SalataFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Salata franchise requires a total initial investment of $286K – $1.2M, including a $40K franchise fee and an ongoing 5.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2023 FDD, average unit revenue was $1.3M[2]. SBA 7(a) loans show a 11.1% charge-off rate across 18 loans[1]. Verdict grade: A. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 18, 2026 · figures per the 2023 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $286K – $1.2M
- 17th pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $1.3M
- 14th pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- 5.0%
- 7th pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 90
- 41st pct Service Resta…
- SBA default
- 11.1%
- 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 81 to 71 over 3 years. Investigate why operators are leaving.
Bottom line
- Total investment $286K – $1.2M including a $40K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $1.3M/year (median $1.3M).
- Verdict A (Top Quintile) with a risk score of 30/100. SBA loan charge-off rate of 11.1% across 18 loans (above the 16% franchise average, based on all SBA 7(a) franchise lending, 2010–2024).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
- Legal entity
- Salata Franchise, LLC
- Parent company
- Salata Holding Company LLC
- Ultimate parent
- None
- CEO title
- Chief Executive Officer and Manager
- Berge Simonian
- CEO experience
- 15 yrs
- Years in role or industry
- Founder active
- Yes
- Original founder still leading the business
- Incorporated in
- TX
- HQ
- 16720 Park Row Drive, Houston, Texas 77084
- Auditor
- Seth & Associates CPAs, PLLC
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $6.2M
- vs $7.1M prior year
- Management churn noted
- Frequent turnover
- Item 2 disclosed frequent executive changes
Overview
About
Salata franchisees operate fast-casual salad and grain bowl restaurants where customers customize fresh, health-focused meals. Day-to-day operations include managing inventory of fresh produce, staffing kitchen and counter positions, executing made-to-order service, and maintaining food safety standards typical of QSR environments.
- CEO
- Berge Simonian
- Headquarters
- TX
- Founded
- 2006
- FDD year
- 2023
- States available
- 5
FDD Item 7 · 2023 filing · 24 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Fee (Traditional In-Line Shopping Center Site)not refundable | $40K | $40K | |
| Business Licenses & Permits (Traditional In-Line Shopping Center Site) | $1K | $5K | |
| Leasehold Improvements (Traditional In-Line Shopping Center Site) | $358K | $664K | |
| Fixtures, Furnishings & Equipment (Traditional In-Line Shopping Center Site) | $295K | $310K | |
| Architect and Engineering Fees (Traditional In-Line Shopping Center Site) | $20K | $23K | |
| Rent and Utility Deposits (Traditional In-Line Shopping Center Site) | $12K | $20K | |
| Other Professional Fees (Traditional In-Line Shopping Center Site) | $3K | $10K | |
| Insurance Deposit (Traditional In-Line Shopping Center Site) | $2K | $6K | |
| Initial Inventory of Food, Beverages, Paper Supplies and Uniforms (Traditional In-Line Shopping Center Site) | $7K | $15K | |
| Training Expenses (Traditional In-Line Shopping Center Site) | $5K | $20K | |
| New Restaurant Advertising (Traditional In-Line Shopping Center Site) | $15K | $20K | |
| Additional Funds - 3 months (Traditional In-Line Shopping Center Site) | $20K | $30K | |
| Initial Franchise Fee (Business District/Non-Traditional Site)not refundable | $40K | $40K | |
| Business Licenses & Permits (Business District/Non-Traditional Site) | $1K | $5K | |
| Leasehold Improvements (Business District/Non-Traditional Site) | $125K | $375K | |
| Fixtures, Furnishings & Equipment (Business District/Non-Traditional Site) | $60K | $80K | |
| Architect and Engineering Fees (Business District/Non-Traditional Site) | $10K | $23K | |
| Rent and Utility Deposits (Business District/Non-Traditional Site) | $5K | $6K | |
| Other Professional Fees (Business District/Non-Traditional Site) | $3K | $10K | |
| Insurance Deposit (Business District/Non-Traditional Site) | $2K | $6K | |
| Total initial investment | $1.1M | $1.8M |
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
$146K
11.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
20%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
5.1 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $286K – $1.2M
- Better than avg vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $15K – $30K
- Better than avg vs category
- Franchise fee
- $40K – $40K
- Better than avg vs category
- Royalty
- 5.0%
- percentage · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 2.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 7.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 5.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 2.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $0 |
| Transfer fee | $20K |
| Renewal fee | $20K |
| 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
- net_sales
- Sample size
- 70 units
- vs category median 13 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $451K→$2.5M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Transparency
- 7 / 5
- vs category median 4 / 5 · above
Compared against 1264 Full-Service Restaurants brands
vs Full-Service Restaurants averages
How Salata Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 90
- Opened
- 7
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 1
- Terminated
- 0
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 0
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 1.1%
- Company-owned
- 9
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 90%
- vs corporate-owned
- Multi-unit owners
- 28.6%
- Net growth (yr3)
- +8.0%
- Net unit change last year
- 3-yr CAGR
- +14.1%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Transfers (3yr)
- 0
- Projected new
- 7
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
- Ceased ops
- 1.1%
- Units that stopped operating
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.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
- Total loans
- 18
- Loan volume
- $11.6M
- Median loan
- $541K
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- 11.1%
- 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)
- 88.9%
- 5-yr charge-off
- 0.0%
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 13
- Defaults
- 1
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Premium insight
SBA Lending Report
Deep-dive into Salata's SBA lending history: lender network, geographic footprint, interest rates, and more.
SBA Lending Report
- Principal loss rate and NAICS industry benchmark
- 10 lenders with concentration factor
- Per-state charge-off rates across 3 states
- Startup risk premium and job creation velocity
- 6-year lending trend
Instant access. No subscription.
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Salata presents moderate-to-cautionary risk due to lack of Item 19 profitability disclosure, wide investment variance, and sluggish unit growth, offsetting positive factors like no litigation and protected territory.
Litigation (Item 3)
No litigation information provided in Item 3
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Seth & Associates CPAs, PLLC
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 30 / 100 rating
- 01MEDNet Income not disclosed in FDD Item 19 — cannot assess actual profitability or ROI despite $1.3M average revenue
- 02MINORWide investment range ($285.5K–$1.16M) suggests high variability in unit economics and unclear cost structure
- 03MINORModest unit growth of 8.0% YoY in fast-casual segment indicates slower expansion than category peers
- 04MEDHigh royalty rate (5%) combined with undisclosed net income creates unclear path to franchisee profitability
- 05HIGHGoing Concern status is False but absence of Item 19 net income data prevents validation of financial sustainability
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/Boundaries |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| 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 | 25 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Houston, Texas |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Texas |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
No litigation information provided in Item 3
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 64 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 318 hrs
- Training location
- On-site and corporate
- Ongoing training
- Required
- POS system
- Toast
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Toast
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
9 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Salata · FDD (2023) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Salata franchise?
The total investment to open a Salata franchise ranges from $286K – $1.2M, 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 Salata franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Salata 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 Salata's franchise failure rate?
Based on SBA 7(a) loan data, Salata has a charge-off rate of 11.1% across 18 loans, meaning 11.1% of franchise loans were charged off. Charge-off rates are one proxy for franchise risk, though they do not capture all closures. This data comes from FOIA-sourced SBA lending records.
How many Salata franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Salata has 90 total units in the United States, including 81 franchised units and 9 company-owned units. 7 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Salata a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Salata as a A-grade franchise with a risk score of 30 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.