BuonaFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Buona franchise requires a total initial investment of $1.3M – $6.3M, including a $40K franchise fee and an ongoing 4.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $3.3M[2]. Verdict grade: A. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 18, 2026 · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $1.3M – $6.3M
- 45th pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $3.3M
- 26th pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- 4.0%
- 3rd pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 31
- 32nd pct Service Resta…
- SBA default
- N/A
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
19% cash-on-cash return (based on Gross Margin). Within the 15-30% range most franchise investors consider acceptable.
Bottom line
- Total investment $1.3M – $6.3M including a $40K franchise fee, 4.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $3.3M/year (median $3.4M), with an estimated 19% cash-on-cash return (based on Gross Margin). Note: this is gross profit, not take-home income.
- Verdict A (Top Quintile) with a risk score of 46/100.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
- Legal entity
- Chicago’s Original Italian Beef Franchising LLC
- CEO title
- Co-Manager
- Carlo Buonavolanto
- CEO experience
- 39 yrs
- Years in role or industry
- Founder active
- Yes
- Original founder still leading the business
- Incorporated in
- IL
- HQ
- 7075 Veterans Blvd., Burr Ridge, IL 60527
- Auditor
- R.J. Augustine & Associates, Ltd.
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $7K
- vs $13K prior year
Overview
About
Buona franchisees operate Italian beef sandwich shops and casual dining concepts, managing daily food preparation, customer service, inventory, and staffing. Operations typically involve counter-service or small dining room models focused on signature sandwiches and Italian cuisine.
- CEO
- Carlo Buonavolanto
- Headquarters
- IL
- Founded
- 2021
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 3
FDD Item 7 · 2025 filing
Initial investment breakdown
| Cost component | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $40K | $40K |
| Working capital (3–6 mo) | $35K | $100K |
| Equipment, build-out, other | $1.2M | $6.2M |
| Total initial investment | $1.3M | $6.3M |
Source: Buona 2025 FDD, Items 5 and 7[2]. “Equipment, build-out, other” is computed as total minus disclosed line items above.
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
$417K
12.5% margin
Unlevered ROIC
11%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
9.3 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $1.3M – $6.3M
- Near category avg vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $35K – $100K
- Better than avg vs category
- Franchise fee
- $40K – $40K
- Better than avg vs category
- Royalty
- 4.0%
- Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 1.5%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 5.5%
- vs 9–13% typical
- Payback period
- 5.3 yrs
- From FDD / Item 19
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 4.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 1.5% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $100 |
| Training fee | $20K |
| Transfer fee | $30K |
| Renewal fee | $8K |
| 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
- $3.3M
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $3.4M
- Avg gross margin
- $710K
- Reported as Gross Margin in FDD Item 19
- Cash-on-cash
- 18.8%
- Based on Gross Margin / investment midpoint
- Item 19 type
- Historical results of 19 affiliate-owned Buona restaurants
- Sample size
- 19 units
- vs category median 13
- Range (low → high)
- $2.6M→$3.8M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Transparency
- 10 / 5
- vs category median 4 / 5 · above
Compared against 1264 Full-Service Restaurants brands
Revenue is only 0.9x the investment. This means each unit may take 5+ years to recoup the initial outlay at typical margins.
vs Full-Service Restaurants averages
How Buona Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 31
- Opened
- 0
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 0
- Terminated
- 0
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 0
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 0.0%
- Company-owned
- 31
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 0%
- vs corporate-owned
- Multi-unit owners
- 25.0%
3-year detail · Item 20
- Transfers (3yr)
- 0
- Projected new
- 6
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
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 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.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
No SBA loan data available for this brand.
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Undisclosed financial performance claims, franchisor viability concerns, and opaque unit economics create material investment uncertainty despite no active litigation.
Litigation (Item 3)
No litigation is required to be disclosed
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · R.J. Augustine & Associates, Ltd.
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 46 / 100 rating
- 01MEDNo Item 19 (Financial Performance Representations) disclosed — cannot verify if $551k avg net income is achievable or representative
- 02HIGHGoing Concern = False indicates parent company financial instability or uncertainty about franchisor's viability
- 03MINORWide investment range ($1.3M–$6.3M) with no clarity on what drives 5x cost variance or unit profitability differences
- 04MINORUnknown unit growth trajectory — 31 units is small; no disclosure of growth rate, closures, or turnover
- 05MINORModest 16.5% net margin (551k/3.3M revenue) leaves little buffer for underperformance or economic downturn
- 06MED4% royalty + operating costs may compress margins further if sales decline or foot traffic drops
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 | 5 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 3 |
| Territory type | Radius/Population |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Territory radius | 0.5 mi |
| Territory population | 60,000 |
| 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 | 10 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 5 days |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Chicago, Illinois |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Illinois |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
No litigation is required to be disclosed
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 40 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 378 hrs
- Training location
- On-site and off-site
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Time to open
- 9 mo
- From signing to launch
- POS system
- Brinks POS system
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Brinks POS system
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
4 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Buona · FDD (2025) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Buona franchise?
The total investment to open a Buona franchise ranges from $1.3M – $6.3M, with an initial franchise fee of $40K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Buona franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Buona FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $3.3M. The median is $3.4M. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Buona's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Buona (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 Buona franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Buona has 31 total units in the United States, including 0 franchised units and 31 company-owned units.
Is Buona a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Buona as a A-grade franchise with a risk score of 46 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.