FranchiseVerdict
Taqueria Los Comales logo
FV-02562·MODERATEExcellent81

Taqueria Los Comales

Food & Beverage - Full ServiceFranchising since 2005Website
Investment
$141K – $442K
10th pct Full Service
Avg revenue
57th pct Full Service
Royalty
5.0%
15th pct Full Service
Units
5
26th pct Full Service
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $141K – $442K including a $25K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 65/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 2 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

Legal entity
TLC FRANCHISING CORP.
Incorporated in
Illinois
HQ
3141 W. 26th St., Chicago, IL 60623
Auditor
CJBS, LLC
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$74K
vs $74K 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 Taqueria Los Comales unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
Item 19 not disclosed — typing your own estimate
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: $141K–$442K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $4K–$45K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

40%

In Yale's "attractive" band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$128K
EBITDA margin
17.0%
Total invested
$316K
Payback
30 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.

Overview

About

Franchisees operate full-service or express Mexican casual-dining restaurants serving traditional and contemporary taqueria fare. Day-to-day operations include kitchen management, table service (or fast-casual service in express format), inventory control, staff scheduling, and local marketing to drive customer traffic.

CEO
Lawrence Gonzalez
Founded
2003
FDD year
2025
States available
1

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$141K – $442K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$4K – $45K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$25K
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

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

Total units
5
Opened
1
Last reporting year
Closed
0
Turnover rate
0.0%
Company-owned
4
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
20%
vs corporate-owned
2023
1+1
Franchised units
2024
0
Franchised units
2025
0
Franchised units

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

Item 12 · 1 state reported

The Territory Map

FDD Item 12 reports the state count, but the specific list isn't in our current data. The map will appear once we re-extract from the FDD or enough franchisee contacts are available.

1

states with franchisees (per FDD Item 12)

Government records

SBA Loan Data

Aggregated from SBA 7(a) loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.

Total loans
2
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

65
Risk · 0-100
MODERATE65 / 100

Taqueria Los Comales presents meaningful financial transparency and scale risks typical of pre-revenue or early-stage franchise systems lacking documented unit economics and meaningful operating track record.

Score breakdown · what drove the 65 / 100 rating

  1. 01MEDOnly 5 units systemwide indicates extremely limited operating history and unproven franchise model scalability
  2. 02MINORNo Item 19 (Average Unit Volume) disclosure prevents assessment of profitability and ROI on $140k-$442k investment
  3. 03MINORHigh investment range ($301,500 spread) with no average revenue benchmarks creates uncertainty about unit economics
  4. 04MEDMinimal franchise network provides limited peer support, operational benchmarking, and brand marketing leverage
  5. 05MINOR5-year term is shorter than industry standard (10 years), creating uncertainty in franchise relationship stability

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

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

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Specific geographical area
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
5 years
Renewal term
5 years
Online sales rights
Restricted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Allowed
Litigation count
0
Right of first refusal
Yes
Franchisor can buy back on resale
Mandatory arbitration
Yes
Non-compete
1 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Optional
Governing law
Illinois

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
51 hrs
On-the-job training
61 hrs
POS system
PAR Brink
Operating tech stack

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

1 numbers

Locked
(773) 523-••••
IL

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Taqueria Los Comales · FDD (2025) PDF

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