FranchiseVerdict
Rooster & Rice logo
FV-02180·STRONGExcellent91

Rooster & Rice

Food & Beverage - Full ServiceFranchising since 2021Website
Investment
$354K – $560K
47th pct Full Service
Avg revenue
$797K
12th pct Full Service
Royalty
5.0%
15th pct Full Service
Units
8
36th pct Full Service
SBA default

Bottom line

  • Total investment $354K – $560K including a $35K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
  • Average unit revenue of $797K/year (median $884K).
  • Rated STRONG with a risk score of 53/100.
  • Auditor disclosed a going-concern note — flagged doubt about the franchisor's ability to continue operations. Verify against the latest FDD.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Rooster & Rice Franchise, LLC
Parent company
Rooster & Rice Holdings, LLC
Incorporated in
Delaware
HQ
3705 Haven Avenue, Suite 132, Menlo Park, California 94025
Auditor
Denise McGoey CPA, PLLC
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$31K
vs $100K prior year
⚠ Going-concern note
Disclosed in FDD 2025
Auditor flagged doubt about continued operations. Verify against the latest FDD before deciding.

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 Rooster & Rice unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
FDD Item 19 reports $796,714
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: $354K–$560K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $40K–$60K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

27%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$135K
EBITDA margin
17.0%
Total invested
$507K
Payback
45 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 Rooster & Rice units return on equity?

Edit assumptions

Equity IRR · 5-yr

49.9%

7.57× MOIC

Year-1 DSCR

1.88×

EBITDA ÷ debt service

Equity required

$1.6M

on $8.0M purchase

Total debt

$6.4M

SBA $4.0M + senior + seller note

Overview

About

Rooster & Rice franchisees operate fast-casual or quick-service restaurants featuring rice-based dishes (likely Asian cuisine). Day-to-day operations include food preparation, inventory management, customer service, staffing, and adherence to brand standards while managing 5% royalty obligations on gross sales.

CEO
Bryan Lew
Founded
2021
FDD year
2025
States available
1

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$354K – $560K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$40K – $60K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$35K
Royalty
5.0%
Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
1.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
6.0%
vs 9–13% typical

Item 19

Financial Performance

Avg gross sales
$797K
Per unit, per year
Median gross sales
$884K
Item 19 type
Actual (Affiliate Locations)
Sample size
6 units
vs category median 15 · small
Range (low → high)
$491K$1.1M
Cohort dispersion
Transparency
7 / 5
vs category median 4 / 5 · above
Revenue rank12th
vs Food & Beverage - Full Service peers
Investment cost rank47th
Lower investment ranks lower (better)
Royalty rate rank15th
Lower royalty = lower percentile (better)
Unit count rank36th
vs Food & Beverage - Full Service peers
Risk score rank24th
Lower risk = lower percentile (better)

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
8
Opened
0
Last reporting year
Closed
0
Turnover rate
0.0%
Company-owned
7
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
13%
vs corporate-owned
Multi-unit owners
10.0%
Net growth (yr3)
+0.0%
Net unit change last year
2023
1-3
Franchised units
2024
1
Franchised units
2025
0
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 4 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 · 4 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

53
Risk · 0-100
STRONG53 / 100

Rooster & Rice presents moderate-to-high risk due to undisclosed profitability, minimal unit count, lack of financial substantiation, and an investment size that consumes 44-70% of average unit revenue.

Score breakdown · what drove the 53 / 100 rating

  1. 01MEDNet income not disclosed in FDD — unable to verify actual profitability or ROI on $353k-$560k investment
  2. 02MINOROnly 8 units system-wide with unknown growth trajectory — insufficient data on unit economics and franchise viability
  3. 03MINORHigh investment-to-revenue ratio ($353k-$560k for ~$797k avg revenue) suggests thin margins and extended payback period
  4. 04MINORNo Item 19 financial performance representations — franchisor not substantiating claimed average revenue with actual franchisee data
  5. 05MINORSmall franchisee base creates concentration risk and limits validation pool for due diligence

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

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

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Radius/Geographic
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
2 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Optional
Governing law
California

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
23 hrs
On-the-job training
67 hrs
POS system
Square POS
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

4 numbers

Locked
(605) 773-••••
SD
(517) 373-••••
MI
(317) 232-••••
IN

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Rooster & Rice · FDD (2025) PDF

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