Smalls Sliders franchise cost in 2026: $1,408,948 to $2,137,427 to open, a $35,000 fee, 6% royalty, and a $1,693,423 median we calculated on 20 units.
Quick answer A Smalls Sliders restaurant costs $1,408,948 to $2,137,427 to open per the 2026 FDD, including a $35,000 franchise fee, a $2,500 training fee and a $15,000 grand opening fee. Item 19 lists 2025 gross sales for every unit; the 20 restaurants open 50 or more weeks had a median of $1,693,423 by our calculation.
The building at the center of a Smalls Sliders franchise is about 800 square feet, manufactured off site, trucked in and set on a lot of 25,000 to 35,000 square feet. Smalls Sliders Franchising LLC prices the whole freestanding modular drive-thru at $1,408,948 to $2,137,427 in its 2026 disclosure. The franchisor calls it a restaurant. Most people who have driven past one call it the can.
The menu is small and so is the building. The Smalls Sliders franchise cost is not: the low end of this range sits above the high end of Five Guys. Only $52,500 of it goes to the franchisor. The rest goes to the manufacturer, your site contractor, equipment vendors and payroll.
| Item 7 line | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $35,000 | $35,000 |
| Initial training fee | $2,500 | $2,500 |
| Restaurant building and site work | $979,413 | $1,520,596 |
| FF&E and technology | $256,859 | $339,118 |
| Signage and menu boards | $49,926 | $111,513 |
| Lease, utility and security deposits | $500 | $4,000 |
| Professional fees | $1,250 | $9,200 |
| Opening inventory | $26,000 | $33,000 |
| Grand opening campaign fee | $15,000 | $15,000 |
| Hiring, uniform and training expenses | $15,000 | $31,000 |
| Insurance, 3 months | $1,500 | $2,500 |
| Miscellaneous | $1,000 | $4,000 |
| Additional funds, 3 months | $25,000 | $30,000 |
| Total | $1,408,948 | $2,137,427 |
One line decides your number. Building and site work runs $979,413 to $1,520,596, and it bundles the modular unit with due diligence, surveys, architects, permits, impact fees, demolition, foundation and parking. A pad-ready lot lands near the low end. A raw corner needing utilities and paving pushes past the high end. Note 10 says the range excludes buying real estate, and the franchisor does not offer financing.
Item 8 lets the franchisor specify the prefabricated modular building and its supplier. It also states that neither the franchisor nor any affiliate is currently an approved supplier of anything, which is cleaner than some modular concepts where the parent builds the box. The full Item 7 table and fee schedule are on the Smalls Sliders dossier.
The $35,000 initial franchise fee is nonrefundable when paid. Item 5 adds a $2,500 training fee and a $15,000 grand opening fee due when you sign the lease. Development rights are optional. If you take them, you commit to at least two restaurants and pay $15,000 for each restaurant after the first, credited toward a $30,000 fee on each later unit. The cover page prices a five-unit deal at $60,000 in development fees on top of the first fee, and the money stays with the franchisor if you cannot find sites.
Item 6 sets a 6% weekly royalty and a brand fund currently at 3%. Item 11 requires local marketing of at least 2% of the prior month’s sales, with brand fund, local and co-op spending capped together at 5%. The technology contribution can reach 1% but is currently $100 a month.
Apply those to our calculated $1,693,423 median for the 20 full-year restaurants. Royalty comes to $101,605 and the brand fund to $50,803, so $152,408 a year goes to the franchisor before the $1,200 technology fee. Add $33,868 in required local marketing and the restaurant spends about $187,500 a year, roughly 11% of sales, on royalty and marketing combined.
The FDD does not print a median or an average. It prints something more useful: 2025 gross sales for every one of the 45 restaurants open at any point in the year, each with its opening date and weeks open. Table 1 covers the 21 restaurants opened before 2025. Twenty of them ran 50 or more weeks, 18 franchised and 2 affiliate-owned, and one franchised unit was closed for building damage and ran 17 weeks.
From those 20 rows we calculate a median of $1,693,423 and an average of $1,660,223. The low was $825,108 and the high $2,574,197. Strip out the two affiliate units and the 18 franchised restaurants come to a median of $1,882,921 by the same count. Seven of the 18 franchised units sold under $1.3 million.
What a 20-unit sample can tell you is the spread, and it is wide even within one vintage. The four franchised cans opened in 2022 did $825,108, $836,835, $1,970,897 and $2,113,639. Same box and same menu after three years of seasoning, with a gap of more than $1.2 million. Site and operator matter more here than any system average.
What it cannot tell you is profit. Note 3 says the data is revenue only, with no rent, food, labor or debt costs, and note 6 says the franchisor did not audit it. Table 2 shows a 2025 opener at $4,176,447 in 48 weeks, but note 4 warns about a honeymoon period that can last months, so the 24 new units say little about steady-state volume. The Smalls Sliders financials page carries the unit-level table. Our guide to buying an emerging franchise under 100 units covers how to weigh a disclosure this young.
Franchised restaurants went from 4 at the start of 2023 to 9, then 19, then 43 at the end of 2025. Openings were 5, 10 and 24. Item 20 shows no terminations, non-renewals, reacquisitions or units ceasing operations in any of the three years. Company-owned units held at 2 in Louisiana; one South Carolina restaurant opened as a company unit in 2025 and was sold to a franchisee.
The pipeline is larger than the system. Item 20 reports 55 signed franchise agreements for restaurants not yet open, led by 14 in Texas and 12 in Florida, and projects 31 franchised openings in the new fiscal year. Two transfers occurred, both in Louisiana in 2024. Item 20 also says some current and former franchisees signed confidentiality clauses, so expect a few owners to decline your call. Territory is modest: Item 12 grants a protected area of about three-quarters of a mile, possibly less, and states plainly that it is not exclusive.
The franchisor was formed in Louisiana on June 22, 2021, converted to a Georgia LLC on December 19, 2023, and has sold franchises since July 2021. Its parent is Smalls Holding, LLC, based at the same Atlanta address. Item 1 says it is affiliated through common control with private equity funds managed by 10 Point Capital, which also controls the Walk-On’s franchisor. Item 18 names Drew Brees, the former Saints quarterback, as an owner in a company holding an interest in Smalls Holding, and notes he is also a franchisee.
The term is 15 years, with up to four successor terms of five years each. Renewal and transfer each cost 20% of the then-current franchise fee. The FDD does not state a minimum net worth or liquidity requirement. In practice, a $1.4 million to $2.1 million project with no franchisor financing points to buyers with restaurant operating experience and the balance sheet to carry an SBA or bank loan through a slow opening.
| Brand | Item 7 range (2026 FDD) | Item 19 |
|---|---|---|
| Smalls Sliders | $1,408,948 to $2,137,427 | Unit-level 2025 sales for all 45 restaurants |
| Dave’s Hot Chicken | $616,800 to $4,121,900 (in-line to freestanding) | None |
| Five Guys | $927,850 to $1,375,750 per restaurant | None |
The comparison is less about price than about what you get to see. Dave’s Hot Chicken sells through area development deals and Five Guys through development agreements, and neither 2026 FDD makes any financial performance representation. Smalls costs more per unit than Five Guys at both ends, and it is the only one of the three that shows you what each restaurant sold. For more of the category, see our list of the best burger franchises and the general breakdown of what it costs to open a franchise.
Unit economics beyond sales, including fee totals at your own volume, are in the $49 full report on the Smalls Sliders dossier.
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About this analysis The franchise data in this article is drawn from VetMyFranchise's structured analysis of 2,400+ Franchise Disclosure Documents filed with U.S. state regulators. See our data & methodology.
The 2026 FDD estimates $1,408,948 to $2,137,427 for one restaurant, of which $52,500 goes to the franchisor as the $35,000 franchise fee, the $2,500 training fee and the $15,000 grand opening fee. Buying land is not included, and the franchisor offers no financing.
The 20 restaurants open at least 50 weeks of 2025 had a median of $1,693,423 in gross sales, by our calculation from the unit-level table in Item 19. The FDD discloses revenue only, with no costs or profit, and the figures are unaudited.
The franchisor is Smalls Sliders Franchising LLC of Atlanta, whose parent is Smalls Holding, LLC. Item 1 says it sits under common control with private equity funds managed by 10 Point Capital, and Item 18 says Drew Brees owns part of a company holding an interest in the parent and is also a franchisee.
No. A single-restaurant franchise agreement is offered. Development rights are optional and start at two restaurants, with a $15,000 development fee for each restaurant after the first.
It is honest but thin. Every unit is listed with its opening date and weeks open, which beats a filtered average, but 20 full-year restaurants is a small base and the sales spread runs more than three to one.
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