Carbone's PizzaFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Carbone's Pizza franchise requires a total initial investment of $329K – $909K, including a $25K franchise fee and an ongoing 4.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2026 FDD, average unit revenue was $583K[2]. Verdict grade: B. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 18, 2026 · figures per the 2026 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $329K – $909K
- 64th pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $583K
- 13th pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- 4.0%
- 3rd pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 33
- 56th pct Service Resta…
- SBA default
- 25.0%
- system-wide median varies by category
Quick verdict · Quick-Service Restaurants · color = vs category peers
Green = >15% above Quick-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 1977. Systems this mature have refined operations and brand recognition.
Bottom line
- Total investment $329K – $909K including a $25K franchise fee, 4.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $583K/year (median $520K).
- Verdict B (Above Average) with a risk score of 62/100.
- System contracting at -8.8% CAGR over 3 years. Investigate whether closures are franchisor-driven (consolidation) or franchisee-driven (economics).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
- Legal entity
- M & T Pizza Incorporated
- Predecessor
- and Certain Affiliates
- Prior franchisor entity
- Incorporated in
- MN
- HQ
- 680 East Seventh Street, St. Paul, MN 55106
- Auditor
- DNJ CONSULTING INC. dba DNJ & ASSOCIATES
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $2.2M
- Most recent fiscal year
Affiliated brands
- will occasionally sell products to our franchisees
Other brands the franchisor or its parent operates (Item 1).
Overview
About
Carbone's Pizza franchisees operate quick-service or casual dining pizza restaurants, managing daily operations including food preparation, staff scheduling, inventory, and customer service. Day-to-day responsibilities include managing kitchen and front-of-house teams, maintaining food quality standards, handling point-of-sale systems, and executing local marketing initiatives within their protected territory.
- CEO
- Thomas M. Carbone
- Headquarters
- MN
- Founded
- 1977
- FDD year
- 2026
- States available
- 3
FDD Item 7 · 2026 filing
Initial investment breakdown
| Cost component | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $25K | $25K |
| Working capital (3–6 mo) | $20K | $91K |
| Equipment, build-out, other | $284K | $793K |
| Total initial investment | $329K | $909K |
Source: Carbone's Pizza 2026 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
$99K
17.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
15%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
6.8 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $329K – $909K
- Near category avg vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $20K – $91K
- Near category avg vs category
- Franchise fee
- $25K – $25K
- Better than avg vs category
- Royalty
- 4.0%
- Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 1.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 5.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 4.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 1.0% of gross sales |
| Transfer fee | $5K |
| Renewal fee | $2K |
| Inventory (initial) | $10K – $20K |
| Total fee load | 5.0% of rev |
A 5.0% total fee load is unusually lean. More of each revenue dollar stays with the franchisee.
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $583K
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $520K
- Item 19 type
- gross_sales
- Sample size
- 31 units
- vs category median 28
- Range (low → high)
- $166K→$3.1M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Quartile band
- $263K→$1.2M
- Bottom 25% → top 25%
- Transparency tier
- full
- Categorical assessment of disclosure depth
- Transparency
- 4 / 5
- vs category median 4 / 5 · typical
Compared against 453 Quick-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 Quick-Service Restaurants averages
How Carbone's Pizza Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 33
- Opened
- 0
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 1
- Turnover rate
- 3.0%
- Company-owned
- 2
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 94%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (yr3)
- -3.1%
- Net unit change last year
- 3-yr CAGR
- -8.8%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Closed (3yr)
- 2
- Terminated (3yr)
- 0
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 0
- Transfers (3yr)
- 0
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
- Continuity rate
- 96.9%
- Units that stayed open
- Ceased ops
- 3.2%
- Units that stopped operating
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 3 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
- 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 loan disclosures. This brand has only 4 7(a) loans on file; statistical reliability is limited below 10 loans.
- Total loans
- 4
- Loan volume
- $984K
- Median loan
- $220K
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- 25.0%
- 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)
- 66.7%
- 5-yr charge-off
- N/A
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 4
- Defaults
- 1
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Premium insight
SBA Lending Report
Deep-dive into Carbone's Pizza's SBA lending history: lender network, geographic footprint, interest rates, and more.
SBA Lending Report
- Principal loss rate and NAICS industry benchmark
- 4 lenders with concentration factor
- Per-state charge-off rates across 2 states
- Startup risk premium and job creation velocity
- 3-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
Declining unit count, undisclosed profitability metrics, and ambiguous financial health create meaningful uncertainty about franchisee earnings potential and franchisor stability.
Litigation (Item 3)
0 case reference(s): 0 pending, 0 settled.
Largest disclosed settlement: $4
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · DNJ CONSULTING INC. dba DNJ & ASSOCIATES
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 62 / 100 rating
- 01MINORUnit count declining 3.1% YoY (33 units) signals system contraction and potential franchisee dissatisfaction
- 02MEDNet income not disclosed in Item 19 — cannot assess actual profitability or franchisee ROI; average revenue of $582,861 may not translate to viable earnings
- 03MINORTiered royalty structure (4%/3%/2%) incentivizes growth but upper tier achievers may be underserved; most franchisees likely paying 4% on revenue under $1M
- 04MINORInvestment range of $328,600–$909,250 is capital-intensive for pizza segment; break-even timeline and payback period unknown without net income data
- 05HIGHNo litigation disclosed but going concern status is False — suggests potential financial instability or past restructuring; raises questions about franchisor viability
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 | 10 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 1 |
| Territory type | Radius |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| 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 |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Termination groundsℹ | 1 |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 2 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Jury trial waiver | No |
| Governing law | Minnesota |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
0 case reference(s): 0 pending, 0 settled.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 15 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 173 hrs
- Training location
- On-site and at franchisor location
- Site selection
- franchisee
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
32 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Carbone's Pizza · FDD (2026) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Carbone's Pizza franchise?
The total investment to open a Carbone's Pizza franchise ranges from $329K – $909K, with an initial franchise fee of $25K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Carbone's Pizza franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Carbone's Pizza FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $583K. The median is $520K. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Carbone's Pizza's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Carbone's Pizza (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 Carbone's Pizza franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Carbone's Pizza has 33 total units in the United States, including 32 franchised units and 2 company-owned units.
Is Carbone's Pizza a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Carbone's Pizza as a B-grade franchise with a risk score of 62 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.