Huckleberry’sFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Huckleberry’s franchise requires a total initial investment of $482K – $1.6M, including a $35K franchise fee and an ongoing 6.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2024 FDD, average unit revenue was $2.0M[2]. SBA 7(a) loans show a 0.0% charge-off rate across 12 loans[1]. Verdict grade: A. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 18, 2026 · figures per the 2024 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $482K – $1.6M
- 32nd pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $2.0M
- 21st pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- 26th pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 35
- 33rd pct Service Resta…
- SBA default
- 0.0%
- system-wide median varies by category
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
Only 0.0% of 12 SBA loans charged off, well below the 16% franchise average.
Bottom line
- Total investment $482K – $1.6M including a $35K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $2.0M/year (median $2.0M).
- Verdict A (Top Quintile) with a risk score of 5/100. SBA loan charge-off rate of 0.0% across 12 loans (well below the franchise average, based on all SBA 7(a) franchise lending, 2010–2024).
- Bankruptcy history disclosed in the FDD. Review Item 4 for details before proceeding.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
- Legal entity
- Heritage Restaurant Brands, LP
- Parent company
- Heritage Restaurant Brands, LLC
- CEO title
- Founder & Chief Executive Officer
- Gregory Graber
- Founder active
- Yes
- Original founder still leading the business
- Incorporated in
- CA
- HQ
- 810 Fiero Lane, Suite 100, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
- Auditor
- Glenn Burdette Attest Corporation
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $3.9M
- vs $4.4M prior year
Overview
About
Huckleberry's franchisees operate retail/service locations (likely specialty food, beverage, or pet-related based on brand name) generating approximately $1.96M in average annual revenue. Day-to-day operations involve customer service, inventory management, and local marketing while paying 6% royalties on gross sales to the franchisor.
- CEO
- Gregory Graber
- Headquarters
- CA
- Founded
- 2016
- FDD year
- 2024
- States available
- 2
FDD Item 7 · 2024 filing · 14 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Fee | $35K | $35K | |
| Your Training Expenses | $15K | $55K | |
| Lease & Utilities deposits | $15K | $40K | |
| Leasehold Improvements, Construction and/or Remodeling | $175K | $850K | |
| Furniture, Fixtures and Equipment | $100K | $400K | |
| Signage | $10K | $40K | |
| Business Licenses and Permits | $15K | $17K | |
| POS/Computer System | $25K | $35K | |
| Initial Inventory | $20K | $30K | |
| Professional Fees | $40K | $80K | |
| Grand Opening Advertising | $2K | $5K | |
| Insurance | $5K | $10K | |
| Operating Expenses / Additional Funds - 3 months | $25K | $50K | |
| Development Fee (Multi-Unit Development Business) | $53K | $53K | |
| Total initial investment | $535K | $1.7M |
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
$176K
9.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
16%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
6.2 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $482K – $1.6M
- Better than avg vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $25K – $50K
- Better than avg vs category
- Franchise fee
- $35K – $35K
- Better than avg vs category
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- Gross Volume · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- A minimum percentage of monthly Gross Volume (currently n…
- Total fee load
- 6.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 6.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $0 |
| Transfer fee | $25K |
| Renewal fee | $10K |
| Total fee load | 6.0% of rev |
A 6.0% total fee load is unusually lean. More of each revenue dollar stays with the franchisee.
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $2.0M
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $2.0M
- Item 19 type
- gross_sales
- Sample size
- 31 units
- vs category median 13 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $1.1M→$3.0M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Quartile band
- $1.4M→$2.3M
- Bottom 25% → top 25%
- Transparency
- 4 / 5
- vs category median 4 / 5 · typical
Compared against 1264 Full-Service Restaurants brands
vs Full-Service Restaurants averages
How Huckleberry’s Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 35
- Opened
- 3
- 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
- 1
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 97%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (yr3)
- +9.7%
- Net unit change last year
- 3-yr CAGR
- +61.9%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Transfers (3yr)
- 0
- Projected new
- 6
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
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 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.
- Total loans
- 12
- Loan volume
- $8.4M
- Median loan
- $697K
- average
- Charge-off rate
- 0.0%
- rates vary by category · see methodology
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
- 0.0%
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 8
- Defaults
- 0
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Premium insight
SBA Lending Report
Deep-dive into Huckleberry’s's SBA lending history: lender network, geographic footprint, interest rates, and more.
SBA Lending Report
- Principal loss rate and NAICS industry benchmark
- 5 lenders with concentration factor
- Per-state charge-off rates across 3 states
- Startup risk premium and job creation velocity
- 9-year lending trend
Instant access. No subscription.
With a 0.0% charge-off rate across 12 loans, banks have historically viewed this brand favorably for lending.
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Huckleberry's presents elevated caution risk due to undisclosed profitability data, concerning Going Concern status, sluggish unit growth, and lack of net income transparency needed to validate the investment thesis.
Litigation (Item 3)
No litigation disclosed in Item 3
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
Disclosed in last 7 years
Predecessor company Dynaco, Inc. filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition on November 21, 2011 (Case No. 11-62472-A-11, United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of California) due to failure to abide by borrowing obligations with WestBank America and foreclosure proceedings. Reorganization plan approved by court on November 30, 2012 and confirmed by creditors. Final decree entered August 15, 2013. Brooks Restaurant Group, Inc. assumed obligations as immediate successor and completed plan as of December 31, 2015.
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Glenn Burdette Attest Corporation
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: No
- Kickbacks from required suppliers: Yes
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: Yes
Score breakdown · what drove the 5 / 100 rating
- 01MEDNet income not disclosed in Item 19 — cannot verify actual profitability despite $1.96M avg revenue
- 02HIGHGoing Concern status is FALSE — indicates potential franchisor financial distress or viability questions
- 03MEDSlow unit growth of 9.7% YoY with only 35 total units — suggests limited market demand or franchisee satisfaction issues
- 04MINORWide investment range ($482K-$1.647M) without clear ROI metrics — high capital requirement with unclear payback period
- 05MINOR6% royalty on gross volume is non-standard and punitive during low-revenue months — franchisee cash flow risk
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 | 10 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 1 |
| Territory type | group of contiguous zip codes |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Territory radius | 2 mi |
| 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 | 10 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| RoFR response window | 30 days |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 5 days |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | San Luis Obispo, California |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | California |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
No litigation disclosed in Item 3
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 0 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 246 hrs
- Training location
- affiliate- or franchised-owned outlet
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Field support
- 112 hrs/yr
- On-site visits per year
- Time to open
- 9 mo
- From signing to launch
- POS system
- Aloha
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Aloha
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
17 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Huckleberry’s · FDD (2024) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Huckleberry’s franchise?
The total investment to open a Huckleberry’s franchise ranges from $482K – $1.6M, with an initial franchise fee of $35K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Huckleberry’s franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Huckleberry’s FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $2.0M. The median is $2.0M. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Huckleberry’s's franchise failure rate?
Based on SBA 7(a) loan data, Huckleberry’s has a charge-off rate of 0.0% across 12 loans, meaning 0.0% of franchise loans were charged off. Charge-off rates are one proxy for franchise risk, though they do not capture all closures. This data comes from FOIA-sourced SBA lending records.
How many Huckleberry’s franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Huckleberry’s has 35 total units in the United States, including 21 franchised units and 1 company-owned units. 3 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Huckleberry’s a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Huckleberry’s as a A-grade franchise with a risk score of 5 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.