Giordano’s® RestaurantsFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Giordano’s® Restaurants franchise requires a total initial investment of $609K – $2.1M, including a $40K franchise fee and an ongoing 6.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $7.6M[2]. Verdict grade: A. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 18, 2026 · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $609K – $2.1M
- 37th pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $7.6M
- 28th pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- 26th pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 60
- 38th pct Service Resta…
- SBA default
- N/A
Quick verdict · Full-Service Restaurants · color = vs category peers
Green = >15% above Full-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
Each dollar invested generates 5.7x in gross revenue, well above the typical 1.5-2.5x range.
Franchising since 1980. Systems this mature have refined operations and brand recognition.
Franchised units fell from 36 to 32 over 3 years. Investigate why operators are leaving.
Bottom line
- Total investment $609K – $2.1M including a $40K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $7.6M/year.
- Verdict A (Top Quintile) with a risk score of 23/100.
- Bankruptcy history disclosed in the FDD. Review Item 4 for details before proceeding.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
- Legal entity
- VPC Pizza Franchise, LLC
- Parent company
- VPC Pizza Intermediate LLC
- Predecessor
- Americana Foods
- 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
- $4.0M
- 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
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.
- CEO
- Nicholas Scarpino
- Headquarters
- IL
- Founded
- 1974
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 4
FDD Item 7 · 2025 filing · 17 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Fee (Limited-Service Restaurant)not refundable | $40K | $40K | |
| Leasehold Improvements (Limited-Service Restaurant)not refundable | $270K | $453K | |
| Furniture, Fixtures, Equipment & Fees (Limited-Service Restaurant)not refundable | $234K | $386K | |
| Initial Inventory (Limited-Service Restaurant)not refundable | $5K | $9K | |
| Security Deposits and Advance Rent (Limited-Service Restaurant)not refundable | $10K | $20K | |
| Grand Opening Advertising (Limited-Service Restaurant)not refundable | $15K | $15K | |
| Miscellaneous Start-Up Costs (Limited-Service Restaurant)not refundable | $30K | $40K | |
| Additional Funds-3 Months (Limited-Service Restaurant)not refundable | $5K | $10K | |
| Initial Franchise Fee (Full-Service Restaurant)not refundable | $40K | $40K | |
| Leasehold Improvements (Full-Service Restaurant)not refundable | $854K | $1.1M | |
| Furniture, Fixtures, Equipment & Fees (Full-Service Restaurant)not refundable | $557K | $715K | |
| Initial Inventory (Full-Service Restaurant)not refundable | $9K | $23K | |
| Security Deposits and Advance Rent (Full-Service Restaurant)not refundable | $20K | $30K | |
| Grand Opening Advertising (Full-Service Restaurant)not refundable | $20K | $20K | |
| Miscellaneous Start-Up Costs (Full-Service Restaurant)not refundable | $50K | $100K | |
| Additional Funds-3 Months (Full-Service Restaurant)not refundable | $15K | $30K | |
| Development Fee (Area Development Agreement)not refundable | — | — | |
| Total initial investment | $2.2M | $3.0M |
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.
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
$758K
10.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
56%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
21 mo
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $609K – $2.1M
- Better than avg vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $5K – $30K
- Better than avg vs category
- Franchise fee
- $40K – $40K
- Better than avg vs category
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- percentage_of_gross · 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) | $6K – $21K |
| Total fee load | 8.0% of rev |
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $7.6M
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- N/A
- Item 19 type
- gross_sales
- Sample size
- 58 units
- vs category median 13 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $696K→$14.5M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Transparency tier
- revenue_only
- Categorical assessment of disclosure depth
- Transparency
- 0 / 5
- vs category median 4 / 5 · below
Compared against 1264 Full-Service Restaurants brands
Revenue is 5.7x the investment midpoint. At typical franchise margins, this suggests a payback under 3 years.
vs Full-Service Restaurants averages
How Giordano’s® Restaurants Compares
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 (yr3)
- -3.0%
- Net unit change last year
- 3-yr CAGR
- -11.1%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Terminated (3yr)
- 2
- Transfers (3yr)
- 0
- 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 · 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 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).
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
- Total loans
- 16
- Loan volume
- N/A
- Amount data pending
- Median loan
- N/A
- Charge-off rate
- N/A
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
- 0
- Defaults
- 0
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Risk analysis
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.
Litigation (Item 3)
No litigation is required to be disclosed
Largest disclosed settlement: $40,000
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
Disclosed in last 7 years
Bankruptcy Court approved the Asset Purchase Agreement by order dated October 25, 2011. The transaction approved by the Bankruptcy Court closed in November 2011 (the “Acquisition Transaction”). As a result of the Acquisition Transaction, our affiliate VPC Pizza Operating Corp. acquired the Giordano’
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · BDO USA, P.C.
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
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 23 / 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
| Initial term | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 5 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 2 |
| Territory type | negotiated boundaries |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Online sales rights | 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 | Illinois |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
No litigation is required to be disclosed
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 70 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 250 hrs
- Training location
- On-site and corporate
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Time to open
- 6 mo
- From signing to launch
- Site selection
- franchisee
- Franchisor financing
- Offered
- Item 10
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
37 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Giordano’s® Restaurants · FDD (2025) PDF
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 $609K – $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 $7.6M. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
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 36 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 A-grade franchise with a risk score of 23 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.