McAlister’s Deli
Bottom line
- Total investment $910K – $2.6M including a $36K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $1.9M/year (median $1.8M).
- Rated STRONG with a risk score of 46/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 65 loans (below the industry average).
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 McAlister’s Deli unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
17%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 McAlister’s Deli units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
32.0%
4.01× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
2.52×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$6.8M
on $16.8M purchase
Total debt
$10.0M
SBA $5.0M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Franchisees operate fast-casual sandwich and salad delis, managing food prep, customer service, inventory, and staffing in high-volume takeout/dine-in settings. Day-to-day involves sourcing fresh ingredients, executing branded recipes, managing 15-30+ employees, handling POS systems, and meeting corporate marketing/compliance standards across typically 2,000-3,500 sq ft locations.
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 · 12 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.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
McAlister's presents moderate-to-caution risk: stagnant growth, missing profitability disclosure, and elevated fees in a declining QSR environment warrant deep franchisee validation before committing $1M+ capital.
Score breakdown · what drove the 46 / 100 rating
- 01MEDMinimal unit growth (1.7% YoY) suggests mature/stagnant system with limited expansion momentum
- 02MINORNo Item 19 (Net Income) disclosure prevents ROI validation against $910K-$2.5M investment range
- 03MINORHigh franchise fee ($35,500) plus 5% royalty creates 6%+ blended fee burden with no profitability benchmark
- 04HIGHParent company (Sardar Investments/Arby's ecosystem) litigation history includes no-poaching and data breach settlements indicating compliance/operational risks
- 05MINOR572-unit system is mid-sized and vulnerable; scale insufficient to absorb economic downturns like larger competitors
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
100 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
McAlister’s Deli · FDD (2026) PDF