Squisito® Pizza and PastaFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Squisito® Pizza and Pasta franchise requires a total initial investment of $265K – $838K, including a $35K franchise fee and an ongoing 5.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2024 FDD, average unit revenue was $1.3M[2]. Verdict grade: B. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 18, 2026 · figures per the 2024 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $265K – $838K
- 15th pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $1.3M
- 13th pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- 5.0%
- 7th pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 9
- 20th pct Service Resta…
- SBA default
- 0.0%
- 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
The franchisor's auditor raised doubt about continued operations. This is a serious risk signal.
Bottom line
- Total investment $265K – $838K including a $35K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $1.3M/year (median $1.2M).
- Verdict B (Above Average) with a risk score of 62/100.
- 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
- Squisito Franchise Enterprises, Inc.
- CEO title
- CEO
- Gennaro DiMeo
- Founder active
- Yes
- Original founder still leading the business
- Incorporated in
- MD
- HQ
- 2024 West Street, Suite 302, Annapolis, Maryland 21401
- Auditor
- DA Advisory Group PLLC
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $528K
- vs $495K prior year
- ⚠ Going-concern note
- Disclosed in FDD 2024
- Status as of 2024; may have been resolved in a later filing we don't yet have.
Affiliated brands
- is not an approved supplier for any product or service
Other brands the franchisor or its parent operates (Item 1).
Overview
About
Franchisees operate casual Italian quick-service or fast-casual restaurants serving pizza and pasta dishes, managing daily food preparation, customer service, inventory, and staff scheduling. Revenue generation relies on dine-in, takeout, and potentially delivery channels within a protected territory.
- CEO
- Gennaro DiMeo
- Headquarters
- MD
- Founded
- 2010
- FDD year
- 2024
- States available
- 3
FDD Item 7 · 2024 filing · 15 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Feenot refundable | $35K | $35K | |
| Rent - 3 Monthsnot refundable | $10K | $45K | |
| Leasehold Improvementsnot refundable | $90K | $426K | |
| Equipment, Furniture and Fixturesnot refundable | $50K | $188K | |
| Technology Packagenot refundable | $5K | $14K | |
| Insurance - 3 Monthsnot refundable | $600 | $900 | |
| Permits and Licenses (Not Including Liquor License)not refundable | $8K | $8K | |
| Initial Inventorynot refundable | $10K | $16K | |
| Signagenot refundable | $10K | $21K | |
| Grand Opening Marketingnot refundable | $15K | $15K | |
| Blueprintsnot refundable | $6K | $20K | |
| Travel Expenses for Trainingnot refundable | $0 | $6K | |
| Professional Feesnot refundable | $2K | $4K | |
| Additional Fundsnot refundable | $24K | $40K | |
| Development Fee (Multi-Unit Development Agreement)not refundable | $88K | $140K | |
| Total initial investment | $352K | $978K |
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
$138K
11.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
24%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
4.2 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $265K – $838K
- Better than avg vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $24K – $40K
- Better than avg vs category
- Franchise fee
- $35K – $35K
- Better than avg vs category
- Royalty
- 5.0%
- percentage_of_gross · 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 | $12K |
| Training fee | $250 |
| Transfer fee | $18K |
| Renewal fee | $18K |
| Total fee load | 7.0% of rev |
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $1.3M
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $1.2M
- Item 19 type
- Revenues
- Sample size
- 9 units
- vs category median 13
- Range (low → high)
- $769K→$1.6M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Reporting year
- 2024
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Transparency
- 4 / 5
- vs category median 4 / 5 · typical
Compared against 1264 Full-Service Restaurants brands
vs Full-Service Restaurants averages
How Squisito® Pizza and Pasta Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 9
- Opened
- 1
- 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
- 11.1%
- Company-owned
- 2
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 78%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (yr3)
- +0.0%
- Net unit change last year
- 3-yr CAGR
- +0.0%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Transfers (3yr)
- 0
- Projected new
- 0
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
- Ceased ops
- 22.2%
- Units that stopped operating
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 17 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.
Available to sell in · Item 12
- Maryland
- Virginia
States where the franchisor is registered to sell new franchises (FDD registration filings).
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA loan disclosures. This brand has only 2 7(a) loans on file; statistical reliability is limited below 10 loans.
- Total loans
- 2
- Loan volume
- $343K
- Median loan
- $172K
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- 0.0%
- 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)
- 100.0%
- 5-yr charge-off
- N/A
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 2
- Defaults
- 0
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Premium insight
SBA Lending Report
Deep-dive into Squisito® Pizza and Pasta's SBA lending history: lender network, geographic footprint, interest rates, and more.
SBA Lending Report
- Principal loss rate and NAICS industry benchmark
- 2 lenders with concentration factor
- Per-state charge-off rates across 2 states
- Startup risk premium and job creation velocity
- 2-year lending trend
Instant access. No subscription.
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Early-stage pizza/pasta franchise with undisclosed profitability metrics, minimal unit count, and wide investment variance creating significant uncertainty around franchise viability and ROI.
Litigation (Item 3)
No litigation is required to be disclosed in this Item.
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
Disclosed in last 7 years
Bankruptcy Code; (b) obtained a discharge of its debts under the bankruptcy code; or (c) was a principal officer of a company or a general partner in a partnership that either filed as a debtor (or had filed against it) a petition to start an action under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code or that obtained a
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · DA Advisory Group PLLC⚠ 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 62 / 100 rating
- 01MEDNet income not disclosed in FDD Item 19 — unable to validate profitability claims against $1.26M average revenue
- 02MINOROnly 9 units system-wide with unknown growth trajectory — suggests early-stage or stalled expansion
- 03MINORHigh investment range ($264.6K–$837.5K) with 5% royalty plus unknown additional fees — requires clarity on total cost of ownership
- 04MINORWide investment variance ($573K spread) indicates inconsistent unit economics or high customization costs
- 05HIGHNo disclosed litigation history may reflect insufficient system maturity rather than clean operations
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 |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Territory radius | 0.1 mi |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Optional |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 20 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| RoFR response window | 30 days |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Anne Arundel County, Maryland |
| Governing law | Maryland |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
No litigation is required to be disclosed in this Item.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 0 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 280 hrs
- Training location
- On-site and corporate
- Ongoing training
- Required
- POS system
- TOAST Point Of Sale
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: TOAST Point Of Sale
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
19 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Squisito® Pizza and Pasta · FDD (2024) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Squisito® Pizza and Pasta franchise?
The total investment to open a Squisito® Pizza and Pasta franchise ranges from $265K – $838K, with an initial franchise fee of $35K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Squisito® Pizza and Pasta franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Squisito® Pizza and Pasta FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $1.3M. The median is $1.2M. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Squisito® Pizza and Pasta's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Squisito® Pizza and Pasta (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 Squisito® Pizza and Pasta franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Squisito® Pizza and Pasta has 9 total units in the United States, including 7 franchised units and 2 company-owned units. 1 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Squisito® Pizza and Pasta a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Squisito® Pizza and Pasta as a B-grade franchise with a risk score of 62 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.