Black Bear Diner Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Black Bear Diner is a family-dining franchise serving big-portion American comfort food, breakfast, burgers, and homestyle dinners, in a bear-themed setting. Franchisees run full-service restaurants managing kitchen, service staff, and a gift shop.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Black Bear Diner franchise requires a total initial investment of $1.5M – $2.2M, including a $24K – $55K franchise fee and an ongoing 4.5% royalty[2]. Per the 2026 FDD, average unit revenue was $2.8M[2]. FranchiseVerdict grade: A (Strongest tier), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified · figures per the 2026 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $1.5M – $2.2M
- 36th pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $2.8M
- 12th pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- 4.5%
- 6th pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 169
- 34th pct Service Resta…
- SBA charge-off
- N/A
Quick verdict · Full-Service Restaurants · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Full-Service Restaurants avg · No shading = within ±10% · Red = unfavorable by >10% · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
Bottom line
- COSTTotal investment $1.5M – $2.2M including a $55K franchise fee, 4.5% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSAverage unit revenue of $2.8M/year (median $2.7M).
- RISKVerdict A (Strongest tier), verdict score 91/100 (higher is better).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- BBDI LLC
- Parent company
- BBD Opco LLC
- Ultimate parent
- BBD Holdco LLC
- Predecessor
- Black Bear Diners, Inc.
- Prior franchisor entity
- CEO title
- Chief Executive Officer
- Anita K. Adams
- Incorporated in
- California
- HQ
- 280 Hemsted Drive, Suite 200, Redding, California 96002
- Auditor
- Crowe LLP
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $24.6M
- 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
- CEO
- Anita K. Adams
- Headquarters
- California
- Founded
- 1995
- FDD year
- 2026
- States available
- 15
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 60% above the typical full-service restaurants franchise.
Source: FDD 2026 · Items 5–7
Full Item 7 breakdown20 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.
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $1.5M – $2.2M
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $100K – $150K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $24K – $55K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Royalty
- 4.5%
- typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 1.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 5.5%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 4.5% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 1.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $1K |
| 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.
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales run 59% above the full-service restaurants norm.
Source: FDD 2026 · Item 19
Single-unit · not modelled
Returns at a glance
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit, and the operating costs that turn one into the other are in no filing. We publish no modelled return for Black Bear Diner until someone supplies them — yours, in the models below.
—
Not modelled yet
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
Total invested capital · disclosed
$2.0M
Item 7 initial investment plus working capital, as filed — the one figure here that needs no assumption.
ROI & LBO modelsSingle-unit · 25-unit portfolio · editable
What one unit earns on your invested capital
Model A · Single-Unit Return
Computes unlevered return on invested capital (ROIC) for a single franchise unit, read against the 30–60% reference band · Yale SOM, Post-MBA Path Exhibit 2 (2023). Below that band a passive index fund likely outperforms; above it the franchisor has pricing power you're subsidizing.
Note: Item 19 revenue is what the franchisor discloses, and it is the top line only — gross sales are not profit. No FDD discloses the operating costs that turn one into the other, so those fields start empty and nothing is modelled until you supply them from your own lease quote, labor market and build-out budget.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one Black Bear Diner unit return on the cash you put in?
Illustrative category typicals — not sourced to any filing, survey or sample. Replace them with figures from franchisee validation calls before you rely on the output.
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Your modelled return on total invested capital, before any debt financing.
—
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
What 25 units return when you use SBA financing
Model B · Return on Equity: Debt-Financed Acquisition
Models a 25-unit portfolio acquisition financed with an SBA 7(a) loan. Shows equity IRR (your return on cash invested), DSCR (how safely the cash flow covers debt service), and the capital stack (SBA + seller + equity breakdown).
This is the “search fund” or “entrepreneurship through acquisition” scenario: you buy an existing multi-unit operator, use leverage to amplify returns, and either operate or hire management. The 25-unit size is the typical minimum for an SBA-backed franchise portfolio acquisition to pencil as a full-time income.
What “return on equity” means here: if you put in $500K of your own cash and the business generates enough EBITDA to pay down debt and grow, your equity IRR is the annual return on that $500K, including the value created when you eventually sell. Target IRR for a search fund is typically 25–35%.
Not modelled yet
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
A 25-unit return is built on a per-unit EBITDA. Fill in the operating costs in Model A above and this model runs on that figure, or take the whole scenario to the full ROI workbench, where the portfolio and LBO models accept your own per-unit economics directly.
These models are for research and scenario planning only. Not investment advice. Actual results depend on your specific location, management, and market conditions. Consult a franchise attorney and accountant before signing any franchise agreement.
Item 19 · Source: 2026 FDD
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $2.8M
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $2.7M
Gross sales are revenue before expenses — not profit. Actual owner earnings depend on rent, labor, royalties, marketing fees, and debt service.
- Item 19 type
- historical gross sales
- Sample size
- 88 outlets
- vs category median 18 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $1.5M→$4.9M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Quartile band
- $2.0M→$3.7M
- Bottom 25% → top 25%
- Reporting year
- 2025
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2026
- Disclosed in the 2026 filing, covering 2025
- Transparency
- 10 / 10
- vs category median 3 / 10 · above
Compared against 802 Full-Service Restaurants brands
Operator outlook
What the numbers say
Data-driven interpretation of this brand's financial disclosures, fee structure, and system trajectory.
Unit economics
Average unit generates $2.8M/year in gross sales. Revenue-to-investment ratio: 1.5x.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 5.5% — below the Full-Service Restaurants average of 7.6%.
Disclosure
Transparency score 10/10 — this franchisor discloses detailed breakdowns (quartiles, segments, or cohort data). Buyers can model unit economics with higher confidence.
Operator retention
System expanding at 10.2% CAGR over 3 years across 169 units — operators are staying and new ones are joining.
Source: FDD Item 19 financial performance representations and publicly filed FDD data. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Verify all figures with the franchisor and current franchisees before making any investment decision.
vs Full-Service Restaurants averages
How Black Bear Diner Compares
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2026 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 169
- Opened
- 7
- 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
- 72
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 57%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (3-yr)
- +10.2%
- Net unit change over 3 years
- 3-yr CAGR
- +10.2%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 7
- Closed (3yr)
- 2
- Terminated (3yr)
- 0
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 0
- Transfers (3yr)
- 3
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
- 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 · 10 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
- N/A
- no resolved loans yet — rate needs a terminal outcome
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- N/A
- 5-yr charge-off
- 0.0%
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 14
- Defaults
- 0
- Typical loan rate
- 7.8%
- avg rate to borrowers
- Franchised industry avg
- 13.2%
- n=4,117 loans
- Jobs supported
- 583
- 7.1 per loan
- Lender concentration
- 29%
- top lender's share
Borrower mix: 14% went to startups / new businesses, 86% to established operators
Franchise vs independent — in full-service restaurants, franchised businesses charge off at 13.2% vs 9.7% for independents — franchising is associated with 36% higher SBA default risk in this category.
Top lenders financing Black Bear Diner franchisees
Showing 3 of 14 lenders. The full breakdown — every lender, state distribution, interest rates & risk ratings — is in the SBA Lending Report below.
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.
What could kill this investment?
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA · FDD Items 3, 21
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 4, 8, 16, 21
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 is required to be disclosed in Item 3.
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: Yes
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 91 / 100 verdict
- 01MINORStagnant unit growth of only 1.1% YoY indicates mature/declining system despite 162 units
- 02MINORHigh capital requirement ($1.5M–$2.3M) with modest 23% net margin creates long payback period and capital risk
- 03MINOR4.5% royalty on $2.8M average revenue = ~$126k annual fee is material cost burden
- 04MINORMature casual dining segment facing secular headwinds from labor costs and consumer spending shifts
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 5.5% of sales (royalty + ad fund), before rent and labor.
Source: FDD 2026 · Items 11, 12, 17
FDD Items 12, 15, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 10 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 1 |
| Territory type | protected |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Territory radius | 3 mi |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Optional |
| 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 | 12 |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 1 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Redding, California |
| Jury trial waiver | No |
| Governing law | California |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
No litigation is required to be disclosed in Item 3.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 22 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 320 hrs
- Training location
- One or more company-owned Black Bear Diner restaurants designated by franchisor
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Time to open
- 6 mo
- From signing to launch
- Site selection
- franchisee
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- Ctuit
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Ctuit
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
75 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Black Bear Diner · FDD (2026) 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 – $2.2M, 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 Item 19 in the Black Bear Diner FDD?
The FDD section where a franchisor may disclose financial performance of its outlets. Disclosure is optional and formats vary; figures are typically gross sales, which is revenue before expenses, not profit. FranchiseVerdict extracts these figures directly from the Black Bear Diner FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is Black Bear Diner's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Black Bear Diner (fewer than 10 loans on file). Charge-off rates are one way to gauge franchise risk, but not all franchise loans go through the SBA program. We recommend reviewing turnover and closure data in the FDD and speaking with current franchisees.
How many Black Bear Diner franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Black Bear Diner has 169 total units in the United States, including 97 franchised units and 72 company-owned units. 7 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 verdict score of 91 out of 100 (higher is better). The grade is a deterministic score built from six weighted dimensions — financial health, unit economics, unit growth, scale, legal, and transparency — then calibrated against SBA loan charge-off rates and FDD age. Transparency is one of the six, so a filing that discloses less scores lower on that dimension than one that discloses more. 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.
For franchisors
Are you the franchisor?
If you represent Black Bear Diner, you can request corrections or provide updated information.
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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.