Franchise opportunities compared
Hardees Restaurants vs Moe’s Southwest Grill
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.
Before you compare
- Both sets of figures come from 2026 FDDs.
- Hardees Restaurants discloses 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 (Hardees Restaurants: 2, Moe’s Southwest Grill: 5). Different groups are not directly comparable.
| Disclosure | HRHardees Restaurants | MSMoe’s Southwest Grill |
|---|---|---|
| Financial commitment | ||
| Estimated initial investment (Item 7) | $57,000 – $1,385,000 2026 FDD · Item 7 | $644,425 Endcap and Inline 23 $644,425 $1,401,650 Total Initial Investment – Freestanding 23 — 644425 2026 FDD · Item 7 · PDF p. 43 |
| Standard initial franchise fee (Item 5) | $25,000 2026 FDD · Item 5 · PDF p. 28 | $7,500 2026 FDD · Item 5 · PDF p. 29 |
| Royalty (Item 6) | $3.00 i) — 3% ment and Franchised Agreement, we will reduce each of the royalty fee and APO by 2026 FDD · Item 6 · PDF p. 38 | $5.00 OTHER FEES Type of Fee 1 Amount Date Due Remarks Royalty Fee — 5% 2026 FDD · Item 6 · PDF p. 30 |
| Brand / advertising fund (Item 6) | $4.25 d by the Franchise Agreement. Hardee’s National Advertising Fund — “HNAF”) Currently, — 4.25% 2026 FDD · Item 6 · PDF p. 31 | $1.00 Marketing Obligation Currently, each calendar quarter, you must spend not less than — 1% 2026 FDD · Item 6 · PDF p. 31 |
| System scale & health | ||
| Total outlets (Item 20) | 396 Outlets at end of 2026 2026 FDD · Item 20 · PDF p. 77 | 1,136 Outlets at end of 2025 2026 FDD · Item 20 · PDF p. 85 |
| Net outlet change (Item 20) | −12 Calculated: 408 at end of 2024 → 396 at end of 2026 | −88 Calculated: 1,224 at end of 2023 → 1,136 at end of 2025 |
| Outlet exits (Item 20) | Not available No complete exit records for a year | Not available No complete exit records for a year |
| Franchising since (Item 1) | Not available Not in reviewed records | 2001 From a verified franchisor listing |
| Franchisor founded (Item 1) | Not available Not in reviewed records | Not available Not in reviewed records |
| Performance (Item 19) | ||
| Financial performance (Item 19), by location group | Locations counted not stated in the reviewed record — USfreestandingHardee’s 88 restaurants other Company-owned · 2026 FDD · Item 19 · PDF p. 75 Locations counted not stated in the reviewed record — USfreestandingHardee’s 50.1 percent other Franchised · 2026 FDD · Item 19 · PDF p. 75 | Locations counted not stated in the reviewed record — Traditional eligiblefranchises Top Quartile $1,686,299 other Top Quartile · 2026 FDD · Item 19 · PDF p. 83 Locations counted not stated in the reviewed record — Traditional eligiblefranchises Total $1,137,571 other Total · 2026 FDD · Item 19 · PDF p. 83 Locations counted not stated in the reviewed record — Traditional eligiblefranchises 3rd Quartile $879,161 other 3rd Quartile · 2026 FDD · Item 19 · PDF p. 83 +2 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.