QSR Field Guide

Items 13–23

Items 13–23 47

Item 17, renewal and exit

Term, renewal, termination, transfer and dispute resolution. Wienerschnitzel discloses no renewal and no right to sell. Great Greek discloses thirty-five years. Capriotti's discloses no protected area.

Shared seating and restaurant counters inside an airport terminal food court

Item 17 is a summary table of the franchise relationship’s beginning, middle and end. 16 CFR 436.5(q) requires rows covering term, renewal, termination, transfer, dispute resolution and related subjects, with a column that cites the agreement section. The table is a map. The exhibit is the territory.

Term is not a vibe

Most restaurant filings here use ten years. That is a convention, not a law.

Brand Term Renewal as disclosed Source
bluTaco Until either party terminates No fixed term in the record May 2024 comparative study of published FDDs
GDK 10 years One ten-year option if the outlet is not in the bottom 10% on performance FDD issued 3 September 2024
Shah’s Halal Food 10 years One additional ten-year term FDD issued 10 April 2024
The Halal Guys 10 years One ten-year option May 2024 comparative study of published FDDs
Dog Haus 10 years Successive ten-year terms May 2024 comparative study of published FDDs
Crave Hot Dogs and BBQ 10 years One ten-year option May 2024 comparative study of published FDDs
Pepper Lunch 10 years One ten-year option May 2024 comparative study of published FDDs
Capriotti’s 10 years One ten-year option May 2024 comparative study of published FDDs
Mad for Chicken 10 years Two successor terms of ten years each FDD issued 12 March 2025
375° Chicken ‘n Fries 10 years Two additional terms of ten years each FDD issued 30 April 2024
Döner Haus 10 years One ten-year successor term, renewal fee $5,000 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document
Doner Shack 10 years Two successive five-year terms, subject to a default record test FDD issued 29 April 2025
Wienerschnitzel 20 years No right of renewal May 2024 comparative study of published FDDs
The Great Greek Mediterranean Grill 35 years One additional thirty-five-year term FDD issued 17 August 2023

Doner Shack’s two five-year renewals add up to the same ten years several brands grant in one option, and they are granted twice rather than once. Two shorter windows and one long one are not the same instrument: each renewal is a fresh test against a default record, and each is a point at which the then-current agreement can differ from the one that was signed.

Great Greek’s thirty-five-year initial term is the outlier long. It can match a heavy build-out — Item 7 $582,014–$1,088,560 for 1,800–2,000 square feet in that 2023 FDD — but it also extends royalties (6%), brand fund (3%, with a right to raise to 4%), and a 1% local spend for a professional lifetime. Renewal is another thirty-five years at a $2,500 fee. Read what “then-current agreement” means before celebrating the length.

Wienerschnitzel is the outlier hard: twenty years, no right of renewal, no right to sell the business, and no protected area, in the May 2024 comparative record. A twenty-year amortization with no transfer is a job, not an asset. Lenders and estate lawyers notice. So should buyers who were told franchising is “buying a business you can sell.”

bluTaco’s at-will duration is the outlier loose. Either party can end it. That is flexibility and that is risk. There is no disclosed royalty rate in the same record to even model a buyout against.

GDK’s renewal condition — not in the bottom 10% on performance — is a numeric gate. Ask how performance is defined, which cohort you are ranked against, and what happens if you miss. A ten-year option that you cannot reach is not an option.

Transfer, death, and the sale you imagined

Item 17’s transfer rows cover approval, right of first refusal, transfer fees, and conditions. Disclosed transfer-fee examples here:

  • The Halal Guys: $10,000 (May 2024 comparative study)
  • Dog Haus: $17,500 (May 2024 comparative study)
  • Crave: $5,000 (May 2024 comparative study)
  • bluTaco: $2,500 (May 2024 comparative study)
  • Mad for Chicken: $10,000 (FDD issued 12 March 2025)
  • Doner Shack: $10,000 (FDD issued 29 April 2025)
  • Döner Haus: 75% of the then-current initial franchise fee (2026 Franchise Disclosure Document)
  • Shah’s: 50% of the then-current franchise fee (FDD issued 10 April 2024)
  • GDK: 5% of the sale price (FDD issued 3 September 2024)
  • Capriotti’s: the greater of $10,000 or 5%, capped at $20,000 (May 2024 comparative study)
  • The Great Greek: the greater of $29,500 or 10% of the sale price, capped at the then-current franchise fee (FDD issued 17 August 2023)

Wienerschnitzel’s record states no right to sell. A transfer-fee cell would be the wrong question.

Renewal fees, where disclosed: Halal Guys $5,000; Dog Haus $5,000; Crave $5,000; Capriotti’s $10,000; Great Greek $2,500. GDK: 50% of the then-current franchise fee. Pepper Lunch: as required by the franchisor at renewal. “As required” is not a number. Model a blank.

Territory sits next door in Item 12

Item 17 does not replace Item 12, but exit and territory interact. Capriotti’s May 2024 comparative record: no protected area, ten-year term, one ten-year option, 6–7% royalty, brand fund 2% rising to as much as 4%, 1.5% local, 0.65% technology. You can sell a shop (subject to transfer rules) into a street that another Capriotti’s can also occupy.

GDK: non-exclusive protected territory, no minimum size, negotiated from demographics, with campus, sports, transport and aggregator-delivery exclusions. An airport food court — the photograph on this page — may be carved out even when nearby streets are protected.

Shah’s: up to five miles by driving distance, smaller in cities; non-traditional sites excluded (FDD issued 10 April 2024).

Global Bazaar food court seating and counters inside Newark Liberty Terminal C
An airport food court. Territory clauses often reserve captive venues like this even when a nearby street is described as protected. Photograph by Famartin, Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; resized for web display.

Before you leave Item 17

  • Copy term, renewal conditions, renewal fee, and whether a then-current agreement is required.
  • Copy transfer rights, ROFR, transfer fee, and personal-guarantee survival.
  • For Wienerschnitzel, write “no renewal, no sale” in plain letters.
  • For Great Greek, draw a 35-year lease-and-remodel timeline, not a 10-year one.
  • For Capriotti’s, read transfer beside “no protected area.”
  • Trace every important row to an agreement section before treating the table as the deal.
  • Align franchise term with lease term and options.
Items 12 and 17: how long the agreement runs, what happens at the end of it, and what ground it protects.
Brand Term Renewal Territory
Döner Haus 10 yrs One ten-year successor term Limited protection, not exclusive; about 50,000 population, or a one-mile radius where fewer than that live and work within it
Pepper Lunch 10 yrs One ten-year option Set from demographics and population density
Shah's Halal Food 10 yrs One additional ten-year term Up to five miles by driving distance, smaller in cities. Non-traditional sites are excluded.
375° Chicken 'n Fries 10 yrs Two additional terms of ten years each A specific location rather than an area, sized case by case. Not exclusive.
Dog Haus 10 yrs Successive ten-year terms Half-mile to five-mile radius, set from demographics, population, income and age
Mad for Chicken 10 yrs Two successor terms of ten years each Non-exclusive. Minimum five-mile radius in the suburbs, a quarter-mile in a city, sized after the site is approved.
The Halal Guys 10 yrs One ten-year option Quarter-mile to two-mile radius, set by area
Capriotti's 10 yrs One ten-year option No protected area
Crave Hot Dogs and BBQ 10 yrs One ten-year option Five-mile radius
Doner Shack 10 yrs Two successive five-year terms, subject to a default record test Protected but expressly not exclusive. No minimum geographic size; boundaries drawn case by case from the target demographic and described by zip codes, streets or landmarks.
German Doner Kebab 10 yrs One ten-year option, if the outlet is not in the bottom 10% on performance A non-exclusive protected territory with no minimum size, negotiated from demographics. Excludes campuses, sports venues, transport sites and aggregator delivery zones.
Wienerschnitzel 20 yrs — No protected area
The Great Greek Mediterranean Grill 35 yrs One additional thirty-five-year term Typically a one-mile radius, smaller in dense areas. Not exclusive. Limited-access venues excluded.

Asked in the field

Is a longer term always better?
No. It can amortize a build-out or extend a bad fee and a bad site. Read renewal conditions beside the lease.