Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken franchise
2026 filing · April 29, 2026Fewer locationsShares sales figures
Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken at a glance
A quick-service restaurant serving fried chicken, biscuits and Southern sides. At the end of 2025 there were 127 Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken locations in the US, 92 franchised and 35 company-owned.
The business
- Franchisor
- LEE’S FRANCHISOR LLC
- The company that sells the franchises
- Franchisor based in
- Shalimar, Florida
- Typical size
- 2,000–2,800 sq ft
What you pay
- Cost to open
- $1.34M–$2.56M
- New restaurant building
- Franchise fee
- $35,000
- Paid once, when you sign
- Royalty
- 5%
- 5% of gross sales, paid weekly
- Agreement length
- 15 years
- Franchisor financing
- None offered
Where it is
- US locations, 2025
- 127
- Franchised and company-owned
- Franchised
- 92
- Company-owned
- 35
- Change in 2 years
- −22
- Franchised locations, 2023–2025
- States
- 13
- Most in Ohio, Kentucky and Missouri
From LEE’S FRANCHISOR LLC’s 2026 filing; SBA status from the SBA Franchise Directory, October 28, 2026.
Where it ranks
Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken among all franchises with the same figure.
| Figure | Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken | Among all franchises |
|---|---|---|
| Cost to open, midpointHalfway between the low and high estimate | $1,952,300 | Costs more than 92% of franchises |
| Franchise feePaid once, when you sign | $35,000 | Lower than 61% of franchises |
| RoyaltyShare of sales paid to the franchisor | 5% | Lower than 69% of brands with a set rate |
| US locationsFranchised and company-owned | 127 | More than 80% of franchises |
How much a Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken franchise costs
Opening new restaurant building costs an estimated $1,340,600 to $2,564,000. That covers the franchise fee and everything else needed to open, through the first months of working capital.
The biggest costs are building and improvement ($800,000 to $1,300,000) and site work ($100,000 to $500,000). Here is every line of the estimate as filed:
| What it pays for | Range | Low | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Fee | $35,000 | ||
| Training Fee | $5,000 | ||
| Training Expenses | $15,000 | $22,000 | |
| Restaurant Opening Campaign | $10,000 | ||
| Site Work | $100,000 | $500,000 | |
| Building and Improvement | $800,000 | $1,300,000 | |
| Equipment, Furniture and Signage | $296,100 | $500,000 | |
| POS System | $35,000 | $40,000 | |
| Opening Inventory | $12,000 | $32,000 | |
| Utility Deposits, Permits, Business Licenses and Miscellaneous Opening Costs | $7,500 | $50,000 | |
| Insurance | $10,000 | $20,000 | |
| Additional Funds - 3 Months | $15,000 | $50,000 | |
| Total | $1,340,600 | $2,564,000 | |
Source: LEE’S FRANCHISOR LLC, 2026 filing, page 22
Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken franchise fee
The franchise fee is $35,000. You pay it when you sign the franchise agreement.
Source: LEE’S FRANCHISOR LLC, 2026 filing, page 14
Royalty and ongoing fees
| Royalty | 5% of gross sales, paid weekly. |
|---|---|
| Technology Fee | Currently, $100 per month |
| Transfer Fees for Franchise Agreement | 50% of the then-current initial franchise agreement |
| Training Fee | $5,000 |
| Local Advertising Expenditures | Up to 1% of weekly Gross Sales |
The typical franchise royalty is 6% of sales, plus 2% for marketing. See franchise fees and royalties to compare.
Source: LEE’S FRANCHISOR LLC, 2026 filing, page 16
Other fees as filed, from pages 16–22. The filing lists every fee, including late fees and audit costs.
Sales and earnings
Shares figures Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken publishes sales or earnings figures for its locations. The full tables, with notes on which locations are counted, are in its filing.
- Average sales
- $2,134,231
- Median sales
- $2,000,774
- Average 4-Wall EBITDAR
- $365,316
- Median 4-Wall EBITDAR
- $349,288
Yearly figures for 2025, covering affiliate-owned restaurants open all of 2025 (excludes remodelled ones) (30 locations). The average is about 1.1 times the midpoint of the cost to open.
Sales are what a location takes in before rent, payroll, royalties and other costs, not what its owner keeps.
Source: LEE’S FRANCHISOR LLC, 2026 filing, pages 60–62
SBA loans to Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken franchisees
Lenders approved 9 SBA-backed loans for Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken franchisees from 2020 to 2026, $10.5M in all: 6 7(a) loans and 3 504 loans. None has been paid off or charged off yet.
A charged-off loan is one written off as uncollectible. See SBA franchise loans for how 7(a) and 504 loans work.
Source: SBA 7(a) and 504 loan data, as of September 30, 2026
How Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken compares
Of the 113 chicken franchises on this site, Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken is the 102nd cheapest to open and the 16th largest by number of locations.
| Figure | Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken | Typical chicken brand | Typical franchise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost to open, low end | $1.34M | $407K | $222K |
| Cost to open, high end | $2.56M | $868K | $477K |
| Franchise fee | $35K | $35K | $40K |
| Royalty | 5% | 5% | 6% |
| US locations | 127 | 10 | 21 |
| Closed or left per year | 6.1% | 4.5% | – |
| Change in franchised locations, 2 yrs | −19.3% | +16.7% | – |
| Shares earnings figures | Yes | 61 of 113 | 2,147 of 3,352 |
Typical is the median across the 113 brands in chicken franchises; typical franchise, across every brand here.
Locations opened and closed
| Year | Franchised | Company-owned | Opened | Closed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 106 (−8) | 17 | +1 | −9 |
| 2024 | 93 (−13) | 33 | – | – |
| 2025 | 92 (−1) | 35 | +3 | −4 |
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.
More in the guides: chicken franchise costs and franchise failure rates.
Source: LEE’S FRANCHISOR LLC, 2026 filing, page 71
Where Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken locations are
At the end of 2025, Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken had locations in 13 states. The most are in Ohio, Kentucky and Missouri.
- Ohio41
- Kentucky33
- Missouri16
- Indiana12
- Michigan12
- Florida3
| State | Franchised | Company-owned | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ohio | 32 | 9 | 41 |
| Kentucky | 29 | 4 | 33 |
| Missouri | 3 | 13 | 16 |
| Indiana | 8 | 4 | 12 |
| Michigan | 12 | 0 | 12 |
| Florida | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Illinois | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Tennessee | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Alabama | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Georgia | 1 | 0 | 1 |
All 13 states
| South Carolina | 1 |
|---|---|
| Virginia | 1 |
| Wisconsin | 1 |
Source: LEE’S FRANCHISOR LLC, 2026 filing, page 72
Who owns Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken?
Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken franchises are sold by LEE’S FRANCHISOR LLC. It is a subsidiary of LFR Chicken LLC.
From LEE’S FRANCHISOR LLC’s 2026 filing, page 10.
Lawsuits and bankruptcy
| Lawsuits and regulatory actions | None. The filing says no litigation has to be disclosed. |
|---|---|
| Bankruptcy | None. The filing says no bankruptcy has to be disclosed. |
Franchisors must disclose lawsuits and bankruptcies involving the company, its parents and affiliates, and its executives. Many cases are routine disputes with franchisees over fees or contracts; read the descriptions in the filing and ask current owners about anything that worries you.
Source: LEE’S FRANCHISOR LLC, 2026 filing, litigation on page 14, bankruptcy on page 14
Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken filings
The figures on this page come from LEE’S FRANCHISOR LLC’s 2026 filing, issued April 29, 2026, on record with the Minnesota Department of Commerce.
| Filing | Issued | Registry | On this page |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 filing | April 29, 2026 | Minnesota | Costs, fees and locations, 2023–2025 |
Each link opens the filing as a PDF. See the newest filings across all brands.
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