FranchiseVerdict
Country Waffles Breakfast & Lunch logo
FV-00644·MODERATEStandard71

Country Waffles Breakfast & Lunch

Food & Beverage - Full ServiceFranchising since 1992Website
Investment
$312K – $809K
38th pct Full Service
Avg revenue
57th pct Full Service
Royalty
5.0%
15th pct Full Service
Units
16
50th pct Full Service
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $312K – $809K including a $35K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 63/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 2 loans (below the industry average).
  • No Item 19 financial performance representation. Without franchisor-disclosed revenue data, you'll need to gather unit economics directly from existing franchisees.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Country Waffles, Inc.
Incorporated in
California
HQ
4011 Jewett Avenue, Bakersfield, California 93301
Auditor
Dedekian, George, Small & Markarian Accountancy Corporation
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$423K
vs $506K prior year

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 Country Waffles Breakfast & Lunch unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
Item 19 not disclosed — typing your own estimate
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: generic
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $312K–$809K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $30K–$90K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

19%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$120K
EBITDA margin
16.0%
Total invested
$620K
Payback
62 mo
Unit-level only. A multi-unit portfolio gives up roughly 5–15% of this to shared services (corporate G&A) before reaching the ~10-unit break-even Yale describes.

Overview

About

Franchisees operate casual breakfast and lunch restaurants serving waffles, pancakes, and related comfort food items. Day-to-day responsibilities include managing kitchen and front-of-house staff, sourcing ingredients, maintaining brand consistency, handling inventory, managing customer service, and driving local marketing to compete in the crowded breakfast/lunch segment.

CEO
Joe T. Ghazale
Founded
1987
FDD year
2023
States available
1

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$312K – $809K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$30K – $90K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$35K
Royalty
5.0%
Percentage of Adjusted Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
2.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
7.0%
vs 9–13% typical

Item 19

Financial Performance

This franchisor did not disclose financial performance representations in Item 19, or our extractor could not parse them.

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
16
Opened
1
Last reporting year
Closed
0
Turnover rate
0.0%
Company-owned
0
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
100%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
+6.7%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
+6.7%
Compounded over last 3 years
2021
16+1
Franchised units
2022
15
Franchised units
2023
15
Franchised units

Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.

Item 12 · 1 state reported

The Territory Map

FDD Item 12 reports the state count, but the specific list isn't in our current data. The map will appear once we re-extract from the FDD or enough franchisee contacts are available.

1

states with franchisees (per FDD Item 12)

Government records

SBA Loan Data

Aggregated from SBA 7(a) loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.

Total loans
2
Loan volume
Avg loan
Default rate
0.0%
vs <3% typical · system-wide
5-yr default

FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17

Risk & Legal

63
Risk · 0-100
MODERATE63 / 100

Country Waffles presents CAUTION-level risk due to undisclosed unit economics, minimal system growth, and lack of performance transparency that prevents informed investment analysis.

Score breakdown · what drove the 63 / 100 rating

  1. 01MINORNo Item 19 financial performance disclosure (revenue/net income) makes ROI validation impossible
  2. 02MEDMinimal system growth of 6.7% YoY with only 16 units suggests limited scalability or market validation
  3. 03MINORWide investment range ($311,800–$808,600) indicates inconsistent build-out costs or territory variability
  4. 04HIGHNo going concern statement is unusual and may indicate financial uncertainty at corporate level
  5. 05MINORHigh franchise fee ($35,000) relative to system size and growth rate suggests reliance on recruitment vs. franchisee success

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Protected Area
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
15 years
Renewal term
15 years
Online sales rights
Restricted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Allowed
Litigation count
0
Right of first refusal
Yes
Franchisor can buy back on resale
Mandatory arbitration
Yes
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Non-compete
2 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Required
Governing law
California

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
0 hrs
On-the-job training
142 hrs
POS system
Approved POS System
Operating tech stack

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.

No franchisee contacts available for Country Waffles Breakfast & Lunch. This brand's FDD Item 20 did not include a contactable franchisee list.

FDD download

Country Waffles Breakfast & Lunch · FDD (2023) PDF

Single-page checkout · instant download · CSV export of contacts available separately above