From the filed FDD — automated extraction, check the source
2023 FDD · 2+ years old — too old to rate
Green Mill Restaurants
Casual dining & sports bars · parent company: not identified
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 went from 19 → 17 units over 2021–2022 — too small a starting base for a meaningful percentage 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. Most numbers on this page come from that document; others come from federal SBA loan records and labor and census data, each labelled with its source:
- 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, transferred and left the system, the main basis for our verdict, which rates how strong the disclosed record is, or says when the system is too new, the filing too old, or the disclosure too thin to judge.
Our rating · opinion
Filing too old to rate
The newest FDD we hold for this brand is from 2023, more than two years old. Franchise systems change a lot in that time, so we don't rate it until we have a current filing.
Exit rate · fiscal 2022
5.6%
vs 5.0% median across 7 comparable systems (casual dining & sports bars)
Cost to open
$1.7M–$2.5M
Item 7 total investment range
SBA loan losses
Too few to rate
7 seasoned resolved loans; 30 needed
Market density · Minnesota
Thin market
16% thinner than the national average
Email me when this brand’s record changes
A weekly check for new filings, changes to disclosed costs or earnings, SBA loan totals, and verified public-record events. Only changes to these 1 selected brand. No email when nothing changes. Coverage depends on when source data reaches our database.
Unsubscribe in any alert. We never sell your email.
Data as of 2026-10-29. Figures come from Green Mill Restaurants's public FDD filings (latest: MN 2023, extracted 2026-06-19) and SBA FOIA loan records (through FY2026), extracted by us and possibly containing errors. The rating is our opinion, not investment, legal, or tax advice. Franchisor or owner and see something wrong? Report a correction — we review every request.
What each source says
FDD record · SBA loans · model · auditor
We don't rate on an FDD more than two years old; the loan record and model are shown as context until a current filing arrives.
FDD record · Item 20
Filing too old
Latest FDD we hold is from 2023.
SBA loans · vs same-year loans
Too few seasoned loans
7 resolved loans approved by FY2020; 30 needed.
Modeled risk
Moderate
Directional only — too few seasoned loans to check it.
Auditor opinion · Item 21
Not extracted
We did not extract the audit opinion.
Behind the verdict
the record, factor by factor · Item 20
latest consecutive years · Item 20 Table 1
terminations + ceased-ops vs. all exits · Table 3
transfers vs. base · Table 3
actual vs. projected openings · Table 5
Item 19 disclosure + completeness · shown, not counted in the verdict
Systemwide units
2021–2022
Survival record
FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year
In fiscal 2022, 1 of 18 franchised outlets left the system — an exit rate of 5.6% (fiscal 2022), vs a 5.0% median across 7 comparable systems (casual dining & sports bars). An exit is not a failure: this counts terminations, non-renewals and "ceased — other reasons" as reported, and excludes transfers to new owners.
Show the outlet tables ↓Hide the evidence ↑
| Status (FTC) | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outlets at start | 24 | 23 | 23 | 18 |
| Opened | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Transfers | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Terminations | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Non-renewals | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ceased — other reasons | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Outlets at end | 23 | 19 | 19 | 17 |
| Net change | -1 | -4 | -4 | -1 |
The lender's view
SBA 7(a)/504 loan outcomes · compared with franchise loans of the same years
Banks have made 10 SBA-backed loans to Green Mill Restaurants franchisees since 2007. Only 7 of its loans approved by FY2020 have resolved — fewer than the 30 we need to compare it fairly with other franchise loans, so we don't rate it.
All-time, 0 of 7 resolved loans charged off (0.0%). That raw figure mixes every approval year since 2007 — loans made in 2006–08 failed at several times the rate of loans made in 2010–13 across all franchises — so it is shown as evidence, not as the score.
—
7 seasoned resolved · 30 needed
0.0%
0 of 7 resolved, every approval year
—
charged-off $ ÷ approved $, defaulted loans
$5,000,000
what recent franchisees borrowed
—
shown with 10+ defaults
0 vs 1
distinct banks — fewer than FY16–20 (loan volume and SBA name coding affect this)
Charge-off rate by loan approval year (%) · dashed line = all franchise loans that year
Loan performance by state
SOURCE: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA LOAN DATA (DATA.SBA.GOV), FY1991–PRESENT · MATCHED TO GREEN MILL RESTAURANTS BY SBA FRANCHISE NAME/CODE · RESOLVED = CHARGED-OFF + PAID-IN-FULL · EXPECTED = SAME-YEAR RATE ACROSS ALL SBA FRANCHISE LOANS, LOANS ≥ ~6 YEARS OLD
What it costs — and what it drags
FDD Items 5–7 · fees, investment, royalty
Buying in means a $45,000 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)
$45,000
upfront, one-time
Royalty (Item 6)
4%
of sales, ongoing
Starts at a placeholder of $900K — a round figure for the sector, not from Green Mill Restaurants’ filings. This brand's FDD makes no Item 19 earnings claim; set your own figure and check it with current and former owners.
Royalty you'd pay / yr
$36K
4% of sales, before profit
Over a 10-yr term
$360K
royalties alone, excl. ad fund
This estimate is computed by software from the brand's public filings and any inputs you enter. No CPA prepared it for you and no assurance is provided on it. Actual results will differ, and the differences may be material.
This is not profit. It covers what the FDD fixes: what you put in, and the royalty you owe on sales. Your take-home depends on food and packaging cost, labor, rent, and the months to breakeven, none of which the FDD fixes for your unit (some Item 19s include cost data — read it).
Build a real pro-forma for Green Mill Restaurants with a buyer-paid CPAModeled risk
FDD Risk Score · a prediction from disclosure and loan-file features
The model puts this brand in its moderate band — but this brand has too few seasoned SBA loans to check the score against, so read it as a band, not a number.
Risk percentile
Moderate
Directional · no point estimate
Modeled · vs same-year loans
band only
too few seasoned loans to check
Top drivers: System size (log units) (raises) · No Item 19 disclosure (lowers) · Investment ceiling (log) (lowers) · Royalty rate (raises). Too few seasoned SBA loans to check the score — read it as a band. A linear scorecard trained on brands' vintage-adjusted SBA loss records; full spec and cross-validated accuracy on the methodology page. A score is context, not a verdict.
Public records
Bankruptcy, closure & federal court records · coverage is selective · dockets are not scored
We have no verified public-record signals published for Green Mill Restaurants. This is not evidence that no events exist. Check PACER, the FDD's Item 3 (litigation) and Item 4 (bankruptcy), and recent news yourself.
9 questions to ask a Green Mill Restaurants franchisee
Built from this brand's own disclosures · take it to your validation calls
The franchisor will give you a list of owners to call. Most buyers ask whether they like it. These questions come from what Green Mill Restaurants has disclosed. Each one carries the number it came from, so you can check the answer against the record.
- 01
Green Mill Restaurants’ own Item 20 shows 1 of 18 franchised outlets left the system in fiscal 2022 — about 5.6%. Do you know any of those owners, and do you know why they left?
A franchisor will call these “transitions.” An owner three doors down usually knows whether they sold at a profit or handed the keys back.
FDD Item 20 · FY2022
- 02
The system went from 19 units to 17 over 2 disclosed years. What's the explanation you've been given, and do you believe it?
A shrinking system means fewer owners funding the ad fund and support staff you're paying for.
FDD Item 20 · FY2021–FY2022
- 03
Item 7 puts the cost to open at $1.7M–$2.5M, yet the average recent SBA loan to Green Mill Restaurants franchisees was $5M — above the whole range. What did those loans pay for: new units, resales, real estate, several units at once? And what did you actually spend to open, all in?
A loan above the disclosed range can mean buyers routinely overspend Item 7, or that SBA money in this system funds resales, property or multi-unit deals. The filing doesn't say which; an owner can.
FDD Item 7 vs SBA approvals FY2020+
- 04
You pay 4.0% royalty on gross sales, plus the ad fund, before any of your own costs. On your actual revenue last year, what did you take home as the owner — not revenue, take-home?
Royalty is charged on sales, not profit. This is the number the brochure never shows and the one your life actually runs on.
FDD Item 6
- 05
Green Mill Restaurants’ FDD makes no financial performance representation at all — legally, they've told buyers nothing about earnings. What did your first 24 months actually look like, month by month?
When a franchisor won't publish numbers, existing owners are the only source. Silence in Item 19 is a choice, not a requirement.
FDD Item 19 · 2023
- 06
How many months did it take to cover your own costs, and how much cash did you burn getting there?
Ramp-to-breakeven working capital is the most underestimated line in any franchise purchase, and the most common reason otherwise-good units fail.
Not disclosed in any FDD — ask an owner
- 07
What does the franchisor charge for that you didn't expect — required tech fees, mandatory remodels, approved-supplier pricing?
Required spending appears across Items 6, 8 and 11 rather than in one place, so buyers routinely miss the total.
FDD Items 6, 8, 11
- 08
If your agreement came up for renewal tomorrow at current terms, would you sign again?
The single most predictive question you can ask. A hesitation is the answer.
Ask every owner you speak to
- 09
Who else should I call — including someone who left?
The franchisor's list is curated by definition. Former franchisees are where the unflattering truth lives, and current owners usually know how to reach them.
Ask every owner you speak to
Want this as a checklist you can take to the calls?
I'll email you the printable version, and tell you if Green Mill Restaurants’ numbers move — a new filing, a rising exit rate, a distress signal. Unsubscribe in one click.
A broker is usually paid by the franchisor to place you. I'm paid only by you, never by a franchisor you're considering — and the job is pressure-testing Green Mill Restaurants’ numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
This page is what buyers see before they call you for validation. If the record above is wrong — or right in a way the numbers can't show — say so. Franchisors: send corrections with the page reference and we will review them against the filing and update or annotate the page. Corrections are checked against the filings; nothing you write is published with your name unless you agree to it.
Green Mill Restaurants franchise questions, answered from the filings
How many Green Mill Restaurants franchised outlets left the system last year?
In Green Mill Restaurants's latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2022), 1 of 18 franchised outlets left the system — an exit rate of 5.6% — compared with a 5.0% median across 7 comparable systems (casual dining & sports bars) tracked here. That counts terminations, non-renewals, and "ceased operations — other reasons" as the franchisor reported them; it excludes transfers to new owners. The FDD does not say why each outlet left, and an exit is not the same as a failure.
How much does a Green Mill Restaurants franchise cost?
Per Green Mill Restaurants's 2023 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $45,000 (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $1.7M–$2.5M (Item 7).
What royalty does Green Mill Restaurants charge?
Green Mill Restaurants charges an ongoing royalty of 4.0% of gross sales, per Item 6 of its 2023 FDD.
Does Green Mill Restaurants disclose earnings (Item 19)?
No — Green Mill Restaurants'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.