Taco Bell Express
Bottom line
- Total investment $287K – $856K including a $23K franchise fee, 10.0% ongoing royalty.
- No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
- Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 56/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 115 loans (below the industry average).
- No Item 19 financial performance representation. Without franchisor-disclosed revenue data, you'll need to gather unit economics directly from existing franchisees.
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 Taco Bell Express unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
13%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Overview
About
Franchisees operate limited-service Taco Bell kiosks or small-footprint locations, typically in non-traditional venues (airports, gas stations, universities). Day-to-day operations include food preparation, inventory management, staffing, and customer service with reduced overhead compared to full-service restaurants, but also limited revenue potential.
Item 7 · what it costs
The Vitals
Item 19
Financial Performance
This franchisor did not disclose financial performance representations in Item 19, or our extractor could not parse them.
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 15 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
Taco Bell Express presents elevated risk due to declining unit count, missing financial transparency, unprotected territories, and high royalty burden on a shrinking franchise system.
Score breakdown · what drove the 56 / 100 rating
- 01MINORUnit count declining 2.2% YoY (238 units) indicates system contraction and potential market saturation or franchisee exit issues
- 02MEDNo average revenue or net income disclosed (Item 19) prevents accurate ROI analysis and suggests franchisor may be hiding underperformance
- 03MINORWide investment range ($287K-$855K) with no profitability benchmarks creates uncertainty about break-even timeline and capital requirements
- 04MINORUnprotected territory exposes franchisees to direct competition from other Taco Bell Express units and parent company cannibalization
- 05MINOR10% royalty on gross sales (not net) is aggressive and burdensome during low-revenue periods, compounding cash flow risk
- 06MEDSmall franchise fee ($22.5K) relative to total investment suggests limited franchisor skin-in-the-game and quality control resources
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
36 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Taco Bell Express · FDD (2025) PDF