JINYA Ramen Bar Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
JINYA Ramen Bar is a full-service Japanese restaurant franchise specializing in slow-simmered ramen and izakaya-style small plates. Franchisees run the restaurants, managing kitchen production, table service, and staffing.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A JINYA Ramen Bar franchise requires a total initial investment of $1.4M – $3.1M, including a $40K franchise fee and an ongoing 5.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $2.8M[2]. SBA 7(a) loans show a 0.0% charge-off rate across 26 loans[1]. FranchiseVerdict grade: C (Average), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $1.4M – $3.1M
- 36th pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $2.8M
- 12th pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- 5.0%
- 7th pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 62
- 28th pct Service Resta…
- SBA charge-off
- 0.0%
- % of SBA 7(a) loans not repaid · median varies by category
Quick verdict · Full-Service Restaurants · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Full-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 $1.4M – $3.1M including a $40K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSAverage unit revenue of $2.8M/year (median $2.6M).
- RISKVerdict C (Average), verdict score 58/100 (higher is better). SBA loan charge-off rate of 0.0% across 26 loans (well below the franchise average, based on all SBA 7(a) franchise lending, 2010–2025).
- FLAGAuditor disclosed a going-concern note, which flagged doubt about the franchisor's ability to continue operations. Verify against the latest FDD.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- JINYA Franchise, Inc.
- CEO title
- Founder, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and President
- Tomonori Takahashi
- Incorporated in
- CA
- HQ
- 3334 Burton Avenue, Burbank, California 91504
- Auditor
- Baker Tilly US, LLP
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $7.1M
- vs $5.9M prior year
- ⚠ Going-concern note
- Disclosed in FDD 2025
- Auditor flagged doubt about continued operations. Verify against the latest FDD before deciding.
Overview
About
- CEO
- Tomonori Takahashi
- Headquarters
- CA
- Founded
- 2012
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 20
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 92% above the typical full-service restaurants franchise.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 5–7
FDD Item 7 · 2025 filing
Initial investment breakdown
| Cost component | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $40K | $40K |
| Working capital (3–6 mo) | $35K | $55K |
| Equipment, build-out, other | $1.3M | $3.0M |
| Total initial investment | $1.4M | $3.1M |
Source: JINYA Ramen Bar 2025 FDD, Items 5 and 7[2]. “Equipment, build-out, other” is computed as total minus disclosed line items above.
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $1.4M – $3.1M
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $35K – $55K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $40K – $40K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Royalty
- 5.0%
- percentage · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 1.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 6.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 5.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 1.0% of gross sales |
| Transfer fee | $15K |
| Renewal fee | $25K |
| Inventory (initial) | $18K – $31K |
| 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.
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales run 60% above the full-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
$334K
12.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
15%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
6.9 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 JINYA Ramen Bar unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Estimated return on your total franchise investment, before any debt financing.
15%
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 JINYA Ramen Bar units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
36.0%
4.65× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
2.28×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$4.7M
on $13.9M purchase
Total debt
$9.2M
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
- $2.8M
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $2.6M
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
- 52 outlets
- vs category median 18 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $1.2M→$5.2M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Reporting year
- 2024
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2025
- Disclosed in the 2025 filing, covering 2024
- Transparency
- 4 / 10
- vs category median 3 / 10 · above
Compared against 805 Full-Service Restaurants brands
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 $2.8M/year in gross sales. Revenue-to-investment ratio: 1.2x.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 6.0% — below the Full-Service Restaurants average of 7.6%.
Disclosure
Transparency score 4/10 — this franchisor discloses detailed breakdowns (quartiles, segments, or cohort data). Buyers can model unit economics with higher confidence.
Operator retention
System expanding at 43.3% CAGR over 3 years across 62 units — operators are staying and new ones are joining.
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 Full-Service Restaurants averages
How JINYA Ramen Bar Compares
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 62
- Opened
- 7
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 1
- Turnover rate
- 2.3%
- Company-owned
- 3
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 96%
- vs corporate-owned
- Multi-unit owners
- 1.0%
- Net growth (3-yr)
- +43.3%
- Net unit change over 3 years
- 3-yr CAGR
- +43.3%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 6
- Closed (3yr)
- 1
- Terminated (3yr)
- 0
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 0
- Transfers (3yr)
- 0
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 15 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.
Fast growth in a small system. Newer franchisors expanding quickly may not yet have the support infrastructure of larger systems.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
- Total loans
- 26
- Loan volume
- $23.8M
- Median loan
- $656K
- 50th percentile
- 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)
- 100.0%
- 5-yr charge-off
- 0.0%
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 13
- Defaults
- 0
- Typical loan rate
- 6.3%
- avg rate to borrowers
- Franchised industry avg
- 13.2%
- brand beats franchise avg ↓
- Jobs supported
- 719
- 3.8 per loan
- Lender concentration
- 15%
- top lender's share
Borrower mix: 73% went to startups / new businesses, 27% to established operators
Franchise vs independent — in full-service restaurants, franchised businesses charge off at 13.2% vs 9.7% for independents — franchising is associated with 36% higher SBA default risk in this category.
Top lenders financing JINYA Ramen Bar franchisees
Showing 3 of 13 lenders. The full breakdown — every lender, state distribution, interest rates & risk ratings — is in the SBA Lending Report below.
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Premium insight
SBA Lending Report
Deep-dive into JINYA Ramen Bar's SBA lending history: lender network, geographic footprint, interest rates, and more.
SBA Lending Report
- Principal loss rate and NAICS industry benchmark
- 10 lenders with concentration factor
- Per-state charge-off rates across 12 states
- Startup risk premium and job creation velocity
- 7-year lending trend
- SBA 504 real estate/equipment data
Instant access. No subscription.
With a 0.0% charge-off rate across 26 loans, banks have historically viewed this brand favorably for lending.
What could kill this investment?
The auditor flagged going-concern doubt (Item 21) — the single biggest risk here.
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA · FDD Items 3, 21
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 4, 8, 16, 21
Risk & Legal
⚠ Grade capped at C: the auditor disclosed a going-concern note (FDD Item 21). The verdict score reflects the underlying financials before that cap.
JINYA presents elevated risk due to material litigation history, non-transparent profitability metrics, and high capital requirements relative to modest system growth.
Litigation (Item 3)
4 matters disclosed: (1) SF Yakiniku arbitration settled $410K (2020); (2) Socal Ramen suit settled $73K (2020); (3) PAM Group multi-court litigation settled $345K (2015); (4) Masayuki Ueda suit settled $0 from franchisor (2017).
Largest disclosed settlement: $410,000
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Baker Tilly US, LLP⚠ Going-concern note flagged
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: Yes
- Kickbacks from required suppliers: Yes
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
Score breakdown · what drove the 58 / 100 verdict
- 01MEDNet income not disclosed in Item 19 — impossible to assess true profitability despite $2.78M average revenue
- 02HIGHFour litigation settlements totaling $828,000+ within 7 years, including territorial exclusivity disputes and fraud allegations
- 03MINORModest unit growth (11.3% YoY across only 62 units) suggests market saturation or franchisee struggles
- 04MINORADA compliance lawsuit (2020) indicates potential operational/compliance gaps across system
- 05MINORTerritorial exclusivity dispute with franchisor (SF Yakiniku arbitration) raises questions about territory protection reliability
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 6.0% 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 | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 10 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 1 |
| Territory type | protected |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| 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 | 4 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Mandatory arbitration | No |
| Arbitration location | Los Angeles County, California (mediation first) |
| Jury trial waiver | No |
| Governing law | CA |
| Litigation count | 4 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
4 matters disclosed: (1) SF Yakiniku arbitration settled $410K (2020); (2) Socal Ramen suit settled $73K (2020); (3) PAM Group multi-court litigation settled $345K (2015); (4) Masayuki Ueda suit settled $0 from franchisor (2017).
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 34 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 366 hrs
- Training location
- Los Angeles, California (corporate office or Company-Owned JINYA Ramen Bar) or franchisee's location
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Time to open
- 12 mo
- From signing to launch
- Site selection
- franchisee_with_approval
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
27 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
JINYA Ramen Bar · FDD (2025) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a JINYA Ramen Bar franchise?
The total investment to open a JINYA Ramen Bar franchise ranges from $1.4M – $3.1M, 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 JINYA Ramen Bar franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the JINYA Ramen Bar FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $2.8M. The median is $2.6M. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Item 19 in the JINYA Ramen Bar 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 JINYA Ramen Bar FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is JINYA Ramen Bar's franchise failure rate?
Based on SBA 7(a) loan data, JINYA Ramen Bar has a charge-off rate of 0.0% across 26 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 JINYA Ramen Bar franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, JINYA Ramen Bar has 62 total units in the United States, including 59 franchised units and 3 company-owned units. 7 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is JINYA Ramen Bar a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates JINYA Ramen Bar as a C-grade franchise with a verdict score of 58 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
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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.