Einstein Bros. BagelsFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Einstein Bros. Bagels franchise requires a total initial investment of $555K – $1.0M, including a $35K franchise fee and an ongoing 5.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $1.1M[2]. SBA 7(a) loans show a 16.7% charge-off rate across 20 loans[1]. Verdict grade: B. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 18, 2026 · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $555K – $1.0M
- 86th pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $1.1M
- 37th pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- 5.0%
- 13th pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 415
- 87th pct Service Resta…
- SBA default
- 16.7%
- system-wide median varies by category
Quick verdict · Quick-Service Restaurants · color = vs category peers
Green = >15% above Quick-Service Restaurants avg · No shading = within ±15% · Red = >15% below avg · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
Franchised units fell from 63 to 56 over 3 years. Investigate why operators are leaving.
24% cash-on-cash return (based on P&L Bottom Line). Within the 15-30% range most franchise investors consider acceptable.
Bottom line
- Total investment $555K – $1.0M including a $35K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $1.1M/year (median $1.1M), with an estimated 24% cash-on-cash return (based on P&L Bottom Line).
- Verdict B (Above Average) with a risk score of 55/100. SBA loan charge-off rate of 16.7% across 20 loans (above the 16% franchise average, based on all SBA 7(a) franchise lending, 2010–2024).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
- Legal entity
- Einstein Bros. Bagels Franchise Corporation
- Parent company
- Einstein Noah Restaurant Group, Inc. ("ENRG")
- Ultimate parent
- Einstein Noah Restaurant Group, Inc.
- Predecessor
- ENC
- Prior franchisor entity
- CEO title
- President and CEO
- Jessica DePetro
- Incorporated in
- CO
- HQ
- 1720 S. Bellaire Street, Suite Skybox, Denver, Colorado 80222
- Auditor
- Grant Thornton LLP
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $1.1B
- vs $1.1B prior year
- Management churn noted
- Frequent turnover
- Item 2 disclosed frequent executive changes
Overview
About
Franchisees operate quick-service bagel cafes, managing point-of-sale operations, food preparation, inventory, staffing, and customer service. Day-to-day responsibilities include opening/closing procedures, maintaining food quality standards, compliance with brand standards, and local marketing while paying 5% of gross sales in royalties.
- CEO
- Jessica DePetro
- Headquarters
- CO
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 31
FDD Item 7 · 2025 filing
Initial investment breakdown
| Cost component | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $35K | $35K |
| Working capital (3–6 mo) | $20K | $40K |
| Equipment, build-out, other | $500K | $956K |
| Total initial investment | $555K | $1.0M |
Source: Einstein Bros. Bagels 2025 FDD, Items 5 and 7[2]. “Equipment, build-out, other” is computed as total minus disclosed line items above.
Single-unit · estimated
Returns at a glance
Indicative numbers using FDD Item 7 / Item 19 inputs and category-benchmarked cost ratios. Full single-unit, 25-unit portfolio, and LBO models (with every input editable to stress-test your own scenario) live on the financials page.
Store EBITDA · annual
$145K
13.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
18%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
5.7 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $555K – $1.0M
- Below avg, review vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $20K – $40K
- Near category avg vs category
- Franchise fee
- $35K – $35K
- Near category avg vs category
- Royalty
- 5.0%
- Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 4.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 9.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
- Payback period
- 4.1 yrs
- From FDD / Item 19
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 5.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 4.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $1K |
| Transfer fee | $18K |
| Renewal fee | $4K |
| Inventory (initial) | $16K – $25K |
| Total fee load | 9.0% of rev |
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $1.1M
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $1.1M
- Avg p&l bottom line
- $191K
- Reported as P&L Bottom Line in FDD Item 19
- Cash-on-cash
- 24.2%
- Based on P&L Bottom Line / investment midpoint
- Item 19 type
- gross_sales
- Sample size
- 55 units
- vs category median 28
- Range (low → high)
- $451K→$2.0M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Transparency tier
- revenue_only
- Categorical assessment of disclosure depth
- Transparency
- 10 / 5
- vs category median 4 / 5 · above
Compared against 453 Quick-Service Restaurants brands
vs Quick-Service Restaurants averages
How Einstein Bros. Bagels Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 415
- Opened
- 35
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 5
- Terminated
- 1
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 0
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 1.2%
- Company-owned
- 352
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 15%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (yr3)
- +12.5%
- Net unit change last year
- 3-yr CAGR
- +12.5%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 23
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 4
- Transfers (3yr)
- 1
- Transfer rate
- 0.2%
- Owners selling to other franchisees
- Termination rate
- 1.2%
- Franchisor-initiated terminations
- Ceased ops
- 0.2%
- Units that stopped operating
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 45 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.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
- Total loans
- 20
- Loan volume
- $10.6M
- Median loan
- $593K
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- 16.7%
- rates vary by category · see methodology
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- 81.8%
- 5-yr charge-off
- N/A
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 13
- Defaults
- 2
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Premium insight
SBA Lending Report
Deep-dive into Einstein Bros. Bagels's SBA lending history: lender network, geographic footprint, interest rates, and more.
SBA Lending Report
- Principal loss rate and NAICS industry benchmark
- 10 lenders with concentration factor
- Per-state charge-off rates across 10 states
- Startup risk premium and job creation velocity
- 8-year lending trend
- SBA 504 real estate/equipment data
Instant access. No subscription.
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Moderate-to-caution risk profile with solid unit growth and no litigation, but lack of financial disclosure (Item 19) and high capital requirements relative to claimed net income create material due diligence gaps.
Litigation (Item 3)
No litigation required to be disclosed
Largest disclosed settlement: $47,000
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Grant Thornton LLP
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Kickbacks from required suppliers: No
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 55 / 100 rating
- 01MEDNo Item 19 (Financial Performance Representations) disclosed — cannot independently verify claimed $400,560 average net income
- 02MINORHigh initial investment range ($555K–$1.03M) with 5% royalty creates significant break-even pressure on $1.11M average revenue
- 03MED12.5% YoY unit growth masks potential saturation — need to verify growth composition (new vs. relocated vs. closed)
- 04MINORProtected territory claims require verification — territory size, population density, and exclusivity terms undefined
- 05MINOR415-unit system is mid-sized; vulnerability to economic downturn higher than established 1000+ unit franchises
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 10 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 1 |
| Territory type | Circle |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | Yes |
| Territory radius | 2 mi |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Optional |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 10 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Mandatory arbitration | No |
| Arbitration location | Denver, Colorado |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Colorado |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
No litigation required to be disclosed
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 50 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 268 hrs
- Training location
- On-site and corporate
- Ongoing training
- Required
- POS system
- NCR/Aloha
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: NCR/Aloha
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
658 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Einstein Bros. Bagels · FDD (2025) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Einstein Bros. Bagels franchise?
The total investment to open a Einstein Bros. Bagels franchise ranges from $555K – $1.0M, with an initial franchise fee of $35K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Einstein Bros. Bagels franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Einstein Bros. Bagels FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $1.1M. The median is $1.1M. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Einstein Bros. Bagels's franchise failure rate?
Based on SBA 7(a) loan data, Einstein Bros. Bagels has a charge-off rate of 16.7% across 20 loans, meaning 16.7% of franchise loans were charged off. Charge-off rates are one proxy for franchise risk, though they do not capture all closures. This data comes from FOIA-sourced SBA lending records.
How many Einstein Bros. Bagels franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Einstein Bros. Bagels has 415 total units in the United States, including 63 franchised units and 352 company-owned units. 35 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Einstein Bros. Bagels a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Einstein Bros. Bagels as a B-grade franchise with a risk score of 55 out of 100, based on our analysis of investment costs, revenue data, SBA loan performance, and growth trends. 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.
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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.