Black Bear DinerFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Black Bear Diner franchise requires a total initial investment of $1.5M – $2.3M, including a $55K franchise fee and an ongoing 4.5% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $2.8M[2]. SBA 7(a) loans show a 0.0% charge-off rate across 29 loans[1]. Verdict grade: A. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 18, 2026 · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $1.5M – $2.3M
- 46th pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $2.8M
- 25th pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- 4.5%
- 6th pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 162
- 44th pct Service Resta…
- SBA default
- 0.0%
- system-wide median varies by category
Quick verdict · Full-Service Restaurants · color = vs category peers
Green = >15% above Full-Service Restaurants avg · No shading = within ±15% · Red = >15% below avg · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
Only 0.0% of 29 SBA loans charged off, well below the 16% franchise average.
Franchised units fell from 92 to 88 over 3 years. Investigate why operators are leaving.
19% cash-on-cash return (based on EBITDA). Within the 15-30% range most franchise investors consider acceptable.
Bottom line
- Total investment $1.5M – $2.3M including a $55K franchise fee, 4.5% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $2.8M/year (median $2.7M), with an estimated 19% cash-on-cash return (based on EBITDA).
- Verdict A (Top Quintile) with a risk score of 12/100. SBA loan charge-off rate of 0.0% across 29 loans (well below the franchise average, based on all SBA 7(a) franchise lending, 2010–2024).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
- Legal entity
- BBDI LLC
- Parent company
- BBD Opco LLC
- Ultimate parent
- BBD Holdco LLC
- Predecessor
- for purposes of
- Prior franchisor entity
- Incorporated in
- CA
- HQ
- 280 Hemsted Drive, Suite 200, Redding, California 96002
- Auditor
- Crowe LLP
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $23.0M
- vs $23.6M prior year
Affiliated brands
- required to be disclosed in this disclosure document is Bear Tracks Holdings
Other brands the franchisor or its parent operates (Item 1).
Overview
About
Black Bear Diner franchisees operate full-service casual dining establishments serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner to families and local communities. Day-to-day operations include managing kitchen and front-of-house staff, sourcing food inventory, maintaining diner-style hospitality standards, and driving customer traffic through local marketing and community engagement.
- CEO
- Anita K. Adams
- Headquarters
- CA
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 13
FDD Item 7 · 2025 filing · 20 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Franchise Fee | $24K | $55K | |
| Development Services Feenot refundable | $0 | $100K | |
| First Month's Rentnot refundable | $9K | $20K | |
| Security Deposits | $8K | $23K | |
| Leasehold Improvementsnot refundable | $635K | $989K | |
| Furniture, Fixtures & Equipmentnot refundable | $82K | $97K | |
| Kitchen Equipmentnot refundable | $450K | $487K | |
| Decor Packagenot refundable | $28K | $35K | |
| Carved Bear Packagenot refundable | $36K | $42K | |
| Initial Inventory - Food & Papernot refundable | $14K | $20K | |
| Initial Inventory - Gift Shop Productsnot refundable | $2K | $5K | |
| Insurancenot refundable | $7K | $20K | |
| Signagenot refundable | $25K | $34K | |
| Office Equipment and Suppliesnot refundable | $2K | $2K | |
| Computer Systemnot refundable | $45K | $85K | |
| Grand Opening Advertisingnot refundable | $6K | $12K | |
| Training Expensesnot refundable | $44K | $85K | |
| Licenses & Permitsnot refundable | $7K | $20K | |
| Professional Feesnot refundable | $20K | $65K | |
| Additional Funds - 3 monthsnot refundable | $100K | $150K | |
| Total initial investment | $1.5M | $2.3M |
Line items extracted from FDD Item 7. Ranges reflect the franchisor's stated low and high per line. Total is the sum of line-item lows / highs — actual costs may fall outside this range depending on market and build-out scope.
Single-unit · estimated
Returns at a glance
Indicative numbers using FDD Item 7 / Item 19 inputs and category-benchmarked cost ratios. Full single-unit, 25-unit portfolio, and LBO models (with every input editable to stress-test your own scenario) live on the financials page.
Store EBITDA · annual
$350K
12.5% margin
Unlevered ROIC
17%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
5.9 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $1.5M – $2.3M
- Near category avg vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $100K – $150K
- Near category avg vs category
- Franchise fee
- $24K – $55K
- Near category avg vs category
- Royalty
- 4.5%
- Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 1.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 5.5%
- vs 9–13% typical
- Payback period
- 5.4 yrs
- From FDD / Item 19
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 4.5% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 1.0% of gross sales |
| Transfer fee | $10K |
| Renewal fee | $5K |
| Inventory (initial) | $16K – $25K |
| Total fee load | 5.5% of rev |
A 5.5% total fee load is unusually lean. More of each revenue dollar stays with the franchisee.
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $2.8M
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $2.7M
- Avg ebitda
- $361K
- Reported as EBITDA in FDD Item 19
- Cash-on-cash
- 18.5%
- Based on EBITDA / investment midpoint
- Item 19 type
- ebitda
- Sample size
- 86 units
- vs category median 13 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $1.5M→$4.4M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Quartile band
- $2.0M→$3.7M
- Bottom 25% → top 25%
- Transparency tier
- full
- Categorical assessment of disclosure depth
- Reporting year
- 2024
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Transparency
- 10 / 5
- vs category median 4 / 5 · above
Compared against 1264 Full-Service Restaurants brands
vs Full-Service Restaurants averages
How Black Bear Diner Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 162
- Opened
- 3
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 2
- Terminated
- 0
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 0
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 1.2%
- Company-owned
- 70
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 57%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (yr3)
- +1.1%
- Net unit change last year
- 3-yr CAGR
- +4.5%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 2
- Closed (3yr)
- 2
- Transfers (3yr)
- 2
- Projected new
- 11
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
- Transfer rate
- 1.2%
- Owners selling to other franchisees
- Ceased ops
- 1.2%
- Units that stopped operating
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 18 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 contact records (FDD Item 20). Shows states with at least one current operator on file. Full state registration data (Item 12) will appear on a future FDD refresh.
Available to sell in · Item 12
- California
- Illinois
- Indiana
- New York
States where the franchisor is registered to sell new franchises (FDD registration filings).
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
- Total loans
- 29
- Loan volume
- $32.9M
- Median loan
- $1.2M
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- 0.0%
- rates vary by category · see methodology
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- 100.0%
- 5-yr charge-off
- 0.0%
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 14
- Defaults
- 0
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Premium insight
SBA Lending Report
Deep-dive into Black Bear Diner's SBA lending history: lender network, geographic footprint, interest rates, and more.
SBA Lending Report
- Principal loss rate and NAICS industry benchmark
- 6 lenders with concentration factor
- Per-state charge-off rates across 4 states
- Startup risk premium and job creation velocity
- 4-year lending trend
Instant access. No subscription.
With a 0.0% charge-off rate across 29 loans, banks have historically viewed this brand favorably for lending.
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Black Bear Diner presents moderate-to-cautious risk: stagnant unit growth, lack of financial disclosure documentation, and high capital requirements in a challenged dining category warrant careful validation before investment.
Litigation (Item 3)
No litigation required to be disclosed
Largest disclosed settlement: $30,000
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Crowe LLP
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: Yes
- Kickbacks from required suppliers: No
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 12 / 100 rating
- 01MINORStagnant unit growth of only 1.1% YoY indicates mature/declining system despite 162 units
- 02HIGHNo Item 19 financial performance representation (Going Concern: False) limits ability to verify $360k avg net income claim
- 03MINORHigh capital requirement ($1.5M–$2.3M) with modest 23% net margin creates long payback period and capital risk
- 04MINOR4.5% royalty on $2.8M average revenue = ~$126k annual fee is material cost burden
- 05MINORMature casual dining segment facing secular headwinds from labor costs and consumer spending shifts
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 10 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 1 |
| Territory type | Radius |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Territory radius | 3 mi |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Required |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 25 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| RoFR response window | 30 days |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Termination groundsℹ | 1 |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 2 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Redding, California |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | California |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
No litigation required to be disclosed
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 30 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 320 hrs
- Training location
- On-site and off-site
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Site selection
- joint
- Franchisor financing
- Offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- Toast POS or Aloha POS
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Toast POS or Aloha POS
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
84 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Black Bear Diner · FDD (2025) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Black Bear Diner franchise?
The total investment to open a Black Bear Diner franchise ranges from $1.5M – $2.3M, with an initial franchise fee of $55K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Black Bear Diner franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Black Bear Diner FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $2.8M. The median is $2.7M. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Black Bear Diner's franchise failure rate?
Based on SBA 7(a) loan data, Black Bear Diner has a charge-off rate of 0.0% across 29 loans, meaning 0.0% of franchise loans were charged off. Charge-off rates are one proxy for franchise risk, though they do not capture all closures. This data comes from FOIA-sourced SBA lending records.
How many Black Bear Diner franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Black Bear Diner has 162 total units in the United States, including 92 franchised units and 70 company-owned units. 3 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Black Bear Diner a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Black Bear Diner as a A-grade franchise with a risk score of 12 out of 100, based on our analysis of investment costs, revenue data, SBA loan performance, and growth trends. Our rating is based solely on publicly available FDD and government data; we recommend speaking with current franchisees before making any investment decision. This is not investment advice.
Data sourced from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) FOIA records. Not financial advice.
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Data extracted from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) loan disclosures (FOIA). This information is provided for research purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Verify all figures with the franchisor's current Franchise Disclosure Document before making any investment decision.