Highlights
- Every week, 9.0% of gross sales goes to the franchisor before rent, food or labor: royalty 5% of Net Sales, advertising Currently, 3% of Net Sales, but it may be increased to up to 4% of Net Sales.p.31
- Opening one unit is estimated at $644,425 to $1,401,650, including a $35,500 initial fee.p.43
- Moe's Southwest Grill discloses unit performance in Item 19: Average Net Sales of $1,184,316.p.83
- The system went from 637 outlets at the start of 2023 to 568 at the end of 2025, a net loss of 69.p.85
- In 2025, closures of all kinds equalled 7.3% of the outlets open at the start of the year.
- Item 3 discloses 0 matters.p.26
Tools, from this filing's numbers
What Moe's Southwest Grill takes off the top
Royalty 5% of Net Sales plus advertising Currently, 3% of Net Sales, but it may be increased to up to 4% of Net Sales, applied to your own sales estimate. The rates are the filing's; the sales are yours.
Preset to the filing's Item 19 figure, $1,184,316 a year.p.83
Cash you would need to open
The filing's Item 7 range, $644,425 to $1,401,650, is an estimate for one unit including only its first months. Slide between the low and high cases and add the months of runway you want beyond that.
Monthly operating cash is taken as one-twelfth of your weekly-sales figure above times 52, a placeholder for rent, labor and food until you have your own budget.
Where the units went in 2025
Every outlet that opened, and every one that left, drawn from Item 20 Table 3 to scale.p.89
Total outlets, 2022 to 2025
Compare Moe's Southwest Grill with another brand
Side by side, every figure cited.
Fees (Items 5 and 6)
| Initial franchise fee, standard | $35,500 | p.29 |
| Royalty | 5% of Net Sales | p.31 |
| Advertising fund | Currently, 3% of Net Sales, but it may be increased to up to 4% of Net Sales | p.31 |
| Technology fee | held for review |
The filing lists every recurring and conditional fee in Item 6.
Estimated initial investment (Item 7)
| Expenditure | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Fee | $35,500 | $35,500 | p.42 |
| Construction and Build Out Costs – Inline and Endcap | $259,700 | $573,200 | p.42 |
| Construction and Build Out Costs – Freestanding | $259,700 | $1,140,000 | p.42 |
| Permitting | $2,300 | $17,500 | p.42 |
| Equipment Package | $168,000 | $285,300 | p.42 |
| Millwork | $21,000 | $61,800 | p.42 |
| Furniture | $15,000 | $30,100 | p.42 |
| Menu Board, Graphics and Interior Signage | $7,500 | $10,100 | p.42 |
| Exterior Signage | $13,900 | $35,000 | p.42 |
| Smallwares | $9,800 | $22,000 | p.43 |
| TV/Music | $2,400 | $5,000 | p.43 |
| Architect/Engineer | $9,800 | $25,000 | p.43 |
| Rent | $4,500 | $20,000 | p.43 |
| Grand Opening Marketing | $25,000 | $35,000 | p.43 |
| Legal and Accounting Fees | $3,500 | $50,000 | p.43 |
| Insurance | $1,425 | $7,550 | p.43 |
| Misc. Opening Costs/Office Supplies | $2,500 | $5,000 | p.43 |
| Security Deposits | $1,500 | $8,000 | p.43 |
| Management Training Program Fee | $0 | $7,500 | p.43 |
| Travel and Living Expenses during Training | $8,100 | $11,700 | p.43 |
| On-Site Training Fee | $0 | $18,300 | p.43 |
| Opening Inventory | $15,000 | $35,000 | p.43 |
| Additional Funds - 3 Months | $25,000 | $53,000 | p.43 |
| Total | $644,425 | $1,401,650 | p.43 |
Revenue (Item 19)
Moe's Southwest Grill reports Average Net Sales of $1,184,316 across 463 outlets for Fiscal Year 2025.p.83 What the figure measures, which units were excluded and what it leaves out are in the report.
Units (Item 20)
| Type | Year | Start | End | Net | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| franchised | 2023 | 636 | 606 | -30 | p.85 |
| company owned | 2023 | 1 | 6 | 5 | p.85 |
| total | 2023 | 637 | 612 | -25 | p.85 |
| franchised | 2024 | 606 | 591 | -15 | p.85 |
| company owned | 2024 | 6 | 5 | -1 | p.85 |
| total | 2024 | 612 | 596 | -16 | p.85 |
| franchised | 2025 | 591 | 563 | -28 | p.85 |
| company owned | 2025 | 5 | 5 | 0 | p.85 |
| total | 2025 | 596 | 568 | -28 | p.85 |
Openings and closures, system totals (Table 3)
| Year | Start | Opened | Terminated | Non-renewed | Reacquired | Ceased, other | End | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 636 | 12 | 37 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 606 | p.89 |
| 2024 | 606 | 15 | 25 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 591 | p.89 |
| 2025 | 591 | 15 | 40 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 563 | p.89 |
Arithmetic checks flagged: item7: low lines sum to 891125, total says 644425; item7: high lines sum to 2491550, total says 1401650. The figures shown are as filed.
Litigation (Item 3)
0 pending cases described.p.26 1 case brought by franchisees or former franchisees.p.26 Counts are of distinct matters as the filing describes them; the report carries each one in plain words.
Scorecard
Rank among the brands on this site that report the figure, on each list's own direction. No blended grade. How the lists work.
| Cost to open | $644,425 | 47 of 74 |
| Royalty plus ad fund | 9.0% | 31 of 59 |
| Three-year unit growth | -10.8% | 70 of 75 |
| Closure rate, 2025 | 7.3% | 12 of 71, 1 = most |
| Discloses unit revenue | yes | |
| Litigation disclosed | 0 | 67 of 68, 1 = most |
Source
Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions franchise filing 640669, effective 3/31/2026, expires 3/31/2027. Extracted 2026-09-06 by two independent readers; only figures both agreed on, whose quoted words appear on the cited page, are shown. 3 fields held for review. How this works.