From the filings

HQ-led decisions

Mel's Drive-In

Quick service restaurant

Software purchasing at Mel's Drive-In likely centralizes at HQ with leadership named in the 2024 FDD: CEO Colton Weiss, VP Operations Gabriel Mendez, CFO Terry Cypher, and Operations Director Chasen Weiss. The brand already mandates XtraChef operationally. Vendors are looking at a 10-unit system, with only 2 franchised and 8 company-owned locations.

For software vendors selling into US franchise brands.

Live signals

Total units
10
2 franchised
Unit growth YoY
0%
vs prior filing
AUV
$3.77M
Item 19, 2023
Royalty
4.5%
of gross sales
Ad fund
1.5%
national + local
Initial fee
$35K
per unit
Investment range
$2.09M–$3.62M
all-in, Item 7
Procurement
Approved supplier
from the filing
Non-compete
2 years
from the filing
Item 19
Claims
from the filing

Ongoing fee load

What the operator pays every month

The recurring percentage of gross sales named in this filing, before rent, labour or any technology fee.

6%of gross sales (FY2024)

Ongoing fees: 6% of gross sales (FY2024)Royalty 4.5%, Ad fund 1.5%. Total 6% of gross sales. Drawn against a 15% reference scale.

15% reference

Royalty 4.5%Ad fund 1.5%

Mandated & recommended tech

The systems vendors compete with

2 of these are mandated in the franchise agreement. Each is named in Item 11 of the filing, the incumbents a challenger must displace or integrate with.

ToastToast
Mandatory
POSItem 11

r store data such as customer data, labor data, financial information, and transaction details. (Franchise Agreement Section 9) Our current approved Computer System is provided by Toast, Inc., 401 Par

XtraChefToast
Mandatory
Industry softwareItem 11

pe system equipment and/or printers. We will advise and work with you to select these systems from our approved solutions. We require you to use Toast as your POS system, with the extraChef Pro financ

Franchisor behaviours

What the franchisor requires

24 requirements the franchisor states in this filing, each in its own words; 6 explicit no's; 4 questions the text does not settle, which is not a no.

Accounting

Must the franchisee use an accounting or bookkeeping system designated or approved by the franchisor?

Yes

Franchise agreement

We have the right, but not the obligation, to develop or have developed for us, or to designate computer software programs and accounting system software that you must use as part of the Technology (“Required Software”).

Does the franchisor have direct or independent electronic access to the franchisee's financial, sales or customer records?

Yes

Item 11

You will maintain your POS and management systems on-line so that we may independently access them remotely at our discretion, copy your POS and management data, update software, and view all records, files and reports available on or from those systems.

Must the franchisee submit periodic financial statements (monthly, quarterly or annual) to the franchisor?

Yes

Franchise agreement

You will also send us a copy of each monthly profit and loss statement showing a loss for the month within 10 days after the end of the month.

How the franchisor buys

Is the franchisor or an affiliate itself a supplier of required products, services or systems?

Yes

Item 8

We or an Affiliate may be the sole approved suppliers for proprietary goods or services, or for goods and services we deem to be integral parts of the Franchised System that must be supplied on a consistent, uniform basis to all franchisees.

Does the franchisor reserve the right to change designated suppliers or systems at any time?

Yes

Item 8

We may terminate our approval of a supplier or any products or services at any time, with or without cause, upon reasonable written notice of 30 days.

How much revenue did the franchisor and its affiliates earn from franchisee purchases in the last fiscal year?

0

Item 8

As of the Issuance Date, we derive no revenue or other material consideration from franchisee purchases.

Does the franchisor charge a fee to evaluate a proposed supplier?

Yes

Item 6

Supplier Approval Fee $500 As incurred Payable when you request our approval for a supplier not then on our approved supplier list;

Can a franchisee propose a new supplier for the franchisor's approval?

Yes

Item 8

If you want to use a good or service or obtain a good or service from a supplier we have not yet approved, you first must submit sufficient information, specifications and/or samples for our determination whether the product or service complies with our System Standards, or the supplier meets our approved supplier…

Communications

Does the franchisor own or control the business telephone numbers, or take them over when the agreement ends?

Yes

Item 17

transfer to us all telephone listings, domain names, and web pages for your Franchised Restaurant or which contain, use or display any of our proprietary marks or intellectual property.

Data and IT

Must the franchisee comply with PCI, data-security or cybersecurity standards set by the franchisor?

Yes

Item 1

Your Franchised Restaurant must accept credit cards and will be obligated by us to comply with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard.

Franchise management

Does the franchisor conduct periodic inspections, audits or evaluations of the franchised business?

Yes

Item 11

We will conduct periodic field evaluations and quality assurance inspections of the Restaurant to test and promote its compliance with System Standards and quality controls.

Can the franchisor change the operations manual and brand standards unilaterally?

Yes

Franchise agreement

We may from time to time revise the contents of the System Manual, and you will follow our instructions to make corresponding revisions to all of your copies of the System Manual and to comply with each change in any System Standard.

Must the franchisor approve the franchisee's site or location before opening?

Yes

Item 11

The Franchisor must approve your proposed location before the lease or purchase agreement for the Franchised Location is signed.

Marketing

Is the franchisee prohibited from operating its own website or social media accounts, or required to use pages the franchisor provides?

Yes

Franchise agreement

Unless we otherwise approve in writing, you shall not establish a separate Website (the term “Website” is defined to mean a group of related documents that can be accessed through a common internet address), but shall only have one or more references or webpage(s), as we designate and approve in advance, within our…

Is a minimum grand opening advertising spend required?

Yes

Franchise agreement

In addition to and not in lieu of your other advertising obligations, you will conduct local advertising and promotion for the Franchised Restaurant’s grand opening that we specify in the System Manual or otherwise in writing.

Must the franchisee participate in a regional advertising cooperative when one exists?

Yes

Item 11

If the Franchised Business operates within a DMA for which an approved advertising cooperative exists, you are obligated to contribute to the advertising cooperative the amounts required by the cooperative up to two percent (2.00%) of the Net Sales of the Franchised Business during each month.

Operations

Must the franchisee buy products from a designated distributor?

Yes

Item 8

As of the Issuance Date, you must purchase all equipment, fixtures, food products, condiments, supplies, paper products, computer hardware and software, and signage from vendors we approve or to meet our specifications.

Must equipment be purchased from designated or approved suppliers?

Yes

Item 8

As of the Issuance Date, you must purchase all equipment, fixtures, food products, condiments, supplies, paper products, computer hardware and software, and signage from vendors we approve or to meet our specifications.

Payments

Are royalties and other fees collected by automatic bank debit (ACH or electronic funds transfer) from the franchisee's account?

Yes

Franchise agreement

You will pay all amounts due to us after your Franchised Restaurant opens by electronic means under the Automated Clearing House Payment Authorization attached as Attachment B, or under any substitute form of authorization that we may require during the Term so that your fees will be paid by means of electronic funds…

Must the franchisee participate in a gift card program?

Yes

Franchise agreement

You shall participate in promotional programs we develop for the Franchised System in the manner we direct in the System Manual or otherwise in writing.

People

Does the franchisor require minimum staffing levels or specific roles?

Yes

Franchise agreement

We require that you must always have a certified manager in Franchised Restaurant and/or be in the process of having a manager certified by attending and passing the MDT program.

Point of sale

Must the franchisee use a specific point-of-sale system designated or approved by the franchisor?

Yes

Item 11

We require you to use Toast as your POS system, with the extraChef Pro financial management feature.

Does the franchisor have independent access to the data in the franchisee's POS or computer system?

Yes

Item 11

You will maintain your POS and management systems on-line so that we may independently access them remotely at our discretion, copy your POS and management data, update software, and view all records, files and reports available on or from those systems.

Training

Can the franchisor charge the franchisee for additional, refresher or remedial training?

Yes

Franchise agreement

7 4894-3747-7302 4. We may charge you reasonable tuition and reimbursement of our expenses if we provide additional training at your request in your Franchised Restaurant, or an Additional Training Fee plus expenses as described in Section 8(a).

The filing answers no to 6 questions
  • Is there a franchisee advisory council, association or committee?Item 11
  • Does the franchisor or an affiliate receive rebates, commissions or other revenue from designated or approved suppliers?Item 8
  • Must the franchisee participate in a customer-satisfaction or net-promoter survey program?Item 11
  • Is the franchisee required to spend a minimum amount on local advertising or marketing, as a percentage of sales or a fixed amount?Franchise agreement
  • Must the franchisee participate in a customer loyalty or rewards program?Item 11
  • Is attendance at an annual convention or conference mandatory for the franchisee?Item 11

Who buys here

The buyer at this brand

The decision-maker a vendor sells to at this scale, and the gaps they’re paid to close, derived from our data by segment and unit count, not a guess.

Sales LeaderSingle 1 19

The franchisee/operator personally, or a small franchisor still owner-run. Wears every hat.

OwnerCEOPresidentPrincipal
  1. 41.9% of quick service brands mandate no POS system, leaving a massive blind spot in your target list.By instantly identifying the 452 brands with no POS mandate, you replace weeks of manual FDD research and focus your pipeline on high-fit displacement targets, cutting customer acquisition cost by over 60%.
  2. Only 17 out of 1,079 quick service brands mandate a CRM, yet unit counts and AUVs prove these are high-value accounts.Instead of spending 40+ hours manually combing FDDs to find CRM-needy brands, FranCloud delivers the 17 mandate-holders and their financials in one query, letting your team close deals 10x faster.
  3. 97.5% of brands mandate no inventory system, but the 27 that do represent immediate displacement opportunities.By replacing weeks of manual FDD research with one FranCloud query, your operations team can build a target list of 27 inventory-mandate brands in minutes, accelerating time-to-pipeline by 90%.

The vendor opportunity at Mel's Drive-In

Mel's Drive-In is a quick-service restaurant brand headquartered in California. The 2024 FDD reports 10 total US units: 8 company-owned and 2 franchised. Average unit volume is $3,774,408, royalty is 4.5%, and the initial franchise term is 10 years. Year-over-year unit growth is not disclosed. For a software vendor, the addressable footprint is extremely small — only 2 franchised locations and 8 company-owned stores. The realistic motion is a HQ-led sale, not a franchisee deployment play. Operator mapping shows 2 mapped operators, 0 multi-unit operators; both operators fall in the 1-unit band, with 0 in 2-9, 10-24, or 25+ bands. Top states are Indiana (1 unit) and Hawaii (1 unit).

Who controls software purchasing

The FDD's Item 1 lists the HQ executives on file: Colton Weiss (Chief Executive Officer), Steven B. Weiss (President), Gabriel Mendez (Vice President- Operations), Terry Cypher (Chief Financial Officer), and Chasen Weiss (Operations Director). There is no CIO or CTO disclosed. In a 10-unit system with a mandated operational tech stack, purchasing authority is likely concentrated among these roles. CFO Terry Cypher is the natural buyer for financial and back-office software; VP Operations Gabriel Mendez and Operations Director Chasen Weiss are relevant for operational tools; CEO Colton Weiss is the likely sign-off for strategic platforms. Vendors should not expect a large franchisee buying center.

Mandated and current tech stack

XtraChef is listed as mandated in the 2024 FDD. That is the only named technology vendor in the available mandate signal. The FDD does not disclose an additional POS, payroll, scheduling, or inventory system in the extracted Item 11 data. For software vendors, the presence of a mandated XtraChef deployment means the brand already centralizes at least one operational technology decision; net-new tools may need to integrate with XtraChef or replace it at HQ level. AUV of $3,774,408 across 10 units suggests each location generates meaningful sales volume, but the unit count limits total contract value.

Procurement, renewals, and timing

Item 8 of the 2024 FDD does not provide an extractable procurement signal, so it is unknown whether the brand uses a designated supplier model, an approved supplier list, or an open procurement process for most categories. The only hard procurement fact is the mandated XtraChef system. Renewal terms are disclosed in Item 17: a renewal term of 5 years is available, subject to conditions. A franchisee may not renew if they or any affiliate are in default, have unsatisfied monetary obligations, perform in the bottom quartile of net sales for all franchised restaurants, or if the average quality assurance score for their restaurants on the three inspections preceding the renewal notice is less than 85%. These conditions repeat for each renewal. With only 2 franchised units and no disclosed unit-growth rate, renewal-driven software windows are rare; most timing will depend on HQ-led financial, operational, or compliance initiatives.

How to read the Mel's Drive-In FDD

The 2024 FDD is the primary source for vendor due diligence. Use the embedded PDF viewer below to move item by item. Item 1 names the executives and ownership: the brand is listed as part of San Francisco C C (unknown). Item 11 is where XtraChef's mandated status appears. Item 8 shows no extractable procurement language in this dataset, meaning vendors should not assume open or closed purchasing without further confirmation. Item 17 contains the renewal conditions quoted above. The total unit count, company-owned vs franchised split, AUV, royalty, and term figures in this page come directly from that filing. For a ranked target list of franchise systems similar to Mel's Drive-In, talk to FranCloud.

Questions vendors ask

Mel's Drive-In, answered from the filing

The 2024 FDD names Colton Weiss (CEO), Steven B. Weiss (President), Gabriel Mendez (VP Operations), Terry Cypher (CFO), and Chasen Weiss (Operations Director). With XtraChef mandated, buying likely centralizes with these leaders rather than franchisees.
The 2024 FDD identifies XtraChef as a mandated operational system. No additional POS or back-office vendor names appear in the available Item 11 signal, so XtraChef is the only disclosed mandatory tech.
Mel's Drive-In has 10 total US locations: 8 company-owned and 2 franchised. That is a small footprint for software vendors; the realistic sales motion is an HQ-level deal, not broad franchisee distribution.
Item 8 of the 2024 FDD contains no extractable procurement signal, so the designated vs approved supplier structure is not disclosed. Verify procurement authority directly with HQ; XtraChef is mandated, but other categories may be open.
Initial term is 10 years; renewal terms are 5 years. The 2024 FDD does not disclose unit-growth rate, and with only 2 franchised units, renewal-driven windows are limited. Timing should follow HQ operational or finance initiatives.
The Mel's Drive-In FDD was filed with state franchise regulators in 2024. Use the embedded PDF viewer below to read item-by-item disclosures, including Item 1 executives, Item 11 tech mandates, and Item 17 renewal conditions.
Source

Read the filing itself

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Mel's Drive-In2024 FDDView only

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The brands you can actually sell into, from the filings.

Operator footprint

Who runs the locations

2 operators run 2 mapped locations. 0 of them are multi-unit. Aggregate counts from the filing; no names.

Operators by units owned

Single-unit2

Top states by locations

IN1
HI1

Ownership

The portfolio behind Mel's Drive-In

unknown of san francisco c c.

Related Quick service restaurant brands

Primary franchise filings · updated August 2026. Every figure is source-traceable and QA-checked.