Bottom line
- Total investment $2.3M – $4.3M including a $50K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
- No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
- Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 62/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 19 loans (below the industry average).
- No Item 19 financial performance representation. Without franchisor-disclosed revenue data, you'll need to gather unit economics directly from existing franchisees.
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 Gyu-Kaku unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
4%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Overview
About
Franchisees operate upscale Japanese yakiniku (tableside grilling) restaurants featuring interactive dining where customers grill premium meats, seafood, and vegetables at tabletop burners. Day-to-day operations involve managing specialized kitchen staff trained in meat preparation, coordinating table-side service protocols, inventory management of high-cost proteins, and maintaining Japanese hospitality standards in a labor-intensive, capital-heavy restaurant environment.
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 · 16 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
Gyu-Kaku presents HIGH RISK due to contracting unit base (-12.5% YoY), absent profitability disclosure, and capital-intensive model with unproven returns in a niche culinary category.
Score breakdown · what drove the 62 / 100 rating
- 01MINORUnit count declining 12.5% YoY (60 units) indicates system contraction and potential demand weakness
- 02MINORNo average revenue or net income disclosure (Item 19) prevents ROI validation and suggests weak unit economics
- 03MEDHigh initial investment ($2.3M–$4.3M) combined with undisclosed profitability creates extreme uncertainty on payback period
- 04MEDJapanese izakaya concept is niche with limited addressable market and high operational complexity (tableside grilling, specialized labor)
- 05MINORTiered royalty structure (5%→4.5%→4%) suggests franchisor depends on high-volume units; declining unit count threatens franchise support sustainability
- 06HIGHNo disclosed litigation but declining footprint may reflect unresolved franchisee disputes or brand performance issues
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
36 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Gyu-Kaku · FDD (2025) PDF