Dae Gee Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
- Investment
- $480K – $949K
- Disclosed sales
- partial, no system average
- SBA charge-off
- Under 10 loans (4)
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Dae Gee is a Korean barbecue restaurant franchise where guests grill meats at tabletop grills alongside Korean dishes. Franchisees run the restaurants, managing the kitchen, dining service, and staffing.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Dae Gee franchise requires a total initial investment of $480K – $949K, including a $45K franchise fee and an ongoing 5.5% royalty[2]. The 2024 FDD on file does not yield a unit-revenue figure we can publish. FranchiseVerdict grade: B (Above average), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Sources, dates and evidence
FDD issued: · Data extracted: · Last cited check: · Staleness risk: high - issued more than two years ago
Evidence: strong✓ Investment (Item 7)✓ Item 19 status✓ Units and owners (Item 20)✗ SBA loan coverage✓ Litigation (Item 3)✓ Financial statements (Item 21)✓ Franchisor identityhow this is scored6 of 6 headline figures on this page cite a page of the filing.
Overview
- Investment
- $480K – $949K
- 22nd pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- N/A
- Company-owned only
- Royalty
- 5.5%
- 23rd pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 6
- 9th pct Service Resta…
- SBA charge-off
- N/A
Quick verdict · Full-Service Restaurants · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Full-Service Restaurants median · 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 $480K – $949K including a $45K franchise fee, 5.5% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSThe 2024 filing's Item 19 covers four affiliate-owned Colorado restaurants, which the franchisor notes pay no royalty, brand-fund or technology fees. The one location that became franchised did so in September 2023, and its reported year is almost entirely affiliate-owned trading. No franchised average is disclosed.
- RISKVerdict B (Above average), verdict score 50/100 (higher is better).
- GROWTHPositive: net +2 franchised outlets in the latest year (2 opened, 0 closed); 4 signed but not yet open (Item 20).
- DATAItem 19 reports outlet revenue, but not in a form that yields a per-outlet average we can compare across brands. Ask franchisees directly for full unit-level revenue.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- Dae Gee Franchising, LLC
- Parent company
- Dae Gee Holdings, LLC
- FDD Item 1, page 9 of the 2024 FDD
- CEO title
- Co-Founder and President
- Joseph Kim
- Incorporated in
- CO
- HQ
- 7570 Sheridan Boulevard, Westminster, CO 80003
- Auditor
- Kezos & Dunlavy
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $77K
- Most recent fiscal year
Overview
About
- CEO
- Joseph Kim
- Headquarters
- CO
- Founded
- 2021
- FDD year
- 2024
- States available
- 2
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost is about typical for a full-service restaurants franchise (near the category median).
Source: FDD 2024 · Items 5–7
FDD Item 7 · 2024 filing
Initial investment breakdown
| Cost component | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $45K | $45K |
| Working capital (3–6 mo) | $15K | $50K |
| Equipment, build-out, other | $420K | $854K |
| Total initial investment | $480K | $949K |
Source: Dae Gee 2024 FDD, Items 5 and 7[2]. “Equipment, build-out, other” is computed as total minus disclosed line items above.
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $480K – $949K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $15K – $50K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $45K – $45K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Royalty
- 5.5%
- typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 1.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 6.5%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 5.5% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 1.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $125 |
| Training fee | $3K |
| Transfer fee | $25K |
| Renewal fee | $10K |
| Inventory (initial) | $16K – $48K |
| Total fee load | 6.5% of rev |
What do units actually make?
Source: FDD 2024 · Item 19
ROI & LBO modelsSingle-unit · 25-unit portfolio · editable
No Item 19 revenue figure for Dae Gee is on file. The return models need a revenue figure to start from, and the operating costs that turn gross sales into a profit are in no FDD. Enter your own and the calculator runs on your assumptions — nothing here is modelled until you do.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one Dae Gee unit return on the cash you put in?
Illustrative category typicals — not sourced to any filing, survey or sample. Replace them with figures from franchisee validation calls before you rely on the output.
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Your modelled return on total invested capital, before any debt financing.
—
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for annual revenue, COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
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: 2024 FDD
Financial Performance
The 2024 filing's Item 19 covers four affiliate-owned Colorado restaurants, which the franchisor notes pay no royalty, brand-fund or technology fees. The one location that became franchised did so in September 2023, and its reported year is almost entirely affiliate-owned trading. No franchised average is disclosed.
Company-owned outlets only - not franchisee performance
- Item 19 type
- gross sales
- Sample size
- 5 outlets
- vs category median 18 · small
- Range (low → high)
- $573K→$1.4MCited, not corroborated — printed on page 50 of the 2024 FDD. Nothing else in our record independently restates or re-derives it.
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Reporting year
- 2023
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2024
- Disclosed in the 2024 filing, covering 2023
- Transparency
- 6 / 10
- vs category median 3 / 10 · above
Compared against 801 Full-Service Restaurants brands
Operator outlook
What the numbers say
Data-driven interpretation of this brand's financial disclosures, fee structure, and system trajectory.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 6.5% (near the Full-Service Restaurants median).
Disclosure
Item 19 reports outlet revenue, but not in a form that yields a per-outlet average we can compare across brands.
Multi-unit rate
Only 1% of franchisees own multiple units. Could indicate challenging economics or a young system where operators haven't had time to expand.
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 Full-Service Restaurants medians
How Dae Gee Compares
Category median of published Full-Service Restaurants brands that report the figure; the middle half spans the 25th to 75th percentile and n counts the brands behind it. Medians are used because a few very large systems pull an average far from the typical brand. Revenue is disclosed gross sales, not profit.
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2024 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 6
- Opened
- 2
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 0
- Terminated
- 0
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 0
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- N/A
- Company-owned
- 4
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 33%
- vs corporate-owned
- Multi-unit owners
- 1.0%
Last fiscal year · Item 20 exits and transfers
- Terminated
- 0
- Not renewed
- 0
- Transferred
- 0
- Reacquired
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
- Signed, not yet open
- 4
- 0.67 per open outlet · Item 20 Table 5
- Projected new
- 5
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
- Ceased ops
- 16.7%
- 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.
Where the owners are · Item 20 owner list
0 current owners across 0 states; 3 former (terminated, transferred or not renewed) listed separately.
Counts only, from the list the franchisor prints in Item 20. Names and phone numbers are for your own due diligence and are not shown here.
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
- $3.9M
- Median loan
- $1.2M
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- Under 10 loans (4)
- Insufficient SBA coverage: 4 loans, rate hidden below 10
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- Under 10 loans (4)
- 5-yr charge-off
- Under 10 loans (4)
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 3
- Defaults
- N/A
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
What could kill this investment?
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA · FDD Items 3, 21
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 4, 8, 16, 21
Risk & Legal
Dae Gee presents caution-level risk due to micro-scale system, opaque unit growth, and unvalidated financial projections without franchisee performance disclosures.
Litigation (Item 3)
Subject: officers or affiliates. The franchisor is not a named party in these cases.
No litigation is required to be disclosed in Item 3.
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Kezos & Dunlavy
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
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 50 / 100 verdict
- 01MEDOnly 6 units system-wide indicates minimal scale, limited peer support network, and unproven replicability
- 02MEDNo disclosed unit growth history despite 10-year franchise model suggests stagnation or undisclosed closures
- 03MINORHigh capital requirement ($479k-$948k) against only 6 operating units creates survivorship uncertainty
- 04MINORUnknown franchise fee justification ($45k) for brand with no demonstrable franchise development track record
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 6.5% of sales (royalty + ad fund), before rent and labor.
Source: FDD 2024 · Items 11, 12, 17
FDD Items 12, 15, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 10 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 1 |
| Territory type | Protected territory |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Territory radius | 3 mi |
| Online sales rights | 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 |
| RoFR response window | 30 days |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Westminster, Colorado (principal city closest to franchisor's principal place of business) |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | CO |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
No litigation is required to be disclosed in Item 3.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 45 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 27 hrs
- Training location
- Franchisor Training Center, Denver metro area; then at franchisee location
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Time to open
- 9 mo
- From signing to launch
- Site selection
- Franchisor-approved vendor (Dae Gee RE for Colorado); franchisee selects with approval
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- POS system of your choice
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: POS system of your choice
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
3 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Dae Gee franchise?
The total investment to open a Dae Gee franchise ranges from $480K – $949K, with an initial franchise fee of $45K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Dae Gee franchise owners earn?
Item 19 of the Dae Gee FDD discloses outlet figures from $573K to $1.4M but no single average across all outlets. These are gross sales figures, not profit; the Revenue section shows what the filing reports and on what basis. Item 20 of the FDD lists current and former franchisees; asking them directly is the standard way to fill this gap.
Who owns Dae Gee?
Dae Gee is franchised by Dae Gee Franchising, LLC. Its parent company is Dae Gee Holdings, LLC. Source: FDD Item 1, 2024 filing.
What is Item 19 in the Dae Gee 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 Dae Gee FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is Dae Gee's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Dae Gee (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 Dae Gee franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Dae Gee has 6 total units in the United States, including 2 franchised units and 4 company-owned units. 2 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Dae Gee a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Dae Gee as a B-grade franchise with a verdict score of 50 out of 100 (higher is better). The grade is a deterministic score built from six weighted dimensions — financial health, unit economics, unit growth, scale, legal, and transparency — then calibrated against SBA loan charge-off rates and FDD age. Transparency is one of the six, so a filing that discloses less scores lower on that dimension than one that discloses more. 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?
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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.