Franchise Deep Dive: WaBa Grill’s Franchise Costs, Fees, Profit and Data

WaBa Grill is a fast casual rice bowl restaurant franchise that serves boneless, skinless, fat-trimmed chicken; rib-eye cuts of steak; salmon; shrimp; and tofu. With a simple, innovative menu that emphasizes health-conscious dishes, ethnic flavors and high-quality ingredients, WaBa Grill has become a wildly popular brand on the West Coast. The brand competes in the Asian category against major franchises like Panda Express.

The WaBa Grill company was established in 2006 by Kyle Lee, Brian Ham and Eric Lee in Southern California, and currently has over 200 units across California and Arizona. Over the years, WaBa Grill has been recognized as one of the fastest-growing American franchises and has been ranked among the nation’s top 500 franchises by Entrepreneur magazine. The company has also been listed as a leading fast-casual restaurant by several other media outlets such as Fast Casual, Nation’s Restaurant News (NRN), Restaurant Business, QSR and others.

Since its founding, the majority of the brand’s growth has come from existing franchisees reinvesting. In 2022, more than half of WaBa Grill franchise owners owned multiple locations, with several developing entire territories. In recent years, the WaBa Grill brand has continued to break sales records despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the end of 2022, WaBa Grill reported that its average unit volume (AUV) for the brand’s top 25% of locations reached more than $1.3 million, with the top 50% of locations achieving an AUV of more than $1.15 million.

The WaBa Grill business model was created with simplicity in mind. Customers can build their own rice bowls or salads, choosing from a variety of proteins, vegetables and four sauces that run the gamut of sweet to spicy. Everything is cooked made-to-order; there’s no frying, no microwaves and no artificial additives. The ability to focus on a simple menu allows the brand to keep operations simple. Kitchens are designed for efficiency and productivity, and to get food out fast. One out of every four sales is digital, and that is trending upwards.

The total investment necessary to open a WaBa Grill franchise ranges between $336,000 to $572,000. This includes:

• Initial Franchise Fee: $30,000 ($25,000 for 2nd and any additional store)

• Real Estate Security / Utility Deposits, Licenses and Prepaid Fees: $7,000–$20,000

• Equipment and Furniture: $25,000–$35,000

• Leasehold Improvements (including architectural and design fees): $225,000–$400,000

• Opening Inventory: $5,500–$7,000

• Signage and Menu Board: $8,000–$20,000

• Grand Opening Promotion: $5,000–$10,000

• Cash Registers/Other Office Equipment: $8,500–$15,000

• Additional Funds — 3 months: $20,000–$30,000

• Andrew Kim, President & CEO

• Renny Freet, Chief Organizational Officer

• Afshin Compani, Chief Operations Officer

• Steven Wang, Director of Real Estate, Development & Construction

• Vivian Mendoza, Director of Marketing

• Erik Heckman, Director of Supply Chain & Product Development

• Adam Kinsinger, Director of IT