Food & Beverage
Slim Chickens Franchise
A fast-casual restaurant franchise serving chicken tenders, wings, salads, sandwiches, and dipping sauces.
On record with state regulators
This franchisor entered a 2020 Consent Order with Washington State's Securities Division (Order No. S-20-2961-20-CO01) for selling two unregistered franchises there and failing to disclose it wasn't registered in that state ($1,000 investigative-cost penalty, plus cease-and-desist terms). This is not a California DFPI action -- DFPI has no actions or orders on file for this entity. Check the Washington State Securities Division's public record directly for the full order.
Disclosed in the FDD's litigation section (Item 3)
This franchise's FDD discloses an active lawsuit filed June 2025 by a group of multi-state franchisees, alleging fraud, breach of contract, and "royalties on phantom sales" tied to average-unit-volume claims and a switch to frozen chicken. In March 2026, the court dismissed the fraud claims specifically tied to those volume representations, but other claims in the case continue. This is an unresolved dispute, not a proven finding -- California DFPI itself shows no action on file. Item 3 litigation disclosures like this are a standard, federally required part of every FDD; read the full disclosure in the current FDD before drawing conclusions.
Every franchisor has to file a document called an FDD before they can legally sell you a franchise. Buried in it are the two things a sales rep won't volunteer: what you'll actually spend to open, and whether existing locations are opening or closing. That's what's below, pulled straight from Slim Chickens's own filing.
What it costs to open
From the filing's investment breakdown -- not a "starting at" number a sales rep quoted you.
Franchise fee
$30,000
Total to open
$1,188,900–$4,944,000
Ongoing royalty
5% of gross sales
What you'd actually spend, over time
The upfront cost is only part of it. Plug in what you expect a location to bring in, and see the real total once royalties over a few years are added on top.
Defaulted to a rough food & beverage industry average, not a figure from Slim Chickens's own FDD -- change it to your own estimate.
Total cost of ownership over 5 years
$1,438,900 – $5,194,000
Startup investment
$1,188,900–$4,944,000
Royalty per year (5%)
$50,000
Total royalty, 5yr
$250,000
When would you break even?
Revenue alone doesn't tell you this -- it depends on what's left after rent, labor, and everything else. Slim Chickens's FDD doesn't disclose a reliable profit figure (most franchisors don't), so this starts from a typical food & beverage profit margin (~8%) and applies it to the revenue you entered above -- adjust the percentage to your own realistic estimate.
Defaulted to a general food & beverage industry benchmark, not a figure from Slim Chickens's own filing -- this is a starting point to adjust, not a promise about what franchisees actually make.
At that profit, you'd break even in about
14.9–61.8 years
Weigh that payback period against what you already know: Slim Chickens is opening more locations. A long payback period on a shrinking brand is a very different bet than the same payback period on a growing one.
Is Slim Chickens actually growing?
Franchisors have to report, every year, how many locations opened, closed, or changed hands. Most franchise sites never show you this. Here it is:
Locations opened vs. closed, by year
GrowingFrom Item 20 of Slim Chickens's FDD, the section franchisors use to disclose real openings and closings.
| Year | Franchised units, start | Franchised units, end | Net change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 138 | 172 | +34 |
| 2024 | 172 | 196 | +24 |
| 2025 | 196 | 204 | +8 |
Most recent year (2025): gained 8 franchised units, ending the year at 204 total.
Where this came from: California DFPI Registration Application, App ID APP00005433, filed 4/29/2026, effective 7/8/2026. FDD issuance date April 29, 2026. You can pull the same filing yourself from the California DFPI's public franchise search. Filed 2026-04-29. None of this is investment advice -- get the franchisor's current FDD and talk to a real attorney or accountant before you sign anything.
If you see a different unit count elsewhere: franchisors only have to refile their FDD annually, so the numbers here can run 6–18 months behind a franchisor's own real-time marketing claims -- which often aren't independently verified, and sometimes count signed-but-not-yet-open locations. A gap isn't necessarily an error on either side; it's two different snapshots in time from two different sources.