FranchiseVerdict
The Habit Burger Grill logo
FV-02647·STRONGExcellent81

The Habit Burger Grill

Food & Beverage - Full ServiceFranchising since 2013Website
Investment
$1.0M – $2.9M
87th pct Full Service
Avg revenue
$1.8M
39th pct Full Service
Royalty
5.5%
50th pct Full Service
Units
377
93rd pct Full Service
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $1.0M – $2.9M including a $35K franchise fee, 5.5% ongoing royalty.
  • Average unit revenue of $1.8M/year (median $1.8M).
  • Rated STRONG with a risk score of 52/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 8 loans (below the industry average).
  • System growing at 17.3% CAGR over 3 years with 377 total units — strong expansion trajectory.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
HBG Franchise, LLC
Parent company
YUM! Brands, Inc.
Incorporated in
Delaware
HQ
1 Glen Bell Way, Irvine, CA 92618
Auditor
KPMG LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$7.6M
vs $9.2M 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 The Habit Burger Grill unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
FDD Item 19 reports $1,799,000
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: $1.0M–$2.9M
Working capital
$
FDD reports $90K–$120K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

14%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$279K
EBITDA margin
15.5%
Total invested
$2.0M
Payback
88 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.

Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing

What would 25 The Habit Burger Grill units return on equity?

Edit assumptions

Equity IRR · 5-yr

33.8%

4.29× MOIC

Year-1 DSCR

2.40×

EBITDA ÷ debt service

Equity required

$5.7M

on $15.3M purchase

Total debt

$9.6M

SBA $5.0M + senior + seller note

SBA 7(a) request ($7.6M) exceeds the $5M program cap. Excess capped automatically; backfill via conventional or equity.

Overview

About

Franchisees operate fast-casual burger restaurants featuring charburgers, fresh ingredients, and limited menus. Day-to-day operations include managing kitchen/counter staff, inventory procurement, food preparation, customer service, and local marketing to drive traffic and maintain Habit's $1.8M average unit volume.

CEO
Shannon Hennessy
Founded
1969
FDD year
2025
States available
7

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$1.0M – $2.9M
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$90K – $120K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$35K
Royalty
5.5%
Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
2.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
7.5%
vs 9–13% typical

Item 19

Financial Performance

Avg gross sales
$1.8M
Per unit, per year
Median gross sales
$1.8M
Item 19 type
THR-operated and Franchisee-operated
Sample size
49 units
vs category median 15 · large
Range (low → high)
$921K$2.9M
Cohort dispersion
Transparency
4 / 5
vs category median 4 / 5 · typical
Revenue rank39th
vs Food & Beverage - Full Service peers
Investment cost rank87th
Lower investment ranks lower (better)
Royalty rate rank50th
Lower royalty = lower percentile (better)
Unit count rank93th
vs Food & Beverage - Full Service peers
Risk score rank18th
Lower risk = lower percentile (better)

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
377
Opened
3
Last reporting year
Closed
0
Turnover rate
0.0%
Company-owned
316
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
16%
vs corporate-owned
Multi-unit owners
5.0%
Net growth (yr3)
+3.4%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
+17.3%
Compounded over last 3 years
2023
61+2
Franchised units
2024
59
Franchised units
2025
52
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 11 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 · 11 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.

Total loans
8
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

52
Risk · 0-100
STRONG52 / 100

Mature QSR franchise with solid average unit volumes but opaque profitability, unprotected territories, and slow growth — requires thorough franchisee reference validation before committing $1M+ capital.

Score breakdown · what drove the 52 / 100 rating

  1. 01MEDNet income not disclosed in Item 19 — unable to assess actual profitability or ROI timeline
  2. 02MINORUnprotected territory creates direct competition risk and customer cannibalization within same market
  3. 03MINORSlow unit growth (3.4% YoY) suggests market saturation or franchisee dissatisfaction in mature system
  4. 04MINORHigh investment range ($1M–$2.9M) with 5.5% royalty requires $99K–$157K annual royalties at average revenue before profitability analysis
  5. 05MINOR10-year term is longer than QSR industry standard (typically 5–7 years), limiting exit flexibility

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

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

Contract & Territory Detail

Protected territory
No
Initial term
10 years
Renewal term
10 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
No
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Non-compete
2 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Required
Governing law
Delaware

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
0 hrs
On-the-job training
460 hrs
POS system
Habit POS
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

69 numbers

Locked
(415) 972-••••
One Sansome Street, Suite
CA
(213) 576-••••
Suite
CA
(951) 502-••••
CA

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

The Habit Burger Grill · FDD (2025) PDF

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