Salad HouseFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Salad House franchise requires a total initial investment of $422K – $668K, including a $40K franchise fee and an ongoing 6.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2024 FDD, average unit revenue was $1.6M[2]. Verdict grade: A. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 18, 2026 · figures per the 2024 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $422K – $668K
- 29th pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $1.6M
- 17th pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- 26th pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 13
- 24th 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
The franchisor's auditor raised doubt about continued operations. This is a serious risk signal.
Bottom line
- Total investment $422K – $668K including a $40K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $1.6M/year (median $1.6M).
- Verdict A (Top Quintile) with a risk score of 50/100.
- Auditor disclosed a going-concern note, which 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
- Salad House Franchising, LLC
- Ultimate parent
- None
- CEO title
- Founder and CEO
- Giuseppe Cioffi
- CEO experience
- 2016 yrs
- Years in role or industry
- Founder active
- Yes
- Original founder still leading the business
- Incorporated in
- NJ
- HQ
- 133 Prospect Street, Suite 1, Westfield, New Jersey 07092
- Auditor
- Citrin Cooperman & Company, LLP
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $597K
- vs $951K prior year
- Management churn noted
- Frequent turnover
- Item 2 disclosed frequent executive changes
- ⚠ Going-concern note
- Disclosed in FDD 2024
- Status as of 2024; may have been resolved in a later filing we don't yet have.
Overview
About
Salad House franchisees operate fast-casual salad restaurants where customers customize fresh salad bowls, grain bowls, or wraps. Day-to-day operations include food prep, inventory management, POS systems, staffing, and customer service in a quick-service format. The model emphasizes fresh ingredients, health-conscious positioning, and rapid transaction times similar to other build-your-own bowl concepts.
- CEO
- Giuseppe Cioffi
- Headquarters
- NJ
- Founded
- 2016
- FDD year
- 2024
- States available
- 1
FDD Item 7 · 2024 filing · 15 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Feenot refundable | $40K | $40K | |
| Construction and Leasehold Improvements | $150K | $250K | |
| Lease Deposits and Rent - Three Months | $13K | $40K | |
| Furniture and Fixtures | $3K | $12K | |
| Equipment | $125K | $160K | |
| Signage | $12K | $26K | |
| Computer, Software, and Point of Sale System | $500 | $10K | |
| Grand Opening Marketing | $10K | $10K | |
| Initial Inventory | $16K | $26K | |
| Utility Deposits | $500 | $1K | |
| Insurance Deposits - Three Months | $2K | $2K | |
| Travel for Initial Training | $200 | $2K | |
| Professional Fees | $11K | $27K | |
| General Licenses and Permits | $1K | $12K | |
| Additional Funds - Three Months | $40K | $50K | |
| Total initial investment | $422K | $668K |
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
$176K
11.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
30%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
3.4 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $422K – $668K
- Better than avg vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $40K – $50K
- Better than avg vs category
- Franchise fee
- $40K – $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 |
| Training fee | $2K |
| Transfer fee | $10K |
| Renewal fee | $2K |
| Total fee load | 7.0% of rev |
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $1.6M
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $1.6M
- Item 19 type
- Averages
- Sample size
- 7 units
- vs category median 13
- Range (low → high)
- $920K→$2.3M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Transparency
- 4 / 5
- vs category median 4 / 5 · typical
Compared against 1264 Full-Service Restaurants brands
vs Full-Service Restaurants averages
How Salad House Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 13
- Opened
- 4
- 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
- 2
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 85%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (yr3)
- +57.1%
- Net unit change last year
- 3-yr CAGR
- Outlier (see FDD)
- Likely small-sample artifact
3-year detail · Item 20
- Transfers (3yr)
- 0
- Projected new
- 8
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 3 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 6 7(a) loans on file; statistical reliability is limited below 10 loans.
- Total loans
- 6
- Loan volume
- $2.0M
- Median loan
- $334K
- average
- 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
- 4
- 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
Early-stage salad franchise with aggressive unit growth, opaque profitability metrics, and high capital requirements relative to system maturity.
Litigation (Item 3)
No litigation is required to be disclosed
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Citrin Cooperman & Company, LLP⚠ Going-concern note flagged
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: No
- 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 50 / 100 rating
- 01MEDNet income not disclosed in FDD Item 19 — inability to verify actual profitability despite $1.6M avg revenue claims
- 02MINORExplosive 57.1% YoY unit growth (6→13 units) suggests either aggressive expansion or prior underperformance; sustainability unclear
- 03MINORHigh initial investment range ($422K–$668K) with 6% royalty requires $96K+ annual revenue just to break even on fees alone
- 04MINOROnly 13 total units across entire system indicates very early-stage franchise with minimal operational track record and support infrastructure
- 05MEDNo disclosed average net income means franchisee cannot reasonably project ROI or payback period before opening
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 | 10 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 1 |
| Territory type | Radius / Seven-block radius |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | Yes |
| Territory radius | 3 mi |
| Online sales rights | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Required |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 10 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Union County, New Jersey |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | New Jersey |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
No litigation is required to be disclosed
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 20 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 136 hrs
- Training location
- Westfield, New Jersey and/or Red Bank, New Jersey
- POS system
- Toast
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Toast
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
19 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Salad House · FDD (2024) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Salad House franchise?
The total investment to open a Salad House franchise ranges from $422K – $668K, 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 Salad House franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Salad House FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $1.6M. The median is $1.6M. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Salad House's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Salad House (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 Salad House franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Salad House has 13 total units in the United States, including 3 franchised units and 2 company-owned units. 4 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Salad House a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Salad House as a A-grade franchise with a risk score of 50 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.
For franchisors
Are you the franchisor?
If you represent Salad House, you can request corrections or provide updated information.
Claim this brandOther Full-Service Restaurants franchises
Compare similar franchise opportunities in the Full-Service Restaurants category
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.