Pickleman’s Gourmet CafeFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Pickleman’s Gourmet Cafe franchise requires a total initial investment of $416K – $1.0M, including a $35K franchise fee and an ongoing 6.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $1.4M[2]. Verdict grade: A. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 18, 2026 · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $416K – $1.0M
- 28th pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $1.4M
- 14th pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- 26th pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 32
- 32nd pct Service Resta…
- SBA default
- 0.0%
- system-wide median varies by category
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 31 to 28 over 3 years. Investigate why operators are leaving.
Bottom line
- Total investment $416K – $1.0M including a $35K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $1.4M/year (median $1.3M).
- Verdict A (Top Quintile) with a risk score of 46/100.
- Bankruptcy history disclosed in the FDD. Review Item 4 for details before proceeding.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
- Legal entity
- Pickleman’s Franchising, LLC
- Ultimate parent
- Pickleman's Holdings, LLC
- CEO title
- Chief Executive Officer
- Douglas Stritzel
- CEO experience
- 2007 yrs
- Years in role or industry
- Incorporated in
- MO
- HQ
- 2072 Farris County Rd., Foristell, MO 63348
- Auditor
- WINFREY CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS, LLC
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $3.5M
- vs $3.8M prior year
- Management churn noted
- Frequent turnover
- Item 2 disclosed frequent executive changes
Overview
About
Pickleman's Gourmet Cafe franchisees operate fast-casual dining establishments focused on gourmet sandwiches, salads, and made-to-order meals. Day-to-day operations involve managing front-of-house customer service, food preparation and quality control, inventory management, and back-office functions including staff scheduling and compliance with franchise standards.
- CEO
- Douglas Stritzel
- Headquarters
- MO
- Founded
- 2007
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 7
FDD Item 7 · 2025 filing · 14 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Feenot refundable | $35K | $35K | |
| Lease Deposit and Rentnot refundable | $10K | $24K | |
| Improvements/Construction/and Interior decoratingnot refundable | $150K | $550K | |
| Architect Feesnot refundable | $10K | $25K | |
| Equipment/Furniture/Fixtures/Smallwaresnot refundable | $130K | $250K | |
| Signagenot refundable | $15K | $40K | |
| Licenses, Dues, Deposits, etc.not refundable | $4K | $10K | |
| Travel and Living Expenses while Trainingnot refundable | $10K | $20K | |
| Office Equipmentnot refundable | $2K | $5K | |
| Inventory/Suppliesnot refundable | $6K | $12K | |
| Professional Feesnot refundable | $1K | $5K | |
| Insurance (per quarter)not refundable | $4K | $5K | |
| Additional Funds - 3 monthsnot refundable | $36K | $55K | |
| Grand Opening Advertisingnot refundable | $4K | $8K | |
| Total initial investment | $416K | $1.0M |
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
$123K
9.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
16%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
6.3 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $416K – $1.0M
- Better than avg vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $36K – $55K
- Better than avg vs category
- Franchise fee
- $35K – $35K
- Better than avg vs category
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 3.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 34.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 6.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 3.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $25 |
| Transfer fee | $18K |
| Renewal fee | $9K |
| Total fee load | 34.0% of rev |
At 34.0% total fee load, roughly $465K per year goes to the franchisor before you pay a single operating expense.
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $1.4M
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $1.3M
- Item 19 type
- gross_sales
- Sample size
- 28 units
- vs category median 13 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $677K→$4.4M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Quartile band
- $921K→$2.0M
- Bottom 25% → top 25%
- Transparency
- 4 / 5
- vs category median 4 / 5 · typical
Compared against 1264 Full-Service Restaurants brands
vs Full-Service Restaurants averages
How Pickleman’s Gourmet Cafe Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 32
- Opened
- 3
- 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
- 1
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 97%
- vs corporate-owned
- Multi-unit owners
- 3.8%
- Net growth (yr3)
- +10.7%
- Net unit change last year
- 3-yr CAGR
- +10.7%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Transfers (3yr)
- 5
- Projected new
- 4
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
- Transfer rate
- 15.6%
- Owners selling to other franchisees
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 8 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.
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
- $1.5M
- Median loan
- $365K
- average
- Charge-off rate
- 0.0%
- rates vary by category · see methodology
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
- 4
- Defaults
- 0
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Premium insight
SBA Lending Report
Deep-dive into Pickleman’s Gourmet Cafe's SBA lending history: lender network, geographic footprint, interest rates, and more.
SBA Lending Report
- Principal loss rate and NAICS industry benchmark
- 4 lenders with concentration factor
- Per-state charge-off rates across 3 states
- Startup risk premium and job creation velocity
- 3-year lending trend
Instant access. No subscription.
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Profitability opacity combined with modest growth, unclear going concern status, and high royalty obligations relative to disclosed revenue create meaningful due diligence gaps.
Litigation (Item 3)
No litigation disclosed in Item 3
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
Disclosed in last 7 years
Kenneth Michael Rice and Rebecca Destiny Rice filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition on November 8, 2018 (prior to Kenneth Rice's employment as COO). Case: In re Kenneth Michael Rice and Rebecca Destiny Rice 1855178-mar (E.D. MI 2018). Discharge entered May 2, 2019.
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · WINFREY CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS, LLC
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: No
- Kickbacks from required suppliers: Yes
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 46 / 100 rating
- 01MINORNo net income disclosure (Item 19) prevents profitability assessment despite $1.37M average revenue
- 02MINORModest unit growth of 10.7% YoY suggests slower expansion or potential saturation concerns
- 03MINORWide investment range ($416K-$1.04M) indicates inconsistent unit economics or site-dependent performance
- 04HIGHGoing Concern status is FALSE, which is atypical for an active franchisor and warrants clarification
- 05MINOR6% royalty on $1.37M average revenue equals ~$82K annual obligation with unknown net margins
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 |
| Territory radius | 1.3 mi |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Granted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Optional |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Missouri |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
No litigation disclosed in Item 3
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 300 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 100 hrs
- Training location
- On-site and off-site
- Time to open
- 12 mo
- From signing to launch
- POS system
- SpotOn
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: SpotOn
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
31 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Pickleman’s Gourmet Cafe · FDD (2025) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Pickleman’s Gourmet Cafe franchise?
The total investment to open a Pickleman’s Gourmet Cafe franchise ranges from $416K – $1.0M, with an initial franchise fee of $35K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Pickleman’s Gourmet Cafe franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Pickleman’s Gourmet Cafe FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $1.4M. 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 Pickleman’s Gourmet Cafe's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Pickleman’s Gourmet Cafe (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 Pickleman’s Gourmet Cafe franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Pickleman’s Gourmet Cafe has 32 total units in the United States, including 31 franchised units and 1 company-owned units. 3 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Pickleman’s Gourmet Cafe a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Pickleman’s Gourmet Cafe as a A-grade franchise with a risk score of 46 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.