Genghis Grill Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
- Investment
- $400K – $1.2M
- Disclosed sales
- $1.2M
- gross sales, not profit
- SBA charge-off
- 25.0%
- on 17 loans
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Genghis Grill is a fast-casual franchise built on build-your-own Mongolian stir-fry bowls grilled to order. Franchisees run the restaurants, managing the ingredient line, grill station, staffing, and service.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Genghis Grill franchise requires a total initial investment of $400K – $1.2M, including a $30K franchise fee and an ongoing 6.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2023 FDD, average unit revenue was $1.2M[2]. SBA 7(a) loans show a 25.0% charge-off rate across 17 loans[1]. FranchiseVerdict grade: C (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 scored5 of 7 headline figures on this page cite a page of the filing; the rest are marked “Not cited” beside the figure.
Overview
- Investment
- $400K – $1.2M
- 64th pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $1.2M
- 23rd pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- 48th pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 49
- 65th pct Service Resta…
- SBA charge-off
- 25.0%
- % of SBA 7(a) loans not repaid · median varies by category
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 $400K – $1.2M including a $30K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSAverage unit revenue of $1.2M/year.
- RISKVerdict C (Average), verdict score 39/100 (higher is better). SBA loan charge-off rate of 25.0% across 17 loans (well above the 16% franchise average, based on all SBA 7(a) franchise lending, 2010–2025).
- GROWTHNegative: net -1 franchised outlets in the latest year (1 opened, 2 closed); 2 signed but not yet open (Item 20).
- EARLYEmerging franchise: only 3 years of franchising with 49 units. Early-stage systems carry higher risk but may offer better territory availability.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- Genghis Grill Franchise LLC
- Parent company
- Craveworthy LLC
- FDD Item 1, page 8 of the 2023 FDD
- Predecessor
- Genghis Grill Franchise Concepts, LP
- Prior franchisor entity
- CEO title
- Manager
- Gregg Majewski
- Incorporated in
- NV
- HQ
- 755 Schneider Dr, South Elgin, IL 60177
- Auditor
- Monis J. Siddiqui, CPA P.C.
- Audited financials
Same owner · FDD Item 1, page 8
6 other brands on this site name Craveworthy LLC as parent or ultimate parent in their own FDD.
- DIRTY DOUGH® COOKIESC
- Sigri Indian BBQC
- Taffer’s TavernD
- Taim Mediterranean KitchenD
- The Budlong Southern ChickenD
- Wing It On!C
Grouped by the owner's name as each filing prints it (this page: the 2023 FDD). Spelling variants of the same group may be listed apart; a brand is never grouped with an owner its filing does not name.
Overview
About
- CEO
- Gregg Majewski
- Headquarters
- IL
- Founded
- 2023
- FDD year
- 2023
- States available
- 13
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 63% above the typical quick-service restaurants franchise.
Source: FDD 2023 · Items 5–7
Full Item 7 breakdown19 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Feenot refundable | $30K | $30K | |
| Architect/Engineering Fees | $10K | $20K | |
| Business Licenses & Permits | $1K | $10K | |
| Liquor License | $0 | $50K | |
| Rent - First 3 Months | $12K | $60K | |
| Leasehold Improvements | $150K | $400K | |
| Furniture, Fixtures & Decor | $20K | $50K | |
| Equipment | $80K | $250K | |
| Smallwares | $14K | $25K | |
| Insurance | $3K | $13K | |
| Miscellaneous Opening Costs | $5K | $20K | |
| Training Costs: Travel and Living Expenses While Training | $10K | $30K | |
| Opening Inventory | $15K | $15K | |
| Signage | $5K | $50K | |
| Professional Fees | $3K | $15K | |
| Uniforms | $2K | $8K | |
| Computer, Point of Sale System and Annual Maintenance Contract, and Office Equipment and Supplies | $15K | $30K | |
| Grand Opening Advertising | $10K | $15K | |
| Additional Funds - First 3 Months | $15K | $90K | |
| Total initial investment | $400K | $1.2M |
Line items extracted from FDD Item 7. Ranges reflect the franchisor's stated low and high per line. Total is the sum of line-item lows / highs — actual costs may fall outside this range depending on market and build-out scope.
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $400K – $1.2M
- Middle of category vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $15K – $90K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $30K – $30K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- Set by a formula · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 2.5%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 8.5%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 6.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 2.5% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $750 |
| Transfer fee | $15K |
| Renewal fee | $5K |
| Inventory (initial) | $15K – $15K |
| Total fee load | 8.5% of rev |
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales run 19% above the quick-service restaurants norm.
Source: FDD 2023 · 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 Genghis Grill 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
$843K
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 Genghis Grill 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: 2023 FDD
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $1.2M
- Per unit/yr · from the Item 19 franchised-cohort breakdown (no single system-wide average disclosed)
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 by tertile (company-owned and franchised, 2020-2022)
- Sample size
- 19 outlets
- vs category median 19
- Range (low → high)
- $646K→$1.6MCited, not corroborated — printed on page 42 of the 2023 FDD. Nothing else in our record independently restates or re-derives it.
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Reporting year
- 2022
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2023
- Disclosed in the 2023 filing, covering 2022
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 $1.2M/year in gross sales. Revenue-to-investment ratio: 1.5x.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 8.5% (near the Quick-Service Restaurants median).
Disclosure
Transparency score 0/10 — minimal disclosure beyond the required average. Hard to judge the distribution of outcomes across units.
Operator retention
System contracting at -4.8% CAGR over 3 years. Investigate whether closures are franchisor-driven consolidation or franchisee exits.
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 Quick-Service Restaurants medians
How Genghis Grill 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 2023 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 49
- Opened
- 1
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 2
- Terminated
- 0
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 2
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 4.1%
- Company-owned
- 29
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 41%
- vs corporate-owned
- Multi-unit owners
- 1.0%
- Net growth (3-yr)
- -4.8%
- Net unit change over 3 years
- 3-yr CAGR
- -4.8%
- Compounded over last 3 years
Last fiscal year · Item 20 exits and transfers
- Terminated
- 0
- Not renewed
- 2
- Transferred
- 1
- Reacquired
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
- Signed, not yet open
- 2
- 0.04 per open outlet · Item 20 Table 5
- Projected new
- 2
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
- Transfer rate
- 2.0%
- Owners selling to other franchisees
- Termination rate
- 4.1%
- Franchisor-initiated terminations
- Ceased ops
- 4.1%
- 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.
Where the owners are · Item 20 owner list
20 current owners across 7 states.
- TX 10
- AZ 2
- GA 2
- NM 2
- NV 2
- AR 1
- CO 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.
- Total loans
- 17
- Loan volume
- $10.8M
- Median loan
- $490K
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- 25.0%
- on 17 loans · 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)
- 75.0%
- 5-yr charge-off
- N/A
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 7
- Defaults
- 4
- Typical loan rate
- 5.9%
- avg rate to borrowers
- Franchised industry avg
- 21.6%
- brand above franchise avg ↑
- Jobs supported
- 503
- 5.5 per loan
- Lender concentration
- 43%
- top lender's share
Franchise vs independent — in full-service restaurants, franchised businesses charge off at 21.6% vs 22.5% for independents — franchising is associated with 4% lower SBA default risk in this category.
Vintage analysis
Genghis Grill charge-off rate by loan vintage
Top lenders financing Genghis Grill franchisees
Showing 3 of 7 lenders. The full breakdown — every lender, state distribution, interest rates & risk ratings — is in the SBA Lending Report below.
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Lender network · 7(a) + 504
SBA Lending Report
Full lending analysis for Genghis Grill from SBA 7(a) FOIA data.
- Principal loss rate
- 10.3%
- Avg SBA guarantee
- 75%
- Avg interest rate
- 5.93%
- Avg chargeoff amount
- $474K
- Lender concentration
- 42.9%
- Job velocity
- 5.5 per $100K
- NAICS benchmark
- 24.7%
- NAICS 722110
- Jobs supported
- 503
Top SBA lendersTop lender holds 43% of loans
| # | Lender | Loans | Volume | Default % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PNC Bank, National Association | 6 | $6.0M | 20.0% |
| 2 | Hanmi Bank | 2 | $1.1M | 0.0% |
| 3 | Texas Partners Bank | 2 | $532K | 0.0% |
| 4 | The Huntington National Bank | 1 | $471K | 100.0% |
| 5 | JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association | 1 | $500K | 0.0% |
| 6 | Stearns Bank National Association | 1 | $166K | 0.0% |
| 7 | Cadence Bank | 1 | $480K | 0.0% |
Geographic failure vector
| State | Loans | Defaults | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| TXTexas | 7 | 0 | 0.0% |
| FLFlorida | 2 | 1 | 50.0% |
| ALAlabama | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
| MDMaryland | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
| MSMississippi | 1 | 0 | -- |
| NMNew Mexico | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
| OHOhio | 1 | 1 | 100.0% |
SBA 7(a) lending trend
Source: SBA 7(a) + 504 FOIA loan-level data, matched by FranchiseVerdict
A 25.0% charge-off rate means roughly 1 in 4 franchisees failed to repay their SBA loan. Investigate what changed.
What could kill this investment?
SBA loans charge off at 25.0% — 56% above the 16.0% national norm, i.e. higher lender-observed risk.
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA · FDD Items 3, 21
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 4, 8, 16, 21
Risk & Legal
Shrinking franchise system with minimal transparency on unit-level economics and high capital requirements creates significant investment risk.
Litigation (Item 3)
Subject: officers or affiliates. The franchisor is not a named party in these cases.
No litigation required to be disclosed in Item 3
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Monis J. Siddiqui, CPA P.C.
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Opening-day (inception) audited balance sheet only as of June 21, 2023; franchisor formed March 2023 and has not been in business three years, so no income statement or revenue figures are provided.
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: No
- 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 39 / 100 verdict
- 01MEDUnit count declined 4.8% YoY (49 units) — shrinking system indicates weak unit economics or franchisee dissatisfaction
- 02MEDHigh investment range ($400K-$1.18M) with no disclosed average revenue creates opacity around payback period
- 03MINORRoyalty floor of $500/month ($6K annually) means even struggling units must pay fixed costs
- 04MINORCasual dining/fast-casual segment highly competitive with thin margins — model vulnerable to labor cost inflation
- 05MINORNo growth trajectory evident — declining unit count suggests brand struggles with franchisee recruitment or retention
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 8.5% of sales (royalty + ad fund), before rent and labor.
Source: FDD 2023 · Items 11, 12, 17
FDD Items 12, 15, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 5 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 2 |
| Territory type | Protected territory |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Territory radius | 2 mi |
| 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 | 10 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | County where franchisor's principal business office is located (South Elgin, IL), with right to file in Nevada |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | NV |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
No litigation required to be disclosed in Item 3
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 40 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 120 hrs
- Training location
- Dallas, Texas or alternative location designated by franchisor
- 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
- Toast
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Toast
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
20 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 Genghis Grill franchise?
The total investment to open a Genghis Grill franchise ranges from $400K – $1.2M, with an initial franchise fee of $30K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Genghis Grill franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Genghis Grill FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $1.2M. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
Who owns Genghis Grill?
Genghis Grill is franchised by Genghis Grill Franchise LLC. Its parent company is Craveworthy LLC. Source: FDD Item 1, 2023 filing.
What is Item 19 in the Genghis Grill 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 Genghis Grill FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is Genghis Grill's franchise failure rate?
Based on SBA 7(a) loan data, Genghis Grill has a charge-off rate of 25.0% across 17 loans, meaning 25.0% 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 Genghis Grill franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Genghis Grill has 49 total units in the United States, including 20 franchised units and 29 company-owned units. 1 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Genghis Grill a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Genghis Grill as a C-grade franchise with a verdict score of 39 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
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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.