Huey Magoo’s Approaches 100 Restaurant Milestone: Small Store and Drive-Thru Formula for Growth

The competition among chicken tender-focused restaurants in the US is not solely product-driven. The real race for new brands is to offer a restaurant format that can be opened faster, established with lower investment, and handle high volume for franchisees.

Florida-based Huey Magoo’s is accelerating its growth in this context. According to a report by QSR Magazine dated August 17, 2026, the chain aims to finish the year with approximately 100 open restaurants. The brand's current franchise page states that there are over 85 open restaurants and more than 200 locations in the development stage.

It should be noted that the figures are company-sourced. However, an analysis based on Huey Magoo’s 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document by Restaurant Dive also shows that the chain has grown from 43 restaurants at the beginning of 2023 to 85 restaurants by the end of 2025. Thus, the number of stores has nearly doubled in about three years.

The Key Driver of Growth is Franchise

Huey Magoo’s primarily sustains its growth through the franchise model.

According to the company's current franchise materials, the standard approach is a multi-unit development model that anticipates operators opening three restaurants within three years. The brand targets franchise candidates who are not only restaurant investors but also have operational experience or can work with an operating partner who possesses such experience.

In 2026, Texas became one of the most visible markets for this growth.

In April, Huey Magoo’s signed a 15-restaurant development agreement with SMR Capital Group covering Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, and Montgomery counties. Prior to this, another multi-unit agreement covering eight restaurants for North Dallas and four for Birmingham had been announced.

Not all of these agreements have turned into open restaurants yet. Therefore, the difference between a franchise development agreement and an actual store opening is significant.

A brand can announce hundreds of "restaurants in development"; however, real growth occurs when location selection, financing, permits, construction, and management staffing are completed.

Why is Drive-Thru at the Center of Growth?

Drive-thru makes a remarkable difference in the store economics of Huey Magoo’s.

According to an analysis based on Restaurant Dive’s 2026 FDD data, the average sales volume in the brand's drive-thru restaurants is approximately $2.2 million, while in inline restaurants, it is around $1.8 million. These figures are historical performance data reported in the company's franchise disclosure document; they are not guarantees of future franchise returns.

The difference explains why the brand is trying to facilitate drive-thru development.

If the format that generates stronger sales also has high investment costs, the payback period for franchisees may extend. Therefore, Huey Magoo’s is redesigning not only the customer experience but also the construction economics in the new prototype.

Cost Reduces by Approximately 40% in the New Prototype

According to the latest analysis by Restaurant Dive, Huey Magoo’s aims to reduce construction costs by approximately 40% compared to its previous model with the new drive-thru prototype. The new design has a physical space that is hundreds of square feet smaller.

The area of the new drive-thru prototype is approximately 1,850 square feet. The brand's own franchise page also lists the new 1,850 square feet drive-thru model among active real estate options.

The smaller space does not only affect rent or construction costs.

It can also change the walking distance within the kitchen, equipment layout, service line, and number of employees. According to Restaurant Dive, cooking areas in the new prototype are designed to be more compact, and a flow has been created to reduce unnecessary steps for employees during peak hours.

This is a topic often overlooked in restaurant design.

If reducing square footage is done solely to lower investment costs, operations may become cramped. A successful prototype should produce the same or higher throughput in a smaller space.

Seating Capacity is Not Completely Abandoned While Shrinking

Huey Magoo’s does not completely eliminate the in-restaurant experience in its new model.

According to Restaurant Dive, the new prototype features 37 indoor seats and 18 outdoor patio seats. The previous model had 42 indoor seats. This indicates that the brand is trying to achieve shrinkage not only through a drive-thru focused "box reduction" approach but also by preserving dine-in capacity.

This balance is particularly important for fast-casual brands.

Shifting entirely to a drive-thru model may provide a smaller footprint; however, it could lose the usage of families, groups, and dine-in customers. On the other hand, an excessively large dining room may remain empty for much of the day.

Therefore, the true success of the new prototype should be measured not by how many seats there are but by square footage used per sale and peak-hour throughput.

How Should the $2 Million AUV Be Interpreted?

Huey Magoo’s franchise materials state that the overall average annual gross revenue of the system is approximately $2.04 million.

According to a footnote on the company's current franchise page, this figure represents the average of 68 restaurants operating between December 30, 2024, and December 28, 2025. The average of the top-performing 25% group, or 16 franchise restaurants, is approximately $2.8 million.

These two figures should not be confused with each other.

In franchise marketing, "top quartile AUV" can be a strong sales argument. However, from an investor's perspective, the overall average of the entire system is a more meaningful reference.

Moreover, AUV is not profitability.

A restaurant generating $2 million in sales may produce low profits after rent, labor, food costs, royalty, advertising contributions, debt service, and investment amortization. The opposite is also possible.

Therefore, when evaluating a franchise investment, not only revenue but also restaurant-level contribution and payback period should be examined.

The Franchise Cost Itself is Not Shrinking

While lower construction costs are significant, they do not represent the entirety of the franchise investment.

On Huey Magoo’s official franchise page, a $35,000 franchise fee, a 5% royalty, and a 2% advertising fund contribution are stated per restaurant. The brand also publishes a requirement of $500,000 liquidity and $750,000 net worth for each restaurant to be developed.

These figures indicate that the profile of franchisees the brand targets is more of a multi-unit operator with capital capacity than a small individual investor.

The advantage of this for growth is clear: the same franchise group can develop several locations in succession.

The disadvantage is that the franchise network may become dependent on a few large operators.

Texas is Turning into a Test for National Branding

Huey Magoo’s current network is still predominantly concentrated in Florida and Georgia. Restaurant Dive notes that most of the existing stores are located in these two states according to the 2026 FDD data.

Therefore, the openings in Texas are not only about new store growth but also a test of whether the brand can truly transition from a regional Southeast chain to a national brand.

Some of the development plans announced in Texas have not yet turned into openings. Local sources report that new restaurant projects in cities like Laredo and Harlingen are in the construction or permit stage.

This is one of the important realities of the franchise sector:

Development pipeline does not equal open store.

The speed of store openings and the franchisee's adherence to the development timeline should be monitored as much as the potential size of the network.

Lessons for Restaurant Chains in Turkey

The example of Huey Magoo’s is particularly noteworthy for fast-casual and QSR brands looking to grow in Turkey, especially regarding store prototypes.

If a brand remains dependent on a single large restaurant format before starting franchise sales, the number of suitable real estate options may be limited.

Instead, different models such as mall inline, street end-cap, drive-thru, pickup-oriented, or small footprint can be created.

However, a separate unit economics should be calculated for each format.

A drive-thru store may generate more sales, but land and construction costs may be higher. An inline store may require a lower investment but could have limited revenue capacity.

Therefore, "the cheapest store" and "the best investment" are not the same thing.

Stafflink’s Perspective

For Stafflink, the most important detail in Huey Magoo’s approach to 100 stores is not the size of franchise agreements but the effort to make drive-thru economics more accessible for franchisees.

If a brand's highest sales-generating format is also the most expensive format, a natural limit to growth occurs. Reducing construction costs, accommodating more real estate, and compacting the kitchen can expand this limit.

However, for the prototype reduction to be considered a success, three things must happen simultaneously: investment costs must decrease, sales capacity must be preserved, and employee operations must not become more difficult.

The threshold of 100 stores can be a strong indicator of growth. However, the long-term quality of the franchise will be determined by how sustainable the economy produced by the opened restaurants is for the investor, rather than how many contracts are signed.