Bobby Chez Crabcakes
Bottom line
- Total investment $249K – $498K including a $40K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $990K/year (median $1.0M).
- Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 67/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 2 loans (below the industry average).
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 Bobby Chez Crabcakes unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
40%
In Yale's "attractive" band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Bobby Chez Crabcakes units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$1.8M
on $8.9M purchase
Total debt
$7.1M
SBA $4.5M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Franchisees operate casual seafood restaurants specializing in crab cakes, likely managing daily food prep, kitchen operations, front-of-house service, inventory management, and local marketing. The business model is location-dependent food service with moderate operational complexity and commodity cost exposure.
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 12 · 1 state 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.
1
states with franchisees (per FDD Item 12)
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Tiny, financially distressed franchisor with non-transparent unit economics and going concern warnings makes this a high-risk bet on an unproven business model.
Score breakdown · what drove the 67 / 100 rating
- 01HIGHGoing Concern status is FALSE — indicates franchisor financial distress or operational instability
- 02MEDNet Income not disclosed in FDD Item 19 — impossible to assess actual profitability; average revenue of $990k means little without expense breakdown
- 03MEDOnly 4 units system-wide — extremely small franchise with no disclosed growth trajectory; high risk of system collapse
- 04MINORHigh initial investment ($249k-$498k) relative to unit count suggests franchisor may be financing growth through franchisees rather than organic expansion
- 05MINOR5% weekly royalty on gross sales (not net) — franchisees pay royalties even during unprofitable weeks, compounding cash flow risk
- 06HIGHNo litigation disclosed but Going Concern status suggests underlying financial/operational problems not yet litigated
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
1 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Bobby Chez Crabcakes · FDD (2022) PDF