Newk’s Eatery, the nearly 100-unit fast casual restaurant franchise, has built a strong market position over the span of decades, consistently centering hospitality, quality and freshness in its restaurant experience. As a result, guests love Newk’s, and the business model represents a meaningful investment opportunity for franchise owners.

“People invest in restaurants for a range of reasons,” said Chris Cheek, chief development officer of Newk’s Eatery. “It may be that they want to bring a beloved brand to their hometown, or maybe they want to scale to multiple locations over time. No matter the case, an important part of the due diligence process is to understand potential return on investment, and Newk’s presents a strong one.”

Even for entrepreneurs with more sentimental motivations, investing in a franchise is a business decision, and the model must be financially self-sustaining. Newk’s does. Prospective owners weighing how much they may be able to make as a Newk’s franchisee should consider a few factors.

Newk’s Average Unit Volumes

Newk’s 2026 FDD includes 2025 revenue figures from franchised restaurants, giving prospective owners a look at how locations performed during the year. The results are not a guarantee of future performance.

According to Item 19 of Newk’s 2026 FDD, 61 franchised restaurants reported the following data:

Franchisee Success and Growth

The data in the FDD is backed up by real franchisee stories. Franchisees grow because they’re happy and successful with a business model, and the Newk’s system has seen plenty of that in recent years. Greg LaFoe, a multi-unit owner with restaurants across Georgia and Alabama, is a prime example.

He previously expanded by acquiring four locations from a retiring owner.

“I had two stores that were doing fairly well, and I felt the need to grow,” LaFoe said. “By that point I'd been with the brand for 18 years, my operating partner had been with me for five or six years, and we felt like we really knew the operations. We also had the people in place to support additional restaurants, so it felt like the right time to take that next step.”

A few years later, LaFoe saw another opportunity to grow. In 2023, he bought the then-closed Tucker, Georgia, restaurant and worked to reopen it.

“We were able to take that store that was currently doing about $1 million in sales when we bought it, and it will probably do around $2.2 million this year,” he said.

Throughout the course of his journey with Newk’s, LaFoe has consistently benefited from the brand’s scratch-made, high-quality model. In addition to standing out with guests, he has been able to leverage his own prior restaurant experience and the support of the Newk’s leadership team to propel future growth.

“That made it easier for us to look at additional locations because we knew how to operate them," he said.

The Future of the Industry

Newk’s ROI potential is further backed by its steady position in a growing market. The fast casual restaurant industry in the U.S. was valued at more than $48 billion in 2025, and it’s expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 6.4% from 2026 to 2035 to reach a value of $90.19 billion.

“The fast casual market is strong; guests continue to seek a balance of convenience and quality, and that is driving continued growth throughout our industry,” Cheek said. “Newk’s is positioned squarely within that market, and its freshness and hospitality only further differentiate it to create a scalable, high-potential fast casual investment opportunity.”

To find out more information on costs to buy this franchise, please visit https://1851franchise.com/newks-eatery. 

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