FranchiseVerdict
THE EMPANADA MAKER logo
FV-02630·CAUTIONExcellent81

The Empanada Maker

Food & Beverage - Full ServiceFranchising since 2024Website
Investment
$246K – $554K
26th pct Full Service
Avg revenue
57th pct Full Service
Royalty
6.0%
54th pct Full Service
Units
2
11th pct Full Service
SBA default

Bottom line

  • Total investment $246K – $554K including a $40K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated CAUTION with a risk score of 72/100.
  • 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
THE EMPANADA MAKER FRANCHISE GROUP, LLC
Incorporated in
Delaware
HQ
26131 La Paz Rd., Unit B3, Mission Viejo, CA 92691
Auditor
Metwally CPA PLLC
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$0
Most recent fiscal 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 THE EMPANADA MAKER 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: $246K–$554K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $39K–$74K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

25%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$113K
EBITDA margin
15.0%
Total invested
$457K
Payback
49 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 quick-service empanada restaurants, managing food preparation, counter service, and inventory for a Latin American baked good concept. Daily operations include preparing empanada fillings, managing a small front-of-house team, handling POS transactions, and maintaining food safety/storage protocols. Likely positioned as a kiosk, cart, or small footprint quick-service model.

CEO
Cameron Davis
Founded
2024
FDD year
2024
States available
1

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$246K – $554K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$39K – $74K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$40K
Royalty
6.0%
Percentage of Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
2.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
8.0%
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
2
Opened
0
Last reporting year
Closed
0
Turnover rate
0.0%
Company-owned
2
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
0%
vs corporate-owned
Multi-unit owners
25.0%
2022
0±0
Franchised units
2023
0
Franchised units
2024
0
Franchised units

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).

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 · 17 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.

No SBA loan data available for this brand.

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

Risk & Legal

72
Risk · 0-100
CAUTION72 / 100

Extremely early-stage micro-franchise with undisclosed unit economics, unproven scalability (2 units only), franchisor financial instability, and zero transparent profitability data—suitable only for risk-tolerant investors willing to essentially beta-test an unvalidated concept.

Score breakdown · what drove the 72 / 100 rating

  1. 01MINOROnly 2 units in system with unknown/stagnant growth trajectory suggests minimal market validation and scalability concerns
  2. 02MINORNo Item 19 (Average Revenue/Net Income) disclosure means no transparency on actual franchisee profitability—critical red flag for $246k-$554k investment
  3. 03HIGHGoing Concern status is FALSE, indicating potential financial instability at franchisor level and risk of system collapse
  4. 04MEDWide investment range spread ($308k delta) with no disclosed average revenues makes ROI projection impossible and suggests inconsistent unit economics
  5. 05MINOROnly 2 operating units provide no meaningful sample size to validate the business model's viability or franchisee success rates
  6. 06MINORMicro-franchise system with minimal brand recognition limits economies of scale, supply chain leverage, and marketing ROI

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

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

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Population-based/Radius
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
7 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
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Non-compete
2 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Required
Governing law
Delaware

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
8 hrs
On-the-job training
40 hrs
POS system
Toast
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

21 numbers

Locked
(808) 586-••••
HI
(515) 281-••••
IA
(512) 463-••••
TX

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

THE EMPANADA MAKER · FDD (2024) PDF

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