Captain D'sFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Captain D's franchise requires a total initial investment of $899K – $1.4M, including a $35K franchise fee and an ongoing 4.5% royalty[2]. Per the 2024 FDD, average unit revenue was $1.1M[2]. SBA 7(a) loans show a 18.2% charge-off rate across 42 loans[1]. Verdict grade: B. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 18, 2026 · figures per the 2024 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $899K – $1.4M
- 42nd pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $1.1M
- 11th pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- 4.5%
- 6th pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 540
- 48th pct Service Resta…
- SBA default
- 18.2%
- 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
Franchising since 2000. Systems this mature have refined operations and brand recognition.
Franchised units fell from 247 to 228 over 3 years. Investigate why operators are leaving.
The franchisor's auditor raised doubt about continued operations. This is a serious risk signal.
21% cash-on-cash return (based on Restaurant-Level Profit). Within the 15-30% range most franchise investors consider acceptable.
Bottom line
- Total investment $899K – $1.4M including a $35K franchise fee, 4.5% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $1.1M/year (median $1.0M), with an estimated 21% cash-on-cash return (based on Restaurant-Level Profit).
- Verdict B (Above Average) with a risk score of 55/100. SBA loan charge-off rate of 18.2% across 42 loans (above the 16% franchise average, based on all SBA 7(a) franchise lending, 2010–2024).
- Auditor disclosed a going-concern note, which flagged doubt about the franchisor's ability to continue operations. Verify against the latest FDD.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
- Legal entity
- Captain D’s, LLC
- Parent company
- Captain D’s Intermediate Holding Corp.
- Ultimate parent
- Centre Capital Investors VII
- Incorporated in
- DE
- HQ
- 624 Grassmere Park Drive, Suite 30, Nashville, Tennessee 37211
- Auditor
- Grant Thornton LLP
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $7.2M
- vs $11.8M prior year
- ⚠ Going-concern note
- Disclosed in FDD 2024
- Status as of 2024; may have been resolved in a later filing we don't yet have.
Affiliated brands
- of Centre Management Partners
Other brands the franchisor or its parent operates (Item 1).
Overview
About
Captain D's franchisees operate sit-down/carryout seafood casual dining restaurants, managing daily operations including food preparation, inventory of fresh/frozen seafood proteins, crew supervision, and customer service. Franchisees handle P&L responsibility across 40-60 employees, navigating high food costs, labor turnover, and seasonal demand fluctuations typical of regional seafood concepts.
- CEO
- Philip M. Greifeld
- Headquarters
- TN
- Founded
- 2000
- FDD year
- 2024
- States available
- 22
FDD Item 7 · 2024 filing · 10 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Franchise Feenot refundable | $35K | $35K | |
| Real Estate | — | — | |
| Building and Leasehold Improvements | $550K | $815K | |
| Training Expenses | $25K | $46K | |
| Equipment | $202K | $292K | |
| Computer Systems | $25K | $34K | |
| Inventory | $6K | $8K | |
| Miscellaneous Opening Expenses | $5K | $9K | |
| Insurance | $11K | $25K | |
| Additional Funds - 3 Months | $40K | $90K | |
| Total initial investment | $899K | $1.4M |
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
$136K
12.5% margin
Unlevered ROIC
11%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
8.8 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $899K – $1.4M
- Near category avg vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $40K – $90K
- Better than avg vs category
- Franchise fee
- $18K – $35K
- Better than 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
- 4.8 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 |
| Technology fee | $3K |
| Transfer fee | $9K |
| Renewal fee | $9K |
| Inventory (initial) | $6K – $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
- $1.1M
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $1.0M
- Avg restaurant-level profit
- $232K
- Reported as Restaurant-Level Profit in FDD Item 19
- Cash-on-cash
- 20.6%
- Based on Restaurant-Level Profit / investment midpoint
- Item 19 type
- gross_sales
- Sample size
- 515 units
- vs category median 13 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $277K→$2.8M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Quartile band
- $707K→$1.6M
- Bottom 25% → top 25%
- Transparency tier
- full
- Categorical assessment of disclosure depth
- Transparency
- 10 / 5
- vs category median 4 / 5 · above
Compared against 1264 Full-Service Restaurants brands
Revenue is only 1.0x the investment. This means each unit may take 5+ years to recoup the initial outlay at typical margins.
vs Full-Service Restaurants averages
How Captain D's Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 540
- Opened
- 10
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 5
- Turnover rate
- 0.9%
- Company-owned
- 312
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 42%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (yr3)
- +1.8%
- Net unit change last year
- 3-yr CAGR
- -7.7%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 4
- Closed (3yr)
- 1
- Terminated (3yr)
- 2
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 0
- Transfers (3yr)
- 1
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 2
- Franchisor bought back
- Termination rate
- 0.4%
- Franchisor-initiated terminations
- Ceased ops
- 0.2%
- Units that stopped operating
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 13 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
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Maryland
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- New York
- North Dakota
- Rhode Island
- South Dakota
- Virginia
- Wisconsin
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
- 42
- Loan volume
- $30.0M
- Median loan
- $583K
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- 18.2%
- 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)
- 81.8%
- 5-yr charge-off
- 0.0%
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 26
- Defaults
- 6
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Premium insight
SBA Lending Report
Deep-dive into Captain D's's SBA lending history: lender network, geographic footprint, interest rates, and more.
SBA Lending Report
- Principal loss rate and NAICS industry benchmark
- 10 lenders with concentration factor
- Per-state charge-off rates across 15 states
- Startup risk premium and job creation velocity
- 25-year lending trend
- SBA 504 real estate/equipment data
Instant access. No subscription.
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Captain D's presents moderate-to-caution risk: stagnant unit growth, capital-intensive model with modest returns, and lack of transparent financial disclosure in a structurally challenged seafood casual dining category.
Litigation (Item 3)
0 case reference(s): 0 pending, 0 settled.
Largest disclosed settlement: $35,000
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Grant Thornton LLP⚠ Going-concern note flagged
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: No
- Must buy proprietary products: No
- Restricted to system-approved products: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 55 / 100 rating
- 01MINORDeclining unit growth at 1.8% YoY suggests system maturation or contraction in a casual dining segment facing headwinds
- 02MINORHigh initial investment ($898K-$1.35M) coupled with modest net income ($232K avg) yields 3-4 year payback period with execution risk
- 03MINOR21.4% net margin is healthy but below QSR industry standards; vulnerable to labor/commodity inflation in seafood-heavy menu
- 04MEDNo Item 19 (financial performance representation) disclosed—cannot verify if $1.08M average revenue and $232K net income are system-wide or cherry-picked
- 05MED20-year term with 4.5% royalty locks franchisee into aging casual dining format with limited flexibility to pivot
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 | 20 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 20 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 1 |
| Territory type | Radius |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Territory population | 8,000 |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Granted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Required |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 3 years |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 4 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Tennessee |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
0 case reference(s): 0 pending, 0 settled.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 21 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 219 hrs
- Training location
- On-site and off-site
- Site selection
- franchisor
- POS system
- xpient Solutions, LLC
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: xpient Solutions, LLC
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
99 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Captain D's · FDD (2024) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Captain D's franchise?
The total investment to open a Captain D's franchise ranges from $899K – $1.4M, with an initial franchise fee of $35K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Captain D's franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Captain D's FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $1.1M. The median is $1.0M. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Captain D's's franchise failure rate?
Based on SBA 7(a) loan data, Captain D's has a charge-off rate of 18.2% across 42 loans, meaning 18.2% 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 Captain D's franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Captain D's has 540 total units in the United States, including 247 franchised units and 312 company-owned units. 10 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Captain D's a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Captain D's as a B-grade franchise with a risk score of 55 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.