The Broken Yolk Cafe franchise
2023 filing · April 15, 2023GrowingShares sales figures
The Broken Yolk Cafe at a glance
A breakfast and lunch restaurant serving omelettes, pancakes, benedicts, sandwiches and salads in a casual dining room. At the end of 2022 there were 35 The Broken Yolk Cafe locations in the US, 34 franchised and 1 company-owned.
The business
- Franchisor
- BYC Franchising, LLC
- The company that sells the franchises
- Franchisor based in
- San Diego, California
What you pay
- Cost to open
- $544K–$1.46M
- A single restaurant
- Franchise fee
- $20,000
- Plus a $25,000 training and pre-opening support fee
- Royalty
- 4%
- 4% of gross sales, paid monthly
- Brand fund
- 1%
- 1% of gross sales, paid monthly
- Agreement length
- 20 years
- Franchisor financing
- None offered
Where it is
- US locations, 2022
- 35
- Franchised and company-owned
- Franchised
- 34
- Company-owned
- 1
- Change in 3 years
- +1
- Franchised locations, 2020–2022
- States
- 5
- Most in California, Arizona and Idaho
From BYC Franchising, LLC’s 2023 filing; revenue and net income from its audited financial statements, page 101; SBA status from the SBA Franchise Directory, October 28, 2026.
Franchisor revenue is the company that sells the franchises (royalties, fees and anything else it earns), not what a location makes.
Where it ranks
The Broken Yolk Cafe among all franchises with the same figure.
| Figure | The Broken Yolk Cafe | Among all franchises |
|---|---|---|
| Cost to open, midpointHalfway between the low and high estimate | $1,002,650 | Costs more than 83% of franchises |
| Franchise feePaid once, when you sign | $20,000 | Lower than 89% of franchises |
| RoyaltyShare of sales paid to the franchisor | 4% | Lower than 93% of brands with a set rate |
| US locationsFranchised and company-owned | 35 | More than 59% of franchises |
| Sales per locationYearly, as the brand reports it | $2,635,243 | Higher than 93% of brands that share sales figures |
| Sales against cost to openYearly sales over the cost midpoint | 2.6× | Higher than 74% of brands that share sales figures |
How much a The Broken Yolk Cafe franchise costs
Opening a single restaurant costs an estimated $543,950 to $1,461,350. That covers the franchise fee and everything else needed to open, through the first months of working capital.
The biggest costs are building and improvements ($165,000 to $578,000) and equipment, fixtures and furnishings ($165,000 to $535,000). Here is every line of the estimate as filed:
| What it pays for | Range | Low | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Fee | $20,000 | ||
| Training Fee and Pre-Opening Support | $25,000 | ||
| Additional Training Fee | $0 | $1,000 | |
| Travel and Living Expenses While Training | $0 | $17,500 | |
| Building and Improvements | $165,000 | $578,000 | |
| Utility Deposits | $5,000 | $8,000 | |
| Signs (indoor and outdoor) | $18,000 | $23,000 | |
| Equipment, Fixtures and Furnishings | $165,000 | $535,000 | |
| POS System | $18,900 | $30,000 | |
| Opening Inventory and Uniforms | $18,750 | $27,350 | |
| Menus | $800 | $1,000 | |
| Business License | $2,000 | $4,000 | |
| Insurance | $4,500 | $10,500 | |
| Opening Advertising | $5,000 | ||
| Architect/Designer | $6,000 | $31,000 | |
| Additional Funds-First 3 months of operations | $90,000 | $145,000 | |
| Total | $543,950 | $1,461,350 | |
Source: BYC Franchising, LLC, 2023 filing, page 27
The Broken Yolk Cafe franchise fee
The franchise fee is $20,000, plus a $25,000 training and pre-opening support fee. You pay it when you sign the franchise agreement.
Source: BYC Franchising, LLC, 2023 filing, page 15
Royalty and ongoing fees
| Royalty | 4% of gross sales, paid monthly. |
|---|---|
| Brand or marketing fund | 1% of gross sales, paid monthly. |
| Transfer Fee | $5,000 |
| Additional Training Fees | $1,000 per person for the 6th and each subsequent person trained |
| Local Marketing Requirements | 2% of Gross Sales invested directly by you in local store marketing |
The typical franchise royalty is 6% of sales, plus 2% for marketing. See franchise fees and royalties to compare.
Source: BYC Franchising, LLC, 2023 filing, pages 16 and 17
Other fees as filed, from pages 17–18. The filing lists every fee, including late fees and audit costs.
Sales and earnings
Shares figures The Broken Yolk Cafe publishes sales or earnings figures for its locations. The full tables, with notes on which locations are counted, are in its filing.
- Average sales
- $2,635,243
- Median sales
- $2,632,687
Yearly figures for 2022, covering franchised restaurants open all of 2022 (32 locations). The average is about 2.6 times the midpoint of the cost to open.
Sales are what a location takes in before rent, payroll, royalties and other costs, not what its owner keeps.
Source: BYC Franchising, LLC, 2023 filing, pages 76–77
SBA loans to The Broken Yolk Cafe franchisees
Lenders approved 10 SBA-backed loans for The Broken Yolk Cafe franchisees from 2014 to 2026, $12.7M in all: 6 7(a) loans and 4 504 loans. All 4 that have ended were paid in full; none was charged off. The other 6 haven’t ended yet.
A charged-off loan is one written off as uncollectible. See SBA franchise loans for how 7(a) and 504 loans work.
Source: SBA 7(a) and 504 loan data, as of September 30, 2026
Growth and closures
Share of franchised locations, 2022 / 2020–2022. Typical means the median: half of brands are above it, half below.
| Measure | The Broken Yolk Cafe | Typical breakfast brand | Typical franchise |
|---|---|---|---|
| GrowthNet change in franchised locations | +3% / +3% | +5.4% / +7.9% | +1.2% / +10% |
| ClosuresTerminated, not renewed or stopped operating | 0% / 15% | 0% / 7.1% | 3.9% / 16% |
| Bought backLocations the franchisor took back | 0% / 0% | 0% / 0% | 0% / 0% |
Typical breakfast brand is the median of the 20 brands in breakfast franchises with three years of counts.
How The Broken Yolk Cafe compares
Of the 58 breakfast franchises on this site, The Broken Yolk Cafe is the 24th cheapest to open and the 19th largest by number of locations.
| Figure | The Broken Yolk Cafe | Typical breakfast brand | Typical franchise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost to open, low end | $544K | $640K | $222K |
| Cost to open, high end | $1.46M | $1.2M | $477K |
| Franchise fee | $20K | $40K | $40K |
| Royalty | 4% | 5% | 6% |
| Brand fund | 1% | 1.4% | 2% |
| Sales per location | $2.64M | $1.72M | $794K |
| US locations | 35 | 13 | 21 |
| Shares earnings figures | Yes | 46 of 58 | 2,147 of 3,352 |
Typical is the median across the 58 brands in breakfast franchises; typical franchise, across every brand here.
Locations opened and closed
| Year | Franchised | Company-owned | Opened | Closed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 32 (−1) | 1 | +2 | −3 |
| 2021 | 33 (+1) | 1 | +3 | −2 |
| 2022 | 34 (+1) | 1 | +1 | 0 |
Closed or left counts terminations, non-renewals, locations bought back by the franchisor and locations that stopped operating.
See which brands grew most in the fastest-growing franchises rankings.
More in the guides: franchise failure rates.
Source: BYC Franchising, LLC, 2023 filing, page 80
Where The Broken Yolk Cafe locations are
At the end of 2022, The Broken Yolk Cafe had locations in 5 states. The most are in California, Arizona and Idaho.
- California28
- Arizona3
- Idaho1
- Nevada1
- Texas1
| State | Franchised | Company-owned | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 27 | 1 | 28 |
| Arizona | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Idaho | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Nevada | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Texas | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Source: BYC Franchising, LLC, 2023 filing, page 81
Who owns The Broken Yolk Cafe?
The Broken Yolk Cafe franchises are sold by BYC Franchising, LLC. Its filing names no parent company.
From BYC Franchising, LLC’s 2023 filing, page 11.
Lawsuits and bankruptcy
| Lawsuits and regulatory actions | Yes. The filing describes past or pending cases involving the franchisor, its affiliates or its executives on page 13. |
|---|---|
| Bankruptcy | No bankruptcy of the franchisor. Its director of operations filed for personal Chapter 7 bankruptcy in August 2020; the debt was discharged in December 2020. |
Franchisors must disclose lawsuits and bankruptcies involving the company, its parents and affiliates, and its executives. Many cases are routine disputes with franchisees over fees or contracts; read the descriptions in the filing and ask current owners about anything that worries you.
Source: BYC Franchising, LLC, 2023 filing, litigation on page 13, bankruptcy on page 14
The Broken Yolk Cafe filings
The figures on this page come from BYC Franchising, LLC’s 2023 filing, issued April 15, 2023, on record with the NASAA Electronic Filing Depository.
| Filing | Issued | Registry | On this page |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 filing | April 15, 2023 | NASAA depository | Costs, fees and locations, 2020–2022 |
Each link opens the filing as a PDF. See the newest filings across all brands.
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All breakfast franchises
The Broken Yolk Cafe is also on these lists: restaurant franchises, food franchises.