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FranchiseVerdict

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4 brands side-by-side

Compare up to 5 brands side by side

indicates the clear winner per row. Ties and missing data are not highlighted.

How winners are chosen

Lower is better for investment, liquid capital, franchise fee, royalty and ad-fund rates, SBA charge-off rate, and owner turnover.

Higher is better for disclosed revenue and owner earnings, verdict score, total units, net unit growth, and franchisee contacts. For the letter grade, A ranks highest.

A row is highlighted only when one brand clearly leads. Ties are never highlighted, and missing data never counts as a win. Some rows (earnings-metric type, loan counts, contract terms) are informational and have no winner.

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These figures come from FDDs of different years (2025, 2026). Costs, fees and unit counts change from one filing to the next, so the older column may be out of date.

Focus by buyer type

Brand
Black Bear Diner logoAStrongest tier
Black Bear Diner
Full-Service Restaurants
2026 FDD
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Pizzeria Uno logoDBelow average
Pizzeria Uno
Full-Service Restaurants
2025 FDD
Remove
Buffalo’s Cafe logoBAbove average
Buffalo’s Cafe
Full-Service Restaurants
2025 FDD
Remove
Friendly’s logoBAbove average
Friendly’s
Full-Service Restaurants
2025 FDD
Remove
Vitals
FDD filing
2026 FDD
FDD issued Apr 17, 2025
2025 FDD
FDD issued Apr 24, 2025
Investment range
$1.5M – $2.2M
$1.2M – $2.5M
$857K – $2.9M
$1.1M – $2.7M
Liquid capital
$100K – $150K
$125K – $200K
$30K – $60K
$200K – $300K
Franchise fee
$55K
$40K
$50K
$30K
Royalty rate
4.5%
5.0%
6.0%
6.0%
Ad fund rate
1.0%
1.0%
2.0%
2.5%
Performance
Avg gross sales
$2.8M
$2.3M
$2.4MNet sales
Partial, no system average
Median gross sales
$2.7M
$2.1M
$2.4M
Not extracted
Avg owner earnings
Metric varies by brand. Check type below
Not extracted
Not extracted
Not extracted
Not extracted
Earnings metric
EBITDA
Not classified
Not classified
Not classified
Risk
Rating
AStrongest tier
DBelow average
BAbove average
BAbove average
Verdict score
91 / 100
33 / 100
50 / 100
66 / 100
SBA charge-off rate
Limited · 29 loans
38.5% (n=21)
Not SBA-matched
6.5% (n=37)
SBA loans on record
29
21
N/A
37
Scale
Total units
169
53
12
95
Net change (latest yr)
+5
-10
-1
+8
Signed, not yet open
7 (0.04 per open outlet)
Not extracted
1 (0.08 per open outlet)
0 (0.00 per open outlet)
Turnover rate
1.2%
20.8%
8.3%
5.3%
Contract
Initial term (years)
10
10
15
10
Renewal term (years)
10
10
10
10
Initial training (hrs)
342
6
100
200
Contacts
Franchisee phones
75
48
82
51

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