FranchiseVerdict
Lennys Grill & Subs logo
FV-01485·MODERATEExcellent91

Lennys Grill & Subs

Food & Beverage - Quick ServiceFranchising since 2020Website
Investment
$283K – $577K
56th pct Quick Service
Avg revenue
$825K
18th pct Quick Service
Royalty
6.0%
46th pct Quick Service
Units
62
64th pct Quick Service
SBA default

Bottom line

  • Total investment $283K – $577K including a $25K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
  • Average unit revenue of $825K/year (median $737K).
  • Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 63/100.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Lenny’s Holdings LLC
Incorporated in
Ohio
HQ
5000 Arlington Centre Blvd., Suite 5300, Columbus, Ohio 43220
Auditor
Schneider Downs & Co., Inc.
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$3.6M
vs $3.6M prior year

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 Lennys Grill & Subs unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
FDD Item 19 reports $824,588
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: qsr
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $283K–$577K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $20K–$30K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

25%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$115K
EBITDA margin
14.0%
Total invested
$455K
Payback
47 mo
Unit-level only. A multi-unit portfolio gives up roughly 5–15% of this to shared services (corporate G&A) before reaching the ~10-unit break-even Yale describes.

Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing

What would 25 Lennys Grill & Subs units return on equity?

Edit assumptions

Equity IRR · 5-yr

49.9%

7.57× MOIC

Year-1 DSCR

1.88×

EBITDA ÷ debt service

Equity required

$1.2M

on $5.8M purchase

Total debt

$4.6M

SBA $2.9M + senior + seller note

Overview

About

Franchisees operate fast-casual grill and submarine sandwich restaurants, managing food preparation, customer service, inventory, and staff scheduling. Day-to-day responsibilities include coordinating kitchen operations, maintaining food quality standards, handling POS systems, and driving local marketing within their protected territory.

CEO
Charley M. Shin
Founded
2019
FDD year
2025
States available
12

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$283K – $577K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$20K – $30K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$25K
Royalty
6.0%
Percentage of Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
2.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
8.0%
vs 9–13% typical

Item 19

Financial Performance

Avg gross sales
$825K
Per unit, per year
Median gross sales
$737K
Item 19 type
Historical sales of franchised and company-owned outlets
Sample size
46 units
vs category median 37
Range (low → high)
$369K$1.7M
Cohort dispersion
Transparency
4 / 5
vs category median 4 / 5 · typical
Revenue rank18th
vs Food & Beverage - Quick Service peers
Investment cost rank56th
Lower investment ranks lower (better)
Royalty rate rank46th
Lower royalty = lower percentile (better)
Unit count rank64th
vs Food & Beverage - Quick Service peers
Risk score rank56th
Lower risk = lower percentile (better)

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
62
Opened
1
Last reporting year
Closed
0
Turnover rate
0.0%
Company-owned
4
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
94%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
-1.7%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
+3.6%
Compounded over last 3 years
2023
58-1
Franchised units
2024
59
Franchised units
2025
56
Franchised units

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).

AK
ME
VT
NH
MA
RI
CT
NY
NJ
PA
DE
MD
DC
WA
OR
CA
NV
ID
MT
WY
UT
CO
AZ
NM
ND
SD
NE
KS
OK
TX
MN
IA
MO
AR
LA
WI
IL
MS
TN
MI
IN
KY
AL
OH
WV
GA
VA
NC
SC
FL
HI
Registered · 3 states
Not registered

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.

No SBA loan data available for this brand.

FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17

Risk & Legal

63
Risk · 0-100
MODERATE63 / 100

Lennys presents meaningful caution due to shrinking unit count, absent profitability disclosure, and questionable corporate financial health despite moderate revenue figures.

Score breakdown · what drove the 63 / 100 rating

  1. 01MINORUnit count declining 1.7% YoY indicates system contraction and potential franchisee dissatisfaction
  2. 02MEDNet income not disclosed in Item 19 prevents ROI validation against $283k-$577k investment range
  3. 03HIGHGoing Concern status is FALSE, suggesting financial viability concerns at corporate level
  4. 04MINORHigh investment-to-revenue ratio (34-70% of average revenue required upfront) creates significant payback risk
  5. 05MED6% royalty on gross sales with undisclosed profitability makes unit economics opaque and potentially unfavorable

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Radius
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
10 years
Renewal term
10 years
Online sales rights
Restricted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Allowed
Litigation count
0
Right of first refusal
Yes
Franchisor can buy back on resale
Mandatory arbitration
Yes
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Non-compete
2 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Optional
Governing law
Ohio

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
40 hrs
On-the-job training
120 hrs
POS system
Brink POS
Operating tech stack

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

6 numbers

Locked
(213) 576-••••
NY
(901) 735-••••
TN
(901) 753-••••
TN

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Lennys Grill & Subs · FDD (2025) PDF

Single-page checkout · instant download · CSV export of contacts available separately above