Veteran’s Warning: CRAVE Hot Dogs Franchise Opportunity

Franchise Truth for Veterans has issued a warning to Veterans and military families regarding the CRAVE Hot Dogs & BBQ franchise opportunity.  Crave Hot Dogs and BBQ is aggressively “searching for Veterans that are looking to own their own business.”  Veterans, military families, and others should be aware that Crave Hot Dogs and BBQ has a disturbingly high franchise failure rate and a number of locations that have been resold (churned) multiple times.  Crave franchisees & former franchisees are invited to share what prospective CRAVE owners should know.   Your confidential experiences, opinions and support are invited.  by Sean Kelly

(UnhappyFranchisee.Com)  The Crave Hot Dogs & BBQ franchise is promoted as an opportunity to own a successful, engaging restaurant, food truck or a fast-casual location (some recently added inside Walmarts].

According to a company press release, Crave Hot Dogs and BBQ is currently “searching for Veterans that are looking to own their own business.”

The company claims that 85% – 90% of Crave franchise owners are Veterans or active duty service members.

In fact, they targeted Veterans from the start:

When Sal and Samantha Rincione founded Crave, they always knew they wanted to aim to help veterans and active duty members. Sal himself, being a veteran, saw the importance of offering an opportunity to our service men and women…

The dedication and training that our veterans and active duty members have, can help them succeed in business”

The initial investment necessary is $301,500 to $1,192,500 for a Crave restaurant franchise and $261,300 to $338,500 for the food truck franchise.

At that level of investment, Crave franchisees often are rolling their life savings, family money, 401Ks and/or committing to SBA loans to finance their dream of business ownership.

Sadly, many who put their trust in the Crave brand and leadership have lost everything as Crave’s franchise failure rate has risen to be one of the highest in the nation… Perhaps in history. 

Due to the fact that many locations have failed, were resold to new owners, and failed again, company disclosure documents reveal an astronomical franchise turnover rate of 172%.

And yet the company continues to promote the Crave Hot Dogs & BBQ franchise dream to Veterans, military families and others.

CRAVE Hot Dogs & BBQ 3-Year Franchisee Turnover Rate:  172%

According to the 2025 CRAVE Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD), the chain had an average of 18 franchises open during the most recent three year period. 

During the same period, 31 franchises exited the system through terminations, ceased operations or ownership transfers.

That amounts to a deeply disturbing turnover rate of 172% – one of the highest we’ve seen.

Our preliminary search of closed and/or transferred locations indicates this number may be understated, as some franchises have had several owners in a short amount of time (churning) and some failed locations and franchisee departures appear to have escaped disclosure.

The following list includes the franchise owners disclosed in recent Crave FDDs as having left the system.

We’ve then listed some we discovered that do not appear to have been disclosed in company FDDs.

DISCLAIMER & INVITATION This list is a work in progress & published for discussion, corrections, updates, and clarifications. It is based on review of FDDs, other public data, & private tips and submissions.  Be sure you independently verify all info before relying on it.

Please share additions or corrections with a comment below or by emailing the author in confidence at UnhappyFranchisee[at]Gmail.Com.

Closed CRAVE Hot Dogs Franchises That Closed or Left the System

ARIZONA
AZ  Maricopa  (Ray Jones and Terrann Gillespie) Never Opened terminated 2022

AZ Scottsdale (Kareem Epting, Rosalyn Epting) TBD Never Opened in 3 FDDs

ARKANSAS
AR  Bryant 3429 Market Place Bryant, Arkansas (James Page, Melanie Page) (2022 FDD not yet opened.  2025 FDD: Closed Justin Janney mentioned. Page departure not disclosed) [ARMY VETERAN]**

CALIFORNIA
CA Auburn TBD 2024 FDD (Sarah Murphy, Cynthia Blanchette)

CA Sacramento TBD 2023, 2024 FDDs (Dubonnet Philips)

CA Sacramento Dan and Lisbeth Parr (2021)

CA  Simi Valley  Food Truck (Cynthia Campbell, Richard Walters) announced 2021. Never opened. Food truck sold to Lewis before delivery.

COLORADO
CO  Colorado Springs The Plaza at Barnes West 5600 Barnes Road, Suite 164/172 Colorado Springs, Colorado 80917 (Jamal Westry, Kelly Ann Westry) [Bankruptcy Recorded] [AIR FORCE VETERAN] [Opened 11/20 Closed 11/21] Transferred to Davis 2022 Jason Davis [Bankruptcy Recorded]

CO  Denver The District 6300 East Hampden Avenue, Suite 1A Denver, Colorado 80222 Jason Davis (Lumberjack Hospitality LLC) [Bankruptcy Recorded]

CO Greeley 2170 35th Avenue, Greeley, CO 80634 (Todd Gardner Cassandra Gardner Heath Tee Shiri Tee)**

CONNECTICUT

CT (Brent Gurchin) TBD 2024, 2025 FDD

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
DC  Washington Floyd Bui [never opened]

FLORIDA

FL TBD 2024 FDD (Big Top Adventures)

FL TBD 2024 FDD (Lance Kamel)

FL TBD 2024 FDD (Rhoda Crandall)

FL TBD 2025 FDD (Justin Janney)

FL Apopka Never Opened (Bonaparte Joubert)

FL  Ocala (Orlando), Florida 2463 SW 27th Avenue Ocala, FL, 34471 Closed 3X (Michael Lutz, Pamela Lutz, Zachary Slaby)(2025 FDD: listed as open, franchisee Rhamel Graham.  Lutz departure not disclosed.) [AIR FORCE VETERAN] [1st Opened 8/23 closed 11/23]**

FL  Orlando 1737 South Orange Avenue Orlando, Florida [Shoppes at South Orange] Closed 2X Justin Planinz, Tracy Planinz [AIR FORCE VETERAN] transferred to Emma Bray 2022. (Not listed as open or closed on 2025 FDD)**

FL Jensen Beach,Port St. Lucie Food Truck & Store (Charles “Benny” Christy) transferred to Davis 2022.

FL  Lady Lake  684 US-441 Ste A514 Lady Lake, FL 32159 (Philip and Amanda Jones) 10/18/24-6/16/25**

FL Lakeland Closed (Tyler Hudson, Leanne Hudson) Reopened (Open as of 2/7/26)

FL Newberry Gainesville Melissa Gray & Vance Gray Food Truck sold to Reyes & Cerna in 2021

FL New Smyrna Beach, FL Express in Walmart; (Anthony Fischetti) Closed; Reopened by Crave Corporate
FL Venice John Brasch, James Laurie, Tracey O’Connell

FL Viera / Melbourne (Spencer and Karey Yarbrough) (Not disclosed in2018 or 2020 FDD)

GEORGIA
GA TBD (Terrell White)

GA Alpharetta Brandon Walker TBD

GA Dawsonville 145 Forest Boulevard, Suite 465 Dawsonville, Georgia 30534 Original: Robert Bibb [Bankruptcy Recorded] 2nd Brandon Walker; Closed 2X

GA Lawrenceville Food Truck never operated, sold to Christy in 2021 Aneitra Shavers

GA Savannah 630 Indian Street, Unit D Savannah, GA 31401 (Sonji Leach)**
GA Atlanta (Lionel and Lateesha Myers)
GA Walmart Express – she didn’t open it (Ann Phillips)

ILLINOIS
IL Bloomington 2401 East Oaklane Avenue, Unit B Bloomington, Illinois 61701 (Darshan Patel, Kishan Patel, Viren Nayi)

IL Chicago Food Truck (Alex Brackenridge)

IL Lynwood TBD 2024 FDD (Stephanie Woods, Saneeta Golden) TBD

IL North Aurora, 1047 West Orchard Road North Aurora Illinois, 60542 (Tieman/Franciscy)

IL Rockford, IL Alex Brackenridge Never Opened

INDIANA

IN TBD 2024 FDD (Adam Sulinski)

IN Indianapolis (Alex Brackenridge) TBD

IOWA
IA Bettendorf 1415 Kimberly Road Bettendorf, IA, 52722 (James Ballard)

KENTUCKY

KY TBD 2024 FDD (Stephen Profumo)

KY Louisville Hancock House 601 E. Jefferson Street Louisville, KY 40202 (Wade, Candice Polite and Shakena Dantzler) Never opened?

KY Louisville Express, Walmart Store #3294 7101 Cedar Springs Blvd Louisville, KY 40018 (Stephen Profumo) [Opened 5/10/25 Closed 2/1/26] reopened by Crave Corporate **

LOUISIANA
LA Baton Rouge, Arlington Marketplace 636 Arlington Creek Center Boulevard Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70820 Original owner: Karl Wulf. 2nd owner: Felicia Hebert, Corey Hebert [Bankruptcy Recorded] [2nd opening 10/15/22 Closed 1/30/23]

LA Shreveport  7041 Youree Drive Shreveport, Louisiana 71105 Original franchisees Timothy Capers, Nicole Capers 2nd: Karl Wulf 3rd Capers (?) 4th: Reopened by Heather LaGrange, Justin LaGrange, [NAVY VETERAN]

MICHIGAN
MI TBD 2023, 2024 FDD Garrett Palmer

MI TBD 2024 FDD (Matthew Thompson)

MI Canton Melissa Capobianco [1st opening 2023 closed December 2023; 2nd opened 6/16/24 closed 9/27/24]

MI  Canton Township 5800 North Sheldon Road Canton, Michigan 48187 (Brad Olds, Darrell Fuchs)(Not listed as open or closed on 2025 FDD, franchisee departures not disclosed)**

NEVADA
NV  Henderson, Las Vegas Food Truck (Rick Davies)

NEW JERSEY

NJ Aberdeen Food Truck (Gina M. Nastro)

NEW YORK

NY Bronx TBD 2023, 2024 FDD (Enrique Figueroa)

NORTH CAROLINA
NC Charlotte, North Carolina 2023 2024 FDD (Daniel Morman)

NC  Charlotte Cotswold Village 282 S Sharon Amity Rd Suite 335, Charlotte, NC 28211 (Terry Joyner)(Anthony Harris)**

NC Concord 3050 Derita Road, Unit 10 Concord, North Carolina 28027 Orig Daniel Morman 2nd Anthony Harris**

NC Fayetteville 2000 Skibo Road Fayetteville, North Carolina 28314 Closed 2X (Eddie Womack, Carol Womack) [ARMY VETERAN]

NC Fayetteville Food Truck (Eddie Womack, Carol Womack)

NC  Raleigh, North Carolina The Shoppes at Oberlin Court 1028 Oberlin Road (Eric Reyes, Jesse Cerna)(Not listed as open or closed on 2025 FDD)**

NC Wilmington, North Carolina Wayne Decker & Laura Decker [USMC VETERANS] [Opened 3/19 Closed 4/21] Closed 2X Transferred to Morman in 2021 2nd: Daniel Morman

NC Shannon Schlatterer, Brian Schlatterer Transferred to KeyStone

OHIO
OH TBD 2024 FDD (James Falls, Falls Family Foods)

OH Columbus Raymond Deweese II (sons Taylor and Elijah) Never Opened?

OH New Philadelphia, OH 31 Bluebell Drive SW Express in Walmart (Kelly Ledbetter) Closed reopened by Crave Corporate

OH Columbus Food Truck (Ken Green)

OKLAHOMA
OK Yukon, 2121 South Yukon Parkway, Suite 150 Yukon, Oklahoma 73099 (Eddie Steffensen, Kevyn Steffensen)

PENNSYLVANIA
PA Bethel Park 2401 South Park Road, Bethel Park, PA 15102 – 1st- 7/9/22-12/22 (Shannon Schlatterer, Brian Schlatterer) 2nd – 9/9/23-8/17/24 (Mark Berry, Angie Berry)

PA  Williamsport, Pennsylvania Spencer Newman, Chris Smith* Listed in 2025 FDD as having left the system

SOUTH CAROLINA
SC TBD 2024 FDD (Gregory Callister)

SC Bluffton TBD 2023 FDD (Kevin Cleveland)

SC Charleston 99 Westedge St Ste 1100 Charleston, SC 29403 (Franchisee Nathan Redmond)(2023 FDD lists Nathan Redmond as Charlotte franchisee location TBD, 2024 FDD lists location as open, 2025 FDD contains no disclosure of Redmond or Charleston) [Opened 5/23 Closed 10/23]**

SC Midlands TBD 2023 FDD Saleem Blanding, Brandi McNeary) (operating?)

SC Spartanburg, 2401 Reidville Road, Suite 10 Spartanburg, South Carolina 29301 (Carlos Lonzo Goodman, Shanice Latice Goodman, Carlos Sharone Goodman) Transferred to (Paul Gowan, Janene Gowan) Closed 2X

SC Spartanburg TBD 2023 FDD (Paul Gowan, Janene Gowan)

SC *Double – Dash LLC  Robert Kroon

TENNESSEE

TN Morristown 995 Berna Way, Morristown, TN 37814 [William Musik)

TEXAS
TX TBD 2024 FDD (Landon Houston, Kevin Houston, Misti Houston)

TX TBD 2024 FDD (Justin Manzi)

TX TBD 2024 FDD (Shaun Bowen)

TX  Arlington, Texas (Spring) Cynthia Kay, Mona Jones (Opened 2/18 Closed 1/20) 2nd owner Mona Jones) [ARMY VETERAN]

TX  Arlington TBD 2 franchises in 2023 FDD; one may have become Mansfield (Dawn Thomas, Mordicah Thomas)

TX  Dallas/Mansfield TBD 2023, 2024 FDD (Landon Houston, Kevin Houston, Misti Houston)

TX Dallas Food Truck (Brian Scioli, Eleni Scioli)

TX Fort Worth TBD 2023 FDD (Morris Ogunleye)

TX  Houston 14303 East Sam Houston Parkway, Suite 800 Houston, Texas (Gregory Johnstone, Kristine Johnstone)(Not listed as open or closed on 2024 FDD)[Bankruptcy Recorded]**

TX Mansfield, TX 121 Debbie Lane, Suite131 (Dawn Thomas, Mordicah Thomas) [Opened 1/20/24 Closed 7/31/25]**

TX  Pflugerville, 21315 State Highway 130 Pflugerville, Texas 78660 Carl Moore, Shirley Moore  [ARMY VETERAN] Christopher Lewis Location & Food Truck [2nd opening open 6/3/22 closed 10/23/23]

TX San Antonio 4050 W Loop 1604 San Antonio TX 78231(Shaun Bowen)

TX  Spring 6633 Spring Stuebner Road, Suite 330 Spring, Texas 77389 (Tex L. Ridings & Brandi Ridings) [USMC Veteran]

TX Texarkana 410 Walton Drive, Texarkana, TX (Status unclear) (Lance & Imara Lacefield)

TX Willis Food Truck (Adrien Warrington Klingbeil) [Opened 2/24 Closed 9/24]

VIRGINIA

VA Stafford Food Truck (Ryan Matus, Rebecca Matis)

WISCONSIN

WI Janesville Food Truck (Aaron Wuthrich)

** Disclosures not in Crave Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD)

Invitation:  All companies and individuals discussed on our website are invited to submit corrections, clarifications, rebuttals and/or statements of their points-of-view.

Documentation & Links:

CRAVE Hot Dogs 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD)

The JDog Report: An Urgent Call to End the Exploitation of Veterans in Franchising [UPDATED]

What Do You Think?

Are You Familiar with the Crave Hot Dogs & BBQ Franchise Opportunity?

Do You Have Corrections, Additions or Clarifications for Our Lists?

Leave a Comment Below or Email in confidence to UnhappyFranchisee[at]Gmail.Com.

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