Keke’s Breakfast CaféFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Keke’s Breakfast Café franchise requires a total initial investment of $623K – $1.9M, including a $30K franchise fee and an ongoing 5.5% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $2.1M[2]. Verdict grade: A. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 18, 2026 · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $623K – $1.9M
- 37th pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $2.1M
- 22nd pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- 5.5%
- 24th pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 69
- 39th 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
48% cash-on-cash return (based on EBITDA). Above the 20% threshold most investors target.
Bottom line
- Total investment $623K – $1.9M including a $30K franchise fee, 5.5% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $2.1M/year, with an estimated 48% cash-on-cash return (based on EBITDA).
- Verdict A (Top Quintile) with a risk score of 5/100.
- System growing at 22.2% CAGR over 3 years with 69 total units. Strong expansion trajectory.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
- Legal entity
- Keke’s Franchise Organization, LLC
- Parent company
- Denny’s Corporation
- Ultimate parent
- Denny's Corporation
- CEO title
- President
- David Schmidt
- Incorporated in
- DE
- HQ
- 203 East Main Street, Spartanburg, South Carolina 29319
- Auditor
- KPMG LLP
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $200.4M
- vs $206.1M prior year
Affiliated brands
- DFO
Other brands the franchisor or its parent operates (Item 1).
Overview
About
Franchisees operate quick-service breakfast and brunch cafés serving made-to-order eggs, pancakes, omelets, and sandwiches with table service or counter ordering. Daily operations include food prep, staff management, inventory control, customer service, and adherence to brand standards across a protected territory.
- CEO
- David Schmidt
- Headquarters
- SC
- Founded
- 2022
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 4
FDD Item 7 · 2025 filing
Initial investment breakdown
| Cost component | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $30K | $30K |
| Working capital (3–6 mo) | $15K | $50K |
| Equipment, build-out, other | $578K | $1.8M |
| Total initial investment | $623K | $1.9M |
Source: Keke’s Breakfast Café 2025 FDD, Items 5 and 7[2]. “Equipment, build-out, other” is computed as total minus disclosed line items above.
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
$221K
10.5% margin
Unlevered ROIC
17%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
5.8 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $623K – $1.9M
- Better than avg vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $15K – $50K
- Better than avg vs category
- Franchise fee
- $30K – $30K
- Better than avg vs category
- Royalty
- 5.5%
- percentage_of_gross · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 2.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 7.5%
- vs 9–13% typical
- Payback period
- 2.1 yrs
- From FDD / Item 19
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 5.5% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 2.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $3K |
| Training fee | $2K |
| Transfer fee | $20K |
| Renewal fee | $20K |
| Total fee load | 7.5% of rev |
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $2.1M
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- N/A
- Avg ebitda
- $601K
- Reported as EBITDA in FDD Item 19
- Cash-on-cash
- 47.9%
- Based on EBITDA / investment midpoint
- Item 19 type
- ebitda
- Sample size
- 25 units
- vs category median 13
- Range (low → high)
- $1.6M→$2.6M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Quartile band
- $1.6M→$2.6M
- Bottom 25% → top 25%
- Transparency
- 9 / 5
- vs category median 4 / 5 · above
Compared against 1264 Full-Service Restaurants brands
vs Full-Service Restaurants averages
How Keke’s Breakfast Café Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 69
- Opened
- 7
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 1
- Turnover rate
- 1.4%
- Company-owned
- 14
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 80%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (yr3)
- +12.2%
- Net unit change last year
- 3-yr CAGR
- +22.2%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 6
- Closed (3yr)
- 8
- Terminated (3yr)
- 0
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 0
- Transfers (3yr)
- 2
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
- Projected new
- 31
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
- Ceased ops
- 50.0%
- Units that stopped operating
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 3 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 loan disclosures. This brand has only 6 7(a) loans on file; statistical reliability is limited below 10 loans.
- Total loans
- 6
- Loan volume
- $12.1M
- Median loan
- $1.6M
- 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
- N/A
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 5
- Defaults
- 0
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Keke's Breakfast Café presents moderate-to-cautious risk due to unresolved litigation involving parent entities, lack of financial performance data, small system size, and ambiguous going concern status despite reasonable unit growth and profitability metrics.
Litigation (Item 3)
7 case reference(s): 0 pending, 2 settled.
Largest disclosed settlement: $115,000
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · KPMG LLP
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: No
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
Score breakdown · what drove the 5 / 100 rating
- 01HIGHThree pending/settled litigation cases involving parent company affiliates (DFO, LLC and Denny's, Inc.) suggest structural or operational disputes within the franchise system
- 02MINORHigh initial investment range ($622K–$1.9M) with no Item 19 (Financial Performance Representations) provided, making ROI projections unverifiable
- 03MEDModest unit growth of 12.2% YoY on only 69 total units indicates a small, still-scaling system with limited brand recognition and survival track record
- 04HIGHPending litigation as of 2023 (RWDT FOODS case) remains unresolved, creating uncertainty around franchisor stability and potential financial liability to franchisees
- 05HIGHGoing Concern flagged as 'False' — if this refers to the franchisor, it raises questions about financial viability and ability to support franchisees long-term
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 | Designated Territory |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Territory radius | 2 mi |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Granted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Required |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Termination groundsℹ | 2 |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 2 |
| Mandatory arbitration | No |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Florida |
| Litigation count | 3 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
7 case reference(s): 0 pending, 2 settled.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 24 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 96 hrs
- Training location
- approved training location
- Ongoing training
- Required
- POS system
- PAR POS
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: PAR POS
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
18 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Keke’s Breakfast Café · FDD (2025) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Keke’s Breakfast Café franchise?
The total investment to open a Keke’s Breakfast Café franchise ranges from $623K – $1.9M, with an initial franchise fee of $30K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Keke’s Breakfast Café franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Keke’s Breakfast Café FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $2.1M. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Keke’s Breakfast Café's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Keke’s Breakfast Café (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 Keke’s Breakfast Café franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Keke’s Breakfast Café has 69 total units in the United States, including 45 franchised units and 14 company-owned units. 7 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Keke’s Breakfast Café a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Keke’s Breakfast Café 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.