FranchiseVerdict
Mazzio’s Italian Eatery logo
FV-01595·MODERATEExcellent81

Mazzio’s Italian Eatery

Food & Beverage - Full ServiceFranchising since 1979Website
Investment
$413K – $2.2M
55th pct Full Service
Avg revenue
$1.0M
19th pct Full Service
Royalty
4.0%
6th pct Full Service
Units
90
81st pct Full Service
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $413K – $2.2M including a $30K franchise fee, 4.0% ongoing royalty.
  • Average unit revenue of $1.0M/year.
  • Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 65/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 2 loans (below the industry average).
  • System contracting at -12.5% CAGR over 3 years. Investigate whether closures are franchisor-driven (consolidation) or franchisee-driven (economics).

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
MAZZIO’S, LLC
Incorporated in
Oklahoma
HQ
4441 South 72nd East Avenue, Tulsa, Oklahoma 74145
Auditor
GBQ Partners LLC
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$68.0M
vs $71.4M 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 Mazzio’s Italian Eatery unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
FDD Item 19 reports $1,017,499
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: generic
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $413K–$2.2M
Working capital
$
FDD reports $50K–$120K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

13%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$183K
EBITDA margin
18.0%
Total invested
$1.4M
Payback
90 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 Mazzio’s Italian Eatery units return on equity?

Edit assumptions

Equity IRR · 5-yr

43.5%

6.08× MOIC

Year-1 DSCR

2.01×

EBITDA ÷ debt service

Equity required

$2.8M

on $11.2M purchase

Total debt

$8.4M

SBA $5.0M + senior + seller note

SBA 7(a) request ($5.6M) exceeds the $5M program cap. Excess capped automatically; backfill via conventional or equity.

Overview

About

Franchisees operate casual Italian dining restaurants serving traditional pasta, pizza, and Italian entrees. Daily operations include managing front-of-house service, kitchen staff, food inventory, and marketing to drive the $1M+ annual revenue average. Unit economics heavily depend on foot traffic, labor cost control, and managing food costs while remitting 4% royalties to corporate.

CEO
LORI CARVER
Founded
1961
FDD year
2025
States available
9

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$413K – $2.2M
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$50K – $120K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$30K
Royalty
4.0%
percentage of net sales · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
1.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
5.0%
vs 9–13% typical

Item 19

Financial Performance

Avg gross sales
$1.0M
Per unit, per year
Median gross sales
Item 19 type
Actual Operating Statements
Sample size
15 units
vs category median 15
Range (low → high)
$346K$2.1M
Cohort dispersion
Transparency
6 / 5
vs category median 4 / 5 · above
Revenue rank19th
vs Food & Beverage - Full Service peers
Investment cost rank55th
Lower investment ranks lower (better)
Royalty rate rank6th
Lower royalty = lower percentile (better)
Unit count rank81th
vs Food & Beverage - Full Service peers
Risk score rank62th
Lower risk = lower percentile (better)

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
90
Opened
0
Last reporting year
Closed
3
Turnover rate
3.3%
Company-owned
48
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
47%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
-8.7%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
-12.5%
Compounded over last 3 years
2023
42-3
Franchised units
2024
46
Franchised units
2025
48
Franchised units

Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.

Item 20 · 24 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 · 24 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.

Total loans
2
Loan volume
Avg loan
Default rate
0.0%
vs <3% typical · system-wide
5-yr default

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

Risk & Legal

65
Risk · 0-100
MODERATE65 / 100

Declining franchise system with undisclosed profitability metrics and significant unit closures create substantial uncertainty about franchisee viability and franchisor stability.

Score breakdown · what drove the 65 / 100 rating

  1. 01MEDSystem contracting sharply: 8.7% unit decline YoY indicates franchisees are closing or not renewing
  2. 02MINORNo net income disclosure: FDD Item 19 absence prevents ROI validation; average revenue of $1.017M alone doesn't guarantee profitability
  3. 03MINORWide investment range ($413K-$2.164M) suggests inconsistent unit economics or hidden costs not detailed upfront
  4. 04MINORHigh royalty burden at 4% on thin restaurant margins (typically 3-9% net); combined with occupancy/labor costs may squeeze profitability
  5. 05MED15-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

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

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Radius
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
15 years
Renewal term
5 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
Non-compete
1 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Optional
Governing law
Oklahoma

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
0 hrs
On-the-job training
440 hrs
POS system
LeapfrogPOS / POS/Enterprise system from Dev Studios America, Inc.
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

62 numbers

Locked
(501) 942-••••
AR
(870) 935-••••
AR
(903) 723-••••
TX

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Mazzio’s Italian Eatery · FDD (2025) PDF

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