Biscuit Belly F/A
Fast Casual Breakfast & BrunchShould you invest $824,000 to $1.3 million in a scratch-made biscuit concept founded just six years ago? That is the real question every serious franchise candidate must answer before engaging with Biscuit Belly F/A, the fast-casual breakfast and brunch brand that has become one of the most closely watched emerging franchise opportunities in the Southern and Midwestern United States. Biscuit Belly was founded in 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky, by Chad and Lauren Coulter, a husband-and-wife team who were both licensed pharmacists before pivoting into the restaurant industry. Their first venture, LouVino, a wine and tapas concept, grew to multiple locations and gave the Coulters the operational credibility and capital to launch a biscuit-centered breakfast brand with serious franchise ambitions. The principal business address remains 2600 Valley Vista Rd, Louisville, KY 40205, and Biscuit Belly Franchising LLC was formally registered in Kentucky on July 20, 2020, with franchise sales commencing on September 23, 2020. Reinforcing the leadership structure is Chuck Schnatter, a QSR industry veteran who played a meaningful role in scaling Papa John's, who serves as a sole partner and provides strategic guardrails to prevent the brand from overextending during its growth phase. As of early 2026, the system had reached approximately 13 to 14 open locations across Kentucky, Alabama, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, with six additional units under development in Florida and the Carolinas. The breakfast and brunch fast-casual market is valued at over $15 billion in 2025, and Biscuit Belly F/A has positioned itself squarely at the intersection of three of the highest-growth sub-segments in foodservice: breakfast, fried chicken, and fast-casual dining. This analysis is independent research, not marketing material, and the figures and frameworks used here are drawn from publicly available franchise disclosure data, industry benchmarks, and verified news reporting.
The macroeconomic backdrop for a Biscuit Belly F/A franchise investment is meaningfully favorable, and understanding that context is essential before evaluating the unit economics. The U.S. foodservice industry is projected to reach approximately $1.5 trillion in total sales in 2025, with fast-casual concepts leading the growth curve at an estimated 1.6% annual expansion rate. Within that broader market, breakfast-focused restaurants alone represent a category valued at over $15 billion in 2025, reflecting steady gains over at least the prior five consecutive years. Consumer behavior is the structural engine driving these numbers: Millennials and Gen Z, the two largest demographic cohorts by purchasing power, are disproportionately fueling demand for fast-casual and experiential dining formats that combine quality ingredients, speed, and a shareable aesthetic. Brunch and all-day breakfast have been identified by the International Franchise Association as among the highest-growth sub-categories in franchising, and the IFA projects total franchise unit growth to accelerate at a 3.5% rate in 2025. The competitive landscape in fast-casual breakfast remains comparatively fragmented outside of a handful of national players, which creates an identifiable window for well-capitalized regional brands with differentiated concepts to claim durable market share before consolidation tightens. Biscuit Belly aligns with four secular trends simultaneously: the experiential dining shift, the brunch occasion boom, the fried chicken category's continued consumer momentum, and the fast-casual service model's appeal to cost-conscious operators seeking lower labor and overhead structures than full-service restaurants demand. The brand's Instagram-worthy presentation and scratch-made preparation also intersect with a documented consumer preference for food quality transparency, a trend that has consistently favored craft-casual concepts over commodity-driven chains in the post-2020 restaurant environment.
The Biscuit Belly F/A franchise cost structure is one of the most important variables an investor must evaluate, and it places the brand firmly at the upper end of the breakfast and brunch sub-sector range. The estimated initial investment required to open a Biscuit Belly F/A franchise ranges from $824,000 to $1,341,500 based on the most current data, though an alternate range of $702,000 to $1,187,000 has also been cited across disclosure periods. For context, the typical investment range for the breakfast and brunch fast-casual sub-sector runs from approximately $509,053 to $1,218,685, meaning a Biscuit Belly F/A franchise investment at the high end exceeds the category ceiling. The investment figures assume a cold dark shell delivery with no tenant improvement allowance and no landlord work letter contribution, making favorable lease negotiation a meaningful variable in controlling total project cost. The initial franchise fee is $40,000, a figure consistent with emerging fast-casual brands and positioned at the lower end of the investment waterfall given the total capital required. The detailed cost breakdown from the 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document includes leasehold improvements of $350,000 to $650,000, furniture, fixtures, and equipment of $275,000 to $350,000, architect and engineering fees of $10,000 to $20,000, signage and interior graphics of $20,000 to $30,000, three months' rent and security deposit of $19,000 to $34,000, alcohol permits of $3,500 to $35,000, opening inventory and supplies of $12,000 to $15,000, a computer system of $5,000 to $7,500, merchandise of $5,000 to $7,000, smallwares of $25,000, and utility deposits of $500 to $3,000. The ongoing royalty fee is 5% of gross receipts per week, with some sources citing 6%, and the Brand Promotion Fund contribution is 1% of gross receipts per week. Franchise candidates must demonstrate liquid capital of at least $300,000 and a total net worth of $1 million, requirements that reflect the brand's preference for financially stable operators rather than undercapitalized first-time investors. Multi-unit ownership is permitted, and multi-brand franchise experience is viewed as a positive credential during the qualification process.
The operating model of a Biscuit Belly F/A franchise is built around a structural simplicity that distinguishes it from most full-service or multi-daypart restaurant concepts. Each restaurant operates on a single-shift schedule, typically running from 7:30 AM to approximately 2:00 PM or 3:00 PM daily, which fundamentally compresses the staffing complexity, reduces utility consumption, and limits food waste relative to concepts that operate across two or three shifts. Locations are designed to fit in approximately 2,800 to 3,000 square feet and are adaptable to strip malls, downtown corridors, and emerging neighborhood retail nodes, giving franchisees meaningful site selection flexibility within their approved territory. The brand's training program is substantive: franchisees complete 184 hours of on-the-job training and 26 hours of classroom instruction, a combined 210-hour curriculum that covers operations, food preparation, staffing, and marketing. Ongoing support includes weekly coaching calls with the corporate team, pre-opening marketing assistance, site selection support, restaurant design guidance, and access to a dedicated marketing team that activates local market strategies through promotional events, digital campaigns, and social media programming. The operations team is led by a fast-casual industry veteran who has developed streamlined systems designed to make the brand executable even for operators who are transitioning from outside the restaurant industry, as the Coulters themselves did when they founded the concept. Catering has grown to represent over 10% of systemwide weekly sales, and the company is investing in a dedicated in-house catering sales team to formalize and accelerate this revenue channel. The brand expects owner-operators to be actively engaged in the business, particularly during the critical early operational phase, when building a high-performing team and establishing consistent quality standards are the most important determinants of long-term unit success.
Item 19 financial performance data is not disclosed in the current Franchise Disclosure Document in the standard format that would allow a direct comparison of unit-level profitability across the system, but the 2025 FDD does provide meaningful revenue data that anchors the investment analysis. The average gross receipts for franchised locations in Fiscal Year 2024 were $1,262,090, while the average unit volume for the top 50% of systemwide restaurants that were fully operational for at least 12 months as of January 1, 2025, reached approximately $1.6 million. One additional source cites an average gross revenue figure of $1,330,924, suggesting a system-level AUV range that brackets the $1.26 million to $1.6 million corridor depending on the cohort measured. These revenue figures carry additional significance when analyzed against the disclosed cost structure: systemwide restaurants average a cost of labor of 27.7% and a cost of goods sold of 26.3%, producing a combined prime cost of approximately 54%, which is within the range that fast-casual operators consider manageable when occupancy costs are controlled. At the midpoint AUV of roughly $1.3 million, a 54% prime cost implies roughly $702,000 in labor and food expenses, leaving the remainder to cover occupancy, royalties, marketing contributions, and owner compensation before calculating net income. The single-shift operating model is the structural lever that makes these labor percentages achievable, since payroll is concentrated in a four-to-seven-hour daily window rather than spread across double shifts. Catering contributing more than 10% of systemwide weekly sales is also a meaningful revenue diversification signal, since catering revenue typically carries different margin characteristics than dine-in transactions and represents a channel that is not fully reflected in the historical AUV figures as the program continues to scale. Investors should evaluate the full Item 19 disclosure in the current FDD during formal due diligence before drawing conclusions about projected owner earnings or return on investment timelines.
Biscuit Belly F/A has demonstrated a clear unit growth trajectory from a standing start in 2019, reaching nine locations in 2023, 14 by January 2025, and maintaining approximately 13 to 14 open locations as of early 2026. The brand sold six franchise units in the most recent reported year, a pace that reflects the founders' stated preference for deliberate, sustainability-focused growth over aggressive deal-volume targets. In October 2025, Biscuit Belly announced a six-restaurant development pipeline for the Southeast, including three franchised locations in the Florida Panhandle, specifically Pensacola and Panama City Beach, and three corporate joint-venture stores in Wake Forest and Fayetteville, North Carolina, and Peachtree City, Georgia. The first Florida Panhandle location is expected to open in 2026, with the other two following by 2027, and the Fayetteville, North Carolina corporate store is projected to open in June 2026. The brand's stated target is approximately 20 open locations by the close of 2026, representing roughly 40% unit growth from the early 2026 baseline. Critically, the Coulters and core leadership team are personally investing capital into the joint-venture corporate projects, a signal that the founders have direct financial skin in the brand's operational performance rather than simply generating franchise fee income. Biscuit Belly was recognized in 2026 as one of 1851 Franchise's Fastest Growing Emerging Franchises, adding a third-party validation data point to the brand's momentum narrative. The competitive moat is built on four reinforcing elements: a scratch-made biscuit platform that is operationally differentiated from commodity breakfast chains, a single-shift model that improves franchisee quality of life and unit-level cost structure simultaneously, a craft-casual positioning that captures premium price points relative to quick-service breakfast competitors, and a management team with QSR franchise scaling experience through both the LouVino build and the Schnatter-Papa John's pedigree.
The ideal candidate for a Biscuit Belly F/A franchise opportunity is a financially qualified operator who meets the $300,000 liquid capital and $1 million net worth thresholds and brings prior experience in restaurant ownership, foodservice management, or hospitality operations. The brand does permit multi-unit ownership and views multi-brand franchise experience favorably, but it does not operate as an absentee ownership model, particularly in the early stages when the franchisee's active presence is the most important variable in team development and brand standards execution. Geographic expansion priorities for 2025 and beyond include Texas, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Ohio, Kansas, and Tennessee, giving prospective franchisees a defined map of markets where the brand is actively seeking development partners. The brand currently operates exclusively within the United States, and all existing locations are concentrated in the South, Midwest, and Southeast, regions where the scratch-made biscuit concept resonates most naturally with existing consumer palates and brunch culture. Biscuit Belly F/A restaurants operate in 2,800 to 3,000 square foot spaces that can be adapted to strip center, urban inline, and neighborhood formats, providing site selection flexibility across both suburban and urban growth corridors. Franchisees who have engaged with the brand publicly describe the onboarding process as highly collaborative, with the corporate team treating operators as members of the broader team rather than as external licensees, and note that early adopters have had meaningful input into brand evolution decisions. The single-shift operating model, closing by 2:00 to 3:00 PM daily, is frequently cited as a defining lifestyle advantage that differentiates this franchise opportunity from dinner-service restaurant concepts that demand evening and weekend availability from owners and their core staff.
For investors seriously evaluating the Biscuit Belly F/A franchise opportunity, the investment thesis rests on four pillars that warrant structured due diligence. First, the $15-billion-plus breakfast and brunch fast-casual market is growing steadily, fragmented at the regional level, and aligned with the dominant consumer trends of the decade, including experiential dining, fried chicken demand, and craft-casual quality preferences. Second, the brand's unit economics profile, anchored by a $1,262,090 average gross receipts figure for FY2024, a 27.7% average labor cost, and a 26.3% average cost of goods sold, presents a financial architecture that compares favorably to category benchmarks when occupancy costs are managed effectively at lease signing. Third, the management team's combination of restaurant operating experience through LouVino, QSR franchise scaling experience through Schnatter's Papa John's background, and the founders' personal capital commitment to joint-venture development projects signals an uncommon alignment of interests between the corporate team and its franchisees. Fourth, the brand's six-unit development pipeline announced in October 2025, its 2026 recognition as a Fastest Growing Emerging Franchise, and its targeted expansion into nine new states demonstrate an active growth posture that is supported by a deliberate rather than speculative unit economics foundation. PeerSense provides exclusive due diligence data including SBA lending history, FPI score, location maps with Google ratings, FDD financial data, and side-by-side comparison tools that allow investors to benchmark the Biscuit Belly F/A franchise cost, fee structure, and revenue performance against every competing breakfast and brunch concept in the market. Explore the complete Biscuit Belly F/A franchise profile on PeerSense to access the full suite of independent franchise intelligence data.
Investment
$824,000 – $1.3M
