Question 1

Is Moe’s Southwest Grill or PJ’s Coffee of New Orleans cheaper to open?

Accepted Answer

Moe’s Southwest Grill costs $644,425–$1,968,450 and PJ’s Coffee of New Orleans costs $915,000–$1,698,000 to open (FDD Item 7). Moe’s Southwest Grill has the lower entry cost.

Question 2

Which earns more, Moe’s Southwest Grill or PJ’s Coffee of New Orleans?

Accepted Answer

Moe’s Southwest Grill reports $1,182,975 average annual unit revenue vs $589,674 for PJ’s Coffee of New Orleans (FDD Item 19). Moe’s Southwest Grill is higher. For Moe’s Southwest Grill: Reported for a subset of outlets rather than the whole system; Reported as net sales, not gross sales. For PJ’s Coffee of New Orleans: Reported as net sales, not gross sales.

Question 3

Which is the better franchise, Moe’s Southwest Grill or PJ’s Coffee of New Orleans?

Accepted Answer

FranchiseVerdict grades Moe’s Southwest Grill B and PJ’s Coffee of New Orleans B, from FDD Items 5–7, 19–21 and SBA loan performance. See the full side-by-side above.

Metric	Moe’s Southwest Grill	PJ’s Coffee of New Orleans
Verdict Grade	BAbove average	BAbove average
Investment Range	$644K – $2.0M	$915K – $1.7M
Franchise Fee	$36K	$40K
Royalty Rate	5.0%	5.0%
Average Revenue (Item 19)	$1.2MOutlet subset	$590K
SBA Charge-Off Rate	12.7% (215 loans)	Limited data
Total Units	568	182
Unit Growth (YoY)	-28 units	+13 units
Year Began Franchising	2017	2008
FDD Year	2026	2025

Moe’s Southwest Grill vs PJ’s Coffee of New Orleans