FranchiseVerdict
Sauce Pizza / Wine logo
FV-02238·MODERATEExcellent91

Sauce Pizza / Wine

Food & Beverage - Full ServiceFranchising since 2024Website
Investment
$1.3M – $5.5M
92nd pct Full Service
Avg revenue
$1.9M
41st pct Full Service
Royalty
5.0%
15th pct Full Service
Units
13
47th pct Full Service
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $1.3M – $5.5M including a $40K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
  • Average unit revenue of $1.9M/year (median $2.2M).
  • Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 64/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 169 loans (below the industry average).
  • 18 litigation matters disclosed in Item 3 — higher than typical. Review the summary for patterns (franchisor-initiated vs. franchisee-initiated).

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
BQ Concepts, LLC
Parent company
BBQ Holdings, Inc.
Incorporated in
Arizona
HQ
12701 Whitewater Drive, Suite 100, Minnetonka, Minnesota 55343-4164
Auditor
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$604.2M
vs $597.5M prior year

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 Sauce Pizza / Wine unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
FDD Item 19 reports $1,915,748
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: $1.3M–$5.5M
Working capital
$
FDD reports $5K–$10K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

10%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$326K
EBITDA margin
17.0%
Total invested
$3.4M
Payback
126 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 Sauce Pizza / Wine units return on equity?

Edit assumptions

Equity IRR · 5-yr

30.1%

3.72× MOIC

Year-1 DSCR

2.68×

EBITDA ÷ debt service

Equity required

$8.4M

on $19.2M purchase

Total debt

$10.7M

SBA $5.0M + senior + seller note

SBA 7(a) request ($9.6M) exceeds the $5M program cap. Excess capped automatically; backfill via conventional or equity.

Overview

About

Franchisees operate casual dining establishments serving pizza and wine in a relaxed atmosphere. Day-to-day operations include managing kitchen and front-of-house staff, inventory procurement, food preparation, customer service, and wine program curation. Revenue models depend on dine-in, takeout, and delivery channels.

CEO
Eric Lefebvre
Founded
2022
FDD year
2026
States available
1

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$1.3M – $5.5M
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$5K – $10K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$40K
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
$1.9M
Per unit, per year
Median gross sales
$2.2M
Item 19 type
Historic Performance (Average/Median Gross Sales)
Sample size
13 units
vs category median 15
Transparency
4 / 5
vs category median 4 / 5 · typical
Revenue rank41th
vs Food & Beverage - Full Service peers
Investment cost rank92th
Lower investment ranks lower (better)
Royalty rate rank15th
Lower royalty = lower percentile (better)
Unit count rank47th
vs Food & Beverage - Full Service peers
Risk score rank59th
Lower risk = lower percentile (better)

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
13
Opened
0
Last reporting year
Closed
0
Turnover rate
0.0%
Company-owned
13
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
0%
vs corporate-owned
Multi-unit owners
1.0%
2024
0±0
Franchised units
2025
0
Franchised units
2026
0
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 5 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 · 5 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.

Total loans
169
Loan volume
Avg loan
Default rate
0.0%
vs <3% typical · system-wide
5-yr default

FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17

Risk & Legal

64
Risk · 0-100
MODERATE64 / 100

A financially distressed franchisor with shrinking unit growth, undisclosed profitability, significant litigation exposure, and unprotected territories presents high capital-at-risk for franchisees seeking established brand stability.

Score breakdown · what drove the 64 / 100 rating

  1. 01HIGHGoing Concern False status indicates potential financial viability issues at franchisor level
  2. 02HIGHSignificant litigation history involving breach of contract, misrepresentation, and trademark infringement suggests operational and legal instability
  3. 03MINOROnly 13 units with unknown growth trajectory suggests stagnant or declining system (typical growth franchises have 50+ units)
  4. 04MEDWide investment range ($1.3M–$5.5M) with no disclosed average net income makes ROI projections impossible
  5. 05MINORUnprotected territory creates direct competition risk from other franchisees within same geographic areas
  6. 06MINORHigh initial investment relative to small unit count and unknown profitability creates significant downside exposure
  7. 07MINOR5% royalty plus $10/week surcharge on $1.9M average revenue yields ~$100K+ annual franchisor revenue per unit, yet system is not growing

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

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

Contract & Territory Detail

Protected territory
No
Initial term
10 years
Renewal term
10 years
Online sales rights
Restricted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Allowed
Litigation count
18
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
Required
Governing law
State where Franchised Business is located

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
75 hrs
On-the-job training
280 hrs

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

6 numbers

Locked
(952) 294-••••
The franchisor is
MN
(804) 371-••••
VA
(518) 473-••••
NY

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Sauce Pizza / Wine · FDD (2026) PDF

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