Hawaiian Bros Island Grill Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Hawaiian Bros Island Grill is a fast-casual franchise serving Hawaiian plate lunches like teriyaki and huli huli chicken with rice and macaroni salad. Franchisees run the restaurants, managing a limited menu, staffing, and drive-thru service.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Hawaiian Bros Island Grill franchise requires a total initial investment of $1.2M – $4.1M, including a $50K franchise fee and an ongoing 6.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $2.5M[2]. FranchiseVerdict grade: B (Above average), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $1.2M – $4.1M
- 95th pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $2.5M
- 32nd pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- 46th pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 52
- 66th pct Service Resta…
- SBA charge-off
- N/A
Quick verdict · Quick-Service Restaurants · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Quick-Service Restaurants avg · 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 $1.2M – $4.1M including a $50K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSAverage unit revenue of $2.5M/year (median $2.3M).
- RISKVerdict B (Above average), verdict score 54/100 (higher is better).
- FLAGBankruptcy history disclosed in the FDD. Review Item 4 for details before proceeding.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- Hawaiian Bros Franchising, LLC
- Parent company
- Hawaiian Bros Inc.
- CEO title
- President and CEO
- Scott Ford
- Founder active
- Yes
- Original founder still leading the business
- Incorporated in
- MO
- HQ
- 720 Main Street, Kansas City, MO 64105
- Auditor
- Moss Adams LLP
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $4.1M
- vs $2.6M prior year
- Management churn noted
- Frequent turnover
- Item 2 disclosed frequent executive changes
Affiliated brands
- HBGC
Other brands the franchisor or its parent operates (Item 1).
Overview
About
- CEO
- Scott Ford
- Headquarters
- MO
- Founded
- 2022
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 9
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 301% above the typical quick-service restaurants franchise.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 5–7
Full Item 7 breakdown18 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Franchise Fee Deposit | $25K | $50K | |
| Security Deposits and Utility Deposits | $9K | $40K | |
| Construction, Remodeling, and Leasehold Improvements, Landscaping | $362K | $2.4M | |
| Decor, Millwork, Fixtures | $44K | $100K | |
| Equipment and Furniture | $300K | $525K | |
| Computer, Point of Sale Equipment, Software, Network/WiFi, Low Voltage Wiring, Security and Communications | $73K | $102K | |
| Insurance | $2K | $5K | |
| Permits and Licenses | $600 | $15K | |
| Initial Inventory | $12K | $15K | |
| Signage | $38K | $200K | |
| Grand Opening Advertising and VIP Events | $40K | $55K | |
| Architectural / Engineering Plans, Construction Documents | $24K | $174K | |
| Construction Document Review Fee | $5K | $5K | |
| Training Expenses (managers' salaries, travel, meal and lodging for 8 weeks) | $29K | $60K | |
| New Restaurant Opening Assistance for 1st NRO - Travel, Lodging, Meal Reimbursement | $55K | $65K | |
| Apparel (Uniforms and Merchandise) | $3K | $4K | |
| Professional Fees | $1K | $10K | |
| Additional Funds - 3 Months (includes pre-opening expenses) | $114K | $277K | |
| Total initial investment | $1.1M | $4.1M |
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
- $1.2M – $4.1M
- Bottom third — review vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $114K – $277K
- Bottom third — review vs category
- Franchise fee
- $50K – $50K
- Bottom third — review vs category
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- tiered · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 3.0%
- typical 3–5%
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 6.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 3.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $300 |
| Transfer fee | $10K |
| Renewal fee | $25K |
| Inventory (initial) | $12K – $15K |
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales run 106% above the quick-service restaurants norm.
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 19
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
$324K
13.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
11%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
8.7 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
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. The target band for an attractive franchise is 30–60% ROIC. Below that and a passive index fund likely outperforms; above that and the franchisor has pricing power you're subsidizing.
Note: Item 19 revenue is what the franchisor discloses. It's the top line only. Operating costs below are category estimates. Override them to match your real lease quote, labor market, and build-out budget.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one Hawaiian Bros Island Grill unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Estimated return on your total franchise investment, before any debt financing.
11%
Below the 30–60% attractive-franchise band
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%.
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Hawaiian Bros Island Grill units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
34.3%
4.36× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
2.37×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$5.5M
on $15.0M purchase
Total debt
$9.5M
SBA $5.0M + senior + seller note
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
- Avg gross sales
- $2.5M
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $2.3M
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 sales
- Sample size
- 21
- vs category median 20
- Range (low → high)
- $1.1M→$4.0M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Transparency tier
- revenue_only
- Categorical assessment of disclosure depth
- Reporting year
- 2024
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2025
- Disclosed in the 2025 filing, covering 2024
Compared against 782 Quick-Service Restaurants brands
Revenue is only 0.9x the investment. This means each unit may take 5+ years to recoup the initial outlay at typical margins.
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 $2.5M/year in gross sales. Revenue-to-investment ratio: 0.9x.
Fee burden
6.0% royalty + 3.0% ad fund.
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 Quick-Service Restaurants averages
How Hawaiian Bros Island Grill Compares
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 52
- Opened
- 14
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 0
- Terminated
- 0
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 0
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 0.0%
- Company-owned
- 21
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 60%
- vs corporate-owned
- Multi-unit owners
- 1.0%
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 17
- Closed (3yr)
- 0
- Terminated (3yr)
- 0
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 0
- Transfers (3yr)
- 0
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
- Projected new
- 18
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
- Ceased ops
- 7.7%
- Units that stopped operating
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 9 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.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
No SBA loan data available for this brand.
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)
No litigation required to be disclosed
Largest disclosed settlement: $50,000
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
Disclosed in last 7 years
General Counsel Cynthia Dillard Parres was General Counsel of Houlihan's Restaurants, Inc. which filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy on November 14, 2019 (In re HRI Holding Corp., Case No. 19-12415 MFW, D. Del.)
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Moss Adams LLP
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
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 9.0% 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 | 15 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 15 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 1 |
| Territory type | protected |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Territory radius | 3 mi |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Optional |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 20 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 3 |
| Mandatory arbitration | No |
| Jury trial waiver | No |
| Governing law | MO |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
No litigation required to be disclosed
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 47 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 349 hrs
- Training location
- Approved Company Owned Restaurant in Kansas City metropolitan area
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Time to open
- 10 mo
- From signing to launch
- Site selection
- Franchisee with franchisor approval
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- Toast
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Toast
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
36 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Hawaiian Bros Island Grill · FDD (2025) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Hawaiian Bros Island Grill franchise?
The total investment to open a Hawaiian Bros Island Grill franchise ranges from $1.2M – $4.1M, with an initial franchise fee of $50K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Hawaiian Bros Island Grill franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Hawaiian Bros Island Grill FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $2.5M. The median is $2.3M. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Item 19 in the Hawaiian Bros Island Grill 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 Hawaiian Bros Island Grill FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is Hawaiian Bros Island Grill's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Hawaiian Bros Island Grill (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 Hawaiian Bros Island Grill franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Hawaiian Bros Island Grill has 52 total units in the United States, including 31 franchised units and 21 company-owned units. 14 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Hawaiian Bros Island Grill a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Hawaiian Bros Island Grill as a B-grade franchise with a verdict score of 54 out of 100 (higher is better), 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.
For franchisors
Are you the franchisor?
If you represent Hawaiian Bros Island Grill, you can request corrections or provide updated information.
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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.