Bottom line
- Total investment $151K – $442K including a $40K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $556K/year (median $497K).
- Rated STRONG with a risk score of 42/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 29 loans (below the industry average).
- System growing at 57.9% CAGR over 3 years with 32 total units — strong expansion trajectory.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Yale framework · single-unit ROIC
Returns Analysis
Pulls Item 7 (investment) and Item 19 (revenue) from this brand's FDD into the Yale unlevered-ROIC formula. Override any input to stress-test it against your own assumptions.
The model · Yale framework
What would one Lean Kitchen unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
25%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Lean Kitchen units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$778K
on $3.9M purchase
Total debt
$3.1M
SBA $1.9M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Lean Kitchen franchisees operate fast-casual healthy meal preparation and quick-service restaurants, likely focusing on customizable bowls, salads, proteins, and prepared foods targeting health-conscious consumers. Daily operations include food prep, inventory management, customer service, and managing kitchen staff in a limited-service environment with emphasis on fresh, quality ingredients.
Item 7 · what it costs
The Vitals
Item 19
Financial Performance
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 18 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 phone area codes (Item 20). Approximate — ported numbers may show the original state, not the franchisee's current location.
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Early-stage franchise with opaque profitability data, financial uncertainty flagged by going concern status, and an underdeveloped unit base raises questions about franchisor viability and franchisee ROI sustainability.
Score breakdown · what drove the 42 / 100 rating
- 01MEDNo Item 19 (Average Net Income) disclosed — cannot validate ROI or profitability claims
- 02HIGHGoing Concern status is FALSE — suggests franchisor may have undisclosed financial or operational vulnerabilities
- 03MINORWide investment range ($151K-$441K) indicates inconsistent unit economics or unclear startup costs
- 04MEDOnly 32 units system-wide — small franchise with limited scale and support infrastructure
- 05MINOR6% royalty on 'Adjusted Gross Sales' (non-standard metric) — potential for disputes over what qualifies
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
Item 11
Training & Operations
Item 20
Franchisee Contacts
Phone numbers extracted directly from this brand's FDD Item 20. After purchase, you'll also receive a list of validation questions tailored to this brand.
Franchisee contacts
20 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Lean Kitchen · FDD (2024) PDF