East of Chicago Pizza franchise: cost, fees & unit track record
Opening an East of Chicago Pizza franchise takes $171,900 – $472,200 all-in, per its franchise disclosure filings (data as of 2026-05). The initial franchise fee is $20,000. Ongoing, franchisees pay a royalty of 5% on sales. Anything the filings do not state is marked "Not disclosed" below — never estimated.
East of Chicago Pizza franchise costs and fees
| Verification mark | Cost item | Low | High | Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise feeOne-time, paid to the franchisor at signing | $20,000 | $20,000 | $20,000 | |
| Initial investment (all-in)FDD Item 7-derived range: build-out, equipment, opening costs | $171,900 | $472,200 | $171,900 to $472,200 | |
| Net worth requiredFranchisor's stated qualification minimum | Not disclosed1 | Not disclosed1 | ||
| Liquid cash requiredFranchisor's stated qualification minimum | Not disclosed1 | Not disclosed1 | ||
| Cash to open (all-in range) | $171,900 | $472,200 | $171,900 to $472,200 | |
- 1 "Not disclosed" means East of Chicago Pizza's filings do not state this figure. We publish the gap instead of estimating it.
| RoyaltyOngoing, % of sales | 5% |
|---|---|
| Ad fundOngoing, % of sales | Not disclosed |
| Initial termLength of the first franchise agreement | Not disclosed |
See the full East of Chicago Pizza cost breakdown — what's in that number and what isn't
How East of Chicago Pizza's cost compares
A dollar figure means more with a yardstick. Here is where East of Chicago Pizza's disclosed cost sits against the Food & Beverage category:
- Minimum startup cost of $171,900 — about 39% below the Food & Beverage median of $282,500.
- Initial franchise fee of $20,000 — about 43% below the Food & Beverage median of $35,000.
Category medians are computed from the Food & Beverage brands in our data that disclosed each figure — a benchmark for scale, not a quality judgment. See all Food & Beverage franchises
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How East of Chicago Pizza's units have held up
Openings and closures from FDD Item 20-style unit history, 2012–2014: began the window at 70 units; 11 units opened, 8 closed, ending at 63 units.
What about earnings?
We don't publish per-brand earnings figures — for East of Chicago Pizza or anyone else. The only primary source is Item 19 of the brand's own franchise disclosure document (FDD), and no law requires a franchisor to publish one, so the "average owner income" numbers circulating elsewhere are usually unsourced or survivorship-biased. Ask East of Chicago Pizza for its current FDD and read Item 19 yourself — and if there is no Item 19, that silence is information too.
What this data can't tell you
Everything on this page comes from disclosure filings — fees, ranges, and unit counts. Four questions that matter just as much are not in any filing we can source, so we say so instead of guessing:
- The hours and the labor
- No dataset field says whether East of Chicago Pizza is a manage-from-a-laptop business or a 60-hour week in disguise. Item 15 of the FDD states whether you're obligated to run the business personally, and Item 11 lists what the franchisor actually does for you — then ask current owners what their week looks like (validation calls), not the sales team.
- How hands-on the ownership really is
- "Semi-absentee" is a pitch, not a filing field. Treat any hands-off claim as unverified until it's consistent with Item 15 and with what multiple current franchisees tell you — what absentee ownership actually means.
- Your territory — whether it's protected, and whether it's open
- Two territory questions sit outside our data. Whether East of Chicago Pizza grants a protected or exclusive area is set in Item 12 of the FDD and varies brand to brand — some grant none, and the carve-outs (online sales, national accounts) matter as much as the map. And filing data can't say what's open in your market this month; only East of Chicago Pizza can confirm current availability. Ask both before you inquire, and get the answer in writing.
- What owners earn
- Covered honestly above: our dataset has no earnings fields, the only primary source is the brand's own Item 19, and here is how to read that evidence.
About the East of Chicago Pizza franchise
East of Chicago Pizza is a food & beverage franchisor with 63 units at the end of 2014 (FDD Item 20-style unit history). Between 2012 and 2014, it began the window at 70 units; its filings record 11 unit openings and 8 closures, ending at 63 units. Its parent company is East of Chicago Pizza LLC.
No franchise-related lawsuits reported in the disclosure data we hold (FDD Item 3, as of 2026-05) — an absence in our sources, not a guarantee; confirm against the brand's current FDD.
East of Chicago Pizza franchise: quick answers
- How much does an East of Chicago Pizza franchise cost?
- $171,900 – $472,200 all-in to open, per East of Chicago Pizza's franchise disclosure filings (data as of 2026-05).
- How many East of Chicago Pizza units are there?
- 63 units at the end of 2014 (FDD Item 20-style unit history).
- How have East of Chicago Pizza's units held up?
- 90.1% of units at risk between 2012 and 2014 did not close, per our metric recomputed from FDD Item 20-style unit history (methodology published on our verification page).