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Buy a Quaker Steak & Lube Franchise

Quaker Steak & Lube, known to fans as “The Lube,” is an automotive-themed casual dining restaurant and bar brand founded in 1974 in Sharon, Pennsylvania. Its restaurants are built around a vintage gas-station and muscle-car theme, with classic cars and motorcycles displayed throughout the dining room and bar.

The menu is anchored by chicken wings served in more than a dozen signature sauces, alongside steaks, burgers, ribs, sandwiches, salads, appetizers and desserts. The brand also bottles sauces for retail sale and reports serving over 30 million wings a year. Revenue spans dine-in, full bar service, takeout and catering across its full-service locations.

The brand began franchising in 1997 and today runs a network concentrated in Ohio and Pennsylvania, with further restaurants across the Southeast and Midwest. Now headquartered in Ohio and independently operated, Quaker Steak & Lube was owned by TravelCenters of America from 2016 until 2021, when the restaurant business was sold to a private buyer.

Latest Resales

  • There are currently no Quaker Steak & Lube resales available

Why buy a Quaker Steak & Lube Franchise?

Few casual-dining concepts carry an identity as distinctive as Quaker Steak & Lube: a half-century-old, automotive-themed brand with a nationally known wing-and-sauce reputation and the “Best Wings USA” title. To buy a Quaker Steak & Lube franchise is to acquire built-in local awareness and a recognizable concept that a generic independent restaurant would have to build from nothing.

The model carries multiple revenue streams — dine-in, a full bar, takeout, catering and retail sauce sales — which help spread demand across dayparts and occasions. Franchisees gain a proven menu, established operating systems, supplier purchasing co-ops and ongoing marketing support, giving an owner more structure than an independent bar-and-grill.

Quaker Steak & Lube Franchise Costs & Information

  • Minimum Qualifications

    • Initial Franchise Fee

      $30,000 - $40,000

    • Initial Investment

      $473,500 - $4,106,000

  • Royalty

    • Royalty Fee

      5%

  • Training & Support

    • 336 hours on the job training

    • Ongoing Support

    • Marketing Support

Quaker Steak & Lube – Additional  Information

  1. Training & Support

    Incoming franchisees complete an initial program of roughly 336 classroom and on-the-job hours covering operations, hiring, food preparation, and marketing and advertising. Ongoing support includes franchise marketing programs (co-op advertising, social media and SEO), proprietary restaurant software, purchasing co-ops, newsletters, conventions and a franchisee intranet for day-to-day operational guidance. Buyers of an existing Lube unit should confirm what transfer training the franchisor provides to incoming owners and that proprietary software access carries over with the resale.

  2. Ideal Owner

    Quaker Steak & Lube suits a hands-on, operations-led owner who wants to be actively involved in running a full-service restaurant and bar; absentee ownership is not offered. Restaurant or hospitality management experience is valuable, though not strictly required given the structured training. The strongest fit is someone comfortable managing a large hourly team, controlling food and labor costs, delivering consistent guest service and high-energy hospitality, and raising the location's profile through local marketing and community events.

  3. Recognition & Awards

    Quaker Steak & Lube has built strong recognition around its wings and sauces, including the "Best Wings USA" title and hundreds of local, national and international awards for its sauce recipes over the years. The brand's longevity since 1974 and its widely recognized automotive theme add to its consumer profile. For resale buyers, this brand-level recognition should be weighed alongside the specific territory's reputation — local reviews, repeat customers and community visibility — which ultimately drives an individual restaurant's performance.

  4. Industry / Market

    Quaker Steak & Lube operates in the US full-service casual-dining segment, part of a restaurant industry the National Restaurant Association projects to exceed $1.1 trillion in annual sales. Casual dining is competitive, and differentiated, experience-driven concepts tend to hold guest loyalty better than undifferentiated ones. The wing and sports-bar category draws steady demand around sports viewing, group dining and takeout. For resale buyers, local factors — area competition, daypart mix and the specific restaurant's reputation — matter as much as national trends.

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