FranchiseVerdict
Anchor Bar logo
FV-00135·STRONGExcellent91

Anchor Bar

Food & Beverage - Full ServiceFranchising since 2011Website
Investment
$1.2M – $3.0M
90th pct Full Service
Avg revenue
$2.4M
48th pct Full Service
Royalty
5.0%
15th pct Full Service
Units
17
51st pct Full Service
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $1.2M – $3.0M including a $60K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
  • Average unit revenue of $2.4M/year (median $2.3M).
  • Rated STRONG with a risk score of 54/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 24 loans (below the industry average).

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Anchor Bar Franchise & Development, LLC
Incorporated in
Delaware
HQ
651 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo, New York 14202
Auditor
Bonadio & Co., LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$1.8M
vs $2.1M 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 Anchor Bar unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
FDD Item 19 reports $2,449,992
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: $1.2M–$3.0M
Working capital
$
FDD reports $60K–$125K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

19%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$416K
EBITDA margin
17.0%
Total invested
$2.2M
Payback
64 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.

Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing

What would 25 Anchor Bar units return on equity?

Edit assumptions

Equity IRR · 5-yr

27.4%

3.35× MOIC

Year-1 DSCR

2.98×

EBITDA ÷ debt service

Equity required

$12.1M

on $24.5M purchase

Total debt

$12.3M

SBA $5.0M + senior + seller note

SBA 7(a) request ($12.2M) exceeds the $5M program cap. Excess capped automatically; backfill via conventional or equity.

Overview

About

Anchor Bar franchisees operate full-service restaurants specializing in wings (the brand originated the Buffalo wing), typically in high-traffic locations. Day-to-day responsibilities include food preparation, kitchen management, front-of-house service, staff scheduling, inventory management, and brand standard compliance for food quality and customer experience.

CEO
Mark Dempsey
Founded
2011
FDD year
2026
States available
9

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$1.2M – $3.0M
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$60K – $125K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$60K
Royalty
5.0%
Percentage of Gross Revenues · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
1.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
6.0%
vs 9–13% typical

Item 19

Financial Performance

Avg gross sales
$2.4M
Per unit, per year
Median gross sales
$2.3M
Item 19 type
Gross Sales
Sample size
9 units
vs category median 15
Range (low → high)
$989K$3.9M
Cohort dispersion
Transparency
4 / 5
vs category median 4 / 5 · typical
Revenue rank48th
vs Food & Beverage - Full Service peers
Investment cost rank90th
Lower investment ranks lower (better)
Royalty rate rank15th
Lower royalty = lower percentile (better)
Unit count rank51th
vs Food & Beverage - Full Service peers
Risk score rank26th
Lower risk = lower percentile (better)

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
17
Opened
3
Last reporting year
Closed
3
Turnover rate
17.6%
Company-owned
1
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
94%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
+0.0%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
+33.3%
Compounded over last 3 years
2024
16±0
Franchised units
2025
16
Franchised units
2026
12
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 9 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 · 9 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.

Total loans
24
Loan volume
Avg loan
Default rate
0.0%
vs <3% typical · system-wide
5-yr default

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

Risk & Legal

54
Risk · 0-100
STRONG54 / 100

Anchor Bar presents CAUTION-level risk: unvalidated profitability, concerning going concern status, small system size, and inability to verify that average $2.45M revenue translates to acceptable net income at this investment level.

Score breakdown · what drove the 54 / 100 rating

  1. 01MEDNo Item 19 (Net Income) disclosed - unable to validate profitability claims against $2.45M average revenue
  2. 02MINOROnly 17 units with unknown growth trajectory - insufficient scale and no visibility into system expansion or contraction
  3. 03HIGHGoing Concern status is FALSE - indicates franchisor may have financial/operational stability issues
  4. 04MINORHigh initial investment ($1.2M-$3M) with unvalidated return on investment creates substantial financial exposure
  5. 05MINOR5% royalty on gross revenues (not net) compounds risk if margins are thin - franchisees pay royalties even during losses
  6. 06HIGHNo disclosed litigation is a positive but combined with going concern issues suggests potential undisclosed disputes or financial distress

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

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

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
radius
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
10 years
Renewal term
5 years
Online sales rights
Restricted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Allowed
Litigation count
0
Right of first refusal
Yes
Franchisor can buy back on resale
Mandatory arbitration
Yes
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Non-compete
1 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Required
Governing law
Delaware

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
29 hrs
On-the-job training
84 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

25 numbers

Locked
(716) 932-••••
MD
(575) 725-••••
CA
(682) 248-••••
TX

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Anchor Bar · FDD (2026) PDF

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