Giordano’s® Restaurants
Bottom line
- Total investment $609K – $2.1M including a $40K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
- Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 57/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 16 loans (below the industry average).
- System 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
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 Giordano’s® Restaurants unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
8%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Overview
About
Franchisees operate deep-dish Chicago-style pizza restaurants, managing food preparation, customer service, delivery logistics, and point-of-sale operations. Day-to-day responsibilities include inventory management, staff scheduling, quality control of signature stuffed pizzas, and local marketing within their protected territory. Franchisees must comply with brand standards while managing labor costs and food pricing volatility in a competitive QSR market.
Item 7 · what it costs
The Vitals
Item 19
Financial Performance
This franchisor did not disclose financial performance representations in Item 19, or our extractor could not parse them.
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 5 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
Giordano's presents elevated risk due to declining unit count, zero financial disclosure, and high capital requirements with no transparent performance benchmarks to justify investment.
Score breakdown · what drove the 57 / 100 rating
- 01MINORUnit count declining 3.0% YoY indicating system contraction and potential market saturation or operational challenges
- 02MEDNo Item 19 financial performance representations disclosed—inability to validate revenue/profitability claims creates investment opacity
- 03MEDHigh capital requirements ($609K-$2.056M) combined with undisclosed average unit volumes creates unknown ROI and payback period
- 04MINORProtected territory is sole competitive advantage but does not offset lack of financial transparency or shrinking franchisee base
- 05MINOR10-year term locks franchisees into declining system; renewal risk unclear given current unit trajectory
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
37 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Giordano’s® Restaurants · FDD (2025) PDF