Captain D's Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Captain D's is a fast-casual seafood franchise known for hand-battered fried fish, grilled seafood, shrimp, and Southern-style sides. Franchisees run restaurants managing food prep, counter and drive-thru service, and staffing.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Captain D's franchise requires a total initial investment of $1.5M – $1.9M, including a $18K – $35K franchise fee and an ongoing 4.5% royalty[2]. Per the 2026 FDD, average unit revenue was $1.1M[2]. SBA 7(a) loans show a 18.2% charge-off rate across 42 loans[1]. FranchiseVerdict grade: B (Above average), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified · figures per the 2026 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $1.5M – $1.9M
- 97th pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $1.1M
- 17th pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- 4.5%
- 10th pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 518
- 90th pct Service Resta…
- SBA charge-off
- 18.2%
- % of SBA 7(a) loans not repaid · median varies by category
Quick verdict · Quick-Service Restaurants · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Quick-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 – $1.9M including a $35K franchise fee, 4.5% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSAverage unit revenue of $1.1M/year (median $1.0M), with an estimated 8% cash-on-cash return (based on Proforma Restaurant Contribution Before Occupancy (EBITDAR)).
- RISKVerdict B (Above average), verdict score 56/100 (higher is better). SBA loan charge-off rate of 18.2% across 42 loans (above the 16% franchise average, based on all SBA 7(a) franchise lending, 2010–2025).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- Captain D's, LLC
- Parent company
- Captain D's Intermediate Holding Corp.
- Ultimate parent
- Centre Capital Investors VII, L.P.
- CEO title
- Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer
- Philip M. Greifeld
- Incorporated in
- Delaware
- HQ
- 624 Grassmere Park Drive, Suite 30, Nashville, Tennessee 37210
- Auditor
- Grant Thornton LLP
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $11.4M
- vs $11.6M prior year
Affiliated brands
- of Centre Management Partners
Other brands the franchisor or its parent operates (Item 1).
Overview
About
- CEO
- Philip M. Greifeld
- Headquarters
- Tennessee
- Founded
- 2000
- FDD year
- 2026
- States available
- 23
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 152% above the typical quick-service restaurants franchise.
Source: FDD 2026 · Items 5–7
Full Item 7 breakdown10 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.
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $1.5M – $1.9M
- Bottom third — review vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $40K – $90K
- Bottom third — review vs category
- Franchise fee
- $18K – $35K
- Middle of category vs category
- Royalty
- 4.5%
- percentage · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 1.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 5.5%
- vs 9–13% typical
- Payback period
- 13.0 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 | $236 |
| 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.
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales run 10% below the quick-service restaurants norm.
Source: FDD 2026 · Item 19
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
$179K
16.5% margin
Unlevered ROIC
10%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
9.6 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
ROI & LBO modelsSingle-unit · 25-unit portfolio · editable
FDD-reported earnings vs. model
The FDD reports $232K as Proforma Restaurant Contribution Before Occupancy (EBITDAR). Our model estimates $179K SLEBITDA from the same revenue using category-average cost assumptions. These numbers differ because Proforma Restaurant Contribution Before Occupancy (EBITDAR) deducts different expense categories than our model.
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. The target band for an attractive franchise is 30–60% ROIC. Below that and a passive index fund likely outperforms; above that and the franchisor has pricing power you're subsidizing.
Note: Item 19 revenue is what the franchisor discloses. It's the top line only. Operating costs below are category estimates. Override them to match your real lease quote, labor market, and build-out budget.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one Captain D's unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Estimated return on your total franchise investment, before any debt financing.
10%
Below the 30–60% attractive-franchise band
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%.
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Captain D's units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
48.1%
7.12× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.91×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$2.2M
on $10.3M purchase
Total debt
$8.1M
SBA $5.0M + senior + seller note
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
- $1.1M
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $1.0M
- Avg proforma restaurant contribution before occupancy (ebitdar)
- $232K
- Reported as Proforma Restaurant Contribution Before Occupancy (EBITDAR) in FDD Item 19
- Cash-on-cash
- 7.7%
- Based on Proforma Restaurant Contribution Before Occupancy (EBITDAR) / investment midpoint
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
- Sample size
- 210
- vs category median 20 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $172K→$2.8M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Quartile band
- $698K→$1.5M
- Bottom 25% → top 25%
- Transparency tier
- full
- Categorical assessment of disclosure depth
- 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 4 / 10 · above
Compared against 782 Quick-Service Restaurants brands
Revenue is only 0.7x the investment. This means each unit may take 5+ years to recoup the initial outlay at typical margins.
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 $1.1M/year in gross sales. Revenue-to-investment ratio: 0.7x.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 5.5% — below the Quick-Service Restaurants average of 7.9%.
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 roughly stable (+0.9% 3-year CAGR) with 518 units.
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 Quick-Service Restaurants averages
How Captain D's Compares
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2026 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 518
- Opened
- 0
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 5
- 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
- 289
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 44%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (3-yr)
- +0.9%
- Net unit change over 3 years
- 3-yr CAGR
- +0.9%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 0
- Closed (3yr)
- 13
- Terminated (3yr)
- 0
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 0
- Transfers (3yr)
- 0
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 4
- 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 · 9 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
- Typical loan rate
- 6.8%
- avg rate to borrowers
- Franchised industry avg
- 10.8%
- brand above franchise avg ↑
- Jobs supported
- 1,361
- 4.5 per loan
- Lender concentration
- 10%
- top lender's share
Borrower mix: 64% went to startups / new businesses, 36% to established operators
Franchise vs independent — in limited-service restaurants, franchised businesses charge off at 10.8% vs 10.0% for independents — franchising is associated with 8% higher SBA default risk in this category.
Top lenders financing Captain D's franchisees
Showing 3 of 26 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 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.
What could kill this investment?
SBA loans charge off at 18.2% — 13% above the 16.0% national norm, i.e. higher lender-observed risk.
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA · FDD Items 3, 21
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 4, 8, 16, 21
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)
No litigation disclosed.
Largest disclosed settlement: $35,000
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Grant Thornton LLP
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
ⓘ These are the parent company's consolidated financials (the parent guarantees the franchisor), not this brand's standalone results — the figure reflects the whole corporate group, not this brand alone.
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 56 / 100 verdict
- 01MINORDeclining unit growth at 1.8% YoY suggests system maturation or contraction in a casual dining segment facing headwinds
- 02MINOR21.4% net margin is healthy but below QSR industry standards; vulnerable to labor/commodity inflation in seafood-heavy menu
- 03MED20-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
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 | 20 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 20 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 1 |
| Territory type | protected |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Territory radius | 2 mi |
| Territory population | 8,000 |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Granted |
| 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 | 7 days |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 4 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Tennessee |
| Jury trial waiver | No |
| Governing law | Tennessee |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
No litigation disclosed.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 21 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 219 hrs
- Training location
- Certified National Certified Training Restaurants (NCTR)
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Time to open
- 12 mo
- From signing to launch
- Site selection
- franchisor acceptance of proposed site under Development Agreement
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- Point-of-sale and Computer-based Training Systems
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Point-of-sale and Computer-based Training Systems
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
227 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Captain D's · FDD (2026) 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 $1.5M – $1.9M, 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 Item 19 in the Captain D's 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 Captain D's FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
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 518 total units in the United States, including 229 franchised units and 289 company-owned units.
Is Captain D's a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Captain D's as a B-grade franchise with a verdict score of 56 out of 100 (higher is better), 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.
For franchisors
Are you the franchisor?
If you represent Captain D's, you can request corrections or provide updated information.
Other Quick-Service Restaurants franchises
Compare similar franchise opportunities in the Quick-Service Restaurants category
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.