Item 7 total investment range
SBA loan defaults
9.1%
11 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
2022–2025
Survival record
FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year
In fiscal 2025, 28 of 80 franchised outlets left the system — a 35.0% annualized exit rate. Not every exit is a failure — but this is the measurable floor.
Show the outlet tables ↓Hide the evidence ↑
| Status (FTC) | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outlets at start | 309 | 292 | 269 | 119 |
| Opened | 0 | 8 | 0 | 28 |
| Transfers | 10 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Terminations | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Non-renewals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ceased — other reasons | 1 | 12 | 49 | 24 |
| Outlets at end | 292 | 269 | 119 | 80 |
| Net change | -17 | -23 | -150 | -39 |
The lender's view
SBA 7(a)/504 loan performance · FY1991–present
Banks have made 11 SBA-backed loans to TGI FRIDAYS franchisees since 1992. Only 11 have resolved so far — too thin for a reliable default rate, but 1 of them charged off.
—
11 resolved · too thin to rate
—
avg. charged-off $ ÷ approved $
—
default rate × loss severity
$836,181
what recent franchisees borrowed
82 mo
approval → charge-off, defaulted loans
—
distinct banks lending
Charge-off rate by loan approval year (%)
SOURCE: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA LOAN DATA (DATA.SBA.GOV), FY1991–PRESENT · MATCHED TO TGI FRIDAYS 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 $50K franchise fee (Item 5) and a total investment of $1.4M–$4.5M (Item 7). The franchisor publishes an earnings claim (Item 19) — read its methodology closely.
To open (Item 7)
$1.4M–$4.5M
all-in investment range
Franchise fee (Item 5)
$50K
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 TGI FRIDAYS with an independent CPALabor record
US Dept. of Labor enforcement · franchisee-level · FY2005–present
Federal investigators have concluded 15 wage cases against operators of this system, recovering $113K in back wages for 704 workers, including 1 child-labor case. These cases name franchisee-owned locations, not the franchisor itself.
Concluded cases
15
Back wages owed
$113K
Employees affected
704
Since 2020
0
1 of these cases involved child-labor violations, covering 10 minors across the system's franchised locations.
Read this carefully. The employers in these cases are individual TGI FRIDAYS franchisees — separately owned businesses operating under the brand name — not TGI FRIDAYS 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 2021.
Modeled risk
FDD Risk Score · modeled from the public record
The public record puts this brand toward the middle of the systems we score — but the evidence is thin, so treat it as a range, not a number.
Risk percentile (range)
53–77 / 100
Directional
Modeled SBA charge-off
14.9%
Observed SBA charge-off
9.1%
Top drivers: Item 20 exit rate (raises) · Investment ceiling (log) (lowers) · System size (log units) (raises) · Net unit growth (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
TGI Fridays restaurant closing
news:NorthcentralPA.com · 2mo ago
TGI Fridays rebuilds brand after bankruptcy
news:NJBIZ · 4mo ago
Post-Bankruptcy, TGI Fridays Hands Keys to Franchisees and Maps Global Comeback
news:FSR magazine · 6mo ago
A broker is paid by the franchisor to place you. An independent CPA is paid by you — and the job is pressure-testing TGI FRIDAYS's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
Talk to an independent CPA before you buy →TGI FRIDAYS franchise questions, answered from the filings
What percentage of TGI FRIDAYS franchises closed last year?
In TGI FRIDAYS's latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2025), 28 of 80 franchised outlets left the system — an annualized exit rate of 35.0%. 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 TGI FRIDAYS franchise cost?
Per TGI FRIDAYS's 2026 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $50K (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $1.4M–$4.5M (Item 7).
What royalty does TGI FRIDAYS charge?
TGI FRIDAYS charges an ongoing royalty of 5.0% of gross sales, per Item 6 of its 2026 FDD.
Does TGI FRIDAYS disclose earnings (Item 19)?
Yes — TGI FRIDAYS makes a financial performance representation in Item 19 of its 2026 FDD, reporting a median unit volume of $3.7M. Read it closely: franchisors choose which units and which metrics to include.