Bottom line
- Total investment $218K – $701K including a $20K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $675K/year (median $686K).
- Rated STRONG with a risk score of 46/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 74 loans (below the industry average).
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 East of Chicago Pizza unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
14%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 East of Chicago Pizza units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$405K
on $2.0M purchase
Total debt
$1.6M
SBA $1.0M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Franchisees operate pizza restaurants offering dine-in, carryout, and delivery service, managing food inventory, kitchen staff, and customer service in their protected territory. Day-to-day operations include food preparation, point-of-sale management, staffing, and local marketing within territorial boundaries.
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 · 18 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.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Stagnant growth, undisclosed profitability, recent competitive litigation, and vague financial metrics create meaningful execution risk for new franchisees.
Score breakdown · what drove the 46 / 100 rating
- 01MINORMinimal system growth (1.6% YoY) with only 66 units suggests market saturation or brand weakness
- 02MINORNo Item 19 (average net income) disclosure limits ability to assess true profitability despite $674K avg revenue
- 03HIGHRecent litigation (2022-2023) involving former franchisee operating competitive business raises IP protection and enforcement concerns
- 04MINORWide investment range ($217.5K–$701.2K) suggests inconsistent buildout costs or undefined support structure
- 05MINOR5% royalty on adjusted gross revenues creates ambiguity about what deductions are permitted before royalty calculation
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
80 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
East of Chicago Pizza · FDD (2025) PDF