Which costs less to open, Elmer’s Breakfast*Lunch*Dinner or Ford’s Garage?

Elmer’s Breakfast*Lunch*Dinner: $1,146,750 – $4,672,125 (2026 FDD · Item 7); Ford’s Garage: $2,728,800 – $3,548,800 (2026 FDD · Item 7). These are each franchisor's Item 7 estimated initial investment. The low end of the disclosed estimate is lower for Elmer’s Breakfast*Lunch*Dinner. At least one range spans several business formats. Estimates are not quotes, and the FDD years may differ.

Which has more locations, Elmer’s Breakfast*Lunch*Dinner or Ford’s Garage?

Elmer’s Breakfast*Lunch*Dinner: 4 (2026 FDD · Item 20 · PDF p. 54); Ford’s Garage: 34 (2026 FDD · Item 20 · PDF p. 90). Total outlets from Item 20. Outlet counts do not indicate territory availability or franchisee results.

Do Elmer’s Breakfast*Lunch*Dinner and Ford’s Garage disclose financial performance (Item 19)?

Elmer’s Breakfast*Lunch*Dinner has reviewed Item 19 figures for 4 location groups; Ford’s Garage has reviewed Item 19 figures for 4 location groups. Different location groups are not directly comparable, and revenue is not profit.

Franchise opportunities compared

Elmer’s BreakfastLunchDinner vs Ford’s Garage

Reviewed figures from each brand's Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD), side by side. Each figure carries its FDD year and page. This is not a ranking or recommendation, and the two FDDs may cover different years and location groups.

Elmer’s Breakfast*Lunch*Dinner2026 FDD

Ford’s Garage2026 FDD

Initial investment · Item 7

Elmer’s Breakfast*Lunch*Dinner

$1,146,750 – $4,672,125

2026 FDD · Item 7

Ford’s Garage

$2,728,800 – $3,548,800

2026 FDD · Item 7

Initial franchise fee · Item 5

Elmer’s Breakfast*Lunch*Dinner

$40,000

2026 FDD · Item 5 · PDF p. 11

Ford’s Garage

$50,000

2026 FDD · Item 5 · PDF p. 11

Royalty · Item 6

Elmer’s Breakfast*Lunch*Dinner

2026 FDD · Item 6 · PDF p. 12

Ford’s Garage

5.5% · percent of Gross Sales, excluding Gift Card sales

2026 FDD · Item 6 · PDF p. 12

Before you compare

Both sets of figures come from 2026 FDDs.
Elmer’s Breakfast*Lunch*Dinner and Ford’s Garage disclose more than one business format, so the investment range spans formats; the full report breaks them out.
Item 19 figures cover the location groups each FDD names (Elmer’s Breakfast*Lunch*Dinner: 4, Ford’s Garage: 4). Different groups are not directly comparable.

Financial commitment

Disclosure

Elmer’s Breakfast*Lunch*Dinner

Ford’s Garage

Estimated initial investment (Item 7)

Elmer’s Breakfast*Lunch*Dinner

$1,146,750 – $4,672,125

2026 FDD · Item 7

Ford’s Garage

$2,728,800 – $3,548,800

2026 FDD · Item 7

Standard initial franchise fee (Item 5)

Elmer’s Breakfast*Lunch*Dinner

$40,000

2026 FDD · Item 5 · PDF p. 11

Ford’s Garage

$50,000

2026 FDD · Item 5 · PDF p. 11

Royalty (Item 6)

Elmer’s Breakfast*Lunch*Dinner

Royalty: 4% of Gross Sales, due weekly on or before Wednesday by ACH

2026 FDD · Item 6 · PDF p. 12

Ford’s Garage

5.5% · percent of Gross Sales, excluding Gift Card sales

Royalty Fee

2026 FDD · Item 6 · PDF p. 12

Brand / advertising fund (Item 6)

Elmer’s Breakfast*Lunch*Dinner

Aggregate cap on all required marketing expenditures: 3% of Gross Sales — 3%

2026 FDD · Item 6 · PDF p. 12

Ford’s Garage

1% of gross sales

Marketing Fund Contribution

2026 FDD · Item 6 · PDF p. 12

System scale & health

Disclosure

Elmer’s Breakfast*Lunch*Dinner

Ford’s Garage

Total outlets (Item 20)

Elmer’s Breakfast*Lunch*Dinner

Outlets at end of 2025

2026 FDD · Item 20 · PDF p. 54

Ford’s Garage

Outlets at end of 2025

2026 FDD · Item 20 · PDF p. 90

Net outlet change (Item 20)

Elmer’s Breakfast*Lunch*Dinner

−11

Calculated: 15 at end of 2023 → 4 at end of 2025

Ford’s Garage

Calculated: 25 at end of 2023 → 34 at end of 2025

Outlet exits (Item 20)

Elmer’s Breakfast*Lunch*Dinner

Not available

No complete exit records for a year

Ford’s Garage

Not available

No complete exit records for a year

Franchising since (Item 1)

Elmer’s Breakfast*Lunch*Dinner

1966

From a verified franchisor listing

Ford’s Garage

Not stated

2026 FDD · Item 1 · PDF p. 6

Franchisor founded (Item 1)

Elmer’s Breakfast*Lunch*Dinner

Not available

Not in reviewed records

Ford’s Garage

2014

2026 FDD · Item 1 · PDF p. 6

Financial performance (Item 19), by location group

Elmer’s Breakfast*Lunch*Dinner

Locations counted not stated in the reviewed record — Egg N’ Joe restaurants operating at least one full year

$1,297,789

other Egg N’ Joe #1 gross sales 2024

2026 FDD · Item 19 · PDF p. 51

Locations counted not stated in the reviewed record — Elmer’s Kitchen restaurants operating at least one full year

$2,400,369

other Elmer’s Kitchen #1 gross sales 2024

2026 FDD · Item 19 · PDF p. 53

Locations counted not stated in the reviewed record — Elmer’s Restaurants open at least one full year

$6,243,497

other Elmer’s A

2026 FDD · Item 19 · PDF p. 52

+1 more groups in the full report

Ford’s Garage

Franchised and company-owned (12 locations) — EBITDA and revenue

$674,250

other Operating EBITDA from Operations

2026 FDD · Item 19 · PDF p. 81

Franchised and company-owned (8 locations) — EBITDA and revenue

$163,538

other Operating EBITDA from Operations

2026 FDD · Item 19 · PDF p. 81

Franchised and company-owned (24 locations) — revenue

$5,730,457

other Gross Revenue

2026 FDD · Item 19 · PDF p. 83

+1 more groups in the full report

Item 19 groups are shown separately and never combined. Revenue or sales figures are not profit. Net outlet change and turnover are Franopolis calculations from the disclosed counts; turnover is a count-based rate, not a measure of owner earnings.