FranchiseVerdict
ACE SUSHI logo
FV-00067·CAUTIONExcellent81

Ace Sushi

OtherFranchising since 2005Website
Investment
$18K – $228K
5th pct Other
Avg revenue
50th pct Other
Royalty
Units
123
78th pct Other
SBA default

Bottom line

  • Total investment $18K – $228K including a $6K franchise fee.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated CAUTION with a risk score of 69/100.
  • System growing at 98.3% CAGR over 3 years with 123 total units — strong expansion trajectory.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
ACE SUSHI FRANCHISE CORPORATION
Incorporated in
California
HQ
22771 S Western Avenue, Torrance, California 90501
Auditor
Windes, Inc.
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$1.2M
vs $1.1M prior year

Yale framework · single-unit ROIC

Returns Analysis

Pulls Item 7 (investment) and Item 19 (revenue) from this brand's FDD into the Yale unlevered-ROIC formula. Override any input to stress-test it against your own assumptions.

The model · Yale framework

What would one ACE SUSHI unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
Item 19 not disclosed — typing your own estimate
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: generic
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $18K–$228K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $5K–$10K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

86%

Above typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$113K
EBITDA margin
15.0%
Total invested
$130K
Payback
14 mo
Unit-level only. A multi-unit portfolio gives up roughly 5–15% of this to shared services (corporate G&A) before reaching the ~10-unit break-even Yale describes.

Overview

About

ACE SUSHI franchisees operate quick-service sushi restaurants, likely handling food preparation, customer service, inventory management, and point-of-sale operations. Day-to-day responsibilities typically include staff scheduling, food safety compliance, order fulfillment, and managing labor costs within a small footprint format.

CEO
Harlan H. Chin
Founded
2004
FDD year
2026
States available
23

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$18K – $228K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$5K – $10K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$6K
Royalty
Typically 8% - 15% of chef or invoice price per unit
Ad fund
2.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
10.0%
vs 9–13% typical

Item 19

Financial Performance

This franchisor did not disclose financial performance representations in Item 19, or our extractor could not parse them.

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
123
Opened
71
Last reporting year
Closed
47
Turnover rate
38.2%
Company-owned
6
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
95%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
+20.6%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
+98.3%
Compounded over last 3 years
2024
117+17
Franchised units
2025
97
Franchised units
2026
59
Franchised units

Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.

Item 20 · 18 states with active franchisees

The Territory Map

Derived from franchisee contact records. Shows states with at least one current operator — not where the franchisor is registered to sell new units (that data is re-extracting in a future refresh).

AK
ME
VT
NH
MA
RI
CT
NY
NJ
PA
DE
MD
DC
WA
OR
CA
NV
ID
MT
WY
UT
CO
AZ
NM
ND
SD
NE
KS
OK
TX
MN
IA
MO
AR
LA
WI
IL
MS
TN
MI
IN
KY
AL
OH
WV
GA
VA
NC
SC
FL
HI
Registered · 18 states
Not registered

States derived from franchisee phone area codes (Item 20). Approximate — ported numbers may show the original state, not the franchisee's current location.

Government records

SBA Loan Data

Aggregated from SBA 7(a) loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.

No SBA loan data available for this brand.

FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17

Risk & Legal

69
Risk · 0-100
CAUTION69 / 100

ACE SUSHI presents HIGH RISK due to going concern status, multi-state regulatory violations, missing financial disclosures, unprotected territory, and documented franchise closures — prospective franchisees cannot validate unit economics and face significant franchisor stability concerns.

Score breakdown · what drove the 69 / 100 rating

  1. 01HIGHGoing concern status is FALSE — indicates potential financial instability or insolvency risk at corporate level
  2. 02HIGH4 state regulatory orders (MD, RI, VA, WA) for franchise registration/disclosure violations suggest systemic compliance failures and potential fraud risk
  3. 03MEDNo average revenue or net income disclosed (missing Item 19) — prevents ROI validation and suggests corporate may be hiding poor unit economics
  4. 04MINORWide investment range ($18K–$227K) without clear breakdown indicates lack of transparency on what franchisees actually receive
  5. 05MINORNo territory protection — franchisees face direct competition from other ACE SUSHI units and cannot defend market share
  6. 06MINORRoyalty structure tied to 'chef or invoice price' is vague and creates ambiguity on actual payment obligations
  7. 07HIGH1 franchise closure with small claims litigation suggests unit failure and potential payment disputes with franchisor
  8. 08MINOR20.6% YoY growth masks potential unit churn — growth rate is superficial without retention/closure data

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal

Contract & Territory Detail

Protected territory
No
Initial term
4 years
Renewal term
4 years
Online sales rights
Restricted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Allowed
Litigation count
5
Right of first refusal
Yes
Franchisor can buy back on resale
Mandatory arbitration
No
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Non-compete
2 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Required
Governing law
California

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
8 hrs
On-the-job training
55 hrs

Item 20

Franchisee Contacts

Phone numbers extracted directly from this brand's FDD Item 20. After purchase, you'll also receive a list of validation questions tailored to this brand.

Franchisee contacts

99 numbers

Locked
(530) 758-••••
CA
(562) 933-••••
CA
(310) 767-••••
CA

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

ACE SUSHI · FDD (2026) PDF

Single-page checkout · instant download · CSV export of contacts available separately above