Food & Beverage

Playa Bowls Franchise

An acai, pitaya and coconut bowl shop franchise that started as a stand on the Belmar, New Jersey boardwalk in 2014 and began franchising in 2016. Shops are small-format with a beach aesthetic; growth has been concentrated in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic and accelerated to over 50 net new franchised shops in 2023.

Opening more locationsFounded 2014HQ: Belmar, NJ

Every franchisor has to file a document called an FDD before they can legally sell you a franchise. Buried in it are the two things a sales rep won't volunteer: what you'll actually spend to open, and whether existing locations are opening or closing. That's what's below, pulled straight from Playa Bowls's own filing.

What it costs to open

From the filing's investment breakdown -- not a "starting at" number a sales rep quoted you.

Franchise fee

$35,000

Total to open

$188,675–$636,458

Ongoing royalty

6% of gross sales

What you'd actually spend, over time

The upfront cost is only part of it. Plug in what you expect a location to bring in, and see the real total once royalties over a few years are added on top.

Your estimated annual revenue

Defaulted to a rough food & beverage industry average, not a figure from Playa Bowls's own FDD -- change it to your own estimate.

Years of ownership

Total cost of ownership over 5 years

$488,675 – $936,458

Startup investment

$188,675–$636,458

Royalty per year (6%)

$60,000

Total royalty, 5yr

$300,000

When would you break even?

Revenue alone doesn't tell you this -- it depends on what's left after rent, labor, and everything else. Playa Bowls's FDD doesn't disclose a reliable profit figure (most franchisors don't), so this starts from a typical food & beverage profit margin (~8%) and applies it to the revenue you entered above -- adjust the percentage to your own realistic estimate.

Estimated profit margin (% of revenue)

%≈ $80,000/year

Defaulted to a general food & beverage industry benchmark, not a figure from Playa Bowls's own filing -- this is a starting point to adjust, not a promise about what franchisees actually make.

At that profit, you'd break even in about

2.4–8.0 years

Weigh that payback period against what you already know: Playa Bowls is opening more locations. A long payback period on a shrinking brand is a very different bet than the same payback period on a growing one.

Is Playa Bowls actually growing?

Franchisors have to report, every year, how many locations opened, closed, or changed hands. Most franchise sites never show you this. Here it is:

Locations opened vs. closed, by year

Growing

From Item 20 of Playa Bowls's FDD, the section franchisors use to disclose real openings and closings.

+31

+34

+52

202120222023

Year	Franchised units, start	Franchised units, end	Net change
2021	71	102	+31
2022	102	136	+34
2023	136	188	+52

Most recent year (2023): gained 52 franchised units, ending the year at 188 total.

How Playa Bowls compares to other Food & Beverage franchises

Across the 52 food & beverage franchises we've hand-verified so far, the typical range to open runs $860,899–$2,165,095, with royalties averaging around 5.6% of gross sales (based on the 48 of them that charge a flat %-of-revenue royalty).

Dave's Hot Chicken

$617,800–$2,170,000 · 6% royalty

Slim Chickens

$1,188,900–$4,944,000 · 5% royalty

Ziggi's Coffee

$315,830–$2,093,361 · 6% royalty

Crumbl

$848,566–$1,472,533 · 8% royalty

Little Caesars

$376,500–$1,769,200 · 6% royalty

Jamba

$480,850–$941,300 · 6% royalty

Tropical Smoothie Cafe

$300,000–$720,500 · 6% royalty

Kona Ice

$114,730–$228,601 · non-%-of-revenue royalty

Firehouse Subs

$166,671–$950,351 · 6% royalty

Wingstop

$310,400–$1,048,500 · 6% royalty

Jersey Mike's Subs

$436,176–$1,162,228 · 6.5% royalty

Dunkin'

$532,400–$1,832,500 · 5.9% royalty

Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen

$1,222,045–$3,923,245 · 5% royalty

Del Taco

$1,461,200–$3,313,500 · 5% royalty

Blaze Pizza

$757,000–$1,297,100 · 5% royalty

Church's Texas Chicken

$1,202,400–$1,886,300 · 5% royalty

MOD Pizza

$924,732–$1,220,633 · 5% royalty

Twin Peaks

$2,959,000–$5,734,000 · 5% royalty

McDonald's

$1,470,500–$2,642,000 · 5% royalty

Subway

$263,000–$630,000 · 8% royalty

Taco Bell

$1,859,750–$4,312,200 · 5.5% royalty

Domino's Pizza

$231,450–$743,500 · 5.5% royalty

KFC

$2,107,575–$4,155,000 · 5% royalty

Burger King

$2,039,200–$4,730,600 · 4.5% royalty

Chick-fil-A

$317,521–$3,463,155 · non-%-of-revenue royalty

Penn Station

$507,500–$858,750 · non-%-of-revenue royalty

Nekter Juice Bar

$243,155–$647,160 · 6% royalty

Jimmy John's

$366,200–$733,500 · 6% royalty

Sonic Drive-In

$1,485,200–$2,522,900 · 5% royalty

Papa John's

$281,485–$890,267 · 5% royalty

Hungry Howie's Pizza & Subs

$238,982–$697,322 · 5.5% royalty

Jack in the Box

$1,909,500–$4,041,500 · 5% royalty

Wendy's

$1,523,957–$2,992,000 · 4% royalty

Marco's Pizza

$286,477–$811,186 · 5.5% royalty

Pizza Hut

$846,000–$2,130,000 · 6% royalty

Chicken Salad Chick

$777,000–$998,500 · 5% royalty

Teriyaki Madness

$392,667–$1,121,405 · 6% royalty

Cold Stone Creamery

$390,675–$680,775 · 6% royalty

Scooter's Coffee

$1,163,650–$1,345,750 · 6% royalty

Nothing Bundt Cakes

$475,200–$994,100 · 6% royalty

Five Guys

$977,850–$1,375,750 · 6% royalty

Tim Hortons

$427,500–$3,312,500 · 6% royalty

7 Brew

$940,500–$2,283,500 · non-%-of-revenue royalty

Swig

$608,400–$1,718,000 · 7% royalty

Culver's

$3,406,350–$10,294,100 · 4% royalty

Dairy Queen

$1,516,200–$2,543,050 · 4% royalty

Paris Baguette

$727,515–$1,860,550 · 5% royalty

Jollibee

$1,614,568–$4,589,057 · 5% royalty

Smoothie King

$329,850–$683,215 · 6% royalty

IHOP

$380,550–$3,735,850 · 4.5% royalty

Cinnabon

$256,950–$703,500 · 6% royalty

Playa Bowls Franchise FAQ

How much does it cost to franchise a Playa Bowls?

Based on Playa Bowls's own FDD, total initial investment to open one location runs $188,675–$636,458, including the $35,000 franchise fee. California DFPI Post-Effective Amendment, App ID app-33033, filed 9/12/2024, effective 12/27/2024. FDD issued April 8, 2024, as amended September 6, 2024 (the 2025 renewal package on file, APP00002250, contains no FDD document). Item 5: $35,000 initial franchise fee. Item 6: 6% royalty; brand fund contribution currently 3%. Item 7 Table A: $188,675-$636,458 for a single shop; the multi-unit development table totals $223,675-$793,958. Item 20 Table 1 franchised outlets.

What is the Playa Bowls franchise fee and royalty rate?

The initial franchise fee is $35,000, and the ongoing royalty is 6% of gross sales, per the filing on record.

Is the Playa Bowls franchise growing or shrinking?

Growing. Across 2021–2023, Playa Bowls added a net 117 franchised locations, per its own annual FDD filings.

Keep going

Playa Bowls and Firehouse Subs are both food & beverage franchises; Firehouse Subs's total investment starts about $22,004 lower than Playa Bowls's. Firehouse Subs Franchise
Playa Bowls and Domino's Pizza are both food & beverage franchises; Playa Bowls's total investment starts about $42,775 lower than Domino's Pizza's. Domino's Pizza Franchise

Where this came from: California DFPI Post-Effective Amendment, App ID app-33033, filed 9/12/2024, effective 12/27/2024. FDD issued April 8, 2024, as amended September 6, 2024 (the 2025 renewal package on file, APP00002250, contains no FDD document). Item 5: $35,000 initial franchise fee. Item 6: 6% royalty; brand fund contribution currently 3%. Item 7 Table A: $188,675-$636,458 for a single shop; the multi-unit development table totals $223,675-$793,958. Item 20 Table 1 franchised outlets. You can pull the same filing yourself from the California DFPI's public franchise search. Filed 2024-09-12. None of this is investment advice -- get the franchisor's current FDD and talk to a real attorney or accountant before you sign anything.

If you see a different unit count elsewhere: franchisors only have to refile their FDD annually, so the numbers here can run 6–18 months behind a franchisor's own real-time marketing claims -- which often aren't independently verified, and sometimes count signed-but-not-yet-open locations. A gap isn't necessarily an error on either side; it's two different snapshots in time from two different sources.