102 thoughts on “MUSCLE MAKER GRILL Franchise Complaints”

• I am a current Muscle Maker Grill franchisee and I can state this model is a money loser. Food and labor costs are too high for the price point, the menu has limited appeal among the general population as many consumers have little interest in healthy dining, and support from the franchisor is weak. Many franchisees have closed their businesses recently and more are expected to close for one simple reason, lack of profit.

• Muscle Maker Grill claims in the above Press Release “We look forward to helping each of our new franchisees grow their local presence with unparalleled corporate support.” Their use of the word unparalleled in describing support is interesting. Most of the District Managers are buddies o the corporate management and have little to no experience in their roles, they are simply people who needed jobs. The DM’s perform inconsistent inspections where solid franchise operators are punished for minor items such as a small fingerprint on the door of a drink cooler during periods of peak business. Meanwhile the absentee owners run dirty restaurants with poor food quality and these issues are never addressed. Furthermore the DM’s are at an absolute loss when asked to provide guidance to a franchisee in areas around cost control or sales growth. This lack of experience extends into the corporate office. The current Manager of Franchisee Support is a 21 year old kid with no college education or restaurant industry experience other than previously working as food delivery driver at the corporate-owned Muscle Maker Grill in Colonia, NJ.

• Stay away from this franchise, It a money loser…. Your wasting you time and money.

• Here’s a scenario for you……you invest in a model that appears to be a can’t miss business, show casing the “Original Location” with high volume, consistent sales and the belief that the brand is still growing and heading in a positive direction through proper guidance, aggressive marketing and assistance in expanding your business. Only to find out that half of the management staff are friends or ex-employees, who after a while all quit anyway and get replaced be the recycled employees of the stores that have failed and closed. Stores open with big numbers then slip back and some barely survive while others go under. Their is an internal battle for majority control, owners are telling corporate what they need but no one is doing enough to help. Stores are dirty and serving sub par food, food cost is to high, no MARKETING SKILLS WHATSOEVER!!!! And the marketing that was implemented ever so briefly was so bad it would have been better to not do at all. Franchise meetings cancelled and never rescheduled. Franchise Committee is just a joke Franchisor controls the group. Kick back from all vendors are not shared down to store owners as should be to help lower the operating cost instead of lining the already padded pockets of the corporate greedy. Its become a cookie factory…open them up, close them down, sell to some other sucker or liquidate the location. Hard working people invest in a concept that won’t last. They open stores too close to each other not allowing time for growth in your so called protected territory which in some cases has been as little as a stones throw away. No consistency in the stores, some stores just make their own specials, a franchise should be the same in everyone you enter…….”A Big Mac is A Big Mac” no matter what city, state or country you are in……period!!!
  You go to work every day and put in long hours, work hard and do everything you are supposed to seven days and nights a week., Its the food industry so you have to expect this, only to find that one day you wake up, all your money is gone, your over your head in debt, your credit is shot, and the college fund you had set aside for kids is gone and so is your business. Welcome to the Muscle Maker Nation, can I sell you a franchise? I know of a few that are for sale very cheap…If you still think you want to invest in a MMG take your head and ram it into a brick wall, if you still are considering it after that, continue to repeat the process until you knock some sense into yourself and the crazy notion leaves you forever.

• Muscle Maker Franchisee speaks the truth about the value of a Muscle Maker Grill restaurant. At the moment virtually every location is available for resale and most can be purchased for a fraction of the cost of building out a new location. The lack of investment in the business by the Corporate has resulted in failing franchises that have virtually no value to outside investors and buyers.

• I did a quick search of the term “Muscle Maker Grill Closed” and came up with 21 locations being reported as closed on Yelp, Facebook and elsewhere:

  FL Hollywood 5071 W Sheridan St, Hollywood 33021
  FL Miami (Liberty City) 3250 NE 1st Ave Ste 110 33127
  FL Miami 1608 NE Miami Gardens Dr
  IL Glenview 2532 Waukegan Rd 60025
  MO Springfield 900 East Battlefield Suite 128 65807
  NJ Edgewater 725 River Rd Ste 45 07020 (closed 2011)
  NJ Edgewater 824 River Rd 07020 (Opened 2013 franchisee Izzy Sanchez)
  NJ Englewood
  NJ Montclair 10 Park St 07042
  NJ Morganville 431 Boulder Dr, NJ 07751
  NJ New Providence 1260 Springfield Ave 07974
  NJ Nutley 160 Franklin Ave 07110
  NJ Princeton Jct 761 State Highway 33 W
  NJ Red Bank 38 W Front St 07701
  NJ River Vale 650 Westwood Avenue
  NJ West Caldwell 792 Bloomfield Ave 07006
  NY New York, NY (Chelsea) 92 8th Ave 10011
  OK Tulsa 7464 S Olympia Ave 74132
  TX Austin 906 Congress Ave 78701

  Pls post if you know of others that have closed or if any of these are not closed (or reopened).

  This indicates the Muscle Maker Grill franchise closures may be worse than reported in the story above.

  As far as established franchise stores listed as resales, I found one being sold for $55,000 (claimed $40K profit yrly), one listed for $225,000 (claims revenue of
  $617,000), and one listed for $189,000 (claims revenues of $520,000).

  Lots of red flags here. Please share your opinion and insights on the Muscle Maker Grill franchise.

• Muscle Maker Grill restaurants have closed in Bayville, NJ Warren, NJ and Long Branch, NJ

• Thanks, Frank.

  I have expanded my list to 25 Muscle Maker grill locations that appear to have closed in 8 states. Keep in mind that others may have been transferred to new owners, potentially at a loss.

  AR Bentonville 3511 S.E. J Street 72712

  FL Hollywood 5071 W Sheridan St, Hollywood 33021
  FL Miami (Liberty City) 3250 NE 1st Ave Ste 110 33127
  FL Miami 1608 NE Miami Gardens Dr

  IL Glenview 2532 Waukegan Rd 60025

  MO Springfield 900 East Battlefield Suite 128 65807

  NJ Bayville 333 Route 9 08721
  NJ Edgewater 725 River Rd Ste 45 07020 (closed 2011)
  NJ Edgewater 824 River Rd 07020 (Opened 2013 franchisee Izzy Sanchez)
  NJ Englewood 51 East Palisade Ave 07631
  NJ Long Branch 200 Ocean Boulevard North 07740
  NJ Matawan 419 Route 34 North 07747
  NJ Montclair 10 Park St 07042
  NJ Morganville 431 Boulder Dr, NJ 07751
  NJ Newark 350 Broad Street 07104
  NJ New Providence 1260 Springfield Ave 07974
  NJ Nutley 160 Franklin Ave 07110
  NJ Princeton Jct 761 State Highway 33 W
  NJ Red Bank 38 W Front St 07701
  NJ River Vale 650 Westwood Avenue
  NJ Warren 66 Mountain Blvd 07059
  NJ West Caldwell 792 Bloomfield Ave 07006

  NY Bay Ridge (Brooklyn) 8312 5th Avenue
  NY New York, NY (Chelsea) 92 8th Ave 10011

  OK Tulsa Hills 7464 S Olympia Ave 74132

  TX Austin 906 Congress Ave 78701

  Muscle Maker Grill is invited to contact us with corrections, clarifications, rebuttals regarding either this post or comments.

• Another issue with the Muscle Maker Grill franchise system is how healthy the food actually is. The Signature Sauce and other dressings contain partially hydrogenated oils and the amount of sodium in many of the meals is very high. There is also ambiguity on the calorie counts of many menu items, the published calorie count on the menus is lower than the true number of calories in the meal.

• Hello, All,

  Although I’m not familiar with the MMG franchise itself, its story is one that I am all to familiar with.

  My firm, Bridge Management Consulting, helps franchisees that are in financial distress. Some are failing, others have already shut their doors.

  In either case, the small businessman is drowning in debt and unsure of his options other than bankruptcy. We specialize in debt settlement, our area of expertise SBA loans & the Offer inCompromise process. We also help negotiate unearned franchises fees, settle vendor debt & deal with landlord & lease problems.

  We do workouts & restructures of franchises. You can learn more @http://www.bridgemgt.com/working-out-a-franchine-business/.

  Feel free to contact:

  Ryan Lineham, Director of Client Services
  401-390-3800
  ryan@bridgemgt.com

• The best I can hope for is that the Franchise goes belly up and I can put a new name on the front of my store. The Management team at MMG seems to have been chosen from the unemployment line. All unprofessional and always looking for ways to get a “cut” of the franchisee’s profits.

  I just sat through an Annual Meeting and thought I was going to throw up. These guys are so out of their league. Some good leadership and honest business practices could save this Franchise from it’s inevitable demise. I wished I knew then what I know now as far as acquiring a franchise.

  Our Sysco food bills fluctuate more than anything I’ve ever seen, not just from one month to the next, but week by week. Preferred suppliers are supposed to mean that by using these suppliers you will get volume discounts. If that’s what you thought you were wrong, it means a preferred supplier is preferred by the franchise because they are getting a healthy kick back, leaving us high and dry.

  Same goes with the Paper & Bag supplier, the Supplement Provider and even worse yet, the company that provides the marketing materials like menus, etc. They force you to buy certain materials which are significantly more expensive than what you’ve been using for years, and they just don’ t give a damn.

  They’ve just chosen a new Marketing company, and began to take out an additional Marketing fee. So far, been paying a marketing fee and seen absolutely no network advertising.

  If you are considering purchasing a Franchise, beware, be very aware.

• Muscle Maker Grill restaurants in Edison, NJ and Roselle, NJ have recently closed with a few more closures on their way. This franchise may now have more closed locations than they do operating restaurants. Seems the franchisor continues to bury their head in the sand and ignore the needs of the franchisees.

• The Muscle Maker Grill in Scotch Plains, NJ has recently closed. This brings the number of closed locations listed here to 28.

• Thanks for the updates, Frank.

  The Facebook page for Muscle Maker Grill in Scotch Plains, NJ confirms they closed May 18, 2014.

  AR Bentonville 3511 S.E. J Street 72712

  FL Hollywood 5071 W Sheridan St, Hollywood 33021
  FL Miami (Liberty City) 3250 NE 1st Ave Ste 110 33127
  FL Miami 1608 NE Miami Gardens Dr

  IL Glenview 2532 Waukegan Rd 60025

  MO Springfield 900 East Battlefield Suite 128 65807

  NJ Bayville 333 Route 9 08721
  NJ Edgewater 725 River Rd Ste 45 07020 (closed 2011)
  NJ Edgewater 824 River Rd 07020 (Opened 2013 franchisee Izzy Sanchez)
  NJ Edison
  NJ Englewood 51 East Palisade Ave 07631
  NJ Long Branch 200 Ocean Boulevard North 07740
  NJ Matawan 419 Route 34 North 07747
  NJ Montclair 10 Park St 07042
  NJ Morganville 431 Boulder Dr, NJ 07751
  NJ Newark 350 Broad Street 07104
  NJ New Providence 1260 Springfield Ave 07974
  NJ Nutley 160 Franklin Ave 07110
  NJ Princeton Jct 761 State Highway 33 W
  NJ Red Bank 38 W Front St 07701
  NJ River Vale 650 Westwood Avenue
  NJ Roselle
  NJ Scotch Plains 2120 Lamberts Mill Road 07076
  NJ Warren 66 Mountain Blvd 07059
  NJ West Caldwell 792 Bloomfield Ave 07006

  NY Bay Ridge (Brooklyn) 8312 5th Avenue
  NY New York, NY (Chelsea) 92 8th Ave 10011

  OK Tulsa Hills 7464 S Olympia Ave 74132

  TX Austin 906 Congress Ave 78701

• Man, I am suppose to meet with someone in Jersey next week to discuss opening up a MMG in Yonkers, NY. Is the franchise that much of a bad idea? don’t many franchises have closings?

• Man, I am suppose to meet with someone in Jersey next week to discuss opening up a MMG in Yonkers, NY. Kind of hard to believe a healthy food franchise can be building such a bad rep? don’t many franchises have closings?

• Mike, I hope you did not sign a franchise contract with Muscle Maker. This website lists 28 store closures out of approximately 70 total stores at the peak. While you are correct about franchises suffering some closures the failure rate of Muscle Maker restaurants is very high. If you still don’t believe what you read here obtain a copy of the Franchise Disclosure Document and start contacting franchisees. Ask a lot of questions and you will learn most franchisees are losing money.

• any new updates on these crooks at MMG, ROD and and gag

• @MuscleMakerLoser, Rod and his team at Muscle Maker Franchising are still collecting 5% of every dollar the franchisees take in while the individual unit owners continue to lose money. They also found some fresh meat to take the place of the franchisees listed above who lost their investments in this fruitless endeavor.

  http://www.njbiz.com/article/20140826/NJBIZ01/140829828/Muscle-Maker-Grill-adding-franchises-in-NJ-nationwide

• We looking to start some sort of a class action/group suit. We are one of the locations that closed after only one year of opening our location. We have repeatedly asked Corp. for help. Maybe if we speak in numbers we will get somewhere. Please serious inquiries only. Or if anyone has any ideas on how we can come together as a group and try to recoup some of our losses.

• I would join in a legal action against Muscle Maker Franchising. How can we contact you Closed MMG Franchisee?

• Commenters who would like to exchange contact information can email ADMIN at UnhappyFranchisee[at]gmail.com. Each party must give permission to exchange info.

  No public posting of contact info in comments is allowed.

  Thanks,

  ADMIN

• I’m an avid goer to Muscle Maker locations. I love the food, although the sodium is high in some of the wraps.

  I’ve been to at least 10-15 locations in New Jersey and New York.
  Recently they’ve been dropping like flies and I wasn’t sure why. Of locations I’ve ate at – Lodi, West Caldwell, Ridgewood, River Vale, Edgewater, Englewood and Manahawkin NJ all seemed to have closed, without warning.

  The list of 28 you mentioned is actually probably much higher. It doesn’t really make sense as I thought the concept was great and healthy eating is actually in with the younger demographic these days.

• Matt, ironic you added to this thread yesterday with the Muscle Maker locations you have found to be closed which were not included in the May 27 post. I was going to add the Lodi, NJ location earlier this week as I recently discovered it was closed when driving by their location. I have also learned the Huntington Station, NY Muscle Maker restaurant has gone. More importantly, it might be time for the franchisor to take action to help their franchisees avoid losing their investment in this system.

• So far I’ve found 37 Muscle Maker Grill locations that were once listed as OPEN and are now presumed CLOSED. Here’s the updated list. If you have corrections, know additional closures, or know reasons for particular closures, please post here or email ADMIN at UnhappyFranchisee[at]gmail.com in confidence.

  AR Bentonville 3511 S.E. J Street 72712 [CLOSED]

  FL Hollywood 5071 W Sheridan St, Hollywood 33021 [CLOSED]
  FL Miami (Liberty City) 3250 NE 1st Ave Ste 110 33127 [CLOSED]
  FL Miami 1608 NE Miami Gardens Dr [CLOSED]

  IL Glenview 2532 Waukegan Rd 60025 [CLOSED]
  IL Rolling Meadows 1673 Algonquin Road [Reported closed 9/14 ]

  MO Springfield 900 East Battlefield Suite 128 65807 [CLOSED]

  NJ Bayville 333 Route 9 08721 [CLOSED]
  NJ Edgewater 725 River Rd Ste 45 07020 (closed 2011)
  NJ Edgewater 824 River Rd (Opened 2013 franchisee Izzy Sanchez) [Reported CLOSED]
  NJ Edison 561 US Hwy 1 Ste C8 [CLOSED]
  NJ Englewood 51 East Palisade Ave 07631 [Reported Closed]
  NJ Lodi 184 Essex St [Reported closed 4/23/2014]
  NJ Long Branch 200 Ocean Boulevard North 07740
  NJ Matawan 419 Route 34 North 07747 [Reportedly Closed 12/11]
  NJ Montclair 10 Park St 07042 [CLOSED]
  NJ Morganville 431 Boulder Dr, NJ 07751
  NJ Newark 350 Broad Street 07104 [CLOSED]
  NJ New Providence 1260 Springfield Ave 07974 [CLOSED]
  NJ Nutley 160 Franklin Ave 07110 [CLOSED]
  NJ East Windsor Princeton Jct 761 State Highway 33 W [CLOSED]
  NJ Raritan 154 Orlando Drive [Reported closed 9/14]
  NJ Red Bank 38 W Front St 07701 [CLOSED]
  NJ Ridgewood 40 Chestnut St Ridgewood, NJ 07450 [Reported closed 7/17/2014]
  NJ River Vale 650 Westwood Avenue [Reported closed 1/14]
  NJ Roseland 39 Eisenhower Parkway [listed in 2012]
  NJ Sayreville 2909 Washington Road [listed in 2012]
  NJ Scotch Plains 2120 Lamberts Mill Road 07076 [Reportedly closed 5/18/14]
  NJ Warren 66 Mountain Blvd 07059 [CLOSED]
  NJ West Caldwell 792 Bloomfield Ave 07006 [Reportedly closed]

  NY Bay Ridge (Brooklyn) 8312 5th Avenue [CLOSED]
  NY Huntington Station 195 Walt Whitman Road [listed 12/13]
  NY Long Beach 18 East Park Ave [listed 12/13]
  NY New York, NY (Chelsea) 92 8th Ave 10011 [CLOSED]
  NY White Plains 51 Court Street [Reported closed 7/14]

  OK Tulsa Hills 7464 S Olympia Ave 74132 [CLOSED]

  TX Austin 906 Congress Ave 78701 [CLOSED]

  The Muscle Maker Grill currently lists 58 clubs as open. That would indicate that 37 of the 95 stores opened – about 40% – have closed (rough guesstimate).

  Sound about right?

• I drove by the Lyndhurst NJ Muscle Maker restaurant earlier this week and found it closed.

• Anyone considering the purchase of a Muscle Maker franchise needs to understand the type of training you will receive to prepare you for running your business. The Muscle Maker training for franchisees is heavy on operations. They will teach you how to roll a wrap, operate the cash register and how to mop the floor but they neglect topics related to managing your P&L, managing employees and conducting effective local marketing campaigns. The training is designed for the franchisee to be working in their business, not on their business. Muscle Maker wants owner/operator franchisees who will be behind the counter everyday performing grunt work. They are not looking for business people who are seeking to build a business.

• You can add the MMG on Washington street in Jersey City NJ to the list I ate there on Nov 12th and on the 13th a sign on the door closed for good and a public auction was held on Nov 15th. What a shame it was always packed at lunch

• Jester: Thanks for the tip. MMG website lists it as “Temporarily Closed” but there is an auction site with pictures for the 15th, as you said.

  Disturbingly, in the last 2 months these 5 locations seem to have disappeared from the Muscle Maker Grill website:

  NJ Cherry Hill
  NJ Lyndhurst
  PA Allentown
  PA Pittsburgh
  PA Pleasant Hills

  MMG lists these as “temporarily closed”:

  NJ Jersey City [closed]
  TX Austin [closed since July 2013]

  Please share any updates/insights as I’m going to set up a separate page to list all Muscle Maker Grill locations both open and closed.

• Muscle Maker Franchising is making headlines.

  http://tapinto.net/articles/mayor-calls-for-muscle-maker-grill-investigation

  I wonder if the old saying “All publicity is good publicity” still holds true?

• Muscle Maker Grill continues to make headlines.

  http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-n-palmer-township-drug-raid-former-easton-star-arrested-20141223-story.html

  I really do not understand why this business isn’t doing well when with high quality franchisees investing in this concept.

• Wow. This chain has an incredible amount of scandal. Thanks for the tips, everyone. I’m going to start posting these stories next week.

• I was the original owner of the MMG in Warren, NJ. I recently drove by the MMG in Middletown and that is also closed, FYI.

• http://www.nj.com/union/index.ssf/2014/12/roselle_mayor_calls_for_state_investigation_of_muscle_maker_grill_franchise_owners_cite_lack_of_supp.html

  And yet not a single explanation to the franchisees as to what is going on. Such a shame that a great concept was destroyed because of ego driven corporates

• Who remembers lester soto he was Vice president of operations…he got arrested back in 2013 for mortgage fraud…it seemed to have fallen in the cracks

• He was supposed to be sentenced in Feb. 2014, though it may have been pushed to April. Does anyone know what sentence he received and why he is not currently in jail? He pled guilty to a $30M mortgage scam which included the creation of false documents.

• The article on NJ.com with Rod Silva’s response to the actions taken by Jamel Holley is textbook Muscle Maker. Whenever a franchisee struggles the blame is always placed on the franchisee and never does the franchisor step up and accept their share of blame. With female franchisees they typically place the blame on their children, when another female franchisee closed her store late last year I was told by my DM and Rod Silva the closure was due to the woman wanting more time with her children. Rod’s view of female franchise owners seems to fit well with the hiring practices used by the largest Muscle Maker franchisee.
  http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2014/04/23/muscle-maker-grill-franchise-owner-hit-with-new-whistleblower-lawsuit-as-feds-investigate/8063535/

• I once went to a franchisee meeting and the sales portion of the meeting was held by chef and he said ” it is the holiday season and it a good time to get caterings” then he sat down…it was comical how pathetic they were…the meetings were such a joke i would advise anyone to really look hard in to investing their hard earned money.

• @mmg ruined my life, did you attend the franchise meeting when they attempted to introduce high protein ice cream to franchisees? There were product samples available and most franchisees who sampled the product were running for the bathrooms within 30-45 minutes sampling the ice cream. Needless to say no one signed up with the ice cream vendor and the associated ice cream freezer display case lease program.

• Nothing say healthy like mechanically separated ground turkey. The problem with the franchise is consistency. You could get to three different mmg and order the samething and you will get three different tasting entrees as well as portion size. Also the name is awful and turns many people off. Most people walked into our store and asked what kind of business we were

• mmg ruined my life’s comment about consistency among locations highlights a major problem with the Muscle Maker model. The skill level needed to execute the menu is too high for the labor budget in this model. The price point of a Muscle Maker meal allows for cooks to be paid in the $8-$10 per hour range. People who possess the skills needed to execute the Muscle Maker menu typically can earn $15 per hour or more working in kitchens in higher end establishments. As a result turnover is high at Muscle Maker restaurants. When this happens food quality and consistency suffer. The franchisor is aware of these issues but has done nothing to address them.

• Does anyone know how many new MMGs were opened in 2013 and 2014? Does anyone have a 2014 FDD they can share? I still love this brand and their food. It looks like they have a total of 51 or 52 open and operating now, depending on how you count “reopening soon” or “temporarily closed”. jz

• I get the unhappiness, however from a business standpoint no one has given any numbers or posted an balance sheet. I’m an businessman show me the numbers!

• Edward, here is a summary of the numbers from the average Muscle Maker franchise.

  Cash Flow, breakeven is around $2K per day, the average store does around $1,500 per day
  Investment needed to start the business averages about $250K yet you see all the locations listed above as closed. If these businesses were profitable would the owners throw away $250K?
  Balance Sheet, these look fairly decent as most Muscle Maker locations were started with cash but when you look deeper you will find short term liabilities are a problem as most owners are behind in vendor obligations due to the cash flow issues noted above.

  If you really want the numbers obtain the FDD from Muscle Maker Franchising and start contacting current and former owners. You will see the numbers do not look good.

• I only wish my average day was 1,500 per day. So I pay rent, payroll, insurance, food costs, supplement costs and oh yeah, let me pay the Franchise for uh, uh, hmmm, I don’t know what I pay them for. For the sake of their name? I would do better with another name. For their local and national marketing? What damn local and national marketing are they doing on my behalf. They want to play with the big boys, but don’t want to spend the money we pay for the marketing to actual marketing. I also wish I had a percentage of what MMG Franchise makes in kick backs from Sysco, Insurance Companies, Coca Cola, LPB, etc.

  I do hope this investigation goes through so I can get out from under these thieves.

• Has anyone seen the acquisition to American Holdings in email this afternoon ?

  We are pleased and excited to announce that last Friday we closed on a transaction that will bring in a new strategic partner. The new company owns and operates several restaurant concepts in California under the umbrella company American Restaurant Holdings Inc. Concepts include Fronteras Mexican Grill, a festive Mexican restaurant serving authentic Mexican dishes & frozen cocktails, Canyon Fireside Grille which offers modern American dining and comfort food and JoJo’s Pizza Kitchen where guests can enjoy Italian food made from scratch.

  Additional information may be found on the Company’s website at:

  http://www.americanrestaurantholdings.com

  “We are excited about the acquisition of Muscle Maker Grill.

• @ the other MMG Franchisee, Rod has been trying to sell Muscle Maker Franchising LLC for at least 18 months. The Franchisor had been positioning this as a move to bring in outside investors to help them and the franchisees become more successful. The truth is this is a move by Rod, Bob Morgan and Gordon Abbott to get out of a failing business with some money in their pockets.

• In your opinion, do you think this will help us or hurt us? Not sure how anyone would have bought this Franchise and think it was profitable.

• I would be very interested to hear from Muscle Maker Grill franchisees on their opinions of this acquisition. You can post here or email me in confidence UnhappyFranchisee[at]gmail.com.

  Some areas of concern I have is the newness of American Holdings, its lack of franchise experience, and the fact that they are located on the other side of the country from most of the existing locations. It seems their expansion will be focused in So Cal rather than where most of the units are located on the East Coast.

  I would hope that the new owner did extensive due diligence which would include speaking to current and former franchise owners. It seems to me that there are serious issues with this chain and concept; I hope these guys are coming to the table with a well thought-out strategy and action plan.

  What do franchisees and managers think?

• I am looking to purchase a store that’s for sale and after reading all these reviews am now very skeptical. I want to find out from other franchisees whether it’s a bad idea to buy a store and why? Is there potential to make a salary of 80-100 grand? I see there aren’t many in the new york area and I’m wondering whether the company that bought MMG will now improve the franchise and there is a potential for growth or not? I figure if a store is making 500k in sales there must be profit from this or are there very high expenses associated with the franchise? Why are so many closing so quickly?