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FRANCHISE RESALES

Buy a Tabu Shabu Franchise

Tabu Shabu is a Japanese-style shabu hot pot restaurant franchise founded in 2012 by Jeff Chon, who opened the first location in Costa Mesa, California. The concept is built around interactive tabletop dining, where guests cook premium thin-sliced meats, seafood and fresh vegetables in simmering broths at their own table.

The brand positions itself around healthy, sustainable Japanese cuisine, with homemade sauces made from freshly ground sesame seeds, carefully sourced meats and locally sourced produce. The menu accommodates a range of diets, including vegan, gluten-free and low-carb, which has helped build a repeat customer base among health-conscious diners and groups drawn to its social, casual format.

Tabu Shabu is a boutique, still-emerging franchise system concentrated in Southern California and the wider West Coast. It remains founder-led under Jeff Chon, who operates several Orange County restaurant and hospitality companies. Its main differentiators are proprietary sauce recipes and exclusive relationships with high-quality purveyors.

Latest Resales

  • There are currently no Tabu Shabu resales available
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Why buy a Tabu Shabu Franchise?

Buying a Tabu Shabu franchise offers entry into a differentiated niche of the full-service restaurant sector, combining the experiential appeal of interactive hot pot with a health-oriented menu that travels well across modern, diverse neighbourhoods. As a smaller, still-developing system, it offers early-entrant territory availability for owners who want to help shape a brand rather than join a saturated network.

The ownership case rests on the brand’s points of difference: proprietary homemade sauce recipes, exclusive high-quality purveyor relationships, and an emphasis on staff and management training that supports consistent service in a specialised dining format. Founder-led ownership under Jeff Chon’s established Orange County restaurant group adds operating depth behind a young franchise.

Tabu Shabu Franchise Costs & Information

  • Minimum Qualifications

    • Initial Franchise Fee

      $35,000 - $70,000

    • Initial Investment

      $281,300 – $726,100

  • Royalty

    • Royalty Fee

      6%

  • Training & Support

    • 46 hours on the job training

    • 30 hours classroom training

    • Ongoing support

    • Marketing support

Tabu Shabu – Additional  Information

  1. Training & Support

    Tabu Shabu provides incoming owners with structured initial training totalling 76 hours: 30 hours of classroom instruction and 46 hours of hands-on training at existing locations, covering operations, customer service, ingredient sourcing and business practices. Ongoing support includes management and staff training, purchasing and vendor coordination, and marketing guidance to maintain quality in a specialised format. Resale buyers should confirm what onboarding, transfer training and operating-system access the franchisor provides when ownership of an existing unit changes.

  2. Ideal Owner

    The model suits a hands-on, operations-led owner comfortable running a full-service restaurant and managing kitchen and front-of-house staff in a fast-paced, service-driven environment. Strong people management, a focus on food quality and consistency, and genuine enthusiasm for hospitality matter more than category background, though prior restaurant or food-service experience is an advantage given the specialised hot pot format. Owners who enjoy building local reputation and repeat custom, and who can uphold the brand's ingredient and service standards day to day, tend to fit best.

  3. Recognition & Awards

    Tabu Shabu has built recognition primarily through its distinctive interactive dining concept, its homemade sauces and its reputation for quality ingredients across its Southern California locations, and it has been featured among shabu-shabu franchise opportunities by small-business media such as Small Business Trends. As a younger, boutique system it does not yet carry the major franchise rankings of larger chains. For resale buyers, brand-level recognition should be weighed alongside the reputation of the specific unit, including its local reviews, customer loyalty and community visibility.

  4. Industry / Market

    Tabu Shabu operates in the US full-service restaurant sector, valued at about $362 billion in 2025, within the fast-growing niche for experiential, interactive dining. Demand for hot pot and other cook-at-the-table formats has risen alongside broader US interest in Asian cuisine and social, shareable meals, particularly among younger diners. The brand's health-oriented menu also aligns with sustained demand for fresh, customisable and diet-flexible options. For resale buyers, restaurant performance is highly local, so neighbourhood demographics, foot traffic and competition around a specific unit matter as much as category trends.

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