Keke’s Breakfast Café Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Keke's Breakfast Cafe is a breakfast and brunch restaurant franchise serving made-to-order eggs, pancakes, and sandwiches. Franchisees run the cafes, managing food prep, staff, and daytime table service.
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]. FranchiseVerdict grade: A (Strongest tier), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $623K – $1.9M
- 27th pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $2.1M
- Net sales10th pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- 5.5%
- 22nd pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 69
- 29th pct Service Resta…
- SBA charge-off
- N/A
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 $623K – $1.9M including a $30K franchise fee, 5.5% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSAverage unit revenue of $2.1M/year, with an estimated 26% cash-on-cash return (based on EBITDA before Royalties, Advertising, Occupancy Cost and Management Fees).
- RISKVerdict A (Strongest tier), verdict score 78/100 (higher is better).
- GROWTHSystem growing at 22.2% CAGR over 3 years with 69 total units. Strong expansion trajectory.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- Keke's Franchise Organization, LLC
- Parent company
- Keke's, Inc.
- Ultimate parent
- Denny's Corporation
- Predecessor
- K2 Restaurants, Inc.
- Prior franchisor entity
- 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
- CEO
- David Schmidt
- Headquarters
- SC
- Founded
- 2022
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 4
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 8% 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 | $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.
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $623K – $1.9M
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $15K – $50K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $30K – $30K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Royalty
- 5.5%
- tiered · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 2.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 7.5%
- vs 9–13% typical
- Payback period
- 3.8 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 |
| Inventory (initial) | $13K – $26K |
| Total fee load | 7.5% of rev |
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales run 20% above the full-service restaurants norm.
Reported as net sales, not gross sales
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
$219K
10.5% margin
Unlevered ROIC
17%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
5.9 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
ROI & LBO modelsSingle-unit · 25-unit portfolio · editable
FDD-reported earnings vs. model
The FDD reports $601K as EBITDA before Royalties, Advertising, Occupancy Cost and Management Fees. Our model estimates $219K SLEBITDA from the same revenue using category-average cost assumptions. These numbers differ because EBITDA before Royalties, Advertising, Occupancy Cost and Management Fees deducts different expense categories than our model.
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 Keke’s Breakfast Café unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Estimated return on your total franchise investment, before any debt financing.
17%
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 Keke’s Breakfast Café units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$1.5M
on $7.3M purchase
Total debt
$5.8M
SBA $3.7M + 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
Reported as net sales, not gross sales
- Avg gross sales
- $2.1M
- Per unit, per year
- Avg ebitda before royalties, advertising, occupancy cost and management fees
- $601K
- Reported as EBITDA before Royalties, Advertising, Occupancy Cost and Management Fees in FDD Item 19
- Cash-on-cash
- 26.3%
- Based on EBITDA before Royalties, Advertising, Occupancy Cost and Management Fees / investment midpoint
Gross sales are revenue before expenses — not profit. Actual owner earnings depend on rent, labor, royalties, marketing fees, and debt service.
- Item 19 type
- EBITDA and Net Sales by performance tier
- Sample size
- 25 outlets
- vs category median 18
- Reporting year
- 2024
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2025
- Disclosed in the 2025 filing, covering 2024
- Transparency
- 8 / 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 $2.1M/year in gross sales. Revenue-to-investment ratio: 1.7x.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 7.5% (near the Full-Service Restaurants average).
Disclosure
Transparency score 8/10 — this franchisor discloses detailed breakdowns (quartiles, segments, or cohort data). Buyers can model unit economics with higher confidence.
Operator retention
System expanding at 22.2% CAGR over 3 years across 69 units — operators are staying and new ones are joining.
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 Keke’s Breakfast Café Compares
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 69
- Opened
- 7
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 1
- Turnover rate
- 1.8%
- Company-owned
- 14
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 80%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (3-yr)
- +22.2%
- Net unit change over 3 years
- 3-yr CAGR
- +22.2%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 7
- Closed (3yr)
- 1
- 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.
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 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
- N/A
- limited sample (6 loans) — rate not shown below 10
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
- N/A
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 5
- Defaults
- N/A
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
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
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)
Three cases disclosed: (1) 50 East Thousand Oaks LLC v Denny's Inc. (CA, 2014) - breach of contract/misrepresentation, settled for $115,000 in 2016; (2) Rogers Family Foods v DFO LLC (MN, 2019) - royalty dispute, dismissed with prejudice 2021; (3) RWDT Foods v DFO LLC and Denny's Inc. (SC, 2022) - breach of contract and multiple claims, pending as of disclosure. No lawsuits filed by franchisor in 2024.
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)
ⓘ These are the parent company's consolidated financials (the parent guarantees the franchisor), not this brand's standalone results — the figure reflects the whole corporate group, not this brand alone.
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: No
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 78 / 100 verdict
- 01HIGHThree pending/settled litigation cases involving parent company affiliates (DFO, LLC and Denny's, Inc.) suggest structural or operational disputes within the franchise system
- 02MEDModest 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
- 03HIGHPending litigation as of 2023 (RWDT FOODS case) remains unresolved, creating uncertainty around franchisor stability and potential financial liability to franchisees
- 04HIGHGoing 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
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 7.5% 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 | Granted |
| 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 | 30 days |
| Termination groundsℹ | 2 |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 2 |
| Mandatory arbitration | No |
| Arbitration location | Florida |
| Jury trial waiver | No |
| Governing law | FL |
| Litigation count | 3 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
Three cases disclosed: (1) 50 East Thousand Oaks LLC v Denny's Inc. (CA, 2014) - breach of contract/misrepresentation, settled for $115,000 in 2016; (2) Rogers Family Foods v DFO LLC (MN, 2019) - royalty dispute, dismissed with prejudice 2021; (3) RWDT Foods v DFO LLC and Denny's Inc. (SC, 2022) - breach of contract and multiple claims, pending as of disclosure. No lawsuits filed by franchisor in 2024.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 24 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 96 hrs
- Training location
- Corporate headquarters and/or company-owned Restaurant in Florida, or other designated location
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Time to open
- 5 mo
- From signing to launch
- Site selection
- Franchisee selects subject to franchisor approval
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
- 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 Item 19 in the Keke’s Breakfast Café 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 Keke’s Breakfast Café FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
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 55 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 verdict score of 78 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 Keke’s Breakfast Café, you can request corrections or provide updated information.
Other Full-Service Restaurants franchises
Compare similar franchise opportunities in the Full-Service Restaurants category
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.