Bottom line
- Total investment $1.4M – $1.8M including a $50K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $2.9M/year (median $3.0M).
- Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 62/100.
- System growing at 300.0% CAGR over 3 years with 46 total units — strong expansion trajectory.
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 Grimaldi's unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
26%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Grimaldi's units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
27.9%
3.42× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
2.91×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$11.2M
on $23.1M purchase
Total debt
$11.9M
SBA $5.0M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Grimaldi's franchisees operate coal-fired brick oven pizzerias, managing daily food preparation, ingredient sourcing, point-of-sale operations, staff scheduling, and customer service in a casual dining environment. The business model centers on premium Neapolitan-style pizza production with high-touch preparation and controlled ingredient quality across multiple daily service periods.
Item 7 · what it costs
The Vitals
Item 19
Financial Performance
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
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 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.
No SBA loan data available for this brand.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Rapid expansion with undisclosed profitability, unprotected territory, and no financial transparency creates meaningful franchise investment risk despite strong top-line revenue.
Score breakdown · what drove the 62 / 100 rating
- 01MINORNo net income disclosure (Item 19) prevents ROI validation despite $2.9M average revenue
- 02MINORExplosive 300% YoY unit growth (likely <15 units to 46) suggests aggressive expansion with unproven model scalability
- 03MINORUnprotected territory creates direct competition risk and cannibalization within franchise system
- 04MINORHigh initial investment ($1.39M-$1.84M) with 6% royalty requires $173K+ annual sales just to cover royalties
- 05HIGHGoing Concern status is FALSE — unclear if this indicates going concern issues or simply not yet established
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
7 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Grimaldi's · FDD (2025) PDF