FranchiseVerdict
Bento Sushi logo
FV-00280·MODERATEStandard76

Bento Sushi

OtherFranchising since 2016Website
Investment
$20K – $146K
5th pct Other
Avg revenue
50th pct Other
Royalty
10.0%
59th pct Other
Units
64
69th pct Other
SBA default

Bottom line

  • Total investment $20K – $146K including a $100K franchise fee, 10.0% ongoing royalty.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 57/100.
  • Auditor disclosed a going-concern note — flagged doubt about the franchisor's ability to continue operations. Verify against the latest FDD.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Bento Sushi Franchise, Inc.
Parent company
Bento Nouveau Inc.
Incorporated in
Delaware
HQ
2136 S. Peoria St., Chicago, IL 60608
Auditor
BDO Canada LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$3.5M
vs $2.3M prior year
⚠ Going-concern note
Disclosed in FDD 2025
Auditor flagged doubt about continued operations. Verify against the latest FDD before deciding.

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 Bento 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: $20K–$146K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $5K–$15K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

89%

Above typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$83K
EBITDA margin
11.0%
Total invested
$93K
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

Franchisees operate quick-service sushi restaurants, managing food preparation, inventory, customer service, and delivery/dine-in operations. Daily duties include staff management, quality control of fresh ingredients, order fulfillment, and point-of-sale operations while paying 10% royalties on gross sales.

CEO
David S. Jones
Founded
2016
FDD year
2025
States available
23

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$20K – $146K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$5K – $15K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$100K
Royalty
10.0%
Percentage of Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
2.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
12.0%
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
64
Opened
10
Last reporting year
Closed
8
Turnover rate
12.5%
Company-owned
1
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
98%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
+5.0%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
-33.0%
Compounded over last 3 years
2023
63+3
Franchised units
2024
60
Franchised units
2025
94
Franchised units

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

Item 12 · 23 states reported

The Territory Map

FDD Item 12 reports the state count, but the specific list isn't in our current data. The map will appear once we re-extract from the FDD or enough franchisee contacts are available.

23

states with franchisees (per FDD Item 12)

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

57
Risk · 0-100
MODERATE57 / 100

Bento Sushi presents meaningful investment risk due to lack of financial transparency, unprotected territory, and slow unit growth, making ROI validation difficult before committing a six-figure franchise fee.

Score breakdown · what drove the 57 / 100 rating

  1. 01MEDHigh franchise fee ($100,000) with no disclosed average revenue or net income to validate ROI
  2. 02MINORNo protected territory creates direct competition risk and cannibalization potential
  3. 03MINORSlow unit growth (5.0% YoY) suggests market saturation or franchisee satisfaction concerns
  4. 04MINORShort 3-year term creates renewal risk and limits franchisee long-term planning
  5. 05MEDWide investment range ($20,200–$145,550) indicates inconsistent unit economics or incomplete disclosure

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
3 years
Renewal term
3 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
2 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Optional
Governing law
Delaware

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
45 hrs
On-the-job training
120 hrs
POS system
Bento Operating Tablet
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

12 numbers

Locked
(904) 570-••••
AL
(202) 336-••••
AL
(646) 716-••••
AL

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Bento Sushi · FDD (2025) PDF

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