Giordano’s® Restaurants Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
- Investment
- $1.6M – $2.1M
- Disclosed sales
- $1.8M
- gross sales, not profit
- SBA charge-off
- Under 10 loans (5)
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Giordano's is an Italian restaurant franchise famous for its Chicago-style stuffed deep-dish pizza. Franchisees run the restaurants, managing food prep, dine-in, delivery, and staffing.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Giordano’s® Restaurants franchise requires a total initial investment of $1.6M – $2.1M, including a $40K franchise fee and an ongoing 6.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $1.8M[2]. FranchiseVerdict grade: B (Above 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: medium - issued 12 to 24 months ago; a newer filing is likely on file
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 scored7 of 7 headline figures on this page cite a page of the filing.
Overview
- Investment
- $1.6M – $2.1M
- 37th pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $1.8M
- Cohort-only Item 19Outlet subset9th pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- 25th pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 60
- 28th pct Service Resta…
- SBA charge-off
- N/A
Quick verdict · Full-Service Restaurants · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Full-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 $1.6M – $2.1M including a $40K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSAverage unit revenue of $1.8M/year (reported for a subset of outlets rather than the whole system). Giordano’s® Restaurants discloses Item 19 performance by restaurant format and location, and separately for franchised and company-owned restaurants, and states no single system-wide average, so the unit revenue shown is not a figure its FDD publishes.
- RISKVerdict B (Above average), verdict score 51/100 (higher is better).
- GROWTHNegative: net -1 franchised outlets in the latest year (1 opened, 2 closed); 1 signed but not yet open (Item 20).
- 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
- VPC Pizza Franchise, LLC
- Parent company
- VPC Pizza Intermediate LLC
- FDD Item 1, page 8 of the 2025 FDD
- Predecessor
- Giordano's Enterprises, Inc.
- Prior franchisor entity
- CEO title
- Chief Executive Officer
- Nicholas Scarpino
- Incorporated in
- DE
- HQ
- 60 E. Superior Street, Suite 300, Chicago, Illinois 60611
- Auditor
- BDO USA, P.C.
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $3.6M
- vs $3.7M prior year
- Management churn noted
- Frequent turnover
- Item 2 disclosed frequent executive changes
Affiliated brands
- of ours with the same pr
Other brands the franchisor or its parent operates (Item 1).
Overview
About
- CEO
- Nicholas Scarpino
- Headquarters
- IL
- Founded
- 1974
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 4
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 167% above the typical full-service restaurants franchise.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 5–7
Full Item 7 breakdown8 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Fee | $40K | $40K | |
| Leasehold Improvements | $854K | $1.1M | |
| Furniture, Fixtures, Equipment & Fees | $557K | $715K | |
| Initial Inventory | $9K | $23K | |
| Security Deposits and Advance Rent | $20K | $30K | |
| Grand Opening Advertising | $20K | $20K | |
| Miscellaneous Start-Up Costs | $50K | $100K | |
| Additional Funds - 3 Months | $15K | $30K | |
| Total initial investment | $1.6M | $2.1M |
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
- $1.6M – $2.1M
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $15K – $30K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $40K – $40K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- 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 |
| Training fee | $500 |
| Transfer fee | $20K |
| Renewal fee | $6K |
| Inventory (initial) | $9K – $23K |
| Total fee load | 8.0% of rev |
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales run 15% above the full-service restaurants norm.
Item 19 of this FDD reports outlet performance by restaurant format and location, and separately for franchised and company-owned restaurants, and states no single system-wide average. The figure shown here is not one the filing publishes; the cohorts it does disclose are listed with it.
Reported for a subset of outlets rather than the whole system
Source: FDD 2025 · 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 Giordano’s® Restaurants 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
$1.8M
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 Giordano’s® Restaurants 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: 2025 FDD
Financial Performance
Item 19 of this FDD reports outlet performance by restaurant format and location, and separately for franchised and company-owned restaurants, and states no single system-wide average. The figure shown here is not one the filing publishes; the cohorts it does disclose are listed with it.
Reported for a subset of outlets rather than the whole system
- Avg gross sales
- $1.8M
- Per unit, per year
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 revenue
- Sample size
- 30 outlets
- vs category median 18
- Range (low → high)
- $696K→$4.1MCited, not corroborated — printed on page 47 of the 2025 FDD. Nothing else in our record independently restates or re-derives it.
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Reporting year
- 2024
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2025
- Disclosed in the 2025 filing, covering 2024
Compared against 801 Full-Service Restaurants brands
Item 19 · by restaurant format and location, and separately for franchised and company-owned restaurants
What the filing does disclose
Each row below is quoted from the FDD's own Item 19 table. The single average above is not - the filing states no system-wide figure, and we cannot attribute the one shown to any row here.
Item 19 detail
By location type
| Segment | Sample (outlets) | Avg |
|---|---|---|
| Chicagoland Full-Service City/Tourist Restaurants (Combined) | 6 outlets | $6.9M |
| Chicagoland Full-Service Suburban/Urban Restaurants (Combined) | 33 outlets | $1.9M |
| Chicagoland Limited-Service Suburban/Urban Restaurants (Combined) | 5 outlets | $935K |
| Outside Illinois Full-Service City/Tourist Restaurants (Combined) | 6 outlets | $4.4M |
| Outside Illinois Full-Service Suburban Restaurants (Combined) | 8 outlets | $1.9M |
| Chicagoland Full-Service City/Tourist Restaurants (Franchised Only) | 1 outlet | $2.6M |
| Chicagoland Full-Service Suburban/Urban Restaurants (Franchised Only) | 20 outlets | $1.6M |
| Chicagoland Limited-Service Suburban/Urban Restaurants (Franchised Only) | 3 outlets | $735K |
| Outside Illinois Full-Service City/Tourist Restaurants (Franchised Only) | 4 outlets | $3.1M |
| Outside Illinois Full-Service Suburban Restaurants (Franchised Only) | 2 outlets | $2.6M |
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 $1.8M/year in gross sales. Revenue-to-investment ratio: 1.0x. Reported for a subset of outlets rather than the whole system.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 8.0% (near the Full-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 -11.1% 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 Full-Service Restaurants medians
How Giordano’s® Restaurants Compares
Category median of published Full-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 2025 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 60
- Opened
- 1
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 2
- Terminated
- 2
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 0
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 3.3%
- Company-owned
- 28
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 53%
- vs corporate-owned
- Multi-unit owners
- 1.0%
- Net growth (3-yr)
- -11.1%
- Net unit change over 3 years
- 3-yr CAGR
- -11.1%
- Compounded over last 3 years
Last fiscal year · Item 20 exits and transfers
- Terminated
- 2
- Not renewed
- 0
- Transferred
- 0
- Reacquired
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
- Signed, not yet open
- 1
- 0.02 per open outlet · Item 20 Table 5
- Projected new
- 2
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
- Termination rate
- 3.3%
- Franchisor-initiated terminations
- Ceased ops
- 5.0%
- Units that stopped operating
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 4 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.
Available to sell in · Item 12
- Michigan
States where the franchisor is registered to sell new franchises (FDD registration filings).
Where the owners are · Item 20 owner list
36 current owners across 4 states.
- IL 30
- CO 2
- FL 2
- IN 2
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.
A system losing more than 10% of its units year-over-year is a red flag. Check whether closures are concentrated in specific regions.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA loan disclosures. This brand has only 5 7(a) loans on file; statistical reliability is limited below 10 loans.
- Total loans
- 5
- Loan volume
- $2.2M
- Median loan
- $447K
- average
- Charge-off rate
- Under 10 loans (5)
- Insufficient SBA coverage: 5 loans, rate hidden below 10
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- Under 10 loans (5)
- 5-yr charge-off
- Under 10 loans (5)
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 5
- 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
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 · BDO USA, P.C.
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
FY ended December 30, 2024. Total Revenues 3,557,251 = Royalty fees 3,412,600 + Initial franchise fees 144,651. Member's Deficit (negative equity) of (4,425,515). Audited by BDO USA, P.C.
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: Yes
- 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 51 / 100 verdict
- 01MINORUnit count declining 3.0% YoY indicating system contraction and potential market saturation or operational challenges
- 02MINORProtected territory is sole competitive advantage but does not offset lack of financial transparency or shrinking franchisee base
- 03MINOR10-year term locks franchisees into declining system; renewal risk unclear given current unit trajectory
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 | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 5 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 2 |
| Territory type | Protected territory |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| 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 | 15 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Termination groundsℹ | 3 |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 2 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Cook County, Illinois |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | IL |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
No litigation required to be disclosed in Item 3.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 70 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 250 hrs
- Training location
- Giordano's Pizza Academy and Training Restaurant in Chicago, Illinois; franchisee's Restaurant
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Time to open
- 9 mo
- From signing to launch
- Site selection
- franchisee with franchisor evaluation/no-objection
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
36 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 Giordano’s® Restaurants franchise?
The total investment to open a Giordano’s® Restaurants franchise ranges from $1.6M – $2.1M, with an initial franchise fee of $40K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Giordano’s® Restaurants franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Giordano’s® Restaurants FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $1.8M. Important context: Item 19 of this FDD reports outlet performance by restaurant format and location, and separately for franchised and company-owned restaurants, and states no single system-wide average. The figure shown here is not one the filing publishes; the cohorts it does disclose are listed with it.; 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.
Who owns Giordano’s® Restaurants?
Giordano’s® Restaurants is franchised by VPC Pizza Franchise, LLC. Its parent company is VPC Pizza Intermediate LLC. Source: FDD Item 1, 2025 filing.
What is Item 19 in the Giordano’s® Restaurants 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 Giordano’s® Restaurants FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is Giordano’s® Restaurants's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Giordano’s® Restaurants (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 Giordano’s® Restaurants franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Giordano’s® Restaurants has 60 total units in the United States, including 32 franchised units and 28 company-owned units. 1 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Giordano’s® Restaurants a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Giordano’s® Restaurants as a B-grade franchise with a verdict score of 51 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.