Start a California Tortilla Franchise in 2025

Franchise 500 Rank: N/R Not ranked last year

Initial investment: $442K - $837K

Units as of 2024: 30 21% over 3 years

Popularly known as Cal Tort, California Tortilla offers Mexican food services California style. The company may be known as unique, casual, and fast. California Tortilla also often directs their focus on one thing, quality.

California Tortilla was first opened in Bethesda, Maryland, in August of 1995 by business partners Alan Cohen and Pam Felix. California Tortilla began franchising in 2003 and now has over 30 units spread across the United States. California Tortilla headquarters is located in Potomac, Maryland.

Why You May Want to Start a California Tortilla Franchise

As a franchisee with California Tortilla, you will be a beneficiary of the guidance provided by franchise advisors from California Tortilla. These are experts who will help you with your management queries and offer advice where necessary. This service will be provided for free from the start of the business operations until you can efficiently run the business without any problem.

You may also benefit from the exclusive territory offered to each California Tortilla franchisee. The exclusive territory means this means that no California Tortilla franchisee will be allowed to operate in your region once you begin offering your customers service. The minimum number of employees required to run this franchise efficiently is in the mid-teens. California Tortilla provides training sessions and support before you begin offering your services to the consumers. A franchisee must attend on-the-job training lasting more than 100 hours and classroom training accumulating to several dozen hours.

What Might Make a California Tortilla Franchise a Good Choice?

To be part of the California Tortilla franchise team, you should make sure you're financially ready for an initial investment made up of a franchise fee and other startup costs. In addition, you should prepare yourself for ongoing fees that will include advertising, royalty, and potential renewal fees. A typical franchise agreement runs for ten years. Franchisees will also need to meet the company's set net worth and liquid capital requirements.

A franchisee will benefit from the ongoing support offered, including a toll-free line, online support, lease negotiation, site selection, franchisee intranet platform, proprietary software, field operations, security and safety procedures, newsletter, grand opening, meetings, and conventions. Marketing support may include website development, ad templates, email marketing, regional advertising, social media operations, loyalty program app, and search engine optimization.

How To Open a California Tortilla Franchise

As you decide if opening a California Tortilla location is the right decision for you, make sure you take time to explore the opportunity. Research the brand and your local area to see if a California Tortilla franchise would do well in your community. While competition is healthy, too much of it may not allow for the most possible growth.

Before making any financial commitment or signing an agreement, you must perform your due diligence and establish if this is the right opportunity for you. As part of your due diligence, you may want to speak to existing franchisees and ask the California Tortilla franchising team questions.

Before long, after completing all the necessary steps and having the franchisor sign off, you may find yourself as the newest California Tortilla franchisee.

Company Overview

About California Tortilla

Industry	Food
Related Categories	Mexican Food
Founded	1995
Parent Company	The California Tortilla Group Inc.
Leadership	Keith Goldman, President/CEO
Corporate Address	7825 Tuckerman Ln., #214 Potomac, MD 20854
Social	Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok

Business Overview

Franchising Since	2003 (22 years)
# of employees at HQ	10
Where seeking	This company is offering new franchises throughout the US. This company is offering new franchises worldwide.
# of Units	30 (as of 2024)

Information for Franchisees

Here's what you need to know if you're interested in opening a California Tortilla franchise.

Financial Requirements & Ongoing Fees

Here's what you can expect to spend to start the business and what ongoing fees the franchisor charges throughout the life of the business.

Initial Franchise Fee Definition: The initial fee paid to a franchisor to join their system What you need to know: Found in Item 5 of the FDD, this may be a flat fee, or may vary based on territory size, experience, or other factors.The franchise fee is an up-front (one-time) cost that a new franchisee pays to the franchisor. This fee is usually due at the signing of the franchise agreement and covers the right to use the franchisor's trademarks, name, and related business systems.	$40,000
Initial Investment Definition: The total amount necessary to begin operation of the franchise What you need to know: The initial investment includes the franchise fee, along with other startup expenses such as real estate, equipment, supplies, business licenses, and working capital. This is outlined in a chart in Item 7 of the FDD, showing a range of possible costs from low to high.	$441,700 - $836,500
Net Worth Requirement Definition: The minimum net worth you must have in order to qualify to become a franchisee of this company What you need to know: Net worth is the value of a person's assets minus liabilities. Assets include cash, stocks, retirement accounts, and real estate. Liabilities include items like mortgages, car payments, and credit card debt.	$1,000,000
Cash Requirement Definition: The minimum liquid capital you must have available in order to qualify to become a franchisee of this company.	$250,000
Royalty Fee Definition: A ongoing fee paid to the franchisor on a regular basis. What you need to know: Most franchisors require franchisees to pay an ongoing royalty fee, which is detailed in Item 6 of the FDD. This fee is typically a percentage of weekly or monthly gross sales, but may also be a flat weekly, monthly, or annual fee.	5%
Ad Royalty Fee Definition: An going fee paid to the franchisor on a regular basis to support advertising or marketing efforts. What you need to know: This may also be called advertising fee, marketing fee, brand fund fee, and more, but the basic purpose is the same-- to support promotion of the brand systemwide. As with the royalty fee, it is detailed in Item 6 of the FDD, and can be a percentage of weekly or monthly gross sales or a weekly, monthly, or annual fee.	2%
Term of Agreement Definition: The length of time your franchise agreement will last. What you need to know: Franchise terms are typically anywhere from 5 to 20 years in length, but are sometimes instead dependent on factors such as the term of your lease. Once your term is up, you may have the option to renew your agreement, typically for a smaller fee than the original franchise fee.	10 years
Is franchise term renewable?	Yes

Financing Options

Some franchisors offer in-house financing, while others have relationships with third-party financing sources to which they refer qualified franchisees.

Third Party Financing	California Tortilla has relationships with third-party sources which offer financing to cover the following: franchise fee, startup costs, equipment, inventory, accounts receivable, payroll

Training & Support Offered

Franchisors offer initial training programs and a variety of ongoing support options to help franchisees run their businesses.

On-The-Job Training	163 hours
Classroom Training	37 hours
Ongoing Support	Newsletter Meetings & Conventions Toll-Free Line Grand Opening Online Support Security & Safety Procedures Lease Negotiation Field Operations Site Selection Proprietary Software Franchisee Intranet Platform
Marketing Support	Ad Templates National Media Regional Advertising Social Media SEO Website Development Email Marketing Loyalty Program/App

Operations

Additional details about running this franchise.

Is absentee ownership allowed?	No
Can this franchise be run from home/mobile unit? Definition: The business can be run from your home and/or a vehicle, and it is not necessary to have a retail facility, office space, or warehouse.	No
Can this franchise be run part time? Definition: This business can be run by the owner on a part-time basis (less than 40 hours per week) and/or as a side business; it is not necessary for the business to be open/run full-time.	No
# of employees required to run	15
Are exclusive territories available? Definition: An exclusive territory is a fixed area in which you are given the right to operate and in which no other units of the same franchise may be opened. What you need to know: Territory size may be based on factors such as radius, population size, zip codes, and more. Details can be found in Item 12 of the FDD.	Yes