BUONA
Chicago’s Original Italian Beef Franchising LLC offers franchises for Buona restaurants featuring Italian beef sandwiches along with other sandwiches, pasta, burgers, hot dogs, salads, and desserts, served at the premises, via delivery, or through catering services. The business model centers on franchising single-brand or dual-brand (with The Original Rainbow Cone) fast-casual locations in free-standing buildings or inline shopping centers, supported by standardized systems for operations, training, and marketing. It targets consumers in competitive fast-casual dining markets influenced by eating habits, economic conditions, and local traffic patterns.
Franchise Costs
4% royalty + 1.5% ad fund (up to 2.5%) + $100/wk technology fee
Financial Performance
Item 19 Financial Performance
Data Based On: 10 affiliate-owned single brand free standing restaurants with drive through windows open for full 52 operating weeks from January 1, 2024 through December 29, 2024.
* All financial performance data extracted pertains to affiliate-owned (company-owned) units, as the document explicitly states no data from franchised businesses is available. The primary metrics (average gross revenue, median gross revenue, average gross profit, average net profit) are derived from the 'Average' and 'Median' columns of the table summarizing 10 affiliate-owned single brand free standing restaurants with drive-thru, covering the period 1/1/24 - 12/29/24. 'Average Net Profit' corresponds to 'Income (18)', which is defined as sales less listed expenses, before deductions for rent, real estate taxes, personal property taxes, interest costs, depreciation and amortization or income tax, local advertising, other employee benefits, and certain other expenses. Best guess profit range (low/high) is set to null because sufficient information for all unlisted expenses to calculate a reliable range was not provided.
Extracted Item 19 Section
How BUONA Compares
Key Insights
- Higher investment than 99% of Fast Food franchises
| Franchise | Investment | Fee | Royalty | Locations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
BUONA Current | $2.9M – $5.3M | $40K | 4.0% | 0 |
| MCDONALD'S | $1.5M – $2.6M | $45K | N/A | 12,772 |
| AFC | $45K – $151K | $6K | 9.5% | 3,572 |
| SONIC DRIVE-IN | $1.7M – $3.1M | $15K | 5.0% | 3,441 |
| JIMMY JOHN'S | $366K – $728K | $35K | 6.0% | 2,647 |
| ARBY'S | $645K – $2.5M | $38K | 4.0% | 2,316 |
Fast Food Average 126 franchises | $594K – $1.5M | $35K | 6.1% | – |
* Comparison based on latest FDD filings. Investment ranges from Item 7, fees from Item 5. Showing top 5 of 126 Fast Food franchises by location count.
Locations & Growth
Outlet Growth Over Time
Total outlets at end of each year
Geographic Distribution (2024)
Outlets by state across the United States
Franchisee Contacts
6 franchisee contacts on file from official FDD filings.
| Name | SBA Loan |
|---|---|
John Smith ABC Franchise LLC | $350,000 2023 · Active |
John Smith ABC Franchise LLC | $350,000 2023 · Active |
John Smith ABC Franchise LLC | $350,000 2023 · Active |
John Smith ABC Franchise LLC | $350,000 2023 · Active |
John Smith ABC Franchise LLC | $350,000 2023 · Active |
6 Contacts Available
Unlock all BUONA franchisee contacts with verified contact information
Due Diligence
Litigation (Item 3)
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
System Health (Item 20)
Franchise system changes reported in the most recent fiscal year
Frequently Asked Questions
The total initial investment to open a BUONA franchise ranges from $2,916,867 to $5,256,675. This includes a franchise fee of $40,000. Ongoing royalty fees are 4.0% of gross sales.
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