Start a Golden Corral Franchise in 2025

2025 Franchise 500 Rank: #202 Ranked #346 last year

Initial investment: $2.1M - $8.5M

Units as of 2024: 355 1% over 3 years

Golden Corral, founded in 1973, is an American restaurant chain that offers an all-you-can-eat buffet and grill. With more than 150 food options, they strive to offer something for everyone. For dinners, they offer a fresh salad bar, hot meals, and delicious desserts. Golden Corral is known for its buffet-style food and great ambiance. They have more than 360 locations and enjoy providing quality food in hefty portions.

As you run your franchise, you might provide quality meals to hundreds of people through your open restaurant. It also offers curbside to go for those in a rush. The perfect candidate for a Golden Corral franchisee is passionate about great food, bringing people together, and has some restaurant experience.

Why You May Want to Start a Golden Corral Franchise

If you love the idea of offering quality and delicious food to people, then a Golden Corral Franchise might be for you. They provide a variety of food and dessert options that cater to people of all ages. They also offer a restaurant online menu, which may allow customers to be drawn to the sights of the delicious foods.

Using their classic and proprietary recipes, you may prepare some amazing dishes and serve them to loyal customers. The locations of the Golden Corral are all throughout the United States. The name brand itself is known by many Americans.

As a Golden Corral franchisee, you might join a vast network of fast-food restaurants committed to providing quality, affordable, and delicious food. You will strive to provide a place for people and families to come together and enjoy a great meal in a fun and casual environment.

What Might Make a Golden Corral Franchise a Good Choice?

When seeking to open a Golden Corral franchise, be prepared to make an initial investment made up of a franchise fee and other startup costs. You’ll want to make sure you have enough capital available to cover potential fees, as well. These fees will include royalty fees, advertising fees, and renewal fees.

Golden Corral has been ranked in Entrepreneur’s Franchise 500 many times in the past several decades. This ranking is based on an evaluation of more than 150 data points in the areas of costs and fees, size and growth, franchisee support, brand strength, and financial strength and stability.

Golden Corral has carved a niche for itself in the market. They also strive to offer a great work culture, fantastic community, and home-style favorite foods.

How Do You Open a Golden Corral Franchise?

As you decide if opening a Golden Corral franchise is the right decision for you, make sure you take time to explore the opportunity in your community. You’ll then apply with a franchise request form. A franchise sales representative may reach out to you with more information if they see you as a good fit for the brand. This information consists of their brand, vision, and any details regarding starting up your franchise. They might also help you look into possible franchise locations.

Once you’ve signed on board, Golden Corral will typically take you through their franchise process. This includes site construction and management training. You will also receive unit opening support, as well as ongoing operations and marketing support. Golden Corral is ready to support you every step of the way.

Company Overview

About Golden Corral

Industry	Food
Related Categories	Steakhouses, Miscellaneous Full-Service Restaurants
Founded	1973
Parent Company	Golden Corral Corp.
Leadership	Lance Trenary, President & CEO
Corporate Address	P.O. Box 29502 Raleigh, NC 27612
Social	Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram

Business Overview

Franchising Since	1987 (38 years)
# of employees at HQ	87
Where seeking	This company is offering new franchises throughout the US. This company is offering new franchises in the following international regions: Canada, Mexico
# of Units	355 (as of 2024)

Information for Franchisees

Here's what you need to know if you're interested in opening a Golden Corral 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.	$50,000
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.	$2,059,717 - $8,528,857
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.	$2,500,000
Cash Requirement Definition: The minimum liquid capital you must have available in order to qualify to become a franchisee of this company.	$500,000
Veteran Incentives Definition: A discount or other incentive offered to military veterans who buy a franchise with this company.	50% 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%
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.	2.4%
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	Golden Corral has relationships with third-party sources which offer financing to cover the following: startup costs, equipment

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	489 hours
Classroom Training	13.5 hours
Ongoing Support	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 Email Marketing Loyalty Program/App

Operations

Additional details about running this franchise.

Is absentee ownership allowed?	No
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	100
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