What agreement does a Chick Fil A operator enter into for a delivery kitchen?
Chick_Fil_A Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
emises owner or manager. Chick-fil-A will remain liable to the premises owner or manager under the Concession Agreement. -See Items 5 and 6 for more information.
Chick-fil-A enters into DK Leases that govern the occupancy and use of non-traditional delivery kitchen unit premises with the owners, licensors or managers of the delivery kitchen premises. Chick-fil-A only offers the opportunity to operate a delivery kitchen unit as an additional franchised Chick-fil-A Restaurant. If Chick-fil-A offers you the opportunity to operate a delivery kitchen as an additional franchised Chick-fil-A Restaurant, you and Chick-fil-A will enter into the Delivery Kitchen Agreement in the form attached as an exhibit to the Additional Business Amendment for Delivery Kitchen to your Franchise Agreement. The Delivery Kitchen Agreement attaches the DK Lease (and, if applicable, any underlying prime lease or ground lease). In the case of any delivery kitchen unit, the Delivery Kitchen Agreement and its attached DK Lease incorporated by reference into your Franchise Agreement substitutes for the Lease(s) applicable to a traditional restaurant premises as to the delivery kitchen. Under the Delivery Kitchen Agreement, Chick-fil-A sublicenses or subleases as applicable its rights and privileges under the DK Lease to you, and you accept the sublicense or sublease as applicable and agree to faithfully perform Chick-fil-A's obligations under the DK Lease for the particular delivery kitchen premises. You will be a sub-licensee or sublessee as applicable of the premises. The business terms for these DK Leases vary depending on the location of the Chick-fil-A Restaurant. If you sublicense or sublease the rights to occupy the delivery kitchen premises from us, the term of the Delivery Kitchen Agreement for the delivery kitchen restaurant premises is the same as the term of your Franchise Agreement or the earlier expiration or termination of the DK Lease, whichever is shorter. You will be required to comply with the terms of the
DK Lease. In most instances you will make any payments due to the premises owner or manager under the DK Lease directly to Chick-fil-A and Chick-fil-A will remit payment to the premises owner, licensor or manager. Chick-fil-A will remain liable to the premises owner or manager under the DK Lease. See Items 5 and 6 for more information.
If Chick-fil-A offers you the opportunity to operate a food truck as an extension and part of an existing Chick-fil-A Restaurant location, the terms and conditions for operating the food truck will be governed by your Franchise Agreement as amended by either the Food Truck License and Sublease Agreement or Food Truck License Agreement with attached Lease you will enter into with Chick-fil-A, each with its own attached food truck lease. Currently, in some instances, Chick-fil-A leases the food truck from a third party and you must sublease the food truck from Chick-fil-A. Under the Food Truck License and Sublease Agreement, Chick-fil-A licenses you to operate the food truck and subleases to you the right to use and occupy the food truck. You accept the license and sublease and agree to faithfully perform your obligations under the License Agreement and Chick-fil-A's obligations under the third-party food truck lease. Chick-fil-A will pay the lease rental payment to the third-party under the food truck lease and you will pay Chick-fil-A a food truck usage fee in lieu of making the lease rental payment described in the food truck lease. You will also pay directly to Chick-fil-A any payments other than the lease rental payment due under the food truck lease to the third-party. Chick-fil-A will remain liable to the third party under the food truck lease.
Source: Item 10 — Financing (FDD pages 51–55)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Chick Fil A's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, if Chick-fil-A offers an operator the chance to run a delivery kitchen as an additional franchised Chick-fil-A Restaurant, the operator and Chick-fil-A will enter into a Delivery Kitchen Agreement. This agreement is attached as an exhibit to the Additional Business Amendment for Delivery Kitchen to the operator's existing Franchise Agreement. The Delivery Kitchen Agreement includes the DK Lease, and any underlying prime or ground lease if applicable. This agreement substitutes the traditional restaurant lease for the delivery kitchen.
Under the Delivery Kitchen Agreement, Chick Fil A sublicenses or subleases its rights under the DK Lease to the operator, who then agrees to fulfill Chick Fil A's obligations under the DK Lease for that specific delivery kitchen. This arrangement makes the operator a sub-licensee or sublessee of the premises. The terms of these DK Leases can vary based on the location of the Chick Fil A Restaurant. The term of the Delivery Kitchen Agreement matches the term of the Franchise Agreement or the expiration/termination of the DK Lease, whichever comes first. The operator must comply with all terms of the DK Lease.
In most cases, the operator will make payments due to the premises owner or manager directly to Chick Fil A, who will then remit the payment to the owner, licensor, or manager. Chick Fil A remains liable to the premises owner or manager under the DK Lease. The FDD also states that Chick Fil A rents equipment to its Operators under the Delivery Kitchen Agreement for a delivery kitchen unit. The monthly equipment rental fee is based on the fair market rental value as determined by Chick-fil-A, currently $750 to $5,000 per month depending on the type of location, exclusive of any applicable sales, use and property taxes, for each franchised Chick-fil-A Restaurant operated by an Operator.