FranchiseVerdict
Paik’s Noodle logo
FV-01867·STRONGExcellent81

Paik’s Noodle

Food & Beverage - Full ServiceFranchising since 2014Website
Investment
$349K – $475K
46th pct Full Service
Avg revenue
57th pct Full Service
Royalty
4.0%
6th pct Full Service
Units
37
67th pct Full Service
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $349K – $475K including a $35K franchise fee, 4.0% ongoing royalty.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated STRONG with a risk score of 52/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 6 loans (below the industry average).
  • System growing at 85.0% CAGR over 3 years with 37 total units — strong expansion trajectory.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Noodle J-1, Inc.
Parent company
The Born Korea Co., Ltd.
Incorporated in
California
HQ
3470 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 840, Los Angeles, California 90010
Auditor
Kim & Lee Accounting, Inc.
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$1.9M
vs $2.0M 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 Paik’s Noodle unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
Item 19 not disclosed — typing your own estimate
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: $349K–$475K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $35K–$80K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

29%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$135K
EBITDA margin
18.0%
Total invested
$470K
Payback
42 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.

Overview

About

Franchisees operate casual counter-service or quick-casual noodle restaurants serving Korean-style noodle dishes (likely ramen, bibim noodle, or regional specialties). Day-to-day responsibilities include food preparation, inventory management, customer service, kitchen operations, and local marketing execution within their protected territory.

CEO
Yang Hwan Kim
Founded
2012
FDD year
2026
States available
13

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$349K – $475K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$35K – $80K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$35K
Royalty
4.0%
Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
1.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
5.0%
vs 9–13% typical

Item 19

Financial Performance

This franchisor did not disclose financial performance representations in Item 19, or our extractor could not parse them.

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
37
Opened
11
Last reporting year
Closed
2
Turnover rate
5.4%
Company-owned
0
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
100%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
+32.1%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
+85.0%
Compounded over last 3 years
2024
37+9
Franchised units
2025
28
Franchised units
2026
20
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 14 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 · 14 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
6
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

52
Risk · 0-100
STRONG52 / 100

Paik's Noodle presents moderate-to-caution risk: aggressive growth in an immature system with zero financial transparency and high capital requirements create ROI uncertainty and limited peer support infrastructure.

Score breakdown · what drove the 52 / 100 rating

  1. 01MINORNo Item 19 financial disclosure (average unit volumes and profitability completely opaque)
  2. 02MINORHigh initial investment ($349k-$475k) with no transparent ROI benchmarks to evaluate payback period
  3. 03MINORRapid expansion (32.1% YoY growth) in a young, unproven system raises sustainability and support quality concerns
  4. 04MINORSmall unit base (37 locations) limits franchisee network for peer validation and increases system vulnerability
  5. 05MINOR4% royalty rate is competitive but offers minimal franchise support cushion given small scale

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

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

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Area of Protection
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
1 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Required
Governing law
California

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
17 hrs
On-the-job training
56 hrs
POS system
Clover Networks
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

39 numbers

Locked
(714) 788-••••
CA
(949) 527-••••
CA
(213) 385-••••
CA

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Paik’s Noodle · FDD (2026) PDF

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