FRANCHISE·WATCH·DESK

Verified — real FDD extraction

Not found in the SBA Franchise Directory under this name — though SBA loans to its franchisees exist; verify eligibility with your lender

Green Mill Restaurants, LLC

Food & Dining · independent · est. —

Green Mill is a Midwestern casual-dining restaurant chain known for its pizza, pasta, and full bar in a sit-down setting. A franchisee operates a full-service restaurant, managing kitchen, servers, bar, and dine-in guests.

Green Mill Restaurants, LLC net unit count declined -26.1% from 20192022 per its FDD Item 20.

New to franchising? Start here

A franchise is a business where you (the franchisee) pay a company (the franchisor) for the right to open and run a location using their brand and system — think a local Anytime Fitness or Taco John's owned by a small-business owner, not the corporation.

Before you can buy in, U.S. law requires the franchisor to give you a Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) — a long legal filing covering its fees, finances, and history. The numbers on this page come straight from that document:

  • Franchise fee — the one-time cost to buy in.
  • Royalty — the ongoing cut of your sales you pay the franchisor.
  • Item 20 — how many locations opened and closed, the basis for our verdict (from Proven & strong down to Distressed — or Too new to judge).

The verdict

Too new to judge

Distress

0
STABLE

23 franchised units over 4 disclosed years is not a track record — systems this early have realized only a fraction of their eventual failures. Judge the disclosures, not a verdict.

Exit rate · latest year

5.6%

vs 8.6% across 137 food & dining systems

Cost to open

$1.7M–$2.5M

Item 7 total investment range

SBA loan defaults

Too few resolved

9 loans exist; too few resolved to rate

Behind the verdict

the record, factor by factor · Item 20

hi-1.0.0
Net unit growth35%

3-yr trend · Item 20 Table 1

Weak
Exit quality25%

terminations + ceased-ops vs. all exits · Table 3

Fair
Transfer / churn15%

transfers vs. base · Table 3

Strong
Promise-keeping10%

actual vs. projected openings · Table 5

Not Disc.
Transparency15%

Item 19 disclosure + completeness

Weak

Systemwide units

2019–2022

-26.1%
232019192020192021172022

Survival record

FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year

In fiscal 2022, 1 of 18 franchised outlets left the system — a 5.6% annualized exit rate, vs 8.6% across 137 food & dining systems. Not every exit is a failure — but this is the measurable floor.

Show the outlet tables
Status (FTC)2019202020212022
Outlets at start24232318
Opened0000
Transfers2100
Terminations0211
Non-renewals1200
Reacquired by franchisor0000
Ceased — other reasons0000
Outlets at end23191917
Net change-1-4-4-1

The lender's view

SBA 7(a)/504 loan performance · FY1991–present

Banks have made 9 SBA-backed loans to Green Mill Restaurants, LLC franchisees since 2007. Most are still open, so there is not yet a resolved cohort large enough to rate.

Charge-off rate

7 resolved · too thin to rate

Loss given default

avg. charged-off $ ÷ approved $

Expected loss

default rate × loss severity

Avg. loan · FY2020+

$274,366

what recent franchisees borrowed

Median time to default

approval → charge-off, defaulted loans

Lenders · FY21+ vs FY16–20

0 vs 1

distinct banks — pulling back

Charge-off rate by loan approval year (%)

Loan performance by state

SOURCE: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA LOAN DATA (DATA.SBA.GOV), FY1991–PRESENT · MATCHED TO GREEN MILL RESTAURANTS, LLC BY FRANCHISE NAME · RESOLVED = CHARGED-OFF + PAID-IN-FULL

What it costs — and what it drags

FDD Items 5–7 · fees, investment, royalty

Buying in means a $45K franchise fee (Item 5) and a total investment of $1.7M–$2.5M (Item 7). The franchisor publishes no earnings claim (Item 19) — ask current and former franchisees for real numbers.

To open (Item 7)

$1.7M–$2.5M

all-in investment range

Franchise fee (Item 5)

$45K

upfront, one-time

Royalty (Item 6)

4%

of sales, ongoing

If a unit does this in annual sales…$1M/yr

Your figure — this brand discloses no Item 19 earnings; validate with current & former owners.

Royalty you'd pay / yr

$40K

4% of sales, before profit

Over a 10-yr term

$400K

royalties alone, excl. ad fund

This is not profit. It's the only money the FDD actually pins down — what you put in, and the royalty you owe on every dollar of sales. Your real take-home depends on labor, rent, food cost, and ramp-to-breakeven, none of which any FDD discloses.

Build a real pro-forma for Green Mill Restaurants, LLC with an independent CPA

Modeled risk

FDD Risk Score · modeled from the public record

Elevated

The public record puts this brand toward the middle of the systems we score — but the evidence is thin, so treat it as a range, not a number.

Risk percentile (range)

54–78 / 100

Directional

Modeled SBA charge-off

15.0%

Observed SBA charge-off

0.0%

Top drivers: System size (log units) (raises) · Investment ceiling (log) (lowers) · Net unit growth (raises) · Royalty rate (raises). Thin loan history — treat this as a range, not a number. A linear scorecard built from this brand's own disclosure figures plus the federal loan record behind its franchisees; full spec and cross-validated accuracy on the methodology page. A score is context, not a verdict.

Distress signals

news-sourced · bankruptcies, closures, lawsuits

No recent closures, bankruptcies, or major lawsuits found in the news for Green Mill Restaurants, LLC. That's a good sign — but it reflects news coverage, not a guarantee.

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Green Mill Restaurants, LLC franchise questions, answered from the filings

What percentage of Green Mill Restaurants, LLC franchises closed last year?

In Green Mill Restaurants, LLC's latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2022), 1 of 18 franchised outlets left the system — an annualized exit rate of 5.6% — compared with 8.6% across 137 food & dining systems tracked here. That counts terminations, non-renewals, and "ceased operations — other reasons." There is no official failure rate, and not every exit is a failure, but this is the measurable floor.

How much does a Green Mill Restaurants, LLC franchise cost?

Per Green Mill Restaurants, LLC's 2023 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $45K (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $1.7M–$2.5M (Item 7).

What royalty does Green Mill Restaurants, LLC charge?

Green Mill Restaurants, LLC charges an ongoing royalty of 4.0% of gross sales, per Item 6 of its 2023 FDD.

Does Green Mill Restaurants, LLC disclose earnings (Item 19)?

No — Green Mill Restaurants, LLC's 2023 FDD makes no financial performance representation in Item 19. That is legal and common, but it means the franchisor publishes no earnings claim; ask current franchisees for real numbers.

Is Green Mill Restaurants, LLC a good franchise to buy? Health score, exit rate & costs (2026) · Franchise Watch Desk