FranchiseVerdict
WaBa Grill logo
FV-02910·MODERATEExcellent81FDD 2022

WaBa Grill

Food & Beverage - Full ServiceFranchising since 2007Website
Investment
$341K – $577K
45th pct Full Service
Avg revenue
57th pct Full Service
Royalty
5.0%
15th pct Full Service
Units
189
89th pct Full Service
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $341K – $577K including a $35K 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 58/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 22 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
WaBa Grill Franchise Corp.
Parent company
WaBa Restaurant Group
Incorporated in
California
HQ
181 S. Old Springs Road, Anaheim, CA 92808
Auditor
SABOCOR & CO., LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$15.4M
vs $13.4M 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 WaBa Grill 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: $341K–$577K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $20K–$30K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

22%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$105K
EBITDA margin
14.0%
Total invested
$484K
Payback
55 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

WaBa Grill franchisees operate fast-casual Asian fusion restaurants (primarily bowls and grilled proteins) with counter-service ordering, kitchen prep operations, and front-of-house management. Day-to-day responsibilities include food preparation oversight, inventory management, staff scheduling, customer service, and brand compliance across typically 1,000-2,000 sq ft locations.

CEO
Andrew S. Kim
Founded
2008
FDD year
2022
States available
2

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$341K – $577K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$20K – $30K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$35K
Royalty
5.0%
Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
4.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
9.0%
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
189
Opened
4
Last reporting year
Closed
4
Turnover rate
2.1%
Company-owned
5
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
97%
vs corporate-owned
Multi-unit owners
1.0%
Net growth (yr3)
+6.4%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
+6.4%
Compounded over last 3 years
2020
184±0
Franchised units
2021
173
Franchised units
2022
173
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 3 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 · 3 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
22
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

58
Risk · 0-100
MODERATE58 / 100

WaBa Grill presents caution-level risk due to lack of financial transparency, slow growth, unprotected territory, past regulatory violations, and inability to assess actual franchisee profitability.

Score breakdown · what drove the 58 / 100 rating

  1. 01MEDNo Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — cannot validate revenue/profitability claims or ROI
  2. 02MINORSlow unit growth of 6.4% YoY suggests market saturation or declining franchisee satisfaction
  3. 03MINORUnprotected territory creates direct competition risk from other WaBa Grill franchisees
  4. 04HIGH2015 franchise sales litigation with state regulatory body indicates compliance issues and regulatory scrutiny
  5. 05MINORHigh total investment ($341k-$577k) relative to unknown returns creates significant capital-at-risk scenario
  6. 06MED5% royalty on undisclosed revenue streams makes profitability modeling impossible for prospective franchisees

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

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

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
address
Protected territory
No
Initial term
10 years
Renewal term
5 years
Online sales rights
Restricted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Allowed
Litigation count
1
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
Optional
Governing law
California

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
15 hrs
On-the-job training
74 hrs
POS system
Toast 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

73 numbers

Locked
(714) 995-••••
CA
(626) 960-••••
CA
(323) 560-••••
CA

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

WaBa Grill · FDD (2022) PDF

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