FranchiseVerdict
Angry Crab Shack logo
FV-00142·MODERATEExcellent100

Angry Crab Shack

Food & Beverage - Full ServiceFranchising since 2015Website
Investment
$412K – $1.2M
55th pct Full Service
Avg revenue
$2.9M
51st pct Full Service
Royalty
5.0%
15th pct Full Service
Units
23
56th pct Full Service
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $412K – $1.2M including a $50K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
  • Average unit revenue of $2.9M/year (median $2.6M). Estimated payback in 2.7 years.
  • Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 56/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 4 loans (below the industry average).
  • System growing at 21.4% CAGR over 3 years with 23 total units — strong expansion trajectory.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Angry Crab Franchise, LLC
Incorporated in
Arizona
HQ
2345 South Alma School Road Suite 106, Mesa, Arizona 85210
Auditor
CliftonLarsonAllen LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$1.5M
vs $1.7M 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 Angry Crab Shack unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
FDD Item 19 reports $2,889,286
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: $412K–$1.2M
Working capital
$
FDD reports $25K–$75K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

54%

In Yale's "attractive" band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$462K
EBITDA margin
16.0%
Total invested
$858K
Payback
22 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 Angry Crab Shack units return on equity?

Edit assumptions

Equity IRR · 5-yr

26.9%

3.29× MOIC

Year-1 DSCR

3.05×

EBITDA ÷ debt service

Equity required

$13.2M

on $26.0M purchase

Total debt

$12.8M

SBA $5.0M + senior + seller note

SBA 7(a) request ($13.0M) exceeds the $5M program cap. Excess capped automatically; backfill via conventional or equity.

Overview

About

Franchisees operate casual-dining seafood restaurants (likely featuring crab and shellfish dishes) with counter-service or limited full-service models. Day-to-day operations include food preparation, inventory management, staffing, and customer service across a protected territory.

CEO
Ronald Lou
Founded
2015
FDD year
2025
States available
6

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$412K – $1.2M
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$25K – $75K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$50K
Royalty
5.0%
Net Sales · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
2.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
7.0%
vs 9–13% typical
Payback period
2.7 yrs
From v3 / Item 19

Item 19

Financial Performance

Avg gross sales
$2.9M
Per unit, per year
Median gross sales
$2.6M
Item 19 type
Net Sales and EBITDA
Sample size
20 units
vs category median 15
Range (low → high)
$1.3M$5.2M
Cohort dispersion
Transparency
10 / 5
vs category median 4 / 5 · above
Revenue rank51th
vs Food & Beverage - Full Service peers
Investment cost rank55th
Lower investment ranks lower (better)
Royalty rate rank15th
Lower royalty = lower percentile (better)
Unit count rank56th
vs Food & Beverage - Full Service peers
Risk score rank33th
Lower risk = lower percentile (better)

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
23
Opened
2
Last reporting year
Closed
0
Turnover rate
0.0%
Company-owned
6
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
74%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
+6.2%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
+21.4%
Compounded over last 3 years
2023
17+2
Franchised units
2024
16
Franchised units
2025
14
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 20 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 · 20 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
4
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

56
Risk · 0-100
MODERATE56 / 100

Angry Crab Shack presents caution-level risk due to corporate going concern status, anemic unit growth, litigation history, and thin profit margins relative to investment size.

Score breakdown · what drove the 56 / 100 rating

  1. 01HIGHGoing Concern status is False — indicates potential financial instability at corporate level
  2. 02MEDSlow unit growth of 6.2% YoY with only 23 units suggests limited system momentum and expansion challenges
  3. 03MINORTwo separate lawsuits (trademark infringement and franchise breach) demonstrate legal/operational friction and brand protection issues
  4. 04MINORHigh investment range ($411K-$1.2M) against modest average net income ($298K) yields marginal ROI and longer payback period
  5. 05MINOR5% royalty on $2.89M average revenue equals ~$144K annually — significant overhead that consumes 48% of average net income
  6. 06MINORNo Item 19 financial performance data limits ability to validate whether average figures represent typical franchisee experience or outliers

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

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

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Population
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
2
Right of first refusal
Yes
Franchisor can buy back on resale
Mandatory arbitration
No
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Non-compete
1 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Optional
Governing law
Arizona

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
49 hrs
On-the-job training
191 hrs
POS system
TP8300 Terminal
Operating tech stack

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

34 numbers

Locked
(213) 576-••••
Los Angeles
CA
(503) 378-••••
Salem,
OR
(916) 445-••••
Sacramento
CA

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Angry Crab Shack · FDD (2025) PDF

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