Salsarita's Fresh Mexican Grill
Bottom line
- Total investment $371K – $856K including a $30K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $1.2M/year (median $1.2M).
- Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 55/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 21 loans (below the industry average).
- System contracting at -9.7% CAGR over 3 years. Investigate whether closures are franchisor-driven (consolidation) or franchisee-driven (economics).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
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 Salsarita's Fresh Mexican Grill unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
31%
In Yale's "attractive" band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Salsarita's Fresh Mexican Grill units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
43.5%
6.08× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
2.01×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$2.8M
on $11.2M purchase
Total debt
$8.4M
SBA $5.0M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Franchisees operate fast-casual Mexican restaurant locations, managing food preparation, customer service, inventory, and staff scheduling. Daily operations include counter service, customizable burrito/bowl orders, point-of-sale management, and kitchen execution across breakfast, lunch, and dinner dayparts.
Item 7 · what it costs
The Vitals
Item 19
Financial Performance
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 23 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 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.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Declining unit count, undisclosed profitability metrics, and high investment-to-revenue ratio create material risk; requires deep franchisee validation before commitment.
Score breakdown · what drove the 55 / 100 rating
- 01MINORUnit count declining 6.7% YoY (65 units) signals system contraction and potential franchisee dissatisfaction
- 02MEDNet income not disclosed in Item 19 prevents ROI validation; average revenue of $1.24M alone doesn't confirm profitability
- 03MEDHigh initial investment range ($371K-$856K) with no disclosed average net income creates significant payback uncertainty
- 04MINORModest royalty rate (5-6%) suggests thin franchisor margins, potentially limiting support infrastructure
- 05HIGHNo litigation disclosed but combined with shrinking base raises questions about dispute resolution history
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
Item 11
Training & Operations
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
39 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Salsarita's Fresh Mexican Grill · FDD (2025) PDF