Pizza Ranch Franchise
Cost, fees, owner earnings, closure rate and litigation for a Pizza Ranch franchise — pulled from the franchisor's own public FDD (2026), not its sales material.
Disclosure honesty
Pizza Ranch discloses earnings (Item 19) — but the grade is how honestly. We graded it C.
What their own earnings claim actually says
Discloses gross sales by population tier, total system sales growth, and EBITDAR for 94 FunZone restaurants (avg $410K). Omits owner net income after debt service, depreciation, and owner compensation; no non-FunZone P&L shown.
What a Pizza Ranch franchise actually costs to run
| Fee | Disclosed | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $30,000 | Item 5 — paid up front, before you open |
| Royalty | 3.5% of gross sales | Item 6 — charged on revenue, not profit |
| Advertising fund | 2.25% of gross sales | Item 6 — brand marketing, spent at the franchisor's discretion |
| Total recurring fees | 5.75% of gross sales | Before rent, labor, food or debt service |
| Total initial investment | $2,305,500 – $5,134,500 | Item 7 — franchisor's own low/high estimate |
Total fees up to ~6% royalty+service plus up to 5% ad; additional training, remodel, and audit fees apply.
Royalty and ad-fund percentages are charged on gross sales — an owner pays them whether or not the location is profitable.
Pizza Ranch system size and owner turnover
| Total outlets | 219 |
| Ceased operations | 0 |
| Terminated by franchisor | 6 |
| Transferred to new owners | 4 |
| Closure rate | 0.0% of outlets |
6 terminations in 2025, 6 closures noted in Item 19 text; no ceased-operations category triggered in Item 20.
From Item 20 of the FDD 2026. Terminations and ceased operations are the franchisor's own count of owners who stopped — the number the sales pitch leaves out.
Is Pizza Ranch worth it? — how it compares to 38 similar franchises
| Ongoing fees | 5.75% of sales | lower than most (median 8%) |
| Startup cost | from $2,305,500 | pricier than 97% of peers |
| Disclosure honesty | Grade C | typical for the category |
| Closure rate | 0.0% of outlets | better than most (median 0.6%) |
| Disclosed lawsuits | 0 | fewer than most |
Benchmarked against every pizza franchise we've graded from public FDDs — the context the franchisor's pitch never gives you.
Owner take-home for a Pizza Ranch
The franchisor's framing: Discloses gross sales by population tier, total system sales growth, and EBITDAR for 94 Fu… We reconstruct what an owner actually keeps, from their own FDD.
- Reconstructed owner P&L — net take-home after royalty, ad fund, rent, labor & debt
- Break-even timeline + cash-on-cash ROI
- Full fee stack + required-purchase markups
- Decoded real failure / closure rate
- How it ranks vs comparable franchises
- Validation-call playbook — the exact questions to ask
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Pizza Ranch franchise — frequently asked
- How much does a Pizza Ranch franchise cost?
- The FDD lists a total initial investment of about $2,305,500–$5,134,500, including a $30,000 initial franchise fee.
- How much do Pizza Ranch franchise owners make?
- Discloses gross sales by population tier, total system sales growth, and EBITDAR for 94 FunZone restaurants (avg $410K). Omits owner net income after debt service, depreciation, and owner compensation; no non-FunZone P&L shown. We grade this disclosure C for honesty.
- What are the Pizza Ranch franchise fees?
- Pizza Ranch's FDD discloses a $30,000 initial franchise fee, a 3.5% royalty on gross sales, a 2.25% advertising-fund contribution, for roughly 5.75% of gross sales in recurring fees before rent, labor, or debt service. Total fees up to ~6% royalty+service plus up to 5% ad; additional training, remodel, and audit fees apply.
- What is the Pizza Ranch franchise profit margin?
- Pizza Ranch does not publish a franchisee net-profit margin — almost no franchisor does. What Item 19 actually shows: Discloses gross sales by population tier, total system sales growth, and EBITDAR for 94 FunZone restaurants (avg $410K). Omits owner net income after debt service, depreciation, and owner compensation; no non-FunZone P&L shown. Recurring fees alone take about 5.75% of gross sales, before rent, labor, food or debt service. Margin has to be reconstructed from the disclosure, not read off it.
- What is the Pizza Ranch franchise failure rate?
- 6 terminations in 2025, 6 closures noted in Item 19 text; no ceased-operations category triggered in Item 20.
- How many Pizza Ranch locations are there?
- Pizza Ranch's FDD reports 219 total outlets, with 0 that ceased operations in the most recent reporting year and 4 transferred to new owners. Item 20 is where system health shows up before the marketing does.
- Does Pizza Ranch have complaints or lawsuits?
- Pizza Ranch discloses no material litigation in Item 3 of the filing we reviewed. That's a positive signal, though it covers only what the franchisor is required to report.
- Is a Pizza Ranch franchise worth it?
- It depends on the numbers, not the pitch. Pizza Ranch scores C on disclosure honesty, carries about 5.75% of sales in ongoing fees. Get the real owner take-home before you sign.
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Compare Pizza Ranch to similar franchises
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Source: MN CARDS 35828-202604-09 (Clean FDD 2026). FranchiseValidate is independent and not affiliated with Pizza Ranch or its franchisor. Figures are extracted from the franchisor's own public disclosure document; verify against the current FDD before any decision.