FranchiseVerdict
Bellacino’s Pizza & Grinders logo
FV-00274·MODERATEExcellent81

Bellacino’s Pizza & Grinders

Food & Beverage - Full ServiceFranchising since 1997Website
Investment
$311K – $477K
37th pct Full Service
Avg revenue
57th pct Full Service
Royalty
5.0%
15th pct Full Service
Units
46
71st pct Full Service
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $311K – $477K including a $35K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 62/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 1 loans (below the industry average).
  • 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

Legal entity
BELLACINO'S®, INC.
Incorporated in
Michigan
HQ
10096 Shaver Road, Portage, MI 49024
Auditor
Blystone & Bailey, CPAs, PC
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$1.6M
vs $1.6M 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 Bellacino’s Pizza & Grinders 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: $311K–$477K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $5K–$6K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

32%

In Yale's "attractive" band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$128K
EBITDA margin
17.0%
Total invested
$399K
Payback
38 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

Franchisees operate quick-service pizza and grinders shops, managing kitchen operations, food prep, inventory, and counter service. Day-to-day involves staffing coordination, order fulfillment, food cost management, and local marketing to drive walk-in and delivery revenue within a protected territory.

CEO
DAN WARNAAR
Founded
1993
FDD year
2025
States available
12

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$311K – $477K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$5K – $6K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$35K
Royalty
5.0%
Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
1.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
6.0%
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
46
Opened
1
Last reporting year
Closed
0
Turnover rate
0.0%
Company-owned
0
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
100%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
+2.2%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
-2.1%
Compounded over last 3 years
2023
46+1
Franchised units
2024
45
Franchised units
2025
47
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 11 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 · 11 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
1
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

62
Risk · 0-100
MODERATE62 / 100

Bellacino's presents moderate-to-cautious risk: minimal unit growth, non-transparent financial performance, and a high investment ceiling with unvalidated profit potential in a mature pizza/grinders category.

Score breakdown · what drove the 62 / 100 rating

  1. 01MEDNo Item 19 (Average Unit Volume) disclosed — impossible to assess ROI or validate 5% royalty burden
  2. 02MINORStagnant unit growth of only 2.2% YoY suggests mature/declining system with low franchisee recruitment success
  3. 03MEDHigh initial investment ($311k–$477k) with no disclosed average net income creates return visibility gap
  4. 04MINORSmall unit base of 46 locations limits economies of scale for food supply, marketing, and operational support
  5. 05MINOR10-year term is long commitment with minimal growth trajectory and no profitability benchmarks provided

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

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

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
specific territory assigned
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
10 years
Renewal term
10 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
No
Non-compete
2 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Required
Governing law
Michigan

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
32 hrs
On-the-job training
125 hrs
POS system
Bellacino’s approved cloud-based POS system
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

30 numbers

Locked
(313) 397-••••
MI
(931) 528-••••
TN
(704) 341-••••
NC

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Bellacino’s Pizza & Grinders · FDD (2025) PDF

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