FranchiseVerdict
Pancheros Mexican Grill logo
FV-01877·STRONGExcellent95

Pancheros Mexican Grill

Food & Beverage - Quick ServiceFranchising since 1995Website
Investment
$753K – $1.5M
93rd pct Quick Service
Avg revenue
$1.6M
41st pct Quick Service
Royalty
5.0%
14th pct Quick Service
Units
76
68th pct Quick Service
SBA default

Bottom line

  • Total investment $753K – $1.5M including a $30K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
  • Average unit revenue of $1.6M/year (median $1.5M).
  • Rated STRONG with a risk score of 54/100.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Panchero’s Franchise Corporation
Incorporated in
Illinois
HQ
2475 Coral Court, Suite B, Coralville, Iowa 52241
Auditor
Honkamp, P.C.
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$7.8M
vs $10.2M 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 Pancheros Mexican Grill unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
FDD Item 19 reports $1,610,859
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: qsr
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $753K–$1.5M
Working capital
$
FDD reports $25K–$150K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

20%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$242K
EBITDA margin
15.0%
Total invested
$1.2M
Payback
61 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 Pancheros Mexican Grill units return on equity?

Edit assumptions

Equity IRR · 5-yr

38.2%

5.03× MOIC

Year-1 DSCR

2.19×

EBITDA ÷ debt service

Equity required

$4.0M

on $12.9M purchase

Total debt

$8.9M

SBA $5.0M + senior + seller note

SBA 7(a) request ($6.4M) exceeds the $5M program cap. Excess capped automatically; backfill via conventional or equity.

Overview

About

Franchisees operate fast-casual Mexican restaurants featuring customizable burritos, tacos, and bowls with a Chipotle-style service model. Day-to-day operations include food prep, counter service, inventory management, staff scheduling, and local marketing to drive the ~$1.61M average annual revenue per location.

CEO
Rodney L. Anderson
Founded
1994
FDD year
2025
States available
13

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$753K – $1.5M
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$25K – $150K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$30K
Royalty
5.0%
Gross Revenues · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
2.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
7.0%
vs 9–13% typical

Item 19

Financial Performance

Avg gross sales
$1.6M
Per unit, per year
Median gross sales
$1.5M
Item 19 type
Gross Sales
Sample size
72 units
vs category median 37
Range (low → high)
$334K$4.8M
Cohort dispersion
Transparency
6 / 5
vs category median 4 / 5 · above
Revenue rank41th
vs Food & Beverage - Quick Service peers
Investment cost rank93th
Lower investment ranks lower (better)
Royalty rate rank14th
Lower royalty = lower percentile (better)
Unit count rank68th
vs Food & Beverage - Quick Service peers
Risk score rank30th
Lower risk = lower percentile (better)

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
76
Opened
3
Last reporting year
Closed
1
Turnover rate
1.3%
Company-owned
26
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
66%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
+4.2%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
+6.4%
Compounded over last 3 years
2023
50+2
Franchised units
2024
48
Franchised units
2025
47
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 13 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 · 13 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.

No SBA loan data available for this brand.

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

Risk & Legal

54
Risk · 0-100
STRONG54 / 100

Modest growth, hidden profitability metrics, and active franchisor litigation create material risk despite protected territories and reasonable royalty rates.

Score breakdown · what drove the 54 / 100 rating

  1. 01MEDNet income not disclosed in Item 19 — unable to assess actual profitability despite $1.61M average revenue
  2. 02MINORSlow unit growth at 4.2% YoY suggests market saturation or franchisee satisfaction issues in a 76-unit system
  3. 03HIGHActive 2024 litigation by franchisor indicates enforcement disputes and potential friction with franchisees
  4. 04MEDHigh investment range ($752.5K–$1.54M) relative to undisclosed net income creates ROI uncertainty
  5. 05HIGHNo 'going concern' status disclosed — potential financial stability questions about franchisor

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

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

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Designated Area
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
10 years
Renewal term
5 years
Online sales rights
Restricted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Allowed
Litigation count
2
Right of first refusal
Yes
Franchisor can buy back on resale
Mandatory arbitration
No
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Non-compete
2 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Optional
Governing law
Iowa

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
16 hrs
On-the-job training
120 hrs

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

56 numbers

Locked
(651) 539-••••
MN
(952) 767-••••
MN
(856) 784-••••
NJ

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Pancheros Mexican Grill · FDD (2025) PDF

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