Big Whiskey’s American Restaurant & Bar
Bottom line
- Total investment $1.3M – $4.0M including a $50K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $2.7M/year. Estimated payback in 6.3 years.
- Rated STRONG with a risk score of 44/100.
- System growing at 111.1% CAGR over 3 years with 28 total units — strong expansion trajectory.
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 Big Whiskey’s American Restaurant & Bar unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
17%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Big Whiskey’s American Restaurant & Bar units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
26.5%
3.24× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
3.11×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$14.0M
on $27.2M purchase
Total debt
$13.2M
SBA $5.0M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Franchisees operate casual American restaurants featuring whiskey-focused bar programs, full-service dining, and entertainment (live music/events). Day-to-day operations include managing 50–150+ staff, inventory, licensing compliance, food/beverage cost control, event marketing, and local brand presence in protected territories.
Item 7 · what it costs
The Vitals
Item 19
Financial Performance
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 4 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
Rapidly expanding casual dining franchise with undisclosed unit-level financials, high capital requirements, and a small but accelerating unit base creates moderate-to-high execution risk.
Score breakdown · what drove the 44 / 100 rating
- 01MEDNo Item 19 financial performance representation disclosed — cannot independently verify the $2.7M average revenue claim across all 28 units
- 02MINORExplosive 46.2% YoY unit growth is unsustainable and may indicate aggressive recruitment masking underlying unit economics or franchisee struggles
- 03MINORHigh capital requirement ($1.27M–$4M) combined with 5% royalty creates significant fixed cost burden; breakeven analysis unclear
- 04MEDOnly 28 units system-wide suggests limited track record and vulnerability to market downturns or leadership changes
- 05MINORFranchise fee ($50K) is low relative to investment size, which may reflect weak brand equity or underpricing to drive recruitment
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
6 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Big Whiskey’s American Restaurant & Bar · FDD (2025) PDF