The Original Pancake House
Bottom line
- Total investment $483K – $1.7M including a $60K franchise fee, 2.0% ongoing royalty.
- No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
- Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 57/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 34 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 The Original Pancake House unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
13%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Overview
About
Franchisees operate full-service pancake house restaurants, managing day-to-day operations including food preparation, customer service, staffing, inventory management, and marketing. They must maintain brand standards for the signature pancake menu and breakfast-focused concept while generating revenue through dine-in service across operating hours (typically breakfast and lunch service).
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 · 16 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
The Original Pancake House presents CAUTION-level risk due to a shrinking franchise system, active litigation over royalty enforcement, absence of financial performance data, and high capital requirements without transparent income verification.
Score breakdown · what drove the 57 / 100 rating
- 01MINORDeclining unit count (-0.7% YoY) indicates system contraction despite 147 locations
- 02HIGHActive litigation over royalty collection and enforcement suggests franchisor-franchisee disputes and payment compliance issues
- 03MEDNo Item 19 financial performance disclosure (Avg Revenue and Net Income not disclosed) prevents prospective franchisees from validating ROI on $482.5K-$1.66M investment
- 04MINORHigh initial investment range ($482.5K-$1.66M) combined with 2% royalty creates significant capital requirement with unclear profit potential
- 05MINOR20-year term is longer than industry standard (typically 10 years) and limits franchisee exit flexibility
- 06HIGHGoing Concern flag is false but system contraction and litigation suggest operational stress
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
80 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
The Original Pancake House · FDD (2025) PDF