Mazzio’s Italian Eatery Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
- Investment
- $413K – $2.2M
- Disclosed sales
- $892K
- gross sales, not profit
- SBA charge-off
- Under 10 loans (2)
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Mazzio's Italian Eatery is a franchise serving pizza, pasta, calzones, and Italian dishes for dine-in, carryout, and delivery. Franchisees run casual restaurants managing food prep, service, and staffing.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Mazzio’s Italian Eatery franchise requires a total initial investment of $413K – $2.2M, including a $30K franchise fee and an ongoing 4.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $892K[2]. FranchiseVerdict grade: B (Above average), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Sources, dates and evidence
FDD issued: 2025 filing · Data extracted: · Last cited check: · Staleness risk: medium - a newer filing may exist
Evidence: strong✓ Investment (Item 7)✓ Item 19 status✓ Units and owners (Item 20)✗ SBA loan coverage✓ Litigation (Item 3)✓ Financial statements (Item 21)✓ Franchisor identityhow this is scored7 of 7 headline figures on this page cite a page of the filing.
Overview
- Investment
- $413K – $2.2M
- 20th pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $892K
- 4th pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- 4.0%
- 3rd pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 90
- 30th 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 median · 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 $413K – $2.2M including a $30K franchise fee, 4.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSAverage unit revenue of $892K/year.
- RISKVerdict B (Above average), verdict score 51/100 (higher is better).
- GROWTHNegative: net -3 franchised outlets in the latest year (0 opened, 3 closed) (Item 20).
- FLAGBankruptcy history disclosed in the FDD. Review Item 4 for details before proceeding.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- Mazzio's, LLC
- Predecessor
- Mazzio's Corporation (formerly Ken's Restaurant Systems, Inc. and Ken's Pizza Parlors, Inc.)
- Prior franchisor entity
- CEO title
- President and Chief Executive Officer
- Lori Carver
- CEO experience
- 12 yrs
- Years in role or industry
- Incorporated in
- OK
- HQ
- 4441 South 72nd East Avenue, Tulsa, Oklahoma 74145
- Auditor
- GBQ Partners LLC
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $68.0M
- vs $70.9M prior year
- Management churn noted
- Frequent turnover
- Item 2 disclosed frequent executive changes
Overview
About
- CEO
- Lori Carver
- Headquarters
- OK
- Founded
- 1961
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 9
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 90% above the typical full-service restaurants franchise.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 5–7
The filing's Item 7 TOTAL row prints $413,000 to $2,164,000. Its own line items add to $413,000 to $2,534,000. The total is shown as the franchisor printed it; the lines are listed as printed. Filing arithmetic: the lows add to the printed $413,000 exactly (including all three training parts), but the highs add to $2,534,000 against a printed $2,164,000 - the filing's own column over-adds its total by $370,000.
Full Item 7 breakdown9 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Opening/ Franchise Fee (1) | $30K | $30K | |
| Equipment & Signs (2) | $163K | $400K | |
| Real Estate & Improvements (3) | $0 | $1.4M | |
| Leasehold Improvements (4) | $130K | $467K | |
| Initial Inventory (5) | $10K | $28K | |
| Training Expense (6) | $22K | $53K | |
| Additional Funds (7) | $50K | $120K | |
| Advertising (first 3 months) (8) | $5K | $30K | |
| Insurance (first 3 months) (9) | $3K | $6K | |
| Total initial investment | $413K | $2.5M |
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
- $413K – $2.2M
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $50K – $120K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $30K – $30K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Royalty
- 4.0%
- typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 1.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 5.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 4.0% of net sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 1.0% of net sales |
| Training fee | $3K |
| Transfer fee | $2K |
| Renewal fee | $10K |
| Inventory (initial) | $10K – $28K |
| Total fee load | 5.0% of rev |
A 5.0% total fee load is unusually lean. More of each revenue dollar stays with the franchisee.
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales run 44% below the full-service restaurants norm.
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 19
Single-unit · not modelled
Returns at a glance
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit, and the operating costs that turn one into the other are in no filing. We publish no modelled return for Mazzio’s Italian Eatery until someone supplies them — yours, in the models below.
—
Not modelled yet
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
Total invested capital · disclosed
$1.4M
Item 7 initial investment plus working capital, as filed — the one figure here that needs no assumption.
ROI & LBO modelsSingle-unit · 25-unit portfolio · editable
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, read against the 30–60% reference band · Yale SOM, Post-MBA Path Exhibit 2 (2023). Below that band a passive index fund likely outperforms; above it the franchisor has pricing power you're subsidizing.
Note: Item 19 revenue is what the franchisor discloses, and it is the top line only — gross sales are not profit. No FDD discloses the operating costs that turn one into the other, so those fields start empty and nothing is modelled until you supply them from your own lease quote, labor market and build-out budget.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one Mazzio’s Italian Eatery unit return on the cash you put in?
Illustrative category typicals — not sourced to any filing, survey or sample. Replace them with figures from franchisee validation calls before you rely on the output.
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Your modelled return on total invested capital, before any debt financing.
—
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
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%.
Not modelled yet
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
A 25-unit return is built on a per-unit EBITDA. Fill in the operating costs in Model A above and this model runs on that figure, or take the whole scenario to the full ROI workbench, where the portfolio and LBO models accept your own per-unit economics directly.
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
- Avg gross sales
- $892K
- Per unit, per year
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
- 42 outlets
- vs category median 18 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $337K→$1.6MCited, not corroborated — printed on page 47 of the 2025 FDD. Nothing else in our record independently restates or re-derives it.
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Reporting year
- 2024
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2025
- Disclosed in the 2025 filing, covering 2024
- Transparency
- 6 / 10
- vs category median 3 / 10 · above
Compared against 801 Full-Service Restaurants brands
Revenue is only 0.7x the investment. This means each unit may take 5+ years to recoup the initial outlay at typical margins.
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 $892K/year in gross sales. Revenue-to-investment ratio: 0.7x.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 5.0% — below the Full-Service Restaurants median of 7.0%.
Disclosure
Transparency score 6/10 — this franchisor discloses detailed breakdowns (quartiles, segments, or cohort data). Buyers can model unit economics with higher confidence.
Operator retention
System contracting at -8.7% CAGR over 3 years. Investigate whether closures are franchisor-driven consolidation or franchisee exits.
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 medians
How Mazzio’s Italian Eatery Compares
Category median of published Full-Service Restaurants brands that report the figure; the middle half spans the 25th to 75th percentile and n counts the brands behind it. Medians are used because a few very large systems pull an average far from the typical brand. Revenue is disclosed gross sales, not profit.
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 90
- Opened
- 0
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 3
- Terminated
- 0
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 0
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 3.3%
- Company-owned
- 48
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 47%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (3-yr)
- -8.7%
- Net unit change over 3 years
- 3-yr CAGR
- -8.7%
- Compounded over last 3 years
Last fiscal year · Item 20 exits and transfers
- Terminated
- 0
- Not renewed
- 0
- Signed, not yet open
- 0
- 0.00 per open outlet · Item 20 Table 5
- Projected new
- 0
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
- Continuity rate
- 93.3%
- Units that stayed open
- Ceased ops
- 3.3%
- Units that stopped operating
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 12 · 9 states reported
The Territory Map
FDD Item 12 reports the state count, but the specific list isn't in our current data. The map will appear once we re-extract from the FDD or enough franchisee contacts are available.
9
states with franchisees (per FDD Item 12)
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA loan disclosures. This brand has only 2 7(a) loans on file; statistical reliability is limited below 10 loans.
- Total loans
- 2
- Loan volume
- $201K
- Median loan
- $101K
- average
- Charge-off rate
- Under 10 loans (2)
- Insufficient SBA coverage: 2 loans, rate hidden below 10
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- Under 10 loans (2)
- 5-yr charge-off
- Under 10 loans (2)
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 2
- 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
Declining franchise system with undisclosed profitability metrics and significant unit closures create substantial uncertainty about franchisee viability and franchisor stability.
Litigation (Item 3)
Subject: officers or affiliates. The franchisor is not a named party in these cases.
No litigation information provided in Item 3
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
Subject: the company or an affiliate. Disclosed (Item 4 covers the last 10 years)
Bankruptcy case 16-4001 involving United Marketing Communications, Inc. was formally closed on December 18, 2018.
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · GBQ Partners LLC
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
- Kickbacks from required suppliers: Yes
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 51 / 100 verdict
- 01MEDSystem contracting sharply: 8.7% unit decline YoY indicates franchisees are closing or not renewing
- 02MINORWide investment range ($413K-$2.164M) suggests inconsistent unit economics or hidden costs not detailed upfront
- 03MINORHigh royalty burden at 4% on thin restaurant margins (typically 3-9% net); combined with occupancy/labor costs may squeeze profitability
- 04MED15-year term is lengthy; franchisees locked in during potential market downturns with limited exit flexibility
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 5.0% 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 | 15 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 5 years |
| Territory type | Exclusive territory |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | Yes |
| Territory radius | 2 mi |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Optional |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 1 year |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 5 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| Governing law | OK |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
No litigation information provided in Item 3
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 11 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 440 hrs
- Training location
- At franchisee restaurant location (OJT); corporate office for evaluation day
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Time to open
- 9 mo
- From signing to launch
- Site selection
- franchisee with franchisor approval
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- LeapFrog (Dev Studios America, Inc.)
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: LeapFrog (Dev Studios America, Inc.)
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
47 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Mazzio’s Italian Eatery franchise?
The total investment to open a Mazzio’s Italian Eatery franchise ranges from $413K – $2.2M, 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 Mazzio’s Italian Eatery franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Mazzio’s Italian Eatery FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $892K. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
Who owns Mazzio’s Italian Eatery?
Mazzio’s Italian Eatery is franchised by Mazzio's, LLC. Source: FDD Item 1, 2025 filing.
What is Item 19 in the Mazzio’s Italian Eatery 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 Mazzio’s Italian Eatery FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is Mazzio’s Italian Eatery's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Mazzio’s Italian Eatery (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 Mazzio’s Italian Eatery franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Mazzio’s Italian Eatery has 90 total units in the United States, including 42 franchised units and 48 company-owned units.
Is Mazzio’s Italian Eatery a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Mazzio’s Italian Eatery as a B-grade franchise with a verdict score of 51 out of 100 (higher is better). The grade is a deterministic score built from six weighted dimensions — financial health, unit economics, unit growth, scale, legal, and transparency — then calibrated against SBA loan charge-off rates and FDD age. Transparency is one of the six, so a filing that discloses less scores lower on that dimension than one that discloses more. 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
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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.