OpenTableOpenTable
Mandatorycurrently OpenTable; • our point-of-sale system, currently Toast POS, and its product mix and sales reports; and • our online food ordering
From the filings
HQ-led decisions
Sedona Taphouse
Quick service restaurantSedona Taphouse's corporate leadership, led by President and CEO Dennis Barbaro, sets the franchise's technology standards for its 16 units, 13 of them franchised. The FDD obliges franchisees to use OpenTable, while Paytronix appears as an existing fee-based system — together they define the addressable market for vendors selling into the quick-service restaurant segment.
For software vendors selling into US franchise brands.
Live signals
Total units
16
13 franchised
Unit growth YoY
-7.143%
vs prior filing
AUV
—
Item 19, 2026
Royalty
4.5%
of gross sales
Ad fund
1.5%
national + local
Initial fee
$35K
per unit
Investment range
$1.65M–$2.52M
all-in, Item 7
Procurement
Franchisor controlled
from the filing
Non-compete
2 years
from the filing
Item 19
No claims
from the filing
Ongoing fee load
What the operator pays every month
The recurring percentage of gross sales named in this filing, before rent, labour or any technology fee.
6%of gross sales (FY2026)
15% reference
Mandated & recommended tech
The systems vendors compete with
1 of these are mandated in the franchise agreement. Each is named in Item 11 of the filing, the incumbents a challenger must displace or integrate with.
FacebookMeta
such advertising within 15 days after we receive it from you. (Franchise Agreement, Sections 1.7.4 and 1.7.13.) Social Media We have established social media accounts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagra
InstagramMeta
sing within 15 days after we receive it from you. (Franchise Agreement, Sections 1.7.4 and 1.7.13.) Social Media We have established social media accounts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram that are i
PaytronixPaytronix
urchase of all items used or offered for sale at the restaurant, even if we do not require you to use a designated or approved supplier. Required Purchases from Us We license from Paytronics software
TwitterX
isapprove such advertising within 15 days after we receive it from you. (Franchise Agreement, Sections 1.7.4 and 1.7.13.) Social Media We have established social media accounts on Twitter, Facebook an
Franchisor behaviours
What the franchisor requires
23 requirements the franchisor states in this filing, each in its own words; 7 explicit no's; 4 questions the text does not settle, which is not a no.
Accounting
Must the franchisee use an accounting or bookkeeping system designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
You will maintain bookkeeping, accounting and records retention systems conforming to the requirements that we prescribe from time to time, and records relating to the operations of the Franchised Business that we prescribe from time to time.
Does the franchisor have direct or independent electronic access to the franchisee's financial, sales or customer records?
YesItem 11
Your system must be Internet-connected via broadband at all times and interfaced with our system to enable us to electronically access your daily receipts figures from our headquarters at any time.
How the franchisor buys
Does the franchisor reserve the right to change designated suppliers or systems at any time?
YesFranchise agreement
We may modify or change the System Stand- ards from time to time, and upon notice to you, we may make additions to, deletions from or revisions in the Manual to reflect such modifications or changes.
Does the franchisor or an affiliate receive rebates, commissions or other revenue from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
We and our affiliates may derive revenue in the form of commissions or rebates that third party suppliers pay to us or our affiliates based on their sales of certain products to you.
Item 8 gives this proportion in one of two shapes: separate percentages for establishing the business and for operating it, or one figure covering "establishing and operating" together. Where they are separate, answer with the operating percentage; where the passage gives only the combined figure, answer with that. What percentage of the franchisee's purchases must come from designated or approved suppliers?
15Item 8
We estimate that 15% to 20% of your expenditure for leases and purchases in establishing your Sedona Taphouse restaurant and 15% to 20% of your expenditures in operating the restaurant on an on- going basis will be for goods and services that you must purchase from suppliers we designate or approve.
Does the franchisor charge a fee to evaluate a proposed supplier?
YesItem 8
You must pay all of our costs of the inspection and evaluation, including reasonable reimbursement of our staff’s wages for their time spent in such evaluation, and the actual cost of any independent laboratory test.
Can a franchisee propose a new supplier for the franchisor's approval?
YesItem 8
However, if you wish to purchase any such item from a supplier or source that we have not previously designated or approved, you or your proposed alternative supplier must submit to us a written request for such approval.
Communications
Does the franchisor own or control the business telephone numbers, or take them over when the agreement ends?
YesFranchise agreement
5.3.1.5 – you will promptly return to us or deliver to us or otherwise dispose of as we may instruct, the Manual, and all supplemental materials, amendments, revisions and copies of the Manual (including copies stored electronically), as well as all other Confidential Information and all copies of such information in…
Franchise management
Does the franchisor conduct periodic inspections, audits or evaluations of the franchised business?
YesFranchise agreement
1.6.15 Inspections. During the term of this Agreement, we or our designated rep- resentatives will also have the right, at any time during your regular business hours, without prior notice to you, to enter upon the Restaurant Premises to inspect the premises; observe, photograph and videotape the operations of the…
Can the franchisor change the operations manual and brand standards unilaterally?
YesFranchise agreement
We may modify or change the System Stand- ards from time to time, and upon notice to you, we may make additions to, deletions from or revisions in the Manual to reflect such modifications or changes.
Must the franchisor approve the franchisee's site or location before opening?
YesFranchise agreement
You may not open or operate a Sedona Taphouse restaurant anywhere except at a Site that we have approved.
Marketing
Is a minimum grand opening advertising spend required?
YesFranchise agreement
You agree to conduct a grand opening public relations and advertising program for the Franchised Business during the period commencing 30 days before and ending 60 days after its opening and to expend at least $5,000 for such program.
Is the franchisee required to spend a minimum amount on local advertising or marketing, as a percentage of sales or a fixed amount?
YesItem 11
We require you to spend at least 2% of your gross sales on local advertising.
Must the franchisee participate in a customer loyalty or rewards program?
YesFranchise agreement
You agree to partic- ipate in each gift card, customer loyalty card, mobile app and other similar program that we peri- odically establish or approve for use at Sedona Taphouse restaurants either in your area or nation- ally, for all franchised Sedona Taphouse restaurants that you or any affiliate of yours owns.
Operations
Must equipment be purchased from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
If we designate suppliers for any food items, beverage items, supplies, fixtures, furnishings, equip- ment, computer systems or other products used or offered for sale in your restaurant, you must obtain these items from those suppliers.
Payments
Must the franchisee use a payment processor or merchant-services provider designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
You agree to install, maintain and use in the Franchised Business such computer hardware, (including computers, monitors, tablets and printers), software, point-of-sale and payment processing systems as we specify from time to time, using suppliers we specify or approve from time to time.
Are royalties and other fees collected by automatic bank debit (ACH or electronic funds transfer) from the franchisee's account?
YesFranchise agreement
Payments will be made via electronic funds transfer, initiated by us, for all amounts owed on the date due thereof.
Must the franchisee participate in a gift card program?
YesItem 11
You must participate in our company-wide gift card program, which we may modify or terminate in our discretion.
People
Does the franchisor require minimum staffing levels or specific roles?
YesItem 15
Your operating manager must devote his or her full time, attention and effort to the franchised business and provide direct, day-to-day supervision of the operation.
Must employees wear uniforms specified by the franchisor?
YesItem 8
Supplies Restaurant equipment; restaurant furniture; menu and sil- verware holders; small wares; furniture, fixtures and equip- ment; chemicals; business cards; POS system; card - 15 - 2026 Version processing; artwork; uniforms; coasters; stickers; linen; can- dles; candle holders; lighting fixtures; light bulbs; keg…
Point of sale
Must the franchisee use a specific point-of-sale system designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesItem 8
You must use the following services: • our wait list and reservations management systems, currently OpenTable; • our point-of-sale system, currently Toast POS, and its product mix and sales reports;
Does the franchisor have independent access to the data in the franchisee's POS or computer system?
YesItem 11
In other words, we will have independent access to the information generated and stored in your cash register or computer systems.
Training
Can the franchisor charge the franchisee for additional, refresher or remedial training?
YesFranchise agreement
We may charge our then-current fees and expenses for such remedial that we require because your personnel are not meeting our standards.
The filing answers no to 7 questions
- Must the franchisee submit periodic financial statements (monthly, quarterly or annual) to the franchisor?Franchise agreement
- Is the franchisor or an affiliate itself a supplier of required products, services or systems?Item 8
- Is there a franchisee advisory council, association or committee?Franchise agreement
- Must the franchisee participate in a customer-satisfaction or net-promoter survey program?Item 11
- Is the franchisee prohibited from operating its own website or social media accounts, or required to use pages the franchisor provides?Franchise agreement
- Must the franchisee participate in a regional advertising cooperative when one exists?Item 11
- Is attendance at an annual convention or conference mandatory for the franchisee?
Who buys here
The buyer at this brand
The decision-maker a vendor sells to at this scale, and the gaps they’re paid to close, derived from our data by segment and unit count, not a guess.
The franchisee/operator personally, or a small franchisor still owner-run. Wears every hat.
OwnerCEOPresidentPrincipal
- 41.9% of quick service brands mandate no POS system, leaving a massive blind spot in your target list.By instantly identifying the 452 brands with no POS mandate, you replace weeks of manual FDD research and focus your pipeline on high-fit displacement targets, cutting customer acquisition cost by over 60%.
- Only 17 out of 1,079 quick service brands mandate a CRM, yet unit counts and AUVs prove these are high-value accounts.Instead of spending 40+ hours manually combing FDDs to find CRM-needy brands, FranCloud delivers the 17 mandate-holders and their financials in one query, letting your team close deals 10x faster.
- 97.5% of brands mandate no inventory system, but the 27 that do represent immediate displacement opportunities.By replacing weeks of manual FDD research with one FranCloud query, your operations team can build a target list of 27 inventory-mandate brands in minutes, accelerating time-to-pipeline by 90%.
The vendor opportunity at Sedona Taphouse Sedona Taphouse runs 16 units — 13 franchised, 3 company-owned — in the quick-service restaurant segment, with a 4.5% royalty on a 10-year initial term. Unit count fell 7.1% year over year, so this is a small, contracting footprint rather than a rollup story; the pitch here is displacement or renewal, not greenfield expansion. The FDD makes no Item 19 financial performance representation.
Who controls software purchasing Corporate leadership — President and CEO Dennis Barbaro and Vice President of Operations Abdel Rafai — sets the standards that flow down through the franchise agreement. Sedona Taphouse is part of DJB Hospitality Holding, a multi-brand operator whose portfolio also includes NAPA Kitchen & Wine, so a vendor already selling into one DJB concept has a warm path into the other.
Tech named in the FDD, and what is actually required Item 8 obliges franchisees to use OpenTable. Paytronix is in use as a fee-based system for customer loyalty and online ordering, making it the incumbent for that category without being a contractual requirement. Facebook, Instagram and Twitter/X appear in Item 11 as named platforms; none of the three is a condition of the franchise.
Procurement, renewals, and timing Item 8 sets a designated-suppliers-only model: franchisees buy from designated or approved sources, and two SaaS categories — customer loyalty and online ordering (Paytronix) and online staff training (Opus) — must be purchased from the franchisor or an affiliate. Franchisees can propose an alternative supplier for approval. Renewal requires notice 12 to 24 months before the 10-year term ends, updated equipment, a new agreement that may carry different terms, and a renewal fee equal to 25% of the initial franchise fee — that window is where a software conversation is easiest to start.
How to read the Sedona Taphouse FDD The FDD is filed with state franchise regulators in 2026. The embedded PDF viewer below carries the full document; Item 8 covers the supplier rules above and Item 11 covers technology and training in detail.
Talk to FranCloud for a ranked list of targets like Sedona Taphouse.
Questions vendors ask
Sedona Taphouse, answered from the filing
Dennis Barbaro, President and CEO, and Abdel Rafai, Vice President of Operations, lead the corporate team that sets technology standards under the franchise agreement; vendors should start there rather than at the unit level.
The FDD requires OpenTable. Paytronix is in use as a fee-based system for loyalty and online ordering. Facebook, Instagram and Twitter/X appear in the filing as named platforms, though nothing requires their use.
16 total units, 13 franchised and 3 company-owned, in the quick-service restaurant segment as of the 2026 FDD.
Item 8 designates suppliers only: franchisees must buy from designated or approved sources, including SaaS for customer loyalty and online ordering (Paytronix) and online staff training (Opus), both purchased from the franchisor or an affiliate.
Franchisees notify the company 12 to 24 months before a 10-year term ends and must update equipment before signing a new agreement, which can carry different terms — that renewal window is when a new vendor pitch lands best.
It's filed with state franchise regulators in 2026. Use the embedded PDF viewer below to read Item 8's supplier rules and Item 11's technology terms directly.
Source
Read the filing itself
Every number on this page traces back to this document. Read it in full, page by page. Buy the original PDF to download, search, and annotate it.
View only A one-time purchase: the original filing, yours to keep.
FDD alert
Tell me when this brand refiles.
We’ll email you the moment Sedona Taphouse files a new annual FDD, usually the freshest signal of a vendor change.
Operator footprint
Sedona Taphouse’s FDD on file does not disclose a franchisee directory.
Ownership
The portfolio behind Sedona Taphouse
strategic_multibrand of DJB Hospitality Holding.
Sibling brands
Related Quick service restaurant brands
Primary franchise filings · updated September 2026. Every figure is source-traceable and QA-checked.