How is Restaurant EBITDA calculated for Noodles & Company, and what is excluded from this calculation?
Noodles_Company Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
card processing fees, bank charges, restaurant marketing, leased equipment and licenses, utilities, insurance and other miscellaneous fixed expenses.
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- Restaurant EBITDA means restaurant contribution to profit before interest expense, income taxes, depreciation and amortization. Calculation of Restaurant EBITDA for this Statement excludes the 5.0% Royalty Fee, which these restaurants are not charged.
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- The median EBITDA of company-owned restaurants is $158,332.
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- Because the Noodles & Company restaurants whose results appear above are Company-operated restaurants, they paid no royalties. You must consider your restaurant's required Royalty payment (currently 5.0% of Net Royalty Sales) as part of its expected operating expenses. The annual Royalty Fee your restaurant would have been required to pay had it achieved the average Net Sales level reflected in the table
Source: Item 19 — FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE REPRESENTATIONS (FDD pages 84–89)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to the 2025 Noodles & Company Franchise Disclosure Document, Restaurant EBITDA is defined as the restaurant's contribution to profit before interest expense, income taxes, depreciation, and amortization. This metric is used to assess the financial performance of Noodles & Company restaurants. The median EBITDA for company-owned restaurants is $158,332.
It's important to note that the calculation of Restaurant EBITDA excludes the 5.0% Royalty Fee that franchisees would typically be charged. This exclusion is because the financial results presented are for company-owned restaurants, which do not pay this royalty. A prospective franchisee needs to factor in this 5.0% royalty on Net Royalty Sales as an additional operating expense when evaluating the potential profitability of a Noodles & Company franchise.
The FDD emphasizes that the financial performance representation does not reflect all costs and expenses required to achieve net income or profit. Therefore, a prospective Noodles & Company franchisee should conduct their own thorough investigation into all anticipated costs, including royalty fees, interest on financing, income taxes, depreciation, and amortization, to determine potential profitability. The FDD suggests that potential franchisees may find it useful to contact existing or former franchisees to gather more information on these costs.