Cilantro Taco Grill
Bottom line
- Total investment $273K – $731K including a $35K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $1.4M/year (median $1.1M).
- Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 60/100.
- Emerging franchise — only 3 years of franchising with 15 units. Early-stage systems carry higher risk but may offer better territory availability.
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 Cilantro Taco Grill unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
38%
In Yale's "attractive" band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Cilantro Taco Grill units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
42.2%
5.81× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
2.05×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$3.1M
on $11.5M purchase
Total debt
$8.5M
SBA $5.0M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Franchisees operate quick-service taco and Mexican grill restaurants, managing daily food preparation, staffing, inventory, customer service, and point-of-sale operations. They source ingredients, maintain health/safety compliance, execute marketing in their territory, and handle local P&L responsibility while adhering to corporate brand standards and paying 6% weekly royalties.
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 20 · 16 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 phone area codes (Item 20). Approximate — ported numbers may show the original state, not the franchisee's current location.
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
No SBA loan data available for this brand.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Material financial transparency gaps, franchisor stability concerns, and a stagnant franchise system with unclear unit profitability make this a high-caution investment requiring deep validation before commitment.
Score breakdown · what drove the 60 / 100 rating
- 01MINORNo net income disclosure (Item 19) prevents ROI validation and profitability assessment
- 02HIGHGoing Concern flag is FALSE, indicating potential financial instability at franchisor level
- 03MEDOnly 15 units with unknown growth trajectory suggests limited system expansion and possibly stagnant or declining franchise
- 04MINORWide investment range ($273K-$730K) indicates inconsistent unit economics or location-dependent performance
- 05MINOR6% royalty on gross revenue (not net) creates ongoing cash drain regardless of profitability
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
16 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Cilantro Taco Grill · FDD (2024) PDF