Bottom line
- Total investment $352K – $556K including a $55K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
- No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
- Rated CAUTION with a risk score of 75/100.
- No Item 19 financial performance representation. Without franchisor-disclosed revenue data, you'll need to gather unit economics directly from existing franchisees.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
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 Baba Saj unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
23%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Overview
About
Baba Saj operates fast-casual Middle Eastern/Mediterranean restaurants featuring customizable saj (griddle-cooked wraps) and bowls. Franchisees manage daily kitchen operations, customer service, inventory control, and local marketing while adhering to standardized recipes and operational procedures. The model emphasizes quick-service throughput with limited seating, comparable to fast-casual concepts like Cava or Sweetgreen.
Item 7 · what it costs
The Vitals
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
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 16 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).
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
Pre-revenue stage franchisor with only 2 units, no financial disclosure, and going concern issues presents acute risk of franchisor failure and franchisee capital loss.
Score breakdown · what drove the 75 / 100 rating
- 01MINOROnly 2 units in system with unknown growth trajectory suggests nascent or stalled expansion
- 02MINORNo Item 19 (average revenue/net income) disclosure prevents ROI validation and raises transparency concerns
- 03HIGHGoing concern status = False indicates potential financial instability at franchisor level
- 04MINORHigh initial investment ($351.5K-$555.5K) relative to system size creates liquidity risk if franchise fails
- 05MEDExtremely limited franchisee reference pool (only 2 units) makes due diligence validation nearly impossible
- 06MINOR5% royalty on gross revenue (not net) means fees paid even during unprofitable periods
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
Item 11
Training & Operations
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
16 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Baba Saj · FDD (2025) PDF