Start a Huddle House Franchise in 2025

Franchise 500 Rank: N/R Not ranked last year

Initial investment: $552K - $1.4M

Units as of 2024: 267 13% over 3 years

Huddle House, founded in 1964, is an American casual dining franchisor. With more than 330 locations in the U.S., they provide fresh and hot homestyle meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They strive to offer flavorful and comforting homestyle food.

As you run your franchise, you will likely provide homestyle cooking and comfort to hundreds of people. The perfect candidate for a Huddle House franchisee is someone with multi-unit restaurant experience and a passion for getting involved in the local community while providing quality food.

Why You May Want to Start a Huddle House Franchise

If you love the idea of offering delicious homestyle food to your local community, then opening a Huddle House franchise may be for you. Huddle House is known for its ‘home-cooked,’ comforting meals that include waffles, bacon, southern chicken, mashed potatoes, prime ribs, and specialty burgers. Using their proprietary recipes, you will likely prepare some of their best dishes and serve loyal customers.

As a Huddle House franchisee, you will join their network of casual dining restaurants that are committed to providing quality, flavorful, and delicious food. You can offer a place for people and families to come together and enjoy a great meal in a fun and casual environment.

What Might Make a Huddle House Franchise a Good Choice?

To be part of the Huddle House team, you should make sure you’re financially ready for an initial investment made up of a franchise fee and other startup costs. Furthermore, you should prepare yourself for ongoing fees that will include advertising, royalty, and renewal fees. Franchisees will also need to meet the company's set net worth and liquid capital requirements.

Opening a Huddle House franchise may offer you an opportunity to build an empire in the multi-billion dollar food industry. Franchisees can learn a lot from this chain's position in a competitive industry.

Huddle House has carved out a niche as a southern homestyle, casual dining restaurant. They may have the notoriety and loyal customer base to ensure a well-oriented business for any franchisee.

How to Open a Huddle House Franchise

To get started, you can submit an inquiry form. As you make your decision to open a Huddle House franchise, make sure you take time to explore the opportunity. Research the brand and your local area to see if a Huddle House franchise would do well in your community. You may want to take a closer look at the restaurant businesses in your area. How fragmented is the market? While competition is healthy, too much of it may not allow for the most possible growth. Can you find a location that you think will thrive?

Come prepared with questions as you speak to existing franchisees and ask questions to the Huddle House team. If your net worth and available liquid capital match the brand’s requirements, you may qualify to open a Huddle House franchise, and you can get started with an initial investment.

It's time for hungry customers to huddle up around your table!

Company Overview

About Huddle House

Industry	Food
Related Categories	Miscellaneous Full-Service Restaurants
Founded	1964
Parent Company	Ascent Hospitality Management
Leadership	James O'Reilly, CEO
Corporate Address	5901-B Peachtree-Dunwoody Rd., #450 Sandy Springs, GA 30328
Social	Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube

Business Overview

Franchising Since	1966 (59 years)
# of employees at HQ	126
Where seeking	This company is offering new franchises in the following US states: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nebraska, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia
# of Units	267 (as of 2024)

Information for Franchisees

Here's what you need to know if you're interested in opening a Huddle House franchise.

Financial Requirements & Ongoing Fees

Here's what you can expect to spend to start the business and what ongoing fees the franchisor charges throughout the life of the business.

Initial Franchise Fee Definition: The initial fee paid to a franchisor to join their system What you need to know: Found in Item 5 of the FDD, this may be a flat fee, or may vary based on territory size, experience, or other factors.The franchise fee is an up-front (one-time) cost that a new franchisee pays to the franchisor. This fee is usually due at the signing of the franchise agreement and covers the right to use the franchisor's trademarks, name, and related business systems.	$35,000
Initial Investment Definition: The total amount necessary to begin operation of the franchise What you need to know: The initial investment includes the franchise fee, along with other startup expenses such as real estate, equipment, supplies, business licenses, and working capital. This is outlined in a chart in Item 7 of the FDD, showing a range of possible costs from low to high.	$551,950 - $1,429,150
Net Worth Requirement Definition: The minimum net worth you must have in order to qualify to become a franchisee of this company What you need to know: Net worth is the value of a person's assets minus liabilities. Assets include cash, stocks, retirement accounts, and real estate. Liabilities include items like mortgages, car payments, and credit card debt.	$500,000
Cash Requirement Definition: The minimum liquid capital you must have available in order to qualify to become a franchisee of this company.	$250,000
Veteran Incentives Definition: A discount or other incentive offered to military veterans who buy a franchise with this company.	25% off franchise fee
Royalty Fee Definition: A ongoing fee paid to the franchisor on a regular basis. What you need to know: Most franchisors require franchisees to pay an ongoing royalty fee, which is detailed in Item 6 of the FDD. This fee is typically a percentage of weekly or monthly gross sales, but may also be a flat weekly, monthly, or annual fee.	4.75%
Ad Royalty Fee Definition: An going fee paid to the franchisor on a regular basis to support advertising or marketing efforts. What you need to know: This may also be called advertising fee, marketing fee, brand fund fee, and more, but the basic purpose is the same-- to support promotion of the brand systemwide. As with the royalty fee, it is detailed in Item 6 of the FDD, and can be a percentage of weekly or monthly gross sales or a weekly, monthly, or annual fee.	3%
Term of Agreement Definition: The length of time your franchise agreement will last. What you need to know: Franchise terms are typically anywhere from 5 to 20 years in length, but are sometimes instead dependent on factors such as the term of your lease. Once your term is up, you may have the option to renew your agreement, typically for a smaller fee than the original franchise fee.	15 years
Is franchise term renewable?	Yes

Financing Options

Some franchisors offer in-house financing, while others have relationships with third-party financing sources to which they refer qualified franchisees.

Third Party Financing	Huddle House has relationships with third-party sources which offer financing to cover the following: franchise fee, startup costs, equipment, inventory, accounts receivable, payroll

Training & Support Offered

Franchisors offer initial training programs and a variety of ongoing support options to help franchisees run their businesses.

On-The-Job Training	307 hours
Classroom Training	58 hours
Ongoing Support	Purchasing Co-ops Newsletter Meetings & Conventions Toll-Free Line Grand Opening Online Support Security & Safety Procedures Lease Negotiation Field Operations Site Selection Proprietary Software Franchisee Intranet Platform
Marketing Support	Ad Templates National Media Regional Advertising Social Media SEO Website Development Email Marketing Loyalty Program/App

Operations

Additional details about running this franchise.

Is absentee ownership allowed?	Yes
Can this franchise be run from home/mobile unit? Definition: The business can be run from your home and/or a vehicle, and it is not necessary to have a retail facility, office space, or warehouse.	No
Can this franchise be run part time? Definition: This business can be run by the owner on a part-time basis (less than 40 hours per week) and/or as a side business; it is not necessary for the business to be open/run full-time.	No
# of employees required to run	25-30
Are exclusive territories available? Definition: An exclusive territory is a fixed area in which you are given the right to operate and in which no other units of the same franchise may be opened. What you need to know: Territory size may be based on factors such as radius, population size, zip codes, and more. Details can be found in Item 12 of the FDD.	Yes