Lean Kitchen Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Lean Kitchen is a healthy meal-prep franchise selling fresh, chef-prepared heat-and-eat meals for pickup and delivery. Franchisees run the kitchens, managing meal production, packaging, and grab-and-go retail.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Lean Kitchen franchise requires a total initial investment of $151K – $442K, including a $40K franchise fee and an ongoing 6.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2024 FDD, average unit revenue was $556K[2]. SBA 7(a) loans show a 0.0% charge-off rate across 15 loans[1]. FranchiseVerdict grade: C (Average), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified · figures per the 2024 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $151K – $442K
- 6th pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $556K
- 3rd pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- 28th pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 32
- 33rd 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
- Total investment $151K – $442K including a $40K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $556K/year (median $497K).
- Verdict C (Average), verdict score 44/100 (higher is better). SBA loan charge-off rate of 0.0% across 15 loans (well below the franchise average, based on all SBA 7(a) franchise lending, 2010–2025).
- Auditor 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
- Lean Kitchen Enterprises, LLC
- CEO title
- Chief Executive Officer
- Austin Evans
- Founder active
- Yes
- Original founder still leading the business
- Incorporated in
- MO
- HQ
- 1331 South Belt Highway, St. Joseph, MO 64507
- Auditor
- Omar Alnuaimi, CPA
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $697K
- vs $928K prior year
- Management churn noted
- Frequent turnover
- Item 2 disclosed frequent executive changes
- ⚠ Going-concern note
- Disclosed in FDD 2024
- Status as of 2024; may have been resolved in a later filing we don't yet have.
Overview
About
- CEO
- Austin Evans
- Headquarters
- MO
- Founded
- 2017
- FDD year
- 2024
- States available
- 9
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 68% below the typical full-service restaurants franchise.
Source: FDD 2024 · Items 5–7
Full Item 7 breakdown19 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Feenot refundable | $40K | $40K | |
| Rent (one month)not refundable | $3K | $5K | |
| Lease Security Deposit | $3K | $5K | |
| Kitchen Equipmentnot refundable | $45K | $100K | |
| Buildout and Fixturesnot refundable | $25K | $130K | |
| Signagenot refundable | $5K | $12K | |
| Computer Systemsnot refundable | $2K | $3K | |
| Delivery Vehiclenot refundable | $0 | $70K | |
| Insurance (3 months)not refundable | $300 | $2K | |
| Utilities | $250 | $750 | |
| Inventorynot refundable | $10K | $20K | |
| Licenses and Permitsnot refundable | $150 | $1K | |
| Professional Fees (architect, lawyer, accountant, etc.)not refundable | $3K | $13K | |
| Market Introduction Programnot refundable | $500 | $5K | |
| Pre-opening employee compensationnot refundable | $2K | $4K | |
| Travel, lodging and meals for initial trainingnot refundable | $4K | $8K | |
| Additional funds (for first 3 months)not refundable | $10K | $25K | |
| Additional initial franchise fees (MUDA)not refundable | $20K | $80K | |
| Business planning and miscellaneous expenses (MUDA)not refundable | $1K | $5K | |
| Total initial investment | $172K | $527K |
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.
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $151K – $442K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $10K – $25K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $40K – $40K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- percentage · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 3.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 9.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 6.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 3.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $310 |
| Training fee | $500 |
| Transfer fee | $13K |
| Renewal fee | $13K |
| Inventory (initial) | $10K – $20K |
| Total fee load | 9.0% of rev |
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales run 64% below the full-service restaurants norm.
Source: FDD 2024 · 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
$50K
9.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
16%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
6.3 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $556K
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $497K
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
- 16 units
- vs category median 16
- Range (low → high)
- $314K→$1.2M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Reporting year
- 2024
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Transparency
- 4 / 10
- vs category median 4 / 10 · typical
Compared against 1273 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 $556K/year in gross sales. Revenue-to-investment ratio: 1.9x.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 9.0% — above 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 20.0% CAGR over 3 years across 32 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 Lean Kitchen Compares
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2024 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 32
- Opened
- 4
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 6
- Terminated
- 0
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 0
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 20.0%
- Company-owned
- 2
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 94%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (3-yr)
- -6.3%
- Net unit change over 3 years
- 3-yr CAGR
- +20.0%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 4
- Closed (3yr)
- 6
- Terminated (3yr)
- 0
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 0
- Transfers (3yr)
- 0
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
- Projected new
- 5
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
- Ceased ops
- 18.8%
- Units that stopped operating
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 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
- 15
- Loan volume
- $3.4M
- Median loan
- $224K
- 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
- 6
- Defaults
- 0
Vintage analysis
Lean Kitchen charge-off rate by loan vintage
Top lenders financing Lean Kitchen franchisees
Showing 3 of 6 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 Lean Kitchen's SBA lending history: lender network, geographic footprint, interest rates, and more.
SBA Lending Report
- Principal loss rate and NAICS industry benchmark
- 6 lenders with concentration factor
- Per-state charge-off rates across 8 states
- Startup risk premium and job creation velocity
Instant access. No subscription.
With a 0.0% charge-off rate across 15 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
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.
Litigation (Item 3)
No litigation required to be disclosed
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Omar Alnuaimi, CPA⚠ Going-concern note flagged
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: No
- Kickbacks from required suppliers: No
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 44 / 100 verdict
- 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
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 9.0% of sales (royalty + ad fund), before rent and labor.
Source: FDD 2024 · Items 11, 12, 17
FDD Items 12, 15, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 5 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 3 |
| Territory type | exclusive |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | Yes |
| Territory radius | 3 mi |
| Territory population | 100,000 |
| Online sales rights | Granted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Optional |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 25 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | St. Joseph, Missouri |
| Jury trial waiver | No |
| Governing law | MO |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
No litigation required to be disclosed
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 8 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 44 hrs
- Training location
- St. Joseph, MO and Parkville, MO
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Time to open
- 7 mo
- From signing to launch
- Site selection
- Franchisee selects, franchisor approves
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- Revel (POS) + Paytronix (Loyalty) + Bottle (online ordering)
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Revel (POS) + Paytronix (Loyalty) + Bottle (online ordering)
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
20 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Lean Kitchen · FDD (2024) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Lean Kitchen franchise?
The total investment to open a Lean Kitchen franchise ranges from $151K – $442K, 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 Lean Kitchen franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Lean Kitchen FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $556K. The median is $497K. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Lean Kitchen's franchise failure rate?
Based on SBA 7(a) loan data, Lean Kitchen has a charge-off rate of 0.0% across 15 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 Lean Kitchen franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Lean Kitchen has 32 total units in the United States, including 30 franchised units and 2 company-owned units. 4 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Lean Kitchen a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Lean Kitchen as a C-grade franchise with a verdict score of 44 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 Lean Kitchen, you can request corrections or provide updated information.
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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.