Paisano’s PizzaFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Paisano’s Pizza franchise requires a total initial investment of $378K – $799K, including a $40K franchise fee and an ongoing 6.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $1.3M[2]. Verdict grade: A. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 18, 2026 · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $378K – $799K
- 26th pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $1.3M
- 14th pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- 26th pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 36
- 33rd pct Service Resta…
- SBA default
- N/A
Quick verdict · Full-Service Restaurants · color = vs category peers
Green = >15% above Full-Service Restaurants avg · No shading = within ±15% · Red = >15% below avg · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
Franchised units fell from 30 to 23 over 3 years. Investigate why operators are leaving.
Bottom line
- Total investment $378K – $799K including a $40K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $1.3M/year (median $1.3M).
- Verdict A (Top Quintile) with a risk score of 14/100.
- System growing at 30.4% CAGR over 3 years with 36 total units. Strong expansion trajectory.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
- Legal entity
- Paisano’s Franchise System, Inc.
- Ultimate parent
- Capital Restaurant Group, Inc.
- Predecessor
- company
- Prior franchisor entity
- CEO title
- Founder & CEO
- Fouad Qreitem
- CEO experience
- 25 yrs
- Years in role or industry
- Founder active
- Yes
- Original founder still leading the business
- Incorporated in
- VA
- HQ
- 4465 Brookfield Corporate Drive, Suite 202, Chantilly, Virginia 20151
- Auditor
- Muhammad Zubairy, CPA PC
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $2.7M
- vs $3.4M prior year
- Management churn noted
- Frequent turnover
- Item 2 disclosed frequent executive changes
Independent franchisee associations
- Franchise Advisory Council (FAC)
Franchisee-led councils or alliances disclosed in Item 20. Indicates operator voice.
Overview
About
Franchisees operate quick-service pizza restaurants featuring Paisano's branded menu, managing kitchen operations, customer service, and delivery/carryout logistics. Day-to-day involves food preparation, staffing, inventory management, and local marketing within their protected territory. Some franchisees may operate remote kitchen (ghost kitchen) formats based on recent franchisor conversion strategy.
- CEO
- Fouad Qreitem
- Headquarters
- VA
- Founded
- 2009
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 3
FDD Item 7 · 2025 filing · 19 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Feenot refundable | $40K | $40K | |
| Site Development and Lease Evaluation Feenot refundable | $5K | $5K | |
| Training Feenot refundable | $10K | $10K | |
| Leasehold Improvementsnot refundable | $75K | $358K | |
| Lease Payments - 3 Monthsnot refundable | $18K | $24K | |
| Security Deposits | $4K | $8K | |
| Equipment, Furnishings and Fixturesnot refundable | $150K | $203K | |
| Signagenot refundable | $10K | $15K | |
| Initial Inventorynot refundable | $8K | $12K | |
| Blue Prints and Plansnot refundable | $9K | $15K | |
| Point of Sale Systemnot refundable | $17K | $28K | |
| Travel, lodging and meals for initial trainingnot refundable | $1K | $10K | |
| Licenses and Permitsnot refundable | $1K | $5K | |
| Insurance - 3 Monthsnot refundable | $2K | $4K | |
| Restaurant Launch Packagenot refundable | $15K | $15K | |
| Restaurant IT - pre-wire and infrastructurenot refundable | $1K | $2K | |
| Professional Feesnot refundable | $3K | $5K | |
| Territory Mapnot refundable | $300 | $400 | |
| Additional Funds (2 months)not refundable | $10K | $40K | |
| Total initial investment | $378K | $799K |
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.
Single-unit · estimated
Returns at a glance
Indicative numbers using FDD Item 7 / Item 19 inputs and category-benchmarked cost ratios. Full single-unit, 25-unit portfolio, and LBO models (with every input editable to stress-test your own scenario) live on the financials page.
Store EBITDA · annual
$144K
11.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
23%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
4.3 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $378K – $799K
- Better than avg vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $10K – $40K
- Better than avg vs category
- Franchise fee
- $25K – $40K
- Better than avg vs category
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- percentage_of_gross · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 1.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 7.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 6.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 1.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $0 |
| Training fee | $10K |
| Transfer fee | $5K |
| Renewal fee | $10K |
| Total fee load | 7.0% of rev |
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $1.3M
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $1.3M
- Item 19 type
- Actual Sales and COGS
- Sample size
- 30 units
- vs category median 13 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $597K→$2.1M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Quartile band
- $923K→$1.8M
- Bottom 25% → top 25%
- Transparency
- 6 / 5
- vs category median 4 / 5 · above
Compared against 1264 Full-Service Restaurants brands
vs Full-Service Restaurants averages
How Paisano’s Pizza Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 36
- Opened
- 6
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 0
- Terminated
- 0
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 0
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 0.0%
- Company-owned
- 6
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 83%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (yr3)
- +25.0%
- Net unit change last year
- 3-yr CAGR
- +30.4%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Terminated (3yr)
- 2
- Transfers (3yr)
- 6
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 1
- Franchisor bought back
- Projected new
- 4
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
- Transfer rate
- 16.7%
- Owners selling to other franchisees
- Termination rate
- 5.6%
- Franchisor-initiated terminations
- Ceased ops
- 2.8%
- Units that stopped operating
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 17 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 contact records (FDD Item 20). Shows states with at least one current operator on file. Full state registration data (Item 12) will appear on a future FDD refresh.
Fast growth in a small system. Newer franchisors expanding quickly may not yet have the support infrastructure of larger systems.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA loan disclosures. This brand has only 4 7(a) loans on file; statistical reliability is limited below 10 loans.
- Total loans
- 4
- Loan volume
- N/A
- Amount data pending
- Median loan
- N/A
- Charge-off rate
- N/A
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- N/A
- 5-yr charge-off
- N/A
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 0
- Defaults
- 0
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Paisano's Pizza presents elevated risk due to recent settlement litigation, undisclosed franchisee profitability, franchisor going concern status, and insufficient system scale to support franchisee success.
Litigation (Item 3)
Two cases settled on June 26, 2021: (1) AAA Arbitration Claim (Temple Hills Pizza, Inc., Paisano's Arcadia, Inc., Paisano's Wisconsin Ave., Inc. v. Paisano's Franchise System, Inc.) alleging breach of contract and fraud; (2) Civil Action (Elia Ahmadian and Kathleen McKay v. Fouad Qreitem) alleging fraud against Board member. Global resolution included termination of MultiUnit Agreement, conversion of franchised locations to remote kitchen locations, and termination of remaining franchise agreements. No monetary payment exchanged.
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Muhammad Zubairy, CPA PC
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: Yes
- Kickbacks from required suppliers: No
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 14 / 100 rating
- 01HIGHRecent litigation (2021) involving breach of contract and fraud allegations with multi-unit franchisee termination raises governance and relationship concerns
- 02MINORNo net income disclosure in FDD Item 19 prevents ROI validation against $378K-$799K investment and 6% royalty burden
- 03HIGHGoing Concern status is FALSE, indicating potential financial instability or accounting uncertainties at franchisor level
- 04MINOR25% YoY unit growth masks small absolute base (36 units); insufficient scale for brand stability and franchisee support infrastructure
- 05MEDHigh investment-to-average-revenue ratio (29-61%) combined with undisclosed profitability creates unclear path to ROI within 10-year term
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 5 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 2 |
| Territory type | Radius |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Territory radius | 2 mi |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Optional |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 3 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 25 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| RoFR response window | 30 days |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Termination groundsℹ | 2 |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 3 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Virginia |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Virginia |
| Litigation count | 2 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
Two cases settled on June 26, 2021: (1) AAA Arbitration Claim (Temple Hills Pizza, Inc., Paisano's Arcadia, Inc., Paisano's Wisconsin Ave., Inc. v. Paisano's Franchise System, Inc.) alleging breach of contract and fraud; (2) Civil Action (Elia Ahmadian and Kathleen McKay v. Fouad Qreitem) alleging fraud against Board member. Global resolution included termination of MultiUnit Agreement, conversion of franchised locations to remote kitchen locations, and termination of remaining franchise agreements. No monetary payment exchanged.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 8 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 219 hrs
- Training location
- On-site and corporate
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Franchisor financing
- Offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- Food Tec
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Food Tec
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
32 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Paisano’s Pizza · FDD (2025) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Paisano’s Pizza franchise?
The total investment to open a Paisano’s Pizza franchise ranges from $378K – $799K, with an initial franchise fee of $40K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Paisano’s Pizza franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Paisano’s Pizza FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $1.3M. The median is $1.3M. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Paisano’s Pizza's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Paisano’s Pizza (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 Paisano’s Pizza franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Paisano’s Pizza has 36 total units in the United States, including 30 franchised units and 6 company-owned units. 6 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Paisano’s Pizza a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Paisano’s Pizza as a A-grade franchise with a risk score of 14 out of 100, based on our analysis of investment costs, revenue data, SBA loan performance, and growth trends. 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.
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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.