FDD Items 3 & 4 · 2025 filing
South Philly Steaks & Fries / South Philly Cheesesteaks & Fries litigation history
What South Philly Steaks & Fries / South Philly Cheesesteaks & Fries disclosed about lawsuits, arbitrations and bankruptcy in the 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document. Item 3 lists the material legal actions a franchisor must report; Item 4 covers bankruptcy. This is the franchisor's own disclosure, not a court record, and not legal advice.
Items 3 & 4 at a glance
What the filing discloses
- Cases disclosed
- 9
- Item 3, as counted in the filing
- Largest disclosed settlement
- $240K
- As stated in Item 3
- Bankruptcy (Item 4)
- Disclosed
- Franchisor, parent, predecessor or officer
- Filing year
- 2025
- Disclosures cover the prior ten years
Extracted from the 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document
Item 3: litigation
Item 3 discloses: (1) Ameream LLC v. Villa Pizza Enterprises (affiliate lease dispute, dismissed in affiliate's favor Aug 2024); (2) trademark infringement suit EYB v. Jonathan Rollo/Greenleaf (EYB plaintiff, settled/dismissed); three unpaid-royalty franchise collection suits by EYB/Villa as plaintiff (Fast Casual Enterprises - default judgment $239,544.78; 1314 Food Services - settled; Asif Shahzad/Taco Jersey Green - settled); and four former-affiliate (R&S Ventures) landlord judgments for nonpayment of rent (Mayfair WI $37,930.52; DeBartolo OH $18,463.15; Centermark CA $143,609.06; W.G. Park PA $19,512.00). "Other than the above, no litigation is required to be disclosed."
Disclosed in the 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document
Item 4: bankruptcy
Biagio Scotto, president of Villa Pizza Specialties, Inc. (Texas corporation operating one store), filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy case number 15-31057 in United States Bankruptcy Court - District of New Jersey. Case closed February 14, 2017.
Disclosure signals that moved the score
How this shows up in the verdict
- Going Concern status is FALSE — indicates financial instability or viability questions at franchisor level
- Multiple litigation cases including trademark infringement, unpaid royalties, and lease disputes indicate operational and legal mismanagement
The verdict grade is FranchiseVerdict's editorial assessment across SBA loan performance, unit growth, revenue and disclosure signals. It is not investment advice.
Before you weigh a lawsuit
How to read Item 3
A franchisor must disclose pending actions and any material civil action involving the franchise relationship, plus convictions or civil judgments for fraud, unfair or deceptive practices, or franchise-law violations, going back ten years. A case the franchisor brought against a franchisee counts too. Item 3 does not include every dispute: settled claims below the materiality line and matters resolved in private arbitration can be absent.
Questions worth asking current and former franchisees, using the contact list in Item 20:
- Were you, or anyone you know in the system, party to a dispute with the franchisor?
- Was it resolved by settlement, arbitration or a court, and on what terms?
- Has the number of disputes gone up or down since you signed?