Black Bear Diner franchise
A Black Bear Diner franchisee runs a family-style restaurant serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. At the end of 2025 there were 169 Black Bear Diner locations in the US, 97 franchised and 72 company-owned.
- Cost to open
- $1.5M–$2.24M
- Franchise fee
- $55,000
- Royalty
- 4.5%
- Locations, 2025
- 169+9 in 3 yrs
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Company snapshot
- SBA loans
- On the SBA Franchise Directory
From BBDI LLC’s 2026 filing; SBA status from the SBA Franchise Directory, October 28, 2026.
How much a Black Bear Diner franchise costs
Opening one restaurant costs an estimated $1,495,700 to $2,238,600. That covers the franchise fee and everything else needed to open, through the first months of working capital.
Source: BBDI LLC, 2026 filing, page 19
Black Bear Diner franchise fee
The franchise fee is $55,000, for the first restaurant; existing operators may qualify for different initial fees. You pay it when you sign the franchise agreement.
Source: BBDI LLC, 2026 filing, page 13
Royalty and ongoing fees
| Royalty | 4.5% of gross sales, paid weekly. |
|---|
The typical franchise royalty is 6% of sales, plus 2% for marketing. See franchise fees and royalties to compare.
Source: BBDI LLC, 2026 filing, page 14
Sales and earnings
Shares figures Black Bear Diner publishes sales or earnings figures for its locations: historical gross sales for franchised and company-affiliated restaurants open for the full 2024 and 2025 fiscal years. The full tables, with notes on which locations are counted, are in its filing.
Source: BBDI LLC, 2026 filing, page 47
Locations opened and closed
| Year | Franchised | Company-owned | Closed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 91 (+3) | 65 | 3 |
| 2024 | 92 (+1) | 70 | 2 |
| 2025 | 97 (+5) | 72 | 2 |
Closed or left counts terminations, non-renewals, locations bought back by the franchisor and locations that stopped operating.
See which brands grew most in the fastest-growing franchises rankings.
Black Bear Diner passes all five tests on our list of the best franchises to own and ranks number 64.
Source: BBDI LLC, 2026 filing, page 52
How Black Bear Diner compares
Of the 126 restaurant franchises on this site, Black Bear Diner is the 108th cheapest to open and the 58th largest by number of locations.
| Measure | Black Bear Diner | Typical restaurant |
|---|---|---|
| Cost to open, low end | $1.5M | $484K |
| Royalty | 4.5% | 5% |
| Closed or left per year | 2.6% | 3.6% |
| Change in franchised locations, 3 yrs | +10.2% | +6.3% |
| Shares earnings figures | Yes | 92 of 126 |
Typical is the median across the 126 brands in restaurant franchises.
