District Taco Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
- Investment
- $734K – $1.5M
- Disclosed sales
- $1.9M
- gross sales, not profit
- SBA charge-off
- Not SBA-matched
Data from FDD filing
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
District Taco is a fast-casual franchise serving Mexican tacos, burritos, and breakfast with fresh ingredients. Franchisees run the restaurants, managing food prep, staffing, and counter service.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A District Taco franchise requires a total initial investment of $734K – $1.5M, including a $25K franchise fee and an ongoing 6.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2024 FDD, average unit revenue was $1.9M[2]. FranchiseVerdict grade: B (Above average), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Sources, dates and evidence
FDD issued: 2024 filing · Data extracted: · Last cited check: · Staleness risk: high - figures are from a filing two or more years old
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 scored8 of 8 headline figures on this page cite a page of the filing.
Overview
- Investment
- $734K – $1.5M
- 87th pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $1.9M
- Company-owned only
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- 48th pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 15
- 45th pct Service Resta…
- SBA charge-off
- N/A
Quick verdict · Quick-Service Restaurants · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Quick-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 $734K – $1.5M including a $25K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSAverage unit revenue of $1.9M/year (median $2.0M) (company-owned outlets only - not franchisee performance).
- RISKVerdict B (Above average), verdict score 58/100 (higher is better).
- GROWTHPositive: net +2 franchised outlets in the latest year (2 opened, 0 closed); 4 signed but not yet open (Item 20).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- District Franchising, LLC
- Parent company
- District Brands, Inc.
- FDD Item 1, page 8 of the 2024 FDD
- CEO title
- Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer, and Board Member
- Abelardo 'Osiris' Hoil
- CEO experience
- 2020 yrs
- Years in role or industry
- Founder active
- Yes
- Original founder still leading the business
- Incorporated in
- VA
- HQ
- 2890 Emma Lee St., Suite 200, Falls Church, Virginia 22042
- Auditor
- Deloitte & Touche LLP
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $264K
- vs $2K prior year
- Management churn noted
- Frequent turnover
- Item 2 disclosed frequent executive changes
Overview
About
- CEO
- Abelardo 'Osiris' Hoil
- Headquarters
- VA
- Founded
- 2020
- FDD year
- 2024
- States available
- 4
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 126% above the typical quick-service restaurants franchise.
Source: FDD 2024 · Items 5–7
FDD Item 7 · 2024 filing
Initial investment breakdown
| Cost component | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $25K | $25K |
| Working capital (3–6 mo) | $0 | $25K |
| Equipment, build-out, other | $709K | $1.4M |
| Total initial investment | $734K | $1.5M |
Source: District Taco 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
- $734K – $1.5M
- Bottom third — review vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $0 – $25K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $25K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 2.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 8.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 6.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 2.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $2K |
| Training fee | $2K |
| Transfer fee | $5K |
| Renewal fee | $25K |
| Inventory (initial) | $5K – $20K |
| Total fee load | 8.0% of rev |
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales run 98% above the quick-service restaurants norm.
Company-owned outlets only - not franchisee performance
Source: FDD 2024 · Item 19
Single-unit · not modelled
Returns at a glance
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit, and the operating costs that turn one into the other are in no filing. We publish no modelled return for District Taco until someone supplies them — yours, in the models below.
—
Not modelled yet
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for 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.
Total invested capital · disclosed
$1.1M
Item 7 initial investment plus working capital, as filed — the one figure here that needs no assumption.
ROI & LBO modelsSingle-unit · 25-unit portfolio · editable
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, read against the 30–60% reference band · Yale SOM, Post-MBA Path Exhibit 2 (2023). Below that band a passive index fund likely outperforms; above it the franchisor has pricing power you're subsidizing.
Note: Item 19 revenue is what the franchisor discloses, and it is the top line only — gross sales are not profit. No FDD discloses the operating costs that turn one into the other, so those fields start empty and nothing is modelled until you supply them from your own lease quote, labor market and build-out budget.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one District Taco 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 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.
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%.
Not modelled yet
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for 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.
A 25-unit return is built on a per-unit EBITDA. Fill in the operating costs in Model A above and this model runs on that figure, or take the whole scenario to the full ROI workbench, where the portfolio and LBO models accept your own per-unit economics directly.
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
Company-owned outlets only - not franchisee performance
- Avg gross sales
- $1.9M
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $2.0M
Gross sales are revenue before expenses — not profit. Actual owner earnings depend on rent, labor, royalties, marketing fees, and debt service.
- Item 19 type
- gross sales
- Sample size
- 11 outlets
- vs category median 19
- Range (low → high)
- $1.0M→$3.1MCited, not corroborated — printed on page 56 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
- 7 / 10
- vs category median 4 / 10 · above
Compared against 781 Quick-Service Restaurants brands
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 $1.9M/year in gross sales. Revenue-to-investment ratio: 1.8x. Company-owned outlets only - not franchisee performance.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 8.0% (near the Quick-Service Restaurants median).
Disclosure
Transparency score 7/10 — this franchisor discloses detailed breakdowns (quartiles, segments, or cohort data). Buyers can model unit economics with higher confidence.
Multi-unit rate
50% of franchisees own multiple units, a moderate multi-unit rate.
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 medians
How District Taco Compares
Category median of published Quick-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
- 15
- 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
- 13
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 13%
- vs corporate-owned
- Multi-unit owners
- 50.0%
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
- 0.27 per open outlet · Item 20 Table 5
- Projected new
- 9
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
- Ceased ops
- 6.7%
- Units that stopped operating
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 12 · 4 states 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.
4
states with franchisees (per FDD Item 12)
Where the owners are · Item 20 owner list
4 current owners across 2 states.
- VA 3
- NJ 1
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 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
No SBA loan data available for this brand.
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
Early-stage, undercapitalized franchise with opaque profitability metrics and minimal unit base creates meaningful risk despite no litigation or going concern issues.
Litigation (Item 3)
Subject: officers or affiliates. The franchisor is not a named party in these cases.
No litigation disclosed in Item 3
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Deloitte & Touche LLP
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
FY2023 total revenue $264,280 comprises development and franchise fees $20,972, royalty fees $58,256, and innovation fund fees $185,052. Interest income of $35,906 reported as non-operating other income. Net loss $(151,792).
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 58 / 100 verdict
- 01MEDNo Item 19 (average net income) disclosed — cannot assess actual profitability or ROI
- 02MEDOnly 15 units system-wide suggests early-stage franchise with unproven scalability and limited peer support network
- 03MEDHigh capital requirement ($733k-$1.46M) with no disclosed net income creates significant financial risk
- 04MINOR6% royalty on $1.93M average revenue equals ~$116k annual royalties with unknown profit margins
- 05MINORUnknown unit growth trajectory indicates lack of demonstrated system expansion or franchisee success replication
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 8.0% 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 |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Required |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 25 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Falls Church, Virginia (within 10 miles of franchisor's principal business address) |
| Jury trial waiver | No |
| Governing law | VA |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
No litigation disclosed in Item 3
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 56 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 124 hrs
- Training location
- Falls Church, Virginia and a designated District Taco Training Restaurant
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Time to open
- 9 mo
- From signing to launch
- Site selection
- Franchisee with franchisor approval
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- Computer System
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Computer System
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
4 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 District Taco franchise?
The total investment to open a District Taco franchise ranges from $734K – $1.5M, 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 District Taco franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the District Taco FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $1.9M. The median is $2.0M. Important context: Company-owned outlets only - not franchisee performance. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
Who owns District Taco?
District Taco is franchised by District Franchising, LLC. Its parent company is District Brands, Inc.. Source: FDD Item 1, 2024 filing.
What is Item 19 in the District Taco 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 District Taco FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is District Taco's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for District Taco (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 District Taco franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, District Taco has 15 total units in the United States, including 2 franchised units and 13 company-owned units. 2 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is District Taco a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates District Taco as a B-grade franchise with a verdict score of 58 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.