Submarine House Bar & Grill

Deciding whether to invest in a full-service sports bar and grill franchise is one of the most capital-intensive decisions a prospective franchisee will face, and the question of which brand to back matters enormously when $743,700 to $1,585,900 of initial capital is on the table. Submarine House Bar & Grill answers that question with a foundation built over five decades of continuous operation, a track record the franchise's own director characterizes as zero failures across its entire history. The brand traces its origins to 1973, when Doug Kidd opened the first Submarine House on Brown Street near the University of Dayton in Ohio, distinguishing it immediately as the first establishment in the region to serve an East Coast-style Cheesesteak sub — a menu innovation that became the brand's enduring trademark. Gary Danner, a frequent customer of that original location, became the first franchisee in 1978, opening at 7850 N. Main Street, a location that remains operational today as a living testament to the brand's durability. In 1984, Danner purchased the Submarine House franchise business from founder Doug Kidd and methodically expanded the sub shop concept throughout Dayton. His sons Jason and Brody Danner grew up working inside those restaurants, opened their own Submarine House locations in 1997 and 1999 respectively, and by 2003 had acquired the franchise business from their father. The pivotal transformation came in March 2006 when Jason and Brody opened the first Submarine House Sports Bar at 8807 N. Dixie Drive, converting the brand from a traditional sub shop model into a full-service sports bar and grill entertainment destination that immediately captured consumer demand. Today, with Kelsey Mears listed as a third owner, Franchise Director Trey Woessner guiding expansion strategy, and headquarters anchored in Dayton, Ohio, Submarine House Bar & Grill operates within a full-service restaurant market generating $552.7 billion in annual U.S. food sales as of 2024, positioning the franchise opportunity directly inside one of the most consistently patronized categories in American consumer spending.

The full-service restaurant industry in which Submarine House Bar & Grill competes is one of the largest and most structurally resilient segments of the broader food service economy. U.S. food sales at full-service establishments reached $552.7 billion in 2024, and the domestic sector is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 3.5% from 2025 through 2035. Globally, various market estimates converge around a full-service restaurant market valued at approximately $1.59 trillion in 2025, with projections ranging from $1.72 trillion by 2031 at a 3.26% CAGR to $2.05 trillion by 2035 at a 2.6% CAGR, depending on the methodology applied. Within that vast market, casual dining restaurants — the segment that most closely describes the Submarine House Bar & Grill format — hold a commanding 72% market share, driven by their broad cuisine choices, diverse menus, and the accessibility that suburban Ohio markets specifically reward. Consumer trends reinforcing this segment include rising disposable incomes, strong dining-out behavior, and the growth of experiential dining concepts that combine food quality with entertainment atmosphere — exactly the model Submarine House Bar & Grill has pursued since its 2006 sports bar transformation. Dine-in services are projected to maintain a 65.83% market share in 2025 despite the rise of delivery platforms, reflecting an enduring consumer preference for the social interaction and ambiance that a sports bar and grill environment provides uniquely well. Chained formats — as opposed to independent restaurants — are expanding at a 5.94% CAGR through 2031, fueled by technology investments and AI-driven customer data platforms, a structural tailwind that benefits established franchise systems like Submarine House Bar & Grill over single-operator independents. Delivery services are growing at a 7.15% CAGR through 2031, creating an incremental revenue channel for franchisees who operate within systems that have invested in digital ordering infrastructure. The combination of casual dining's 72% market dominance, growing demand for experiential food-and-entertainment venues, and the structural advantage of chained formats over independent competitors creates a favorable macro environment for a Submarine House Bar & Grill franchise investment evaluated on industry fundamentals alone.

Understanding the full cost of entry is the first filter any serious franchise investor must apply, and the Submarine House Bar & Grill franchise investment is structured as a mid-to-premium tier commitment within the full-service restaurant category. The initial franchise fee is $45,000, which is broadly competitive within the sports bar and grill segment and reflects the brand's five-decade operating history and the value of its proprietary East Coast Cheesesteak recipe and established regional brand recognition. Total initial investment ranges from $743,700 on the low end to $1,585,900 at the high end, a spread driven primarily by leasehold improvements ($425,000 to $1,039,200), furniture, fixtures, and equipment ($150,000 to $250,000), and training costs ($4,000 to $33,000) — all detailed in Item 7 of the Franchise Disclosure Document. Additional startup cost components include real estate and rent deposits of $2,500 to $6,500, utility deposits of $300 to $1,000, insurance of $3,000 to $8,000, signage of $5,000 to $15,000, initial inventory of $20,000 to $25,000, a fixed grand opening investment of $15,000, computers and software of $2,000 to $5,000, licenses and permits of $3,500 to $25,000, legal and accounting fees of $5,000 to $20,000, office equipment and supplies of $3,000 to $7,000, and dues and subscriptions of $400 to $1,200. Six months of additional operating funds — a critical liquidity buffer during the ramp-up period — adds $60,000 to $90,000 to the total. Ongoing fees include a royalty rate of 6% of gross revenue and a marketing fee of 2% of gross revenue, producing a combined ongoing fee burden of 8% — consistent with the full-service franchise category average and structured to fund both system-level operations and the brand-wide advertising programs that drive traffic to each franchisee location. Prospective franchisees must demonstrate liquid capital of $175,000 to $225,000 and a total net worth of $500,000, qualification thresholds that effectively target owner-operators with demonstrated financial stability rather than undercapitalized first-time investors. No parent company backstops the Submarine House corporate entity, meaning franchise investors are partnering directly with Jason Danner, Brody Danner, and Kelsey Mears — a family-owned franchisor structure that creates direct accountability and decision-making speed but lacks the institutional capital reserves of a large franchise conglomerate.

The operating model of a Submarine House Bar & Grill franchise is built around an owner-operator or market-resident management structure with a clear requirement that either the franchisee or the operating manager physically resides within the market where the location operates — whether Dayton, Columbus, or another target territory. This residency requirement is a deliberate structural choice by the franchisor, reflecting a brand philosophy that local presence and community connection drive the customer loyalty and repeat visitation that sports bars require to sustain volume. Typical franchise locations employ approximately 36 people, a staffing model consistent with full-service sports bar operations that include kitchen staff, front-of-house servers, bar staff, and management personnel across daytime and evening shifts. The initial training program extends up to four weeks and covers the full operational landscape of running a Submarine House Bar & Grill location, including food preparation to brand standards, bar operations, staff management, and the financial reporting systems the company has implemented. Franchisees also receive specific staff selection training focused on attracting, hiring, and retaining the right talent — a priority in a labor-intensive full-service restaurant environment where turnover directly impacts customer experience and profitability. Ongoing support encompasses site selection assistance with demographic analysis, construction guidance, financing consultation, and access to experienced operations and real estate professionals from the Submarine House corporate team. The brand has invested in RASI, an integrated platform managing payroll, accounting, inventory, sales, finance, and cash management simultaneously, giving franchisees institutional-grade business intelligence tools that independent restaurant operators cannot cost-effectively access. Marketing support includes targeted corporate-wide programs delivering radio and TV commercials, online and social advertising, newspaper ads, direct mail, coupon books, promotional posters, and signage — amplified by a partnership with PopMenu, an AI-driven marketing and website platform designed to enhance guest interaction and digital presence. Exclusive territory rights are granted to each franchisee, providing competitive protection within defined geographic boundaries while the brand pursues its broader Ohio and national expansion strategy.

Item 19 financial performance data is not disclosed in the current Franchise Disclosure Document for Submarine House Bar & Grill, which means prospective investors cannot rely on franchisor-provided average revenue figures, median unit volumes, or cost-of-goods benchmarks when building their financial models. This disclosure gap is legally permissible — the FTC's franchise disclosure rules make Item 19 voluntary — but it does place a greater burden on prospective franchisees to conduct independent due diligence, including direct conversations with existing franchisees, third-party restaurant revenue benchmarking, and careful analysis of the publicly available operational signals the brand does provide. What the available evidence does indicate is substantive: Franchise Director Trey Woessner has publicly stated that Submarine House has experienced zero franchise failures across its 50-year operating history and that all current franchisees are operating successfully within the system. Existing franchisees have described their Submarine House Bar & Grill investment as a "good investment" that has "paid off," with one owner of over 15 years reporting continued satisfaction with both the business economics and the food quality that drives repeat customer traffic. A franchisee employing 36 people is operating at a staffing level consistent with full-service restaurants generating between $1 million and $2 million in annual revenue based on industry labor cost ratios, though this is an independent benchmark inference rather than a disclosed figure. The U.S. casual dining segment generates average unit volumes that vary substantially by market size, location quality, and operational execution, with top-performing sports bar and grill concepts in competitive suburban markets frequently exceeding $2 million annually. The brand's community engagement programs — including an annual Super Duper Cheesesteak Challenge that raised over $27,000 for Dayton Children's Hospital in a recent year — signal an operational philosophy that prioritizes local brand equity, which research consistently links to above-average same-store sales performance in community-anchored restaurant concepts. Prospective franchisees should request Item 19 data directly from the franchisor, engage with existing franchisees through the validation process outlined in the FDD, and apply conservative revenue modeling against the known cost structure when evaluating the Submarine House Bar & Grill franchise investment thesis.

The growth trajectory of Submarine House Bar & Grill demonstrates the deliberate, measured expansion strategy of a family-owned franchisor that has prioritized system health over rapid scale. The brand operated eight locations in February 2014, four of which were Bar & Grill format restaurants, reached ten successful Ohio locations by August 2023, and added an eleventh location in Piqua, Ohio, on June 16, 2025, marking a net addition pace of roughly one to two units per year over the past decade. That pace is now being deliberately accelerated: Submarine House partnered with Atlanta-based franchise development and sales firm Franchise Marketing Systems in 2023 specifically to build momentum for national expansion, with plans to add several strong franchisees in the first quarter following November 2024, grow by three to six stores per year over the subsequent two years, and ultimately scale to ten or more new units annually in the years that follow. The transformation of the brand from a regional Dayton sub shop identity into a sports bar and grill concept with growing Columbus-area recognition represents a significant competitive moat development — franchisees in established markets report that the Submarine House brand is considered "very strong" even in direct comparison to nationally recognized sports bar chains. Technology investments including the RASI management platform and the PopMenu AI-driven marketing system represent infrastructure upgrades that position the brand for the data-driven operational efficiency that chained formats are leveraging to grow at 5.94% CAGR through 2031. The Gary Danner era concluded with his and wife Susan's retirement at the end of 2022, completing a clean generational transition to Jason and Brody Danner, who have demonstrated 20-plus years of strategic vision through the sports bar pivot and the current franchise development partnership. Community programs like the annual Veterans Day free half-sub offer and the Dayton Children's Hospital fundraiser reinforce local brand loyalty in Ohio markets while building the reputational infrastructure that supports new market entry in surrounding states. The combination of a 50-year operating track record, zero disclosed franchise failures, and an accelerating unit growth strategy tied to professional franchise development support creates a differentiated growth narrative for the Submarine House Bar & Grill franchise opportunity within the competitive full-service restaurant category.

The ideal Submarine House Bar & Grill franchisee is an owner-operator or hands-on manager with demonstrated business management experience, a genuine passion for the sports bar and community dining experience, and the financial wherewithal to meet the $175,000 to $225,000 liquid capital requirement and $500,000 net worth threshold. The residency requirement — either the franchisee or operating manager must live within the operating market — effectively filters out passive investors and absentee ownership models, creating a franchisee community that is personally invested in local execution and community relationships. Geographic focus is currently concentrated in Ohio, with expansion targets in surrounding states as the Franchise Marketing Systems partnership generates qualified candidates, making the near-term opportunity window most accessible to investors already familiar with Midwestern market dynamics, consumer preferences, and real estate conditions. Markets that have demonstrated the brand's strength include Dayton and its suburban corridors, with Columbus showing growing brand recognition as the franchise extends beyond its founding geography. The four-week initial training program provides the operational foundation for franchisees entering the business without deep restaurant industry backgrounds, while the staff selection training component addresses the practical human resources challenges that most frequently compromise new restaurant openings. Multi-unit ownership appears consistent with the family history of the brand — Gary Danner, Jason Danner, and Brody Danner all operated multiple locations — suggesting the system is architecturally compatible with franchisees who develop strong single-unit operations and then scale regionally. Prospective investors should engage with Franchise Director Trey Woessner early in their discovery process and prioritize franchisee validation conversations with existing operators to assess territory-specific revenue potential and operational realities before committing capital.

The Submarine House Bar & Grill franchise opportunity presents a distinctive investment case: a 50-year-old brand with zero disclosed franchise failures, a proven transformation from sub shop to sports bar format completed in 2006, an $45,000 franchise fee, total investment range of $743,700 to $1,585,900, and an accelerating growth strategy targeting three to six new units per year moving into ten or more annually — all operating within a U.S. full-service restaurant market generating $552.7 billion in annual food sales with a projected 3.5% CAGR through 2035. The casual dining segment's 72% market share dominance, the chained format growth advantage of 5.94% CAGR through 2031, and the sustained consumer preference for dine-in experiences — which will hold a 65.83% market share in 2025 — all provide structural tailwinds behind any well-executed full-service sports bar investment in the current market environment. The PeerSense Franchise Performance Index assigns Submarine House Bar & Grill a score of 36 (Fair), a baseline assessment that should be evaluated alongside the brand's unique 50-year track record, its zero-failure claim, and the growth infrastructure now being built through the Franchise Marketing Systems partnership. PeerSense provides exclusive due diligence data including SBA lending history, FPI score, location maps with Google ratings, FDD financial data, and side-by-side comparison tools that allow investors to benchmark the Submarine House Bar & Grill franchise investment against direct competitors in the full-service sports bar and grill category on every material financial and operational dimension. The combination of a community-anchored brand identity, an experienced second-generation family ownership team, proven Ohio market penetration, and a national expansion infrastructure now being actively built makes this franchise worthy of serious due diligence by investors positioned to meet the financial qualifications and residency requirements the system demands. Explore the complete Submarine House Bar & Grill franchise profile on PeerSense to access the full suite of independent franchise intelligence data.