Elevation Burger Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Elevation Burger is a fast-casual franchise serving burgers made with organic, grass-fed beef, fresh-cut fries, and shakes. Franchisees run the restaurants, managing food prep, staffing, and counter service.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Elevation Burger franchise requires a total initial investment of $517K – $2.0M, including a $50K franchise fee and an ongoing 6.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $1.1M[2]. FranchiseVerdict grade: D (Below average), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $517K – $2.0M
- 78th pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $1.1M
- Outlet subsetNet sales17th pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- 46th pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 32
- 57th 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 avg · 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 $517K – $2.0M including a $50K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSAverage unit revenue of $1.1M/year (median $739K) (reported for a subset of outlets rather than the whole system).
- RISKVerdict D (Below average), verdict score 31/100 (higher is better).
- DECLINESystem contracting at -11.1% CAGR over 3 years. Investigate whether closures are franchisor-driven (consolidation) or franchisee-driven (economics).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- EB Franchises, LLC
- Parent company
- FAT Brands, Inc.
- Ultimate parent
- Fog Cutter Holdings LLC
- Predecessor
- Elevation Franchise Ventures LLC
- Prior franchisor entity
- CEO title
- President and Chief Executive Officer
- Taylor Wiederhorn
- Incorporated in
- DE
- HQ
- 9720 Wilshire Boulevard Suite 500, Beverly Hills, California 90212
- Auditor
- Macias Gini & O'Connell LLP
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $1.5M
- vs $1.5M prior year
- Management churn noted
- Frequent turnover
- Item 2 disclosed frequent executive changes
Overview
About
- CEO
- Taylor Wiederhorn
- Headquarters
- CA
- Founded
- 2008
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 5
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 91% above the typical quick-service restaurants franchise.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 5–7
FDD Item 7 · 2025 filing
Initial investment breakdown
| Cost component | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $50K | $50K |
| Working capital (3–6 mo) | $25K | $40K |
| Equipment, build-out, other | $442K | $1.9M |
| Total initial investment | $517K | $2.0M |
Source: Elevation Burger 2025 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
- $517K – $2.0M
- Bottom third — review vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $25K – $40K
- Middle of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $50K – $50K
- Bottom third — review vs category
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- percentage · 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 | $840 |
| Training fee | $33K |
| Transfer fee | $15K |
| Renewal fee | $20K |
| Inventory (initial) | $7K – $10K |
| Total fee load | 8.0% of rev |
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales run 10% below the quick-service restaurants norm.
Reported for a subset of outlets rather than the whole system
Reported as net sales, not gross sales
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 19
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
$152K
14.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
12%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
8.5 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
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. The target band for an attractive franchise is 30–60% ROIC. Below that and a passive index fund likely outperforms; above that and the franchisor has pricing power you're subsidizing.
Note: Item 19 revenue is what the franchisor discloses. It's the top line only. Operating costs below are category estimates. Override them to match your real lease quote, labor market, and build-out budget.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one Elevation Burger unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Estimated return on your total franchise investment, before any debt financing.
12%
Below the 30–60% attractive-franchise band
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%.
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Elevation Burger units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$1.5M
on $7.6M purchase
Total debt
$6.1M
SBA $3.8M + senior + seller note
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: 2025 FDD
Financial Performance
Reported for a subset of outlets rather than the whole system
Reported as net sales, not gross sales
- Avg gross sales
- $1.1M
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $739K
Gross sales are revenue before expenses — not profit. Actual owner earnings depend on rent, labor, royalties, marketing fees, and debt service.
- Item 19 type
- net sales
- Sample size
- 8
- vs category median 20 · small
- Range (low → high)
- $604K→$2.2M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Reporting year
- 2024
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2025
- Disclosed in the 2025 filing, covering 2024
- Transparency
- 7 / 10
- vs category median 4 / 10 · above
Compared against 782 Quick-Service Restaurants brands
Revenue is only 0.9x the investment. This means each unit may take 5+ years to recoup the initial outlay at typical margins.
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 $1.1M/year in gross sales. Median is $739K — top performers pull the average up, so a typical unit earns less. Revenue-to-investment ratio: 0.9x. Reported for a subset of outlets rather than the whole system.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 8.0% (near the Quick-Service Restaurants average).
Disclosure
Transparency score 7/10 — this franchisor discloses detailed breakdowns (quartiles, segments, or cohort data). Buyers can model unit economics with higher confidence.
Operator retention
System contracting at -11.1% CAGR over 3 years. Investigate whether closures are franchisor-driven consolidation or franchisee exits.
Multi-unit rate
Only 20% 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 Quick-Service Restaurants averages
How Elevation Burger Compares
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 32
- Opened
- 1
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 4
- Terminated
- 0
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 0
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 34.4%
- Company-owned
- 0
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 100%
- vs corporate-owned
- Multi-unit owners
- 20.0%
- Net growth (3-yr)
- -11.1%
- Net unit change over 3 years
- 3-yr CAGR
- -11.1%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 8
- Closed (3yr)
- 11
- Terminated (3yr)
- 0
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 0
- Transfers (3yr)
- 0
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
- Projected new
- 2
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
- Ceased ops
- 12.5%
- Units that stopped operating
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 7 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 loan disclosures. This brand has only 3 7(a) loans on file; statistical reliability is limited below 10 loans.
- Total loans
- 3
- Loan volume
- $1.7M
- Median loan
- $600K
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- N/A
- limited sample (3 loans) — rate not shown below 10
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- N/A
- 5-yr charge-off
- N/A
- 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
Elevation Burger operates within a contracting franchise system under litigation-prone parent company with regulatory compliance failures, undisclosed profitability metrics, and deteriorating unit economics.
Litigation (Item 3)
1 pending securities class action (Kates v. FAT Brands 2024). 7 concluded matters: In re FAT Brands Securities Litigation (settled $3M); 2x Virginia SCC v. FBNA registration violations (settled); Shahi v. FBNA (franchise rescission, dismissed 2021); P&K Food Market v. Buffalo's Franchise Concepts (dismissed 2019); Rojany/Alden consolidated securities litigation (settled $50K); Vignola v. FAT Brands securities litigation (settled $75K).
Largest disclosed settlement: $2,500,000
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Macias Gini & O'Connell LLP
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
ⓘ These are the parent company's consolidated financials (the parent guarantees the franchisor), not this brand's standalone results — the figure reflects the whole corporate group, not this brand alone.
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: Yes
- 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 31 / 100 verdict
- 01MEDUnit count declined 8.6% YoY (36 units) indicating system contraction and potential viability concerns
- 02MINORParent company FAT Brands facing active securities class action lawsuits with officer involvement suggesting corporate governance/transparency issues
- 03MEDNet Income not disclosed in FDD Item 19 makes ROI analysis impossible and prevents informed investment decisions
- 04MINORRegulatory settlement with Virginia over franchise registration and financial reporting inaccuracies indicates compliance failures and potential misrepresentation to franchisees
- 05MINORHigh investment range ($517K-$1.99M) combined with declining unit count suggests franchisees are struggling to achieve adequate returns
- 06MINOR6% royalty on average $1.08M revenue ($64,800 annually) represents meaningful ongoing cost in contracting system
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 2025 · Items 11, 12, 17
FDD Items 12, 15, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 15 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 10 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 2 |
| Territory type | protected |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Territory radius | 1 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 | 5 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 10 days |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Los Angeles, California |
| Jury trial waiver | No |
| Governing law | CA |
| Litigation count | 8 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
1 pending securities class action (Kates v. FAT Brands 2024). 7 concluded matters: In re FAT Brands Securities Litigation (settled $3M); 2x Virginia SCC v. FBNA registration violations (settled); Shahi v. FBNA (franchise rescission, dismissed 2021); P&K Food Market v. Buffalo's Franchise Concepts (dismissed 2019); Rojany/Alden consolidated securities litigation (settled $50K); Vignola v. FAT Brands securities litigation (settled $75K).
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 44 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 256 hrs
- Training location
- Beverly Hills, CA (corporate offices or certified training restaurants)
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Field support
- 422 hrs/yr
- On-site visits per year
- Time to open
- 4 mo
- From signing to launch
- Site selection
- franchisee with franchisor approval; must use designated/approved real estate broker
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
15 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Elevation Burger · FDD (2025) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Elevation Burger franchise?
The total investment to open a Elevation Burger franchise ranges from $517K – $2.0M, with an initial franchise fee of $50K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Elevation Burger franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Elevation Burger FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $1.1M. The median is $739K. Important context: Reported for a subset of outlets rather than the whole system. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Item 19 in the Elevation Burger 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 Elevation Burger FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is Elevation Burger's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Elevation Burger (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 Elevation Burger franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Elevation Burger has 32 total units in the United States, including 32 franchised units and 0 company-owned units. 1 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Elevation Burger a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Elevation Burger as a D-grade franchise with a verdict score of 31 out of 100 (higher is better), 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.
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.