FranchiseVerdict
Topsail Steamer logo
FV-02766·MODERATEExcellent81

Topsail Steamer

Food & Beverage - Full ServiceFranchising since 2022Website
Investment
$242K – $399K
26th pct Full Service
Avg revenue
57th pct Full Service
Royalty
7.0%
87th pct Full Service
Units
10
41st pct Full Service
SBA default

Bottom line

  • Total investment $242K – $399K including a $45K franchise fee, 7.0% 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.
  • Auditor disclosed a going-concern note — flagged doubt about the franchisor's ability to continue operations. Verify against the latest FDD.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Topsail Steamer Franchise, LLC
Incorporated in
Delaware
HQ
29 Sandy Lane, Surf City, North Carolina 28445
Auditor
DA Advisory Group PLLC
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$0
vs $0 prior year
⚠ Going-concern note
Disclosed in FDD 2025
Auditor flagged doubt about continued operations. Verify against the latest FDD before deciding.

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 Topsail Steamer 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: $242K–$399K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $25K–$25K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

33%

In Yale's "attractive" band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$113K
EBITDA margin
15.0%
Total invested
$345K
Payback
37 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

Topsail Steamer franchisees operate fast-casual seafood restaurants focused on steamed crustaceans and shellfish. Day-to-day operations include sourcing fresh seafood, steaming/cooking to order, managing customer service, inventory management, and maintaining health/safety compliance in a quick-service environment.

CEO
Danielle Mahon
Founded
2022
FDD year
2025
States available
3

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$242K – $399K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$25K – $25K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$45K
Royalty
7.0%
Gross Revenue · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
1.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
33.0%
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
10
Opened
3
Last reporting year
Closed
0
Turnover rate
0.0%
Company-owned
5
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
50%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
Outlier (see FDD)
Likely small-sample artifact
2023
6+5
Franchised units
2024
1
Franchised units
2025
0
Franchised units

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).

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 · 16 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

65
Risk · 0-100
MODERATE65 / 100

Early-stage seafood steamer concept with explosive growth claims but zero financial transparency makes ROI validation impossible and increases execution risk.

Score breakdown · what drove the 65 / 100 rating

  1. 01MEDNo average revenue or net income disclosed in FDD Item 19 — impossible to validate ROI claims or unit economics
  2. 02MINORExplosive 500% YoY unit growth (from 2 to 10 units) suggests either rapid expansion or recent launch; unproven business model at scale
  3. 03MEDInitial investment range of $242K–$398K is substantial with no disclosed profitability benchmarks to justify it
  4. 04MEDOnly 10 total units system-wide indicates very early-stage franchise with minimal operating history and limited comparable unit data
  5. 05MINOR7% royalty on weekly gross revenue (not net) compounds pressure on already-opaque unit economics
  6. 06HIGHNo litigation disclosed is positive, but combined with lack of financial transparency raises questions about FDD completeness

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

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

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Zip Codes / Geographic boundaries
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
10 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
North Carolina

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
15 hrs
On-the-job training
30 hrs
POS system
Clover
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

16 numbers

Locked
(804) 371-••••
VA
(701) 328-••••
ND
(401) 462-••••
RI

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Topsail Steamer · FDD (2025) PDF

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