Mason’s Famous Lobster Rolls
Bottom line
- Total investment $241K – $629K including a $35K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $848K/year (median $821K). Estimated payback in 4.0 years.
- Rated STRONG with a risk score of 40/100.
- System growing at 127.3% CAGR over 3 years with 27 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 Mason’s Famous Lobster Rolls unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
32%
In Yale's "attractive" band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Mason’s Famous Lobster Rolls units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$1.7M
on $8.5M purchase
Total debt
$6.8M
SBA $4.2M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Franchisees operate casual fast-casual seafood restaurants specializing in lobster rolls and regional New England fare. Day-to-day operations include food sourcing, labor management, customer service, and compliance with franchisor standards for menu and branding. Most locations are counter-service or quick-casual formats with limited table service.
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 · 15 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.
No SBA loan data available for this brand.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Moderate-to-caution risk profile: aggressive growth, undisclosed financial performance data, and high investment relative to earnings warrant deep validation before signing.
Score breakdown · what drove the 40 / 100 rating
- 01MEDNo Item 19 (Financial Performance Representations) disclosed — cannot independently verify the $847,577 average revenue or $107,512 net income claims
- 02MEDHigh initial investment range ($241K-$629K) relative to disclosed net income ($107K) creates 2.3-5.9 year payback horizon with execution risk
- 03MINORRapid unit growth (25% YoY) may indicate aggressive franchising outpacing operational support maturity
- 04MINOR5% royalty on gross sales with no Item 19 makes it difficult to assess true unit profitability and franchisor sustainability
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
28 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Mason’s Famous Lobster Rolls · FDD (2024) PDF