As confidentially submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 24, 2022. This draft registration statement has not been publicly filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and all information herein is strictly confidential.

Registration No. 333-            

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, DC 20549

Amendment No. 3

to

FORM S-1

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER

THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

GEN Restaurant Group, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

11472 South Street

Cerritos, CA 90703

(562) 356-9929

(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrant’s principal executive offices)

David Kim

Jae Chang

Co-Chief Executive Officers

GEN Restaurant Group, Inc.

11472 South Street

Cerritos, CA 90703

(562) 356-9929

(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)

With copies to:

Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public: As soon as practicable after this registration statement becomes effective.

If any of the securities being registered on this form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933, check the following box.  ☐

If this form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.  ☐

If this form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.  ☐

If this form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.  ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act.  ☐

The Registrant hereby amends this Registration Statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the Registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this Registration Statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or until the Registration Statement shall become effective on such date as the Securities and Exchange Commission, acting pursuant to such Section 8(a), may determine.

The information in this prospectus is not complete and may be changed. These securities may not be sold until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities and it is not soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any state where the offer or sale is not permitted.

Subject to Completion

Preliminary Prospectus dated                 , 2022

PROSPECTUS

                Shares

GEN Restaurant Group, Inc.

Class A Common Stock

This is GEN Restaurant Group, Inc.’s initial public offering. We are selling                shares of our Class A common stock.

We expect the public offering price to be between $        and $        per share. Currently, no public market exists for the shares. After pricing of the offering, we expect that the shares of our Class A common stock will trade on the Nasdaq Global Market, or the Exchange, under the symbol “GENK.”

Each share of Class A common stock will entitle the holder to one vote, while each share of Class B common stock will entitle the holder to ten votes. The holders of our Class B common stock will hold an equal number of units of GEN LLC upon the completion of this offering, and will hold    % of the combined voting power of our common stock immediately after this offering. The holders of our Class B common stock will have the ability to control the outcome of matters submitted to our stockholders for approval. See “Organizational Structure.”

We will be a “controlled company” under the corporate governance listing standards of the Exchange, following the completion of this offering. See “Management—Controlled Company Exemption.”

We are an “emerging growth company” and “smaller reporting company” as defined under the U.S. federal securities laws and, as such, have elected to comply with certain reduced public company reporting requirements for this and future filings. See “Prospectus Summary—Implications of Being an Emerging Growth Company and Smaller Reporting Company.”

Investing in our Class A common stock involves risks that are described in the “Risk Factors” section beginning on page 17 of this prospectus.

The underwriters may also exercise an option to purchase up to an additional                shares of our Class A common stock from us, at the public offering price, less the underwriting discount, for 30 days after the date of this prospectus.

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

The shares of Class A common stock will be ready for delivery on or about                , 2022.

Roth Capital Partners

The date of this prospectus is                , 2022.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Neither we nor the underwriters have authorized anyone to provide you with information other than that contained in this prospectus or in any free writing prospectus prepared by or on behalf of us or to which we have referred you. We and the underwriters take no responsibility for, and can provide no assurance as to the reliability of, any other information that others may give you. We and the underwriters are offering to sell, and seeking offers to buy, Class A common stock only in jurisdictions where offers and sales are permitted. The information contained in this prospectus or any free writing prospectus is accurate only as of its date, regardless of its time of delivery or of any sale of shares of our Class A common stock. Our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may have changed since that date.

Through and including                , 2022 (the 25th day after the date of this prospectus), all dealers effecting transactions in these securities, whether or not participating in this offering, may be required to deliver a prospectus. This is in addition to a dealer’s obligation to deliver a prospectus when acting as an underwriter and with respect to an unsold allotment or subscription.

For investors outside of the United States: We have not and the underwriters have not, done anything that would permit this offering, or possession or distribution of this prospectus, in any jurisdiction where action for that purpose is required, other than the United States. Persons outside of the United States who come into possession of this prospectus must inform themselves about, and observe any restrictions relating to, the offering of the shares of our Class A common stock and the distribution of this prospectus outside of the United States.

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GENERAL INFORMATION

Unless otherwise indicated or the context otherwise requires, references in this prospectus to (i) “GEN Inc.” refers to GEN Restaurant Group, Inc., a Delaware corporation, the company conducting the offering made pursuant to this prospectus and not to any of its subsidiaries, (ii) “GEN Restaurant Group” refers to the group of companies included in the historical financial statement included in this prospectus, (iii) “GEN LLC” refers to GEN Restaurant Companies, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and subsidiary of GEN Inc., and (iv) the “Company,” “we,” “us,” “our” and “GEN” refer to GEN Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries. GEN Inc. was incorporated as a Delaware corporation on October 28, 2021 and, prior to the consummation of the Reorganization described herein and our initial public offering, did not conduct any activities other than those incidental to our formation and our initial public offering.

Basis of Presentation

This prospectus includes certain historical financial and other data for GEN Restaurant Group. Following this offering, GEN Restaurant Group will be the predecessor of GEN Inc. for financial reporting purposes. Immediately following this offering, GEN Inc. will be a holding company, and its sole material asset will be a controlling equity interest in GEN LLC. As the sole managing member of GEN LLC, GEN Inc. will operate and control all of the business and affairs of GEN LLC and, through GEN LLC and its subsidiaries, conduct our business. GEN Inc. will consolidate GEN LLC on its consolidated financial statements and record a noncontrolling interest related to the Class B units held by the Class B stockholders on its consolidated balance sheet and statement of operations. See “Organizational Structure.”

Numerical figures included in this prospectus have been subject to rounding adjustments. Accordingly, numerical figures shown as totals in various tables may not be arithmetic aggregations of the figures that precede them.

Market and Industry Data

This prospectus contains estimates, projections and other information concerning our industry, our business and the markets for our restaurants. Some market data and statistical information contained in this prospectus are also based on management’s estimates and calculations, which are derived from our review and interpretation of the independent sources listed below, our internal research and knowledge of our market. This information involves a number of assumptions and limitations, and you are cautioned not to give undue weight to such information. We have not independently verified market data and industry forecasts provided by any of these or any other third-party sources referred to in this prospectus. In addition, projections, assumptions and estimates of the future performance of the industry in which we operate and our future performance are necessarily subject to uncertainty and risk due to a variety of factors, including those described in the sections titled “Risk Factors” and “Forward-Looking Statements” and elsewhere in this prospectus. These and other factors could cause results to differ materially from those expressed in the projections and estimates made by the independent third parties and us.

Unless otherwise expressly stated, we obtained industry, business, market and other data from the reports, publications and other materials and sources listed herein. In some cases, we do not expressly refer to the sources from which this data is derived. In that regard, when we refer to one or more sources of this type of data in any paragraph, you should assume that other data of this type appearing in the same paragraph is derived from the same sources, unless otherwise expressly stated or the context otherwise requires.

Information contained on any website or linked therein or otherwise connected thereto does not constitute part of and is not incorporated by reference into this prospectus or the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. We have included the website address in this prospectus solely as an inactive textual reference.

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Trademarks

We own or have the rights to use various trademarks, service marks and trade names that we use in connection with the operation of our business. This prospectus may also contain trademarks, service marks and trade names of third parties, which are the property of their respective owners. Our use or display of third parties’ trademarks, service marks, trade names or products in this prospectus is not intended to, and does not, imply a relationship with, or endorsement or sponsorship by, us. Solely for convenience, the trademarks, service marks and trade names presented in this prospectus may appear without the ^®, TM or SM symbols, but such references are not intended to indicate, in any way, that we will not assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, our rights or the rights of the applicable licensor to these trademarks, service marks and trade names.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Adjusted EBITDA is not recognized under GAAP. We define Adjusted EBITDA as net income (loss) before net interest expense, income taxes, depreciation and amortization, and consulting fees paid to a related party and we also exclude other income recorded from Payroll Protection Program, or PPP, loan forgiveness and Restaurant Revitalization Fund, or RRF, grants. Adjusted EBITDA Margin is defined as Adjusted EBITDA divided by revenue. We define Restaurant-Level Adjusted EBITDA as Adjusted EBITDA plus adjustments to add-back the following expenses: Pre-opening costs, General and administrative, Management fees and adjust for the income or loss in Other income, Equity in income of equity method investee and Net income attributable to noncontrolling interest. We define Restaurant-Level Adjusted EBITDA Margin as Restaurant-Level Adjusted EBITDA divided by revenue.

Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA Margin, Restaurant-Level Adjusted EBITDA and Restaurant-Level Adjusted EBITDA Margin are intended as supplemental measures of our performance that are neither required by, nor presented in accordance with, GAAP. We are presenting Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA Margin, Restaurant-Level Adjusted EBITDA and Restaurant-Level Adjusted EBITDA Margin because we believe that they provide useful information to management and investors regarding certain financial and business trends relating to our financial condition and operating results. We believe that the use of these non-GAAP financial measures provide additional tools for investors to use in evaluating ongoing operating results and trends and in comparing the Company’s financial measures with those of comparable companies, which may present similar non-GAAP financial measures to investors. Our presentation of these measures should not be construed as an inference that our future results will be unaffected by unusual or non-recurring items. Our computation of these measures may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures computed by other companies, because all companies may not calculate these non-GAAP measures in the same fashion.

Because of these limitations, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA Margin, Restaurant-Level Adjusted EBITDA and Restaurant-Level Adjusted EBITDA Margin should not be considered in isolation or as substitutes for performance measures calculated in accordance with GAAP. We compensate for these limitations by relying primarily on our GAAP results and using these non-GAAP measures on a supplemental basis.

For reconciliations of Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA Margin, Restaurant-Level Adjusted EBITDA and Restaurant-Level Adjusted EBITDA Margin to their nearest GAAP financial measures, see “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”

Additional Financial Metrics and Other Data

As used in this prospectus, unless otherwise noted or the context otherwise requires:

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RISK FACTORS

Investing in our Class A common stock involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the following risks and uncertainties described below, together with all other information contained in this prospectus, including our consolidated financial statements and the related notes appearing at the end of this prospectus, before deciding to invest in our Class A common stock. The occurrence of any of the following risks, as well as any risks or uncertainties not currently known to us or that we currently do not believe to be material, could materially and adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition, results of operations and cash flow, in which case, the trading price of our Class A common stock could decline and you could lose all or part of your investment.

Risks Related to the COVID-19 Pandemic

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected, and will continue to adversely affect, our operations, and pandemic-related measures that limit our ability to operate will continue to adversely affect our business, financial condition and financial results.

Our business has been significantly adversely affected by the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States. In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. This contagious virus, which has continued to spread, has adversely affected workforces, customers, economies and financial markets globally as well as the markets in which we operate. It has also disrupted the normal operations of many businesses, including ours. In response to this outbreak, many state and local authorities in the markets in which we operate have either mandated the temporary closure of or imposed capacity limits to non-essential businesses and dine-in restaurant activity. For a portion of 2020, all of our restaurants were closed due to government-mandated shut downs. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we took various steps to reduce non-essential spend, postpone restaurant development and rightsize operations in light of reduced sales volume to preserve our store level profitability and increase our cash flows. Additionally, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, we furloughed approximately 90% of our employees. As restrictions lifted, we were able to reopen certain restaurants at reduced indoor dining capacities, and also started offering outdoor dining at certain restaurants. As of March 31, 2021, all of our restaurants had been reopened for indoor dining, and as of December of 2021, all capacity restrictions had been lifted.

We cannot predict how soon we will be able to open new restaurants in the future, or whether we will have to revert back to an off-premise only operating model at some or all of our restaurants. Our ability to continue to operate existing restaurants and open new restaurants in the future will depend in part on the actions of a number of governmental bodies over which we have no control.

Our restaurants are located in only five U.S. states. As a result of our concentration in these markets, we may be disproportionately affected by any increased severity of the pandemic and heightened regulatory measures in these locations compared to other chain restaurants with a more dispersed footprint. For example, the COVID-19 cases in California and Hawaii resulted in more strict and longer closures compared to other U.S. states.

Currently, several of our restaurants offer outdoor dining options using tents and extended patio spaces constructed as a result of the pandemic. As the pandemic continues to evolve and the restaurant industry returns to pre-pandemic standards, we may be required to remove some or all of the outdoor dining options available at our restaurants. We cannot predict how our customers will react to such removal, and whether any eventual change in outdoor dining options will impact our customer base and ultimately our sales.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had an adverse impact on the number of restaurant openings in 2020 and 2021. The temporary restaurant closures and the reduced capacities at reopened restaurants caused a substantial decline in the Company’s sales in 2020, and any future closures may result in substantial declines in sales for so long as the pandemic continues to impact the communities in which we operate. Despite an increase in sales in

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light of recent reopenings of our restaurants, the unpredictable nature of the COVID-19 pandemic makes future sales levels of our restaurants and our ability to implement our growth strategy highly uncertain. We cannot predict our future sales growth as the full impact and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve. Any additional economic downturn caused by the pandemic could have a material adverse impact on our future business, financial condition and financial results.

A prolonged occurrence of COVID-19 may result in restaurant re-closures, prohibition on indoor dining, as well as further restrictions, including possible travel restrictions and additional restrictions on the restaurant industry, such as vaccination requirements for restaurant customers and/or employees in certain geographic locations. For example, the Biden administration previously announced a vaccine mandate and related rules applying to private businesses with 100 or more employees. Although the rule was ultimately overturned by the United States Supreme Court, any similar vaccine-related rules could impact our employee base and ability to hire qualified employees. In addition, our restaurant operations could be further disrupted if large numbers of our employees are diagnosed with COVID-19. If a significant percentage of our workforce is unable to work, whether because of illness, quarantine, fear of contracting COVID-19, limitations on travel or other government restrictions in connection with COVID-19, our operations may be negatively impacted, potentially having a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Our suppliers could also be adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. If our suppliers’ employees are unable to work, whether because of illness, quarantine, limitations of travel or other government restrictions in connection with COVID-19, we could face shortages of food items or other supplies at our restaurants and our operations and sales could be adversely harmed by such supply interruptions.

Our efforts to mitigate the effect of COVID-19 on our business or the economic downturn may be unsuccessful, and we may not be able to take actions in response to developments with regard to the pandemic. To date, these events have resulted in significant drops in restaurant traffic throughout a significant portion of the COVID-19 pandemic and such events are likely to continue to occur during this pandemic, which will continue to have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and financial results.

Social distancing measures and changes in consumer behavior as a result of COVID-19 have affected, and may materially and adversely affect, our business.

Social distancing measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic have impacted our current service and business models, as customers choose to avoid public gathering places. Such actions could result in a loss of sales and profit. Additionally, consumer behavior has changed and may fundamentally change as a result of COVID-19 in both the near and long term and such change may pose significant challenges to our current service and business models. Traffic in restaurants, including ours, has been affected and may be materially and adversely affected with more consumers relying on off-premises orders. Consumer spending has also been and may continue to be negatively impacted by general macroeconomic conditions and economic downturns resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, which have suppressed consumer confidence. All of this could materially and adversely impact sales at our restaurants and our growth prospects. We have made adjustments to our restaurant operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic and may have to re-design our service and business models to accommodate consumers’ changed behavior pattern. Any such attempted efforts could result in capital expenditures, business disruption and lower margin sales, and may not be successful in growing our profitability.

Risks Related to Our Growth Strategy and Restaurant Expansion

Our long-term success is highly dependent on our ability to successfully identify and secure appropriate sites and timely develop and expand our operations in existing and new markets.

One of the key means of achieving our growth strategies will be through opening and operating new restaurants on a profitable basis for the foreseeable future. We opened four new restaurants in both 2018 and

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2019, and due to the COVID-19 pandemic, no new restaurants in 2020 and 2021. We identify target markets where we can enter or expand, taking into account numerous factors such as the locations of our current restaurants, demographics, traffic patterns and information gathered from various sources. We may not be able to open our planned new restaurants within budget or on a timely basis, if at all, given the uncertainty of these factors, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. As we operate more restaurants, our rate of expansion relative to the size of our restaurant base will eventually decline.

The number and timing of new restaurants opened during any given period may be negatively impacted by a number of factors including, without limitation:

Accordingly, we cannot assure you that we will be able to successfully expand as we may not correctly analyze the suitability of a location or anticipate all of the challenges imposed by expanding our operations. Our growth strategy, and the substantial investment associated with the development of each new restaurant, may cause our operating results to fluctuate and be unpredictable or adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. If we are unable to expand in existing markets or penetrate new markets, our ability to increase our sales and profitability may be materially harmed or we may face losses.

In addition, our restaurant count potential based on our current whitespace analysis may change in the future, or we may conduct future analyses that yield results inconsistent with our earlier analysis.

Our expansion into new markets may present increased risks due in part to our unfamiliarity with the areas and also due to consumer unfamiliarity with our concept and may make our future results unpredictable.

As of December 31, 2021, we operate our restaurants in five states, California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii and Texas. Although we opened no new restaurants in 2021, we plan to increase the number of our restaurants in the next several years as part of our expansion strategy. We may in the future open restaurants in markets where we have little or no operating experience. This growth strategy and the substantial investment associated with the development of each new restaurant may cause our operating results to fluctuate

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and be unpredictable or adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. Restaurants we open in new markets may take longer to reach expected sales and profit levels on a consistent basis and may have higher construction, occupancy or operating costs than restaurants we open in existing markets, thereby affecting our overall profitability. New markets may have competitive conditions, consumer tastes and discretionary spending patterns that are more difficult to predict or satisfy than our existing markets and there may be little or no market awareness of our brand or concept in these new markets. We may need to make greater investments than we originally planned in advertising and promotional activity in new markets to build brand awareness. We also may find it more difficult in new markets to hire, motivate and keep qualified employees who share our vision, passion and business culture. If we do not successfully execute our plans to enter new markets, our business, financial condition or results of operations could be materially adversely affected.

The impact global and domestic economic conditions have on consumer discretionary spending could materially adversely affect our financial performance.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on global and domestic economies and will likely continue to negatively impact these economies for some time in the future. Dining out is a discretionary expenditure that historically has been influenced by domestic and global economic conditions. In addition to the COVID-19 pandemic, these conditions include, but may not be limited to: unemployment, general and industry-specific inflation, consumer confidence, consumer purchasing and saving habits, credit conditions, stock market performance, home values, population growth, household incomes and tax policy. Material changes to governmental policy related to domestic and international fiscal concerns, and/or changes in central bank policies with respect to monetary policy, also could affect consumer discretionary spending. Any factor affecting consumer discretionary spending may influence customer traffic in our restaurants and average check amount, thus potentially having a material impact on our financial performance. Furthermore, negative economic conditions resulting from war, terrorist activities, global economic occurrences or trends or other geo-political events or conflicts could cause consumers to make long-term changes to their discretionary spending behavior, whether on a temporary, extended or permanent basis. Reductions in staff levels and restaurant closures could result from prolonged negative economic conditions, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Opening new restaurants in existing markets may negatively affect sales at our existing restaurants.

The consumer target area of our restaurants varies by location, depending on a number of factors, including population density, other local retail and business attractions, area demographics and geography. As a result, the opening of a new restaurant in or near markets in which we already have restaurants could adversely affect the sales of these existing restaurants and thereby adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. Existing restaurants could also make it more difficult to build our consumer base for a new restaurant in the same market. Our core business strategy does not entail opening new restaurants that we believe will materially affect sales at our existing restaurants, but we may selectively open new restaurants in and around areas of existing restaurants that are operating at or near capacity to effectively serve our guests. Sales cannibalization between our restaurants may become significant in the future as we continue to expand our operations and could affect our sales growth, which could, in turn, materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

New restaurants, once opened, may not be profitable, and the increases in average restaurant sales and comparable restaurant sales that we have experienced in the past may not be indicative of future results.

Our new restaurants have opened with strong volumes, which then typically decline after the initial sales surge that comes with interest in a new restaurant opening. New restaurants may not be profitable and their sales performance may not follow historical patterns. In addition, our average restaurant sales and comparable restaurant sales may not increase at the rates achieved over the past several years. Our business depends on the success of new restaurants as well as the success of existing restaurants. If sales at existing restaurant locations do not meet expectations and our new restaurants are not profitable, our business and results of operations may be harmed.

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Our ability to operate new restaurants profitably and increase average restaurant sales and comparable restaurant sales will depend on many factors, some of which are beyond our control, including:

If our new restaurants do not perform as planned, our business and future prospects could be harmed. In addition, if we are unable to achieve our expected average restaurant sales, our business, financial condition or results of operations could be adversely affected.

Our sales and profit growth could be adversely affected if comparable restaurant sales are less than we expect.

The level of comparable restaurant sales change, which represents the change in year-over-year sales for restaurants open for at least 18 full months, could affect our sales growth. Our ability to increase comparable restaurant sales depends in part on our ability to successfully implement our initiatives to build sales. such as our initiatives to increase online and to-go sales, review our beverage program to increase beverage sales and to review operational efficiencies to increase the customer flow in our restaurants. It is possible such initiatives will not be successful, that we will not achieve our target comparable restaurant sales change or that the change in comparable restaurant sales could be negative, which may cause a decrease in our profitability and would materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Comparable Restaurant Sales Change.”

Our failure to manage our growth effectively could harm our business and operating results.

Our growth plan includes opening new restaurants. Our existing restaurant management systems, financial and management controls and information systems may be inadequate to support our planned expansion. Managing our growth effectively will require us to continue to enhance these systems, procedures and controls and to hire, train and retain managers and team members. We may not respond quickly enough to the changing demands that our expansion will impose on our management, restaurant teams and existing infrastructure which could harm our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Our limited number of restaurants, the significant expense associated with opening new restaurants and the unit volumes of our new restaurants makes us susceptible to significant fluctuations in our results of operations.

As of December 31, 2021, we operated 28 restaurants. We opened four new restaurants in both 2018 and 2019, and, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, no new restaurants in 2020 and 2021. The capital resources required to develop each new restaurant are significant. On average, our restaurants opened since 2018 required a cash build-out cost of approximately $1.8 million per restaurant, including pre-opening expenses but net of landlord tenant improvement allowances and reflecting that we do not purchase the underlying real estate. Actual costs may vary significantly depending upon a variety of factors, including the site and size of the restaurant and conditions in the local real estate and labor markets. Our estimates for improvements, fixtures and furnishings may also be incorrect, which may cause us to incur certain impairment charges. The combination of our relatively small number of existing restaurants, the significant investment associated with each new restaurant, variance in the operating results in any one restaurant, or a delay or cancellation in the planned opening of a restaurant could materially affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

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Our restaurant base is geographically concentrated, and we could be negatively affected by conditions specific to our markets.

Approximately 71% of our restaurants are located in California, with 50% of our restaurants located in Southern California specifically. Adverse changes in demographic, unemployment, economic, regulatory or weather conditions in California have had, and may continue to have, material adverse effects on our business, financial condition or results of operations. As a result of our concentration in these markets, we have been, and in the future may be, disproportionately affected by adverse conditions in these markets compared to other chain restaurants with a national footprint.

Acts of violence at or threatened against our restaurants or the centers in which they are located, including civil unrest, customer intimidation, active shooter situations and terrorism, could unfavorably impact our restaurant sales, which could materially adversely affect our financial performance.

Any act of violence at or threatened against our restaurants or the centers in which they are located, including civil unrest, customer intimidation, active shooter situations and terrorist activities, may result in damage and restricted access to our restaurants and/or restaurant closures in the short-term and, in the long-term, may cause our customers and staff to avoid our restaurants. Any such situation could adversely impact customer traffic and make it more difficult to fully staff our restaurants, which could materially adversely affect our financial performance.

A decline in visitors to any of the retail centers, shopping malls, lifestyle centers, or entertainment centers where our restaurants are located could negatively affect our restaurant sales.

Our restaurants are primarily located in high-activity commercial centers. We depend on high visitor rates at these centers to attract guests to our restaurants. Factors that may result in declining visitor rates include public health pandemics such as the COVID-19 outbreak, economic or political conditions, anchor tenants closing in retail centers in which we operate, changes in consumer preferences or shopping patterns, changes in discretionary consumer spending, increasing petroleum prices, or other factors, which may adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Our plans to open new restaurants, and the ongoing need for capital expenditures at our existing restaurants, require us to spend capital.

Our growth strategy depends on opening new restaurants, which will require us to use cash flows from operations. We cannot assure you that cash flows from operations will be sufficient to allow us to implement our growth strategy. If these funds are not allocated efficiently among our various projects, or if any of these initiatives prove to be unsuccessful, we may experience reduced profitability and we could be required to delay, significantly curtail or eliminate planned restaurant openings, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, our business will continue to require capital expenditures for the maintenance, renovation, and improvement of existing restaurants to remain competitive and maintain the value of our brand. This creates an ongoing need for cash, and, to the extent we cannot fund capital expenditures from cash flows from operations, funds will need to be borrowed or otherwise obtained. If the costs of funding new restaurants or renovations or enhancements to existing restaurants exceed budgeted amounts, and/or the time for building or renovation is longer than anticipated, our profits and liquidity could be reduced. If we cannot access the capital we need, we may not be able to execute our growth strategy, take advantage of future opportunities or respond to competitive pressures.

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Risks Related to Our Relationships with Key Suppliers

We rely significantly on certain vendors and suppliers, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Our ability to maintain consistent price and quality throughout our restaurants depends in part upon our ability to acquire specified food products and supplies in sufficient quantities from third-party vendors and suppliers at a reasonable cost. In addition, we are dependent upon a few suppliers for certain specialized equipment utilized in our restaurants, such as the embedded grills in our tables. For this specialized equipment, we rely on Fast Fabrications, LLC, or Fast Fabrications, as one of our primary suppliers. U.S. Foods, an unrelated third party, provided us with food products equaling approximately 39% and 49% of our total food and beverage costs in 2021 and 2020, respectively. Pacific Global Distribution, Inc., or Pacific Global, and Wise Universal Inc., or Wise Universal, provided us with food products and supplies equaling approximately 39% and 30% of our total food and beverage costs in 2021 and 2020, respectively. Each of Fast Fabrications, Pacific Global and Wise Universal are controlled by parties affiliated with the Company. See “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions” for additional information on our relationship with these suppliers. We do not currently control the businesses of our vendors and suppliers and our efforts to specify and monitor the standards under which they perform may not be successful. In addition, we do not currently have written contracts with any of our suppliers. Furthermore, certain food items are perishable, and we have limited control over whether these items will be delivered to us in appropriate condition for use in our restaurants. If any of our vendors or other suppliers are unable to fulfill their obligations to our standards, if our informal arrangements with our suppliers break down or if we are unable to find replacement providers in the event of a supply or service disruption, we could encounter supply shortages and incur higher costs to secure adequate supplies, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. See “Business - Our Suppliers” for more details regarding these relationships.

In addition, we use various third-party vendors to provide, support and maintain most of our management information systems. We also outsource certain accounting, payroll and human resource functions to business process service providers. The failure of such vendors to fulfill their obligations could disrupt our operations. Additionally, any changes we may make to the services we obtain from our vendors, or new vendors we employ, may disrupt our operations. These disruptions could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Changes in food and supply costs could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Our profitability depends in part on our ability to anticipate and react to changes in food and supply costs. Shortages or interruptions in the availability of certain supplies caused by unanticipated demand, problems in production or distribution, food contamination, inclement weather or other conditions could adversely affect the availability, quality and cost of our ingredients, which could harm our operations. Any increase in the prices of the food products most critical to our menu, such as beef, pork, poultry, and seafood, could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results from operations. Although we try to manage the impact that these fluctuations have on our operating results, we remain susceptible to increases in food costs as a result of factors beyond our control, such as general economic conditions, seasonal fluctuations, weather conditions, demand, food safety concerns, generalized infectious diseases, product recalls and government regulations.

If any of our distributors or suppliers performs inadequately, or our distribution or supply relationships are disrupted for any reason, our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows could be adversely affected. If we cannot replace or engage distributors or suppliers who meet our specifications in a short period of time, that could increase our expenses and cause shortages of food and other items at our restaurants, which could cause a restaurant to remove items from its menu. If that were to happen, affected restaurants could experience significant reductions in sales during the shortage or thereafter, if guests change their dining habits as a result. In addition, because we provide moderately priced food, we may choose not to, or may be unable to,

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pass along commodity price increases to consumers. These potential changes in food and supply costs could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Failure to receive frequent deliveries of fresh food ingredients and other supplies could harm our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Our ability to maintain our menu depends in part on our ability to acquire ingredients that meet our specifications from reliable suppliers. Shortages or interruptions in the supply of ingredients caused by unanticipated demand, problems in production or distribution, food contamination, inclement weather or other conditions could adversely affect the availability, quality and cost of our ingredients, which could harm our business, financial condition or results of operations. If any of our distributors or suppliers performs inadequately, or our distribution or supply relationships are disrupted for any reason, our business, financial condition or results of operations could be adversely affected. If we cannot replace or engage distributors or suppliers who meet our specifications in a short period of time, that could increase our expenses and cause shortages of food and other items at our restaurants, which could cause a restaurant to remove items from its menu. If that were to happen, affected restaurants could experience significant reductions in sales during the shortage or thereafter, if guests change their dining habits as a result. This reduction in sales could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

In addition, our approach to competing in the restaurant industry depends in large part on our continued ability to provide authentic and traditional Korean cuisine that is free from artificial ingredients. As we increase our use of these ingredients, the ability of our suppliers to expand output or otherwise increase their supplies to meet our needs may be constrained. We could face difficulties to obtain a sufficient and consistent supply of these ingredients on a cost-effective basis.

Other Commercial, Operational, Financial and Regulatory Risks

We face intense competition, and if we are unable to continue to compete effectively in the restaurant industry in general and, in particular, within the dining segments of the restaurant industry in which we compete, our business, financial condition and results of operations would be adversely affected.

The restaurant and retail industries are intensely competitive, and we face many well-established competitors. We compete within each market with national and regional restaurant and retail chains and locally owned restaurants and retailers. We face significant competition from a variety of casual dining restaurants offering both Asian and non-Asian cuisine, as well as takeout offerings from grocery stores and other outlets where Asian food is sold. These segments are highly competitive with respect to, among other things, product quality, dining experience, ambience, location, convenience, value perception, and price. Our competition continues to intensify as competitors increase the breadth and depth of their product offerings and open new locations. These competitors may have, among other things, chefs who are widely known to the public that may generate more notoriety for those competitors as compared to our brand. We also compete with many restaurant and retail establishments for site locations and restaurant-level employees.

Several of our competitors offering Asian and related choices may look to compete with us on price, quality and service. Any of these competitive factors may materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. In 2019, our comparable sales decreased due to the short-term initial impact of new Asian concept restaurant openings near certain of our locations. Although the impact was short-term, our future results could be impacted again by the opening of other Asian concept restaurants close to our locations, particularly if such Asian concept restaurants are “all you can eat.” The presence of additional “all you can eat” Asian restaurants near our locations could have a negative impact on our results of operations.

We face competition as a result of the convergence of grocery, deli, retail and restaurant services, particularly in the supermarket industry. We also face competition from various off-premise meal replacement

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offerings including, but not limited to, home meal kits delivery, third party meal delivery and catering and the rapid growth of these channels by our competitors. Moreover, our competitors can harm our business even if they are not successful in their own operations by taking away customers or employees through aggressive and costly advertising, promotions or hiring practices. We anticipate that intense competition will continue with respect to all of the factors described above.

We also compete with other restaurant chains and other retail businesses for quality site locations, management and hourly employees, and other aspects of our operations that could affect both the availability and cost of these important resources. If we are unable to continue to compete effectively, our business, financial condition and results of operations would be adversely affected.

Changes in economic conditions could materially affect our ability to maintain or increase sales at our restaurants or open new restaurants.

The restaurant industry depends on consumer discretionary spending. The United States in general or the specific markets in which we operate may suffer from depressed economic activity, recessionary economic cycles, higher fuel or energy costs, low consumer confidence, high levels of unemployment, reduced home values, increases in home foreclosures, investment losses, personal bankruptcies, reduced access to credit or other economic factors that may affect consumer discretionary spending. Sales in our restaurants could decline if consumers choose to dine out less frequently or reduce the amount they spend on meals while dining out. Negative economic conditions might cause consumers to make long-term changes to their discretionary spending behavior, including dining out less frequently on a permanent basis. If restaurant sales decrease, our profitability could decline as we spread fixed costs across a lower level of sales. Reductions in staff levels, asset impairment charges and potential restaurant closures could result from prolonged negative restaurant sales, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Food safety and foodborne illness concerns as well as outbreaks of flu, viruses or other diseases could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

We cannot guarantee that our internal controls and training will be fully effective in preventing all food safety issues at our restaurants, including any occurrences of foodborne illnesses such as salmonella, E. coli and hepatitis A. In addition, there is no guarantee that our restaurant locations will maintain the high levels of internal controls and training we require at our restaurants. Furthermore, we rely on third-party vendors, making it difficult to monitor food safety compliance and increasing the risk that foodborne illness would affect multiple locations rather than a single restaurant. Some foodborne illness incidents could be caused by third-party vendors and transporters outside of our control. New illnesses resistant to our current precautions may develop in the future, or diseases with long incubation periods could arise, that could give rise to claims or allegations on a retroactive basis. One or more instances of foodborne illness in any of our restaurants or markets or related to food products we sell could negatively affect our restaurant sales nationwide if highly publicized on national media outlets or through social media. This risk exists even if it were later determined that the illness was wrongly attributed to us or one of our restaurants. A number of other restaurant chains have experienced incidents related to foodborne illnesses that have had a material adverse effect on their operations. The occurrence of a similar incident at one or more of our restaurants, or negative publicity or public speculation about an incident, could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Additionally, consumer preferences could be affected by health concerns about the consumption of meat, specifically beef, a key ingredient used in our restaurants. For example, if a pathogen, such as “mad cow disease,” or other bacteria or parasite infects the food supply (or is believed to have infected the food supply), regardless of whether our supply chain is affected, guests may actively avoid consuming certain ingredients. Negative publicity surrounding such an infection in the food supply, whether related to one of our restaurants or to a competitor in our industry, may have an adverse impact on demand for our food.

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If a virus is transmitted by human contact or respiratory transmission, our employees or guests could become infected, or could choose, or be advised, to avoid gathering in public places, any of which could adversely affect our restaurant guest traffic and our ability to adequately staff our restaurants, receive deliveries on a timely basis or perform functions at the corporate level. Additionally, jurisdictions in which we have restaurants may impose mandatory closures, seek voluntary closures or impose restrictions on operations. Even if such measures are not implemented and a virus or other disease does not spread significantly, the perceived risk of infection or significant health risk may cause guests to choose other alternatives to dining out in our restaurants which may adversely affect our business.

New information or attitudes regarding diet and health could result in changes in regulations and consumer consumption habits that could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Changes in attitudes regarding diet and health or new information regarding the adverse health effects of consuming certain foods could result in changes in government regulation and consumer eating habits that may impact our business, financial condition or results of operations. These changes have resulted in, and may continue to result in, laws and regulations requiring us to disclose the nutritional content of our food offerings and laws and regulations affecting permissible ingredients and menu offerings. For example, a number of jurisdictions have enacted menu labeling laws requiring multi-unit restaurant operators to disclose to consumers certain nutritional information, or have enacted legislation restricting the use of certain types of ingredients in restaurants. These requirements may be different or inconsistent with requirements we are subject to under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, or collectively, the ACA, which establishes a uniform, federal requirement for certain restaurants to post nutritional information on their menus. Specifically, the ACA requires chain restaurants with 20 or more locations operating under the same name and offering substantially the same menus to publish the total number of calories of standard menu items on menus and menu boards, along with a statement that puts this calorie information in the context of a total daily calorie intake. The ACA also requires covered restaurants to provide to consumers, upon request, a written summary of detailed nutritional information for each standard menu item, and to provide a statement on menus and menu boards about the availability of this information upon request. Unfavorable publicity about, or guests’ reactions to, our menu ingredients, the size of our portions or the nutritional content of our menu items could negatively influence the demand for our offerings, thereby adversely affecting our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Compliance with current and future laws and regulations regarding the ingredients and nutritional content of our menu items may be costly and time-consuming. Additionally, if consumer health regulations or consumer eating habits change significantly, we may be required to modify or discontinue certain menu items, and may experience higher costs associated with the implementation of those changes. These changes could also adversely affect the attractiveness of our restaurants to new or returning guests. We cannot predict the impact of any new nutrition labeling requirements. The risks and costs associated with nutritional disclosures on our menus could impact our operations, particularly given differences among applicable legal requirements and practices within the restaurant industry with respect to testing and disclosure, ordinary variations in food preparation among our own restaurants, and the need to rely on the accuracy and completeness of nutritional information obtained from third-party suppliers.

We may not be able to effectively respond to changes in consumer health perceptions, successfully implement the nutrient content disclosure requirements or adapt our menu offerings to trends in eating habits. The imposition of menu labeling laws and an inability to keep up with consumer eating habits could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations, as well as our position within the restaurant industry in general.

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We rely significantly on the operation of our equipment, and any mechanical failure could prevent us from effectively operating our restaurants.

The operation of our restaurants relies on technology and equipment such as the grills and ventilation systems located at each table. Our ability to safely, efficiently and effectively manage our restaurants depends significantly on the reliability and capacity of these systems. Mechanical failures and our inability to service such equipment in a timely manner could result in delays in customer service and reduce efficiency of our restaurant operations, including a loss of sales. Remediation of such problems could result in significant, unplanned capital investments and any equipment failure may have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations due to our reliance on such equipment.

Additionally, customers use our equipment to cook and prepare portions of their meals. Customers may not correctly cook the food they are preparing and/or may improperly use our cooking equipment which could lead to illness, injury or damage to customers’ personal property. Any such result could expose us to litigation and negative publicity. Consumer demand for our restaurant could be impacted by an incident of bodily injury or damage to property. If consumer confidence in our restaurants or brand is diminished due to any such incident, we may experience lower sales and adverse effects to our business, financial condition or results of operations.

The loss of any registered trademark or other intellectual property or our failure to maximize or successfully assert our intellectual property rights could enable other companies to compete more effectively with us.

We utilize intellectual property in our business. Our trademarks and service marks are valuable assets that reinforce our brand and consumers’ favorable perception of our restaurants. We have invested a significant amount of money in establishing and promoting our trademarked brands. Our continued success depends, to a significant degree, upon our ability to maximize, protect and preserve our intellectual property.

We rely on confidentiality agreements and trademark law to protect our intellectual property rights. Our confidentiality agreements with our team members and certain of our consultants, contract employees, suppliers and independent contractors, generally require that all information made known to them be kept strictly confidential. As a result, we may not be able to prevent others from independently developing and using similar branding.

We also have trademark registrations both in the U.S. and internationally. We cannot assure you that the steps we have taken to protect our intellectual property rights are adequate, that our intellectual property rights can be successfully defended and asserted in the future or that third parties will not infringe upon or misappropriate any such rights. In addition, our trademark rights and related registrations may be challenged in the future and could be canceled or narrowed. Failure to protect our trademark rights could prevent us in the future from challenging third parties who use names and logos similar to our trademarks, which may in turn cause consumer confusion or negatively affect consumers’ perception of our brand and products. Moreover, intellectual property disputes and proceedings and infringement claims may result in a significant distraction for management and significant expense, which may not be recoverable regardless of whether we are successful. Such proceedings may be protracted with no certainty of success, and an adverse outcome could subject us to liabilities, force us to cease use of certain trademarks or other intellectual property or force us to enter into licenses with others. Any one of these occurrences may have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our marketing programs may not be successful, and our advertising campaigns and restaurant designs and remodels may not generate increased sales or profits.

We incur costs and expend other resources in our marketing efforts, advertising campaigns and restaurant designs and remodels to raise brand awareness and attract and retain guests. These initiatives may not be successful, resulting in expenses incurred without the benefit of higher sales. Additionally, some of our

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competitors have greater financial resources, which enable them to spend significantly more on marketing and advertising and other initiatives than we are able to. Should our competitors increase spending on marketing and advertising and other initiatives or our marketing funds decrease for any reason, or should our advertising, promotions, new menu items and restaurant designs and remodels be less effective than those of our competitors, there could be a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Our inability or failure to recognize, respond to and effectively manage the accelerated impact of social media could materially adversely impact our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Our marketing efforts rely heavily on the use of social media. In recent years, there has been a marked increase in the use of social media platforms, including weblogs (blogs), mini-blogs, chat platforms, social media websites, and other forms of Internet-based communications which allow individuals access to a broad audience of consumers and other interested persons. Many of our competitors are expanding their use of social media, and new social media platforms are rapidly being developed, potentially making more traditional social media platforms obsolete. As a result, we need to continuously innovate and develop our social media strategies in order to maintain broad appeal with guests and brand relevance. We also continue to invest in other digital marketing initiatives that allow us to reach our guests across multiple digital channels and build their awareness of, engagement with, and loyalty to our brand. These initiatives may not be successful, resulting in expenses incurred without the benefit of higher sales or increased brand recognition.

Negative publicity relating to one of our restaurants could reduce sales at some or all of our other restaurants.

Our success is dependent in part upon our ability to maintain and enhance the value of our brand and consumers’ connection to our brand. We may, from time to time, be faced with negative publicity relating to food quality, restaurant facilities, guest complaints or litigation alleging illness or injury, health inspection scores, integrity of our or our suppliers’ food processing, employee relationships or other matters, regardless of whether the allegations are valid or whether we are held to be responsible. The negative impact of adverse publicity relating to one restaurant may extend far beyond the restaurant involved to affect some or all of our other restaurants, thereby causing an adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. A similar risk exists with respect to unrelated food service businesses, if consumers associate those businesses with our own operations.

The considerable expansion in the use of social media over recent years can further amplify any negative publicity that could be generated by such incidents. Many social media platforms immediately publish the content their subscribers and participants post, often without filters or checks on accuracy of the content posted. Information posted on such platforms may be adverse to our interests and/or may be inaccurate. The dissemination of inaccurate or irresponsible information online could harm our business, reputation, prospects, financial condition, or results of operations, regardless of the information’s accuracy. The damage may be immediate without affording us an opportunity for redress or correction.

Additionally, employee claims against us based on, among other things, wage and hour violations, discrimination, harassment or wrongful termination may also create negative publicity that could adversely affect us and divert our financial and management resources that would otherwise be used to benefit the future performance of our operations. A significant increase in the number of these claims or an increase in the number of successful claims could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. Consumer demand for our restaurants and our brand’s value could diminish significantly if any such incidents or other matters create negative publicity or otherwise erode consumer confidence in us or our restaurants, which would likely result in lower sales and could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

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We are subject to all of the risks associated with leasing space subject to long-term non-cancelable leases.

We do not own any real property, and lease all of our restaurant locations. Payments under our operating leases account for a significant portion of our expenses and we expect the new restaurants we open in the future will similarly be leased. The majority of our leases have lease terms of five to ten years, exclusive of customary extensions which are at our option. Most of our leases require a fixed annual rent which generally increases each year, and some require the payment of additional rent if restaurant sales exceed a negotiated amount. Generally, our leases are “net” leases, which require us to pay all of the cost of insurance, taxes, maintenance and utilities. We generally cannot cancel these leases. Additional sites that we lease are likely to be subject to similar long-term non-cancelable leases. If an existing or future restaurant is not profitable, and we decide to close it, we may nonetheless be committed to perform our obligations under the applicable lease including, among other things, paying the base rent for the balance of the lease term. In addition, as each of our leases expires, we may fail to negotiate renewals, either on commercially acceptable terms or at all, which could cause us to pay increased occupancy costs or to close restaurants in desirable locations. If we fail to negotiate renewals, we may have to dispose of assets at such restaurant locations and incur closure costs as well as impairment of property and equipment. Furthermore, if we fail to negotiate renewals, we may incur additional costs associated with moving transferable furniture, fixtures and equipment. These potential increased occupancy and moving costs, as well as closures of restaurants, could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Macroeconomic conditions, including economic downturns, may cause landlords of our leases to be unable to obtain financing or remain in good standing under their existing financing arrangements, resulting in failures to pay required tenant improvement allowances or satisfy other lease covenants to us. In addition, tenants at shopping centers in which we are located or have executed leases, or to which our locations are near, may fail to open or may cease operations. Decreases in total tenant occupancy in shopping centers in which we are located, or to which our locations are near, may affect traffic at our restaurants. All of these factors could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

We may need capital in the future, and we may not be able to raise that capital on favorable terms.

Developing our business will require significant capital in the future. To meet our capital needs, we expect to rely on our cash flows from operations, future offerings and other third-party financing. Third-party financing in the future may not, however, be available on terms favorable to us, or at all. Our ability to obtain additional funding will be subject to various factors, including market conditions, our operating performance, lender sentiment and our ability to incur additional debt in compliance with other contractual restrictions under term loans or other debt documents we may enter into. These factors may make the timing, amount, or terms and conditions of additional financings unattractive. Additionally, any debt financing that we secure in the future could involve restrictive covenants relating to our capital raising activities and other financial and operational matters, which may make it more difficult for us to obtain additional capital and to pursue business opportunities. Our inability to raise capital could impede our growth and could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

We may not be entitled to full forgiveness of our Paycheck Protection Program loan and our applications for such loans, and our use of other government-funded assistance programs, including the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, could in the future be determined to have been impermissible or could result in damage to our reputation.

Between April and June 2020, we received proceeds of $9.5 million from loans, or the 2020 PPP Loans, under the Paycheck Protection Program of the CARES Act, of which $9.2 million was forgiven between May and August 2021, which we used to retain current employees, maintain payroll and make lease and utility payments. During 2021, we entered into several additional PPP loan agreements, providing for an aggregate total loan amount of $13.5 million (of which $13.1 million was forgiven between October and December 2021), or the

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2021 PPP Loans and together with the 2020 PPP Loans, the PPP Loans. In addition, the Company has received approximately $16.8 million from the RRF, or the RRF Grant, under The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.

Any unforgiven portions of the 2020 PPP Loans mature between April and June 2022 and bear annual interest at a rate of 1.00%, and the unforgiven portions of the 2021 PPP Loans mature between February and March 2026 and bear annual interest at a rate of 1.00%. Commencing on the date that is the latter of (i) the date that is the 10th month after the end of the Company’s PPP Loans covered period (as described below) and (ii) assuming the Company has applied for PPP Loan forgiveness within the period described in clause (i), the date on which the Small Business Administration, or the SBA, remits the loan forgiveness amount on the Company’s PPP Loans to the PPP lender (or notifies such lender that no loan forgiveness is allowed), we are required to pay the lender equal monthly payments of principal and interest as required to fully amortize by June 2022 for the remaining principal amount and interest outstanding on the 2020 PPP Loans and by March 2026 for the 2021 PPP Loans, any principal amount and interest outstanding on the PPP Loans as of June 2022 for the 2020 PPP Loans or as of March 2026 for the 2021 PPP Loans. Under the CARES Act, loan forgiveness is available for the sum of documented payroll costs, covered rent payments, covered mortgage interest and covered utilities during the twenty-four-week period or, if elected by the Company, the eight-week period beginning on the date the loan is advanced. Not more than 40% of the forgiven amount may be for non-payroll costs. We will be required to repay any portion of the outstanding principal that is not forgiven, along with accrued interest, in accordance with the amortization schedule described above.

In order to apply for the PPP Loans, we were required to certify, among other things, that the current economic uncertainty made the PPP Loans request necessary to support our ongoing operations. We made this certification in good faith after analyzing, among other things, our financial situation and access to alternative forms of capital and believe that we satisfied all eligibility criteria for the PPP Loans, and that our receipt of the PPP Loans is consistent with the broad objectives of the Paycheck Protection Program of the CARES Act. The certification described above does not contain any objective criteria and is subject to interpretation. On April 23, 2020, the SBA issued guidance stating that it is unlikely that a public company with substantial market value and access to capital markets will be able to make the required certification in good faith. The lack of clarity regarding loan eligibility under the Paycheck Protection Program has resulted in significant media coverage and controversy with respect to public companies applying for and receiving loans. If, despite our good-faith belief that given our Company’s circumstances we satisfied all eligible requirements for the PPP Loans, we are later determined to have violated any of the laws or governmental regulations that apply to us in connection with the PPP Loans, such as the False Claims Act, or it is otherwise determined that we were ineligible to receive the PPP Loans, we may be subject to penalties, including significant civil, criminal and administrative penalties and could be required to repay the PPP Loans in their entirety. Additionally, the funds provided by the RRF Grant must be used for specific purposes, and we are required to provide use of funds validations on an annual basis through March 2023 regarding our use of the funds. If the SBA determines we used our RRF Grant funds on ineligible expenses, or if we fail to provide such use of funds validations, we may be required to return certain funds. In addition, receipt of a PPP Loan and/or the RRF Grant may result in adverse publicity and damage to reputation, and a review or audit by the SBA or other government entity or claims under the False Claims Act could consume significant financial and management resources. Any of these events could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

If we face labor shortages, increased labor costs or unionization activities, our growth, business, financial condition and operating results could be adversely affected.

Labor is a primary component in the cost of operating our restaurants. If we face labor shortages or increased labor costs because of increased competition for employees, higher employee turnover rates, increases in federal, state or local minimum wage rates or other employee benefits costs (including costs associated with health insurance coverage), our operating expenses could increase and our growth could be adversely affected. In addition, our success depends in part upon our ability to attract, motivate and retain a sufficient number of well-qualified restaurant operators and management personnel, as well as a sufficient number of other qualified

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employees, to keep pace with our expansion schedule. Qualified individuals needed to fill these positions are in short supply in some geographic areas. In addition, restaurants have traditionally experienced relatively high employee turnover rates. Personal or public health concerns related to COVID-19 might make some existing employees or potential candidates reluctant to work in enclosed restaurant environments. Our failure to recruit and retain such individuals may delay the planned openings of new restaurants or result in higher employee turnover in existing restaurants, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

If we are unable to continue to recruit and retain sufficiently qualified individuals, our business and our growth could be adversely affected, thereby adversely affecting our business, financial condition or results of operations. Competition for these employees could require us to pay higher wages, which could result in higher labor costs. In addition, increases in the minimum wage would increase our labor costs. Additionally, costs associated with workers’ compensation are rising, and these costs may continue to rise in the future. We may be unable to increase our menu prices in order to pass these increased labor costs on to consumers, in which case our margins would be negatively affected, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Although none of our employees are currently covered under collective bargaining agreements, our employees may elect to be represented by labor unions in the future. If a significant number of our employees were to become unionized and collective bargaining agreement terms were significantly different from our current compensation arrangements, it could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Our business could be adversely affected by a failure to obtain visas or work permits or to properly verify the employment eligibility of our employees.

Some of our employees’ ability to work in the United States depends on obtaining and maintaining necessary visas and work permits. On certain occasions we have been, and in the future we may be, unable to obtain visas or work permits to bring necessary employees to the United States for any number of reasons including, among others, limits set by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security or the U.S. Department of State.

Although we require all workers to provide us with government-specified documentation evidencing their employment eligibility, some of our employees may, without our knowledge, be unauthorized workers. We currently participate in the “E-Verify” program, an Internet-based, free program run by the U.S. government to verify employment eligibility, in states in which participation is required, and we plan to introduce its use across all our restaurants. However, use of the “E-Verify” program does not guarantee that we will properly identify all applicants who are ineligible for employment. Unauthorized workers are subject to deportation and may subject us to fines or penalties, and if any of our workers are found to be unauthorized, we could experience adverse publicity that may negatively impact our brand and may make it more difficult to hire and keep qualified employees. Termination of a significant number of employees who are unauthorized employees may disrupt our operations, cause temporary increases in our labor costs as we train new employees and result in adverse publicity. We could also become subject to fines, penalties and other costs related to claims that we did not fully comply with all recordkeeping obligations of federal and state immigration compliance laws. These factors could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Labor disputes may disrupt our operations and affect our profitability, thereby causing a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

As an employer, we are presently, and may in the future be, subject to various employment-related claims, such as individual or class actions or government enforcement actions relating to alleged employment discrimination, employee classification and related withholding, wage-hour, labor standards or healthcare and

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benefit issues. Any future actions if brought against us and successful in whole or in part, may affect our ability to compete or could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

The minimum wage, particularly in California, continues to increase and is subject to factors outside of our control.

We have a substantial number of hourly employees who are paid wage rates based on the applicable federal or state minimum wage. Since January 1, 2021, the State of California had a minimum wage of $14.00 per hour, which rose to $15.00 per hour starting January 1, 2022. Moreover, municipalities may set minimum wages above the applicable state standards. The federal minimum wage has been $7.25 per hour since July 24, 2009. Any federally-mandated, state-mandated or municipality-mandated minimum wages may be raised in the future which could have a materially adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. If menu prices are increased by us to cover increased labor costs, the higher prices could adversely affect sales and thereby reduce our margins and adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Changes in employment laws may adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flow.

Various federal and state labor laws govern the relationship with our employees and affect operating costs. These laws include employee classification as exempt/non-exempt for overtime and other purposes, minimum wage requirements, tips and gratuity payments, unemployment tax rates, workers’ compensation rates, immigration status and other wage and benefit requirements. Significant additional government-imposed increases in the following areas could materially affect our business, financial condition, operating results or cash flow:

Failure to obtain and maintain required licenses and permits or to comply with alcoholic beverage or food control regulations could lead to the loss of our liquor and food service licenses and, thereby, harm our business, financial condition or results of operations.

The restaurant industry is subject to various federal, state and local government regulations, including those relating to the sale of food and alcoholic beverages. Such regulations are subject to change from time to time. The failure to obtain and maintain licenses, permits and approvals relating to such regulations could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. Typically, licenses must be renewed annually and may be revoked, suspended or denied renewal for cause at any time if governmental authorities determine that our conduct violates applicable regulations. Difficulties or failure to maintain or obtain the required licenses and approvals could adversely affect our existing restaurants and delay or result in our decision to cancel the opening of new restaurants, which would adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Alcoholic beverage control regulations generally require our restaurants to apply to a state authority and, in certain locations, county or municipal authorities for a license that must be renewed annually and may be revoked or suspended for cause at any time. Alcoholic beverage control regulations relate to numerous aspects of daily operations of our restaurants, including minimum age of patrons and employees, hours of operation, advertising, trade practices, wholesale purchasing, other relationships with alcohol manufacturers, wholesalers

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and distributors, inventory control and handling, storage and dispensing of alcoholic beverages. Any future failure to comply with these regulations and obtain or retain liquor licenses could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Governmental regulation may adversely affect our ability to open new restaurants or otherwise adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

We are subject to various federal, state and local regulations. Our restaurants are subject to state and local licensing and regulation by health, alcoholic beverage, sanitation, food and occupational safety and other agencies. We may experience material difficulties or failures in obtaining the necessary licenses, approvals or permits for our restaurants, which could delay planned restaurant openings or affect the operations at our existing restaurants. In addition, stringent and varied requirements of local regulators with respect to zoning, land use and environmental factors could delay or prevent development of new restaurants in particular locations. An array of new government regulations in response to COVID-19 have restricted our ability to operate our restaurants in their full capacities and could continue to adversely affect our sales and profits.

We are subject to the U.S. Americans with Disabilities Act and similar state laws that give civil rights protections to individuals with disabilities in the context of employment, public accommodations and other areas, including our restaurants. We may in the future have to modify restaurants, for example, by adding access ramps or redesigning certain architectural fixtures, to provide service to or make reasonable accommodations for disabled persons. The expenses associated with these modifications could be material.

Our operations are also subject to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Act, which governs worker health and safety, the U.S. Fair Labor Standards Act, which governs such matters as minimum wages and overtime, and a variety of similar federal, state and local laws that govern these and other employment law matters. In addition, federal, state and local proposals related to paid sick leave or similar matters could, if implemented, materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Compliance with environmental laws may negatively affect our business.

We are subject to federal, state and local laws and regulations concerning waste disposal, pollution, protection of the environment, and the presence, discharge, storage, handling, release and disposal of, and exposure to, hazardous or toxic substances. These environmental laws provide for significant fines and penalties for noncompliance and liabilities for remediation, sometimes without regard to whether the owner or operator of the property knew of, or was responsible for, the release or presence of hazardous toxic substances. Third parties may also make claims against owners or operators of properties for personal injuries and property damage associated with releases of, or actual or alleged exposure to, such hazardous or toxic substances at, on or from our restaurants. Environmental conditions relating to releases of hazardous substances at prior, existing or future restaurant sites could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. Further, environmental laws, and the administration, interpretation and enforcement thereof, are subject to change and may become more stringent in the future, each of which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Failure to comply with antibribery or anticorruption laws could adversely affect our reputation, business, financial condition or results of operations.

The U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and other similar applicable laws prohibiting bribery of government officials and other corrupt practices are the subject of increasing emphasis and enforcement around the world. Although we have implemented policies and procedures designed to promote compliance with these laws, there can be no assurance that our employees, contractors, agents, or other third parties will not take actions in violation of our policies or applicable law. Any such violations or suspected violations could subject us to civil or

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criminal penalties, including substantial fines and significant investigation costs, and could also materially damage our reputation, brands, expansion efforts and growth prospects, business, financial condition and results of operations. Publicity relating to any noncompliance or alleged noncompliance could also harm our reputation and adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

We could be party to litigation that could adversely affect us by distracting management, increasing our expenses or subjecting us to material monetary damages and other remedies.

Our guests may file complaints or lawsuits against us alleging we caused an illness or injury they suffered at or after a visit to our restaurants, or that we have problems with food quality or operations. We are also subject to a variety of other claims arising in the ordinary course of our business, including personal injury claims, contract claims and claims alleging violations of federal and state law regarding workplace and employment matters, equal opportunity, discrimination and similar matters, and we are presently subject to class action and other lawsuits with regard to certain of these matters and could become subject to additional class action or other lawsuits related to these or different matters in the future.

In recent years, restaurant companies, including us, have been subject to lawsuits alleging violations of federal and state laws regarding workplace and employment conditions, discrimination and similar matters, and some restaurants have been subject to class action lawsuits in respect of such matters. A number of these lawsuits have resulted in the payment of substantial damages by the defendants. Similar lawsuits have been brought alleging violations of various federal and state wage and hour laws regarding, among other things, employee meal deductions, overtime eligibility of managers and failure to pay for all hours worked. We have been named in lawsuits like this, and there can be no assurance that we will not be named in any such lawsuits in the future or that we would not be required to pay substantial expenses and/or damages.

Regardless of whether any claims against us are valid, or whether we are ultimately held liable, claims may be expensive to defend and may divert time and money away from our operations and hurt our performance. A judgment in excess of our insurance coverage for any claims could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. Any adverse publicity resulting from these allegations may also materially and adversely affect our reputation or prospects, which in turn could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

We are subject to state and local “dram shop” statutes, which may subject us to uninsured liabilities. These statutes generally allow a person injured by an intoxicated person to recover damages from an establishment that wrongfully served alcoholic beverages to the intoxicated person. Because a plaintiff may seek punitive damages, which may not be fully covered by insurance, this type of action could have an adverse impact on our business, financial condition or results of operations. A judgment in such an action significantly in excess of, or not covered by, our insurance coverage could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. Further, adverse publicity resulting from any such allegations may adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Our current insurance may not provide adequate levels of coverage against claims.

There are types of losses we may incur that cannot be insured against or that we believe are not economically reasonable to insure. Such losses could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. In addition, our current insurance policies may not be adequate to protect us from liabilities that we incur in our business in areas such as workers’ compensation, general liability, auto and property. In the future, our insurance premiums may increase, and we may not be able to obtain similar levels of insurance on reasonable terms, or at all. Any substantial inadequacy of, or inability to obtain, insurance coverage could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Failure to maintain adequate directors’ and officers’ insurance would likely adversely affect our ability to attract and retain qualified officers and directors.

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Changes to accounting rules or regulations may adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Changes to existing accounting rules or regulations may impact our business, financial condition or results of operations. Other new accounting rules or regulations and varying interpretations of existing accounting rules or regulations have occurred and may occur in the future. For instance, accounting regulatory authorities have recently issued new accounting rules which require lessees to capitalize operating leases in their financial statements. Beginning January 1, 2022, such change requires us to record significant operating lease obligations on our balance sheet and make other changes to our financial statements. This and other future changes to accounting rules or regulations could materially adversely affect our financial condition or results of operations.

Risks Relating to Tax Matters

GEN Inc. will depend on distributions from GEN LLC to pay any taxes and other expenses, including payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement.

GEN Inc. will be a holding company and, following this offering, its only business will be to act as the managing member of GEN LLC, and its only material assets will be Class A units representing approximately                 % of the membership interests of GEN LLC (or                % if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares of Class A common stock in full). GEN Inc. does not have any independent means of generating revenue. We anticipate that GEN LLC will continue to be treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes and, as such, generally will not be subject to any entity-level U.S. federal income tax. Instead, taxable income will be allocated to the members of GEN LLC. Accordingly, GEN Inc. will be required to pay income taxes on its allocable share of any net taxable income of GEN LLC. We intend to cause GEN LLC to make distributions to each of its members, including GEN Inc., in an amount intended to enable each member to pay applicable taxes on taxable income allocable to such member and to allow GEN Inc. to make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement, which are expected to be substantial. In addition, GEN LLC will reimburse GEN Inc. for corporate and other overhead expenses. If the amount of tax distributions to be made exceeds the amount of funds available for distribution, GEN Inc. shall receive the full amount of its tax distribution before the other members receive any distribution and the balance, if any, of funds available for distribution shall be distributed to the other members pro rata. To the extent that GEN Inc. needs funds, and GEN LLC is restricted from making such distributions under applicable laws or regulations, or is otherwise unable to provide such funds, it could materially and adversely affect GEN Inc.’s ability to pay taxes and other expenses, including payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement, and affect our liquidity and financial condition. In addition, although we do not currently expect to pay dividends, such restrictions could affect our ability to pay any dividends, if declared.

The Internal Revenue Service, or the IRS, might challenge the tax basis step-ups and other tax benefits we receive in connection with this offering and the related transactions and in connection with future acquisitions of GEN LLC units.

GEN Inc. will acquire GEN LLC units held directly by other members of GEN LLC in connection with this offering and may in the future acquire such units in exchange for shares of our Class A common stock or, at our election, cash. Those acquisitions and exchanges are expected to result in increases in the tax basis of the assets of GEN LLC reflecting the difference between the price GEN Inc. pays to acquire GEN LLC units and the tax basis of the assets of GEN LLC at the time of the acquisition. These increases in tax basis are expected to increase (for tax purposes) GEN Inc.’s depreciation and amortization and, together with other tax benefits, reduce the amount of tax that GEN Inc. would otherwise be required to pay, although it is possible that the IRS might challenge all or part of these tax basis increases or other tax benefits, and a court might sustain such a challenge. GEN Inc.’s ability to benefit from any tax basis increases or other tax benefits will depend upon a number of factors, as discussed below, including the timing and amount of our future income. We will not be reimbursed for any payments previously made under the Tax Receivable Agreement if the basis increases or other tax benefits

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described above are successfully challenged by the IRS or another taxing authority. As a result, in certain circumstances, payments could be made under the Tax Receivable Agreement in excess of our ultimate cash tax savings.

GEN Inc. will be required to pay over to continuing members of GEN LLC most of the tax benefits GEN Inc. receives from tax basis step-ups (and certain other tax benefits) attributable to its acquisition of units of GEN LLC in connection with this offering and in the future, and the amount of those payments are expected to be substantial.

GEN Inc. will enter into the Tax Receivable Agreement with continuing members of GEN LLC (not including GEN Inc.). The Tax Receivable Agreement will provide for payment by GEN Inc. to continuing members of GEN LLC or their permitted assignees (not including GEN Inc.) of 85% of the amount of the net cash tax savings, if any, that GEN Inc. realizes (or, under certain circumstances, is deemed to realize) as a result of (i) increases in tax basis (and utilization of certain other tax benefits) resulting from GEN Inc.’s acquisition of a continuing member’s GEN LLC units in future exchanges and (ii) any payments GEN Inc. makes under the Tax Receivable Agreement (including tax benefits related to imputed interest). Generally, payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement will be made to certain continuing members of GEN LLC pursuant to the terms of the Tax Receivable Agreement. Such payments will reduce the cash provided by the tax savings generated from the previously described transactions with the members of GEN LLC that would otherwise have been available to GEN Inc. for other uses, including reinvestment or dividends to GEN Inc. Class A stockholders. GEN Inc. will retain the benefit of the remaining 15% of these net cash tax savings.

The term of the Tax Receivable Agreement will commence upon the completion of this offering and will continue until all tax benefits that are subject to the Tax Receivable Agreement have been utilized or have expired, unless we exercise our right to terminate a Tax Receivable Agreement (or it is terminated due to a change in control or our breach of a material obligation thereunder), in which case, GEN Inc. will be required to make the termination payment specified in that Tax Receivable Agreement. The payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement are not conditioned upon a recipient’s continued ownership in GEN LLC or GEN Inc. In addition, payments we make under the Tax Receivable Agreement will be increased by any interest accrued from the due date (without extensions) of the corresponding tax return. Based on certain assumptions, including no material changes in the relevant tax law and that we earn sufficient taxable income to realize the full tax benefit of the increased amortization of our assets and the net operating losses (and similar items), we expect that future payments to the holders of rights under the Tax Receivable Agreement will equal $            million in the aggregate, based on an assumed price of our Class A common stock of $            per share (the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus), although the actual future payments to the continuing members of GEN LLC will vary based on the factors discussed below, and estimating the amount and timing of payments that may be made under the Tax Receivable Agreement is by its nature imprecise, as the calculation of amounts payable depends on a variety of factors and future events. We expect to receive distributions from GEN LLC in order to make any required payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement. However, we may need to incur debt to finance payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement to the extent such distributions or our cash resources are insufficient to meet our obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement as a result of timing discrepancies or otherwise.

The actual increase in tax basis, as well as the amount and timing of any payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement, will vary depending on a number of factors, including the price of our Class A common stock at the time of the exchange; the timing of future exchanges; the extent to which exchanges are taxable; the amount and timing of the utilization of tax attributes; the amount, timing and character of GEN Inc.’s income; the U.S. federal, state and local tax rates then applicable; the amount of each exchanging unitholder’s tax basis in its units at the time of the relevant exchange; the depreciation and amortization periods that apply to the increases in tax basis; the timing and amount of any earlier payments that GEN Inc. may have made under the Tax Receivable Agreement and the portion of GEN Inc.’s payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement that constitute imputed interest or give rise to depreciable or amortizable tax basis. We expect that, as a result of the increases in the tax

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basis of the tangible and intangible assets of GEN LLC attributable to the acquired or exchanged GEN LLC interests, and certain other tax benefits, the payments that GEN Inc. will be required to make to the holders of rights under the Tax Receivable Agreement will be substantial. There may be a material negative effect on our financial condition and liquidity if, as described below, the payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement exceed the actual benefits GEN Inc. receives in respect of the tax attributes subject to the Tax Receivable Agreement and/or distributions to GEN Inc. by GEN LLC are not sufficient to permit GEN Inc. to make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement.

In certain circumstances, including at our option, payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement may be accelerated and/or significantly exceed the actual tax benefits, if any, that GEN Inc. actually realizes.

The Tax Receivable Agreement will provide that if (i) GEN Inc. exercises its right to early termination of the Tax Receivable Agreement in whole (that is, with respect to all benefits due to all beneficiaries under the Tax Receivable Agreement) or in part (that is, with respect to some benefits due to all beneficiaries under the Tax Receivable Agreement), (ii) GEN Inc. experiences certain changes in control, (iii) the Tax Receivable Agreement is rejected in certain bankruptcy proceedings, (iv) GEN Inc. fails (subject to certain exceptions) to make a payment under the Tax Receivable Agreement within                days after the due date or (v) GEN Inc. materially breaches its obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement, GEN Inc. will be obligated to make an early termination payment to holders of rights under the Tax Receivable Agreement equal to the present value of all payments that would be required to be paid by GEN Inc. under the Tax Receivable Agreement. The amount of such payments will be determined on the basis of certain assumptions in the Tax Receivable Agreement. If we were to elect to terminate the Tax Receivable Agreement immediately after this offering, based on an initial public offering price of $                 per share of our Class A Common Stock, we estimate that we would be required to pay approximately $                 million in the aggregate under the Tax Receivable Agreement. We note, however, that the analysis set forth above assumes no material changes in the relevant tax law. Any early termination payment may be made significantly in advance of the actual realization, if any, of the future tax benefits to which the termination payment relates. The amount of the early termination payment is determined by discounting the present value of all payments that would be required to be paid by GEN Inc. under the Tax Receivable Agreement at a rate equal to the lesser of (a)     % and (b) the Secured Overnight Financing Rate, as reported by the Wall Street Journal (SOFR) plus                basis points.

Moreover, as a result of an elective early termination, a change in control or GEN Inc.’s material breach of its obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement, GEN Inc. could be required to make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement that exceed its actual cash savings under that Tax Receivable Agreement. Thus, GEN Inc.’s obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement could have a substantial negative effect on its financial condition and liquidity and could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing certain mergers, asset sales, or other forms of business combinations or changes of control. We cannot assure you that we will be able to finance any early termination payment. It is also possible that the actual benefits ultimately realized by us may be significantly less than were projected in the computation of the early termination payment. We will not be reimbursed if the actual benefits ultimately realized by us are less than were projected in the computation of the early termination payment.

Payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement will be based on the tax reporting positions that we will determine and the IRS or another tax authority may challenge all or part of the tax basis increases, as well as other related tax positions we take, and a court could sustain such a challenge. GEN Inc. will not be reimbursed for any payments previously made under either of the Tax Receivable Agreement if the basis increases described above are successfully challenged by the IRS or another taxing authority. As a result, in certain circumstances, payments could be made under the Tax Receivable Agreement that are significantly in excess of the benefit that GEN Inc. actually realizes in respect of the increases in tax basis (and utilization of certain other tax benefits) and GEN Inc. may not be able to recoup those payments, which could adversely affect GEN Inc.’s financial condition and liquidity.

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In certain circumstances, GEN LLC will be required to make distributions to us and the existing members of GEN LLC, and the distributions that GEN LLC will be required to make may be substantial.

GEN LLC is expected to continue to be treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes and, as such, is not subject to U.S. federal income tax. Instead, taxable income will be allocated to members, including GEN Inc. Pursuant to the GEN LLC Operating Agreement, GEN LLC will make tax distributions to its members, including GEN Inc., which generally will be made pro rata based on the ownership of GEN LLC units, calculated using an assumed tax rate, to help each of the members to pay taxes on that member’s allocable share of GEN LLC’s net taxable income. Under applicable tax rules, GEN LLC is required to allocate net taxable income disproportionately to its members in certain circumstances, and GEN LLC may be required to make tax distributions that, in the aggregate, will likely exceed the aggregate amount of taxes payable by its members with respect to the allocation of GEN LLC income.

Funds used by GEN LLC to satisfy its tax distribution obligations will not be available for reinvestment in our business. Moreover, the tax distributions GEN LLC will be required to make may be substantial, and may significantly exceed (as a percentage of GEN LLC’s income) the overall effective tax rate applicable to a similarly situated corporate taxpayer. In addition, because these payments will be calculated with reference to an assumed tax rate, and because of the disproportionate allocation of net taxable income, these payments may significantly exceed the actual tax liability for many of the existing members of GEN LLC.

As a result of potential differences in the amount of net taxable income allocable to us and to the existing members of GEN LLC, as well as the use of an assumed tax rate in calculating GEN LLC’s distribution obligations, we may receive distributions significantly in excess of our tax liabilities and obligations to make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement. We may choose to manage these excess distributions through a number of different approaches, including through the payment of dividends to our Class A common stockholders or by applying them to other corporate purposes.

Pursuant to regulations issued under Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or the Code, GEN Inc. may not be permitted to deduct its distributive share of compensation expense to the extent that the compensation was paid by GEN LLC to certain of GEN Inc.’s covered employees, potentially resulting in additional U.S. federal income tax liability for GEN Inc. and reducing cash available for distribution to GEN Inc.’s stockholders and/or for the payment of other expenses and obligations of GEN Inc.

Section 162(m) of the Code disallows the deduction by any publicly held corporation of applicable employee compensation paid with respect to any covered employee to the extent that such compensation for the taxable year exceeds $1,000,000. A “covered employee” means any employee of the taxpayer if the employee (a) is the principal executive officer, or PEO, or principal financial officer, or PFO, of the taxpayer at any time during the taxable year, or was an individual acting in such a capacity, (b) was among the three highest compensated executive officers for the taxable year (other than the PEO or PFO or an individual acting in such a capacity), or (c) was a covered employee of the taxpayer (or any predecessor) for any preceding taxable year beginning after December 31, 2016. Pursuant to final regulations released for publication in the Federal Register by the IRS and the United States Department of the Treasury on December 30, 2020 (the 162(m) Regulations), GEN Inc. will not be permitted to claim a deduction for the distributive share of compensation expense of GEN LLC allocated to it to the extent that such distributive share, plus the amount of any compensation paid directly by GEN Inc., exceeds $1,000,000 with respect to a covered employee, even if GEN LLC, rather than GEN Inc., pays the compensation. The 162(m) Regulations were effective upon publication of final regulations in the Federal Register but apply to any deduction for compensation that is otherwise allowable for a taxable year ending on or after December 20, 2019. However, the 162(m) Regulations do not apply to compensation paid pursuant to a written binding contract in effect on December 20, 2019 that is not materially modified after that date. Accordingly, to the extent that GEN Inc. is disallowed a deduction for its distributive share of compensation expense under Section 162(m) of the Code, it may result in additional U.S. federal income tax liability for GEN Inc. and/or reduce cash available for distribution to GEN Inc.’s stockholders or for the payment of other expenses and obligations of GEN Inc.

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Future changes to tax laws or our effective tax rate could materially and adversely affect our company and reduce net returns to our stockholders.

Our tax treatment is subject to the enactment of, or changes in, tax laws, regulations and treaties, or the interpretation thereof, tax policy initiatives and reforms under consideration and the practices of tax authorities in various jurisdictions. Such changes may include (but are not limited to) the taxation of operating income, investment income, dividends received or (in the specific context of withholding tax) dividends paid, or the taxation of partnerships and other passthrough entities. We are unable to predict what tax reform may be proposed or enacted in the future or what effect such changes would have on our business, but such changes, to the extent they are brought into tax legislation, regulations, policies or practices, could affect our financial position and overall or effective tax rates in the future in countries where we have operations, reduce post-tax returns to our stockholders, and increase the complexity, burden and cost of tax compliance.

Our businesses are subject to income taxation in the United States. Tax rates at the federal, state and local levels may be subject to significant change. If our effective tax rate increases, our operating results and cash flow could be adversely affected. Our effective income tax rate can vary significantly between periods due to a number of complex factors including, but not limited to, projected levels of taxable income in each jurisdiction, tax audits conducted and settled by various tax authorities, and adjustments to income taxes upon finalization of income tax returns.

We may be required to pay additional taxes because of the U.S. federal partnership audit rules and potentially also state and local tax rules.

Under the U.S. federal partnership audit rules, subject to certain exceptions, audit adjustments to items of income, gain, loss, deduction, or credit of an entity (and any holder’s share thereof) are determined, and taxes, interest, and penalties attributable thereto, are assessed and collected, at the entity level. GEN LLC (or any of its applicable subsidiaries or other entities in which GEN LLC directly or indirectly invests that are treated as partnerships for U.S. federal income tax purposes) may be required to pay additional taxes, interest and penalties as a result of an audit adjustment, and GEN Inc., as a member of GEN LLC (or such other entities), could be required to indirectly bear the economic burden of those taxes, interest, and penalties even though we may not otherwise have been required to pay additional corporate-level taxes as a result of the related audit adjustment. Audit adjustments for state or local tax purposes could similarly result in GEN LLC (or any of its applicable subsidiaries or other entities in which GEN LLC directly or indirectly invests) being required to pay or indirectly bear the economic burden of state or local taxes and associated interest, and penalties.

Under certain circumstances, GEN LLC or an entity in which GEN LLC directly or indirectly invests and that is treated as a partnership for tax purposes may be eligible to make an election to cause members of GEN LLC (or such other entity) to take into account the amount of any understatement, including any interest and penalties, in accordance with such member’s share in GEN LLC in the year under audit. We will decide whether or not to cause GEN LLC to make this election; however, there are circumstances in which the election may not be available and, in the case of an entity in which GEN LLC directly or indirectly invests, such decision may be outside of our control. If GEN LLC or an entity in which GEN LLC directly or indirectly invests does not make this election, the then-current members of GEN LLC (including GEN Inc.) could economically bear the burden of the understatement.

If GEN LLC were to become a publicly traded partnership taxable as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, GEN Inc. and GEN LLC might be subject to potentially significant tax inefficiencies, and GEN Inc. would not be able to recover payments previously made by it under the Tax Receivable Agreement, even if the corresponding tax benefits were subsequently determined to have been unavailable due to such status.

We intend to operate such that GEN LLC does not become a publicly traded partnership taxable as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes. A “publicly traded partnership” is an entity that otherwise

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would be treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes, the interests of which are traded on an established securities market or readily tradable on a secondary market or the substantial equivalent thereof. Under certain circumstances, exchanges of GEN LLC units pursuant to the GEN LLC Operating Agreement or other transfers of GEN LLC units could cause GEN LLC to be treated like a publicly traded partnership. From time to time the U.S. Congress has considered legislation to change the tax treatment of partnerships and there can be no assurance that any such legislation will not be enacted or if enacted will not be adverse to us.

If GEN LLC were to become a publicly traded partnership taxable as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, significant tax inefficiencies might result for GEN Inc. and GEN LLC, including as a result of GEN Inc.’s inability to file a consolidated U.S. federal income tax return with GEN LLC. In addition, GEN Inc. may not be able to realize tax benefits covered under the Tax Receivable Agreement and would not be able to recover any payments previously made by it under the Tax Receivable Agreement, even if the corresponding tax benefits (including any claimed increase in the tax basis of GEN LLC’s assets) were subsequently determined to have been unavailable.

Risks Relating to this Offering and Ownership of Our Common Stock

No public market for our Class A common stock currently exists, and an active trading market may not develop or be sustained following this offering.

Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for our Class A common stock. Although we have applied to list our Class A common stock on the Exchange under the symbol “GENK,” an active trading market may not develop following the closing of this offering or, if developed, may not be sustained. The lack of an active market may impair your ability to sell your shares at the time you wish to sell them or at a price that you consider reasonable. The lack of an active market may also reduce the fair market value of your shares. An inactive market may also impair our ability to raise capital to continue to fund operations by selling shares and may impair our ability to acquire other companies or technologies by using our shares as consideration. The initial public offering price was determined by negotiations among us and the underwriters and may not be indicative of the future prices of our Class A common stock.

The market price of our Class A common stock may be volatile or may decline regardless of our operating performance, and you may not be able to resell your shares at or above the initial public offering price.

The market price of our common stock is likely to be volatile. If you purchase shares of our Class A common stock in our initial public offering, you may not be able to resell those shares at or above the initial public offering price. Following the completion of our initial public offering, the market price of our Class A common stock may fluctuate significantly in response to numerous factors, some of which are beyond our control and may not be related to our operating performance, including:

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In addition, if the stock market for restaurant companies, or the stock market generally, experiences a loss of investor confidence, the trading price of our Class A common stock could decline for reasons unrelated to our business, operating results or financial condition. Stock prices of many restaurant companies have fluctuated in a manner unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of those companies. The trading price of our Class A common stock might also decline in reaction to events that affect other companies in our industry even if these events do not directly affect us. In the past, stockholders have filed securities class action litigation following periods of market volatility. If we were to become involved in securities litigation, it could subject us to substantial costs, divert resources and the attention of management from our business, and adversely affect our business.

The disparity in the voting rights among the classes of our common stock and inability of the holders of our Class A common stock to influence decisions submitted to a vote of our stockholders may have an adverse effect on the price of our Class A common stock.

Holders of our Class A common stock and Class B common stock will vote together as a single class on almost all matters submitted to a vote of our stockholders. Shares of our Class A common stock and Class B common stock entitle the respective holders to identical non-economic rights, except that each share of our Class A common stock will entitle its holder to one vote on all matters to be voted on by stockholders generally, while each share of our Class B common stock will entitle its holder to ten votes on all matters to be voted on by stockholders. See “Organizational Structure—Voting Rights of the Class A Common Stock and Class B Common Stock.” The difference in voting rights could adversely affect the value of our Class A common stock to the extent that investors view, or any potential future purchaser of our company views, the superior voting rights and implicit control of the Class B common stock to have value.

Sales of substantial blocks of our Class A common stock into the public market after this offering, including when “lock-up” or “market standoff” periods end, or the perception that such sales might occur, could cause the market price of our Class A common stock to decline.

Sales of substantial blocks of our Class A common stock into the public market after this offering, including when “lock-up” or “market standoff” periods end, or the perception that such sales might occur, could cause the market price of our Class A common stock to decline and may make it more difficult for you to sell your Class A common stock at a time and price that you deem appropriate. Based on the total number of outstanding shares of our Class A common stock as of                , 2022, upon completion of this offering, we will have                shares of Class A common stock outstanding (assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares and after giving effect to the automatic conversion of all of our preferred stock upon the closing of this offering into shares of common stock on a one-for-one basis). All of the shares of Class A common stock sold in this offering will be freely tradable without restrictions or further registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, except for any shares held by our “affiliates” as defined in Rule 144 under the Securities Act.

Subject to exceptions described under the caption “Underwriting,” we, all of our directors and officers and substantially all of the other holders of our capital stock and securities convertible into, or exchangeable for, our capital stock have agreed not to offer, sell or agree to sell, directly or indirectly, any shares of Class A common

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stock without the permission of the underwriters for a period of 180 days from the date of this prospectus. When the applicable lock-up period expires, we, our directors and officers and locked-up equityholders will be able to sell shares into the public market. The underwriters may, in their sole discretion, permit our directors and officers and locked-up equityholders to sell shares prior to the expiration of the restrictive provisions contained in the “lock-up” agreements with the underwriters.

Pursuant to the Registration Rights Agreement, and subject to the lock-up agreements described above, holders of our Class B common stock will have rights to require us to file registration statements covering the sale of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exchange of the corresponding Class B units or to include such shares in registration statements that we may file for ourselves or other stockholders. See “Organizational Structure—Registration Rights Agreement.” We also intend to register the offer and sale of all shares of common stock that we may issue under our equity compensation plans.

We intend to file a registration statement on Form S-8 under the Securities Act to register the                shares of Class A common stock reserved for issuance under the 2022 Plan. The 2022 Plan will provide for automatic increases in the shares reserved for grant or issuance under the plan which could result in additional dilution to our stockholders. Once we register the shares under these plans, they can be freely sold in the public market upon issuance and vesting, subject to a 180-day lock-up period and other restrictions provided under the terms of the applicable plan and/or the award agreements entered into with participants.

We are a “controlled company” within the meaning of the Exchange’s listing standards and, as a result, will qualify for, and intend to rely on, exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements. You will not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to such requirements.

After this offering, our co-founders will continue to control a majority of the voting power of our outstanding common stock. As a result, we will qualify as a “controlled company” within the meaning of the corporate governance standards of the Exchange. Under these rules, a listed company of which more than 50% of the voting power with respect to the election of directors is held by an individual, group or another company is a “controlled company” and may elect not to comply with certain corporate governance requirements, including the requirement that (i) a majority of our board of directors consist of independent directors, (ii) director nominees be selected or recommended to the board entirely by independent directors and (iii) the compensation committee be composed entirely of independent directors.

Following this offering, we intend to rely on some or all of these exemptions. As a result, at least initially, we will not have a majority of independent directors, our compensation committee may not consist entirely of independent directors and our directors may not be nominated or selected entirely by independent directors. Accordingly, you may not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to all of the corporate governance requirements of the Exchange.

Insiders will continue to have substantial control over our company after this offering, which could limit your ability to influence the outcome of key decisions, including a change of control.

Following this offering, our co-founders will continue to control more than 50% of the voting power of our common stock in the election of directors. This control will limit or preclude your ability to influence corporate matters for the foreseeable future. These stockholders will be able to influence or control matters requiring approval by our stockholders, including the election of directors and the approval of mergers, acquisitions or other extraordinary transactions. Their interests may differ from yours and they may vote in a manner that is adverse to your interests. This control may deter, delay or prevent a change of control of our company, deprive our stockholders of an opportunity to receive a premium for their Class A common stock as part of a sale of our company and may ultimately affect the market price of our Class A common stock.

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You will experience immediate and substantial dilution as a result of this offering and may experience additional dilution in the future.

We expect the initial public offering price of our Class A common stock will be substantially higher than the pro forma net tangible book value per share of our Class A common stock, after giving effect to the exchange of all outstanding Class B units for shares of our Class A common stock. Therefore, investors purchasing shares of Class A common stock in this offering will pay a price per share that substantially exceeds our pro forma net tangible book value per share after this offering. As a result, investors will:

Investors in this offering will experience further dilution upon the issuance of shares underlying awards made pursuant to any equity incentive plans, including the 2022 Plan. See “Organizational Structure—The GEN LLC Agreement—Classes of GEN LLC Units.”

We have broad discretion in the use of net proceeds that we receive in this offering and we may not use them effectively.

After giving effect to the use of proceeds described in “Use of Proceeds” and the Reorganization, we expect to have remaining net proceeds, which we currently intend to use for expenses incurred by us in connection with this offering and the Reorganization, and for working capital and other general corporate purposes, including new unit openings. Our management will have broad discretion in the application of the net proceeds. The failure by our management to apply these funds effectively could harm our business, operating results and financial condition.

We do not intend to pay dividends for the foreseeable future and, as a result, your ability to achieve a return on your investment will depend on appreciation in the price of our Class A common stock.

We have no present intention to pay any cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. We anticipate that we will retain all of our future earnings for use in the development of our business and for general corporate purposes. Any determination to pay dividends in the future will be at the discretion of our board of directors. Accordingly, investors must rely on sales of their Class A common stock after price appreciation, which may never occur, as the only way to realize any future gains on their investments.

Our charter documents and the Delaware General Corporation Law, or the DGCL, could discourage takeover attempts and other corporate governance changes.

Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws in effect upon completion of this offering contain provisions that could delay or prevent a change in control of our company. These provisions could also make it difficult for stockholders to elect directors that are not nominated by the current members of our board of directors or take other corporate actions, including effecting changes in our management. These provisions include the following provisions that:

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In addition, as a Delaware corporation, we are subject to Section 203 of the DGCL. These provisions may prohibit large stockholders, in particular those owning 15% or more of our outstanding voting stock, from merging or combining with us for a period of time. In addition, debt instruments we may enter into in the future may include provisions entitling the lenders to demand immediate repayment of all borrowings upon the occurrence of certain change of control events relating to our company, which also could discourage, delay or prevent a business combination transaction.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will include an exclusive forum clause, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware shall be the sole and exclusive forum for any complaint asserting any internal corporate claims, including claims in the right of the Company that are based upon a violation of a duty by a current or former director, officer, employee or stockholder in such capacity, or as to which the DGCL confers jurisdiction upon the Court of Chancery. In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that the federal district courts of the United States will be the exclusive forum for resolving any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act. We note, however, that investors cannot waive compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for state and federal courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. This forum selection provision will not apply to claims brought to enforce a duty or liability created by the Exchange Act.

This choice of forum provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in other judicial forums for disputes with us or our directors, officers or other employees, which may discourage lawsuits against us and our directors, officers and other employees in jurisdictions other than Delaware, or federal courts, in the case of claims arising under the Securities Act. Alternatively, if a court were to find the choice of forum provision contained in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of our capital stock is deemed to have notice of and consented to the foregoing provisions. The exclusive forum clause may limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us. See the section entitled “Description of Capital Stock—Exclusive Forum Clause.”

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General Risk Factors

The requirements of being a public company may strain our resources, divert our management’s attention and affect our ability to attract and retain qualified board members.

As a public company, we will be subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, and will be required to comply with the applicable requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the listing requirements of the Exchange, and other applicable securities rules and regulations. Compliance with these rules and regulations will increase our legal and financial compliance costs, make some activities more difficult, time-consuming or costly and increase demand on our systems and resources. Among other things, the Exchange Act requires that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with respect to our business and operating results and maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures and internal controls over financial reporting. Significant resources and management oversight will be required to maintain and, if required, improve our disclosure controls and procedures and internal controls over financial reporting to meet this standard. As a result, management’s attention may be diverted from other business concerns, which could harm our business and operating results. Although we have already hired additional employees to comply with these requirements, we may need to hire even more employees in the future, which will increase our costs and expenses.

We also expect that being a public company and these new rules and regulations will make it more expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance, and we may be required to accept reduced coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain coverage. These factors could also make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified members of our board of directors, particularly to serve on our audit committee and compensation committee, and qualified executive officers.

Our management team has limited experience managing a public company.

Most members of our management team have limited or no experience managing a publicly traded company, interacting with public company investors, and complying with the increasingly complex laws, rules and regulations that govern public companies. There are significant obligations we will now be subject to relating to reporting, procedures and internal controls, and our management team may not successfully or efficiently manage our transition to being a public company. These new obligations and added scrutiny will require significant attention from our management and could divert their attention away from the day-to-day management of our business, which could adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition.

We have identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting which, if not corrected, could affect the reliability of our financial statements and have other adverse consequences.

We have identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting that we are currently working to remediate, which relate to a lack of adequate and timely review of accounts and reconciliations by management resulting in material audit adjustments and significant post-closing adjustments, and an inadequate design of our information technology controls resulting from inappropriate access by members of our finance team. A material weakness is a deficiency or combination of deficiencies in internal control over financial reporting such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our financial statements would not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. These deficiencies could result in additional material misstatements to our financial statements that could not be prevented or detected on a timely basis.

Our management has concluded that these material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting are due to the fact that we are a private company with limited resources and do not have the necessary business processes and related internal controls formally designed and implemented coupled with the appropriate resources and personnel with the appropriate level of experience and technical expertise to oversee our business processes and controls.

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Our management is in the process of developing a remediation plan. The material weaknesses will be considered remediated when we design and implement effective controls that operate for a sufficient period of time and management has concluded, through testing, that these controls are effective. Our management will monitor the effectiveness of its remediation plans and will make changes management determines to be appropriate. If not remediated, these material weaknesses could result in further material misstatements to our annual or interim financial statements that might not be prevented or detected on a timely basis, or in delayed filing of required periodic reports. If we are unable to assert that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, or when required in the future after the consummation of the offering if our Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm is unable to express an unqualified opinion as to the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting, investors may lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports, the market price of the Class A common stock could be adversely affected and we could become subject to litigation or investigations by the Exchange, the SEC, or other regulatory authorities, which could require additional financial and management resources.

We are an “emerging growth company” and a “smaller reporting company” and as a result of the reduced disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies and smaller reporting companies, our common stock may be less attractive to investors.

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the JOBS Act, and a “smaller reporting company,” as defined under the Exchange Act. As an emerging growth company and a smaller reporting company, we may follow reduced disclosure requirements and do not have to make all of the disclosures that public companies that are not emerging growth companies or smaller reporting companies do. We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (a) the last day of the fiscal year in which we have total annual gross revenue of $1.07 billion or more; (b) the last day of the fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of the date of the completion of this offering; (c) the date on which we have issued more than $1 billion in nonconvertible debt during the previous three years; or (d) the date on which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer under the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, which means the market value of our voting and non-voting common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th (and we have been a public company for at least 12 months and have filed at least one annual report on Form 10-K). For so long as we remain an emerging growth company, we are permitted and intend to rely on exemptions from certain disclosure requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies. These exemptions include:

In addition, the JOBS Act provides that an emerging growth company can take advantage of an extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards. This allows an emerging growth company to delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We have elected to use the extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards; and as a result of this election, our financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with public company effective dates.

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We are also a “smaller reporting company,” as defined in the Exchange Act, and we will remain a smaller reporting company until the fiscal year following the determination that our voting and non-voting common stock held by non-affiliates is more than $250 million measured on the last business day of our second fiscal quarter, or our annual revenue is more than $100 million during the most recently completed fiscal year and our voting and non-voting common stock held by non-affiliates is more than $700 million measured on the last business day of our second fiscal quarter. Similar to emerging growth companies, smaller reporting companies are able to provide simplified executive compensation disclosure and have certain other reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, being required to provide only two years of audited financial statements and not being required to provide selected financial data, supplemental financial information or risk factors.

We may choose to take advantage of some, but not all, of the available exemptions for emerging growth companies and smaller reporting companies. We cannot predict whether investors will find our common stock less attractive if we rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our common stock less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our common stock and our shares price may be more volatile.

If we fail to maintain or implement effective internal controls, we may not be able to report financial results accurately or on a timely basis, or to detect fraud, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and the per share price of our Class A common stock.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires, among other things, that we maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures, and internal control over financial reporting. We are continuing to develop and refine our disclosure controls and other procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in the reports that we will file with the SEC is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in SEC rules and forms. We are also continuing to improve our internal control over financial reporting. We have expended, and anticipate that we will continue to expend, significant resources in order to maintain and improve the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting.

Our current controls and any new controls that we develop may become inadequate because of changes in conditions in our business. Further, weaknesses in our disclosure controls or our internal control over financial reporting may be discovered in the future. Any failure to develop or maintain effective controls, or any difficulties encountered in their implementation or improvement, could harm our operating results or cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations and may result in a restatement of our financial statements for prior periods. Any failure to implement and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting could also adversely affect the results of management reports and independent registered public accounting firm audits of our internal control over financial reporting that we will eventually be required to include in our periodic reports that will be filed with the SEC. Ineffective disclosure controls and procedures, and internal control over financial reporting could also cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial and other information, which would likely have a negative effect on the market price of our Class A common stock. In addition, if we are unable to continue to meet these requirements, we may not be able to remain listed on the Exchange.

We are not currently required to comply with the SEC rules that implement Section 404 of the Sarbanes- Oxley Act, and are therefore not required to make a formal assessment of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting for that purpose. Upon becoming a public company, we will be required to provide an annual management report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting commencing with our second annual report on Form 10-K. Our independent registered public accounting firm is not required to audit the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting until after we are no longer an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the JOBS Act. At such time, our independent registered public accounting firm may issue a report that is adverse in the event it is not satisfied with the level at which our internal control over financial reporting is documented, designed or operating.

Any failure to maintain effective disclosure controls and internal control over financial reporting could have a material and adverse effect on our business and operating results, and cause a decline in the market price of our Class A common stock.

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If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about our business, or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research reports about our business, our share price and trading volume could decline.

The trading market for our Class A common stock will partially depend on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us or our business. We do not have any control over these analysts. If one or more of the analysts who cover us should downgrade our shares or change their opinion of our business prospects, our share price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts ceases coverage of our company or fails to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which could cause our share price or trading volume to decline.

The estimates of market opportunity and forecasts of market growth included in this prospectus may prove to be inaccurate, and even if the market in which we compete achieves the forecasted growth, our business could fail to grow at similar rates, if at all.

Market opportunity estimates and growth forecasts are subject to significant uncertainty and are based on assumptions and estimates that may not prove to be accurate. For example, several of the reports rely on or employ projections of consumer adoption and incorporate data from secondary sources such as company websites as well as industry, trade and government publications. While our estimates of market size and expected growth of our market were made in good faith and are based on assumptions and estimates we believe to be reasonable, these estimates may not prove to be accurate. Even if the market in which we compete meets the size estimates and growth forecast in this prospectus, our business could fail to grow at the rate we anticipate, if at all.

Failure to retain our senior management may adversely affect our operations.

Our success is substantially dependent on the continued service of certain members of our senior management. These executives have been primarily responsible for determining the strategic direction of our business and for executing our growth strategy and are integral to our brand, culture and the reputation we enjoy with suppliers, customers and consumers. We also rely on our leadership team for operating our business, identifying, recruiting and training key personnel, identifying expansion opportunities, arranging necessary financing, and for general and administrative functions. The loss of the services of any of these executives or other key employees could have a material adverse effect on our business and prospects, as we may not be able to find suitable individuals to replace them on a timely basis, if at all. In addition, any such departure could be viewed in a negative light by investors and analysts, which may cause the price of our common stock to decline. We also currently have co-CEOs, and this management structure could be cumbersome and lead to disagreements at the management level. Furthermore, certain agreements between us and our co-CEOs could give rise to claims by us against our co-CEOs in certain circumstances. See “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions” for additional information on these agreements. We do not currently carry key-person life insurance for our senior executives. To continue to execute our growth strategy, we also must identify, hire and retain highly skilled personnel. We might not be successful in continuing to attract and retain qualified personnel. Failure to identify, hire and retain necessary key personnel could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

A breach of security of confidential consumer information related to our electronic processing of credit and debit card transactions, as well as a breach of security of our employee information, could substantially affect our reputation, business, financial condition of results of operations.

The majority of our restaurant sales are by credit or debit cards. Other restaurants and retailers have experienced security breaches in which credit and debit card information has been stolen. We may in the future become subject to claims for purportedly fraudulent transactions arising out of the actual or alleged theft of credit or debit card information, and we may also be subject to lawsuits or other proceedings relating to these types of incidents. We may ultimately be held liable for the unauthorized use of a cardholder’s card number in an illegal activity and be required by card issuers to pay charge-back fees. In addition, most states have enacted legislation

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requiring notification of security breaches involving personal information, including credit and debit card information. Any such claim or proceeding could cause us to incur significant unplanned expenses, which could have an adverse impact on our business, financial condition or results of operations. Further, adverse publicity resulting from these allegations may have a material adverse effect on us and could substantially affect our reputation and business, financial condition or results of operations.

In addition, our business requires the collection, transmission and retention of large volumes of guest and employee data, including personally identifiable information, in various information technology systems that we maintain and in those maintained by third parties with whom we contract to provide services. The collection and use of such information is regulated at the federal and state levels, as well as at the international level, in which regulatory requirements have been increasing. Additionally, we have been subject to security breaches and cyber incidents in the past and our preventative measures and incident response efforts may not be entirely effective at preventing future breaches. As our environment continues to evolve in the digital age and reliance upon new technologies becomes more prevalent, it is imperative we secure the privacy and sensitive information we collect. The theft, destruction, loss, misappropriation, or release of sensitive and/or confidential information, or interference with our information technology systems or the technology systems of third parties on which we rely, could result in business disruption, negative publicity, brand damage, violation of privacy laws, loss of customers, potential liability, remediation costs and competitive disadvantage all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

We rely on information technology systems and any inadequacy, failure or interruption of those systems may harm our ability to effectively operate our business.

We are dependent on various information technology systems, including, but not limited to, point-of-sale processing in our restaurants for management of our supply chain, payment of obligations, collection of cash, credit and debit card transactions and other processes and procedures. No operational applications are physically hosted on our premises, although we do manage internal file servers. Most of our applications are operated in the cloud, either as Software as a Service (SaaS) platforms or hosted services. Key third-party, cloud-based systems include Microsoft OneDrive for document storing, sharing and collaboration and other platforms to manage activities including, but not limited to, payroll and personnel data. We also use Revel for our point-of-sale (POS) system and Quickbooks. A failure of our information technology systems to perform as we anticipate could disrupt our business and result in transaction errors, processing inefficiencies and loss of sales, causing our business to suffer. In addition, our information technology systems may be vulnerable to damage or interruption from circumstances beyond our control, including fire, natural disasters, systems failures and viruses and security breaches. Any such damage or interruption could have a material adverse effect on our business.

We also expect to implement new information technology systems following the consummation of this offering. Implementations of new systems are often complex and time-consuming, and the use of any new systems involve risks inherent to conversion to a new system. These risks include loss of information, the compromise of data integrity and the potential disruption of our normal business operations. The implementation process may be disruptive if the new information technology systems do not work as planned, or if we experience issues relating to the new technology. Any disruption to our normal business operations and/or our failure to manage such disruptions could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Our actual or perceived failure to comply with privacy, data protection and information security laws, regulations and obligations could harm our business.

We are subject to numerous federal, state, local and international laws and regulations regarding privacy, data protection, information security and the storing, sharing, use, processing, transfer, disclosure and protection of personal information and other content and data, which we refer to collectively as privacy laws, the scope of which is changing, subject to differing interpretations and may be inconsistent among countries, or conflict with other laws, regulations or other obligations. We are also subject to the terms of our privacy policies and

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obligations to our customers and other third parties related to privacy, data protection and information security. We strive to comply with applicable privacy laws; however, the regulatory framework for privacy and data protection worldwide is, and is likely to remain for the foreseeable future, varied, and it is possible that these or other actual obligations may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent from one jurisdiction to another.

California also recently enacted legislation affording consumers expanded privacy protections: the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, or CCPA, went into effect as of January 1, 2020 and was subject to enforcement starting July 1, 2020. Additionally, the California Attorney General issued CCPA regulations that add additional requirements on businesses. The potential effects of this legislation and the related CCPA regulations may require us to incur substantial costs and expenses in an effort to comply. For example, the CCPA gives California residents (including employees, though only in limited circumstances until January 1, 2023) expanded rights to transparency, access and require deletion of their personal information, opt out of certain personal information sharing and receive detailed information about how their personal information is collected and used. The CCPA also provides for civil penalties for violations, as well as a private right of action for data breaches that may increase data breach litigation. Additionally, a new privacy law, the California Privacy Rights Act, or CPRA, was approved by California voters in the November 3, 2020 election. The CPRA significantly modifies the CCPA, potentially resulting in further uncertainty and requiring us to incur additional costs and expenses in efforts to comply. The enactment of the CCPA and CPRA is prompting similar legislative developments in other states in the United States, which could create the potential for a patchwork of overlapping but different state laws, and is inspiring federal legislation.

Further, some countries also are considering or have passed legislation requiring local storage and processing of data, or similar requirements, which could increase the cost and complexity of operating our products and services and other aspects of our business.

With laws and regulations such as the CCPA/CPRA imposing new and relatively burdensome obligations, and with substantial uncertainty over the interpretation and application of these and other laws and regulations, there is a risk that the requirements of these or other laws and regulations, or of contractual or other obligations relating to privacy, data protection or information security, are interpreted or applied in a manner that is, or is alleged to be, inconsistent with our management and processing practices, our policies or procedures, or the features of our products and services. We may face challenges in addressing their requirements and making any necessary changes to our policies and practices, and we may find it necessary or appropriate to assume additional burdens with respect to data handling, to restrict our data processing or otherwise to modify our data handling practices and to incur significant costs and expenses in these efforts. Any failure or perceived failure by us to comply with our privacy policies, our privacy, data protection or information security-related obligations to customers or other third parties or any of our other legal obligations relating to privacy, data protection or information security may result in governmental investigations or enforcement actions, litigation, claims or public statements against us by consumer advocacy groups or others, and could result in significant liability or cause our customers to lose trust in us, which could have an adverse effect on our reputation and business. Furthermore, the costs of compliance with, and other burdens imposed by, the laws, regulations and policies that are applicable to the businesses of our customers may limit the adoption and use of, and reduce the overall demand for, our products and services.

Additionally, if third parties we work with violate applicable laws or regulations or our contracts and policies, such violations may also put our customers’, suppliers or other third parties’ content and personal information at risk and could in turn have an adverse effect on our business. Any significant change to applicable privacy laws or relevant industry practices could increase our costs and require us to modify our platform, applications and features, possibly in a material manner, which we may be unable to complete and may limit our ability to store and process customer data or develop new applications and features.

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FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This prospectus contains forward-looking statements about us and our industry that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical fact contained in this prospectus, including, without limitation, statements regarding our future results of operations or financial condition, business strategy and plans and objectives of management for future operations, are forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “consider,” “contemplate,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “target,” “will” or “would” or the negative of these words or other similar terms or expressions.

You should not rely on forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. We have based the forward-looking statements contained in this prospectus primarily on our current expectations and projections about future events and trends that we believe may affect our business, financial condition and operating results. The outcome of the events described in these forward-looking statements is subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors described in the section titled “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this prospectus, including, but not limited to, the following:

Moreover, we operate in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks and uncertainties emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all risks and uncertainties that could have an impact on the forward-looking statements contained in this prospectus. The results, events and circumstances reflected in the forward-looking statements may not be achieved or occur, and actual results, events or circumstances could differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements.

In addition, statements that “we believe” and similar statements reflect our beliefs and opinions on the relevant subject. These statements are based on information available to us as of the date of this prospectus. And

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while we believe that information provides a reasonable basis for these statements, that information may be limited or incomplete. Our statements should not be read to indicate that we have conducted an exhaustive inquiry into, or review of, all relevant information. These statements are inherently uncertain, and investors are cautioned not to unduly rely on these statements.

The forward-looking statements made in this prospectus relate only to events as of the date on which the statements are made. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements made in this prospectus to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this prospectus or to reflect new information or the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law. We may not actually achieve the plans, intentions or expectations disclosed in our forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. Our forward-looking statements do not reflect the potential impact of any future acquisitions, mergers, dispositions, joint ventures or investments.

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ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

On October 28, 2021, GEN Inc. was incorporated as a Delaware corporation. Prior to this offering, GEN Inc. has had no business operations. Our business is currently conducted through GEN LLC. GEN LLC is owned by certain members of management and employees.

The Reorganization

The following actions will be taken in connection with the closing of this offering:

Our Class B Common Stock

For each membership unit of GEN LLC that is reclassified as a Class B unit in the Reorganization, we will issue to the Class B unitholder one corresponding share of our Class B common stock. Immediately following the Reorganization, we will have outstanding                 shares of Class B common stock held of record by                 stockholders assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares and                 shares of Class B common stock held of record by                 stockholders if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares in full. Each share of our Class B common stock will entitle its holder to ten votes. See “—Voting Rights of Class A Common Stock and Class B Common Stock.”

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The Class B stockholders will initially have    % of the combined voting power of our common stock (or    % if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares of Class A common stock in full). When a Class B unit is exchanged for a share of our Class A common stock, the corresponding share of our Class B common stock will automatically be retired. We will not issue any further Class B units or shares of Class B common stock after the completion of the Reorganization, except to holders of Class B units in a number necessary to maintain a one-to-one ratio between the number of Class B units and the number of shares of Class B common stock outstanding.

Our Class A Common Stock

We expect                 shares of our Class A common stock to be outstanding after this offering (or                 shares if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares in full), all of which will be sold pursuant to this offering.

The Class A common stock outstanding will represent 100% of the rights of the holders of all classes of our outstanding common stock to share in distributions from GEN Inc., except for the right of Class B stockholders to receive the par value of the Class B common stock upon our liquidation, dissolution or winding up or an exchange of Class B units.

Post-Offering Holding Company Structure

This offering is being conducted through what is commonly referred to as an “UP-C” structure, which is often used by partnerships and limited liability companies undertaking an initial public offering. The UP-C approach provides the existing partners with the tax advantage of continuing to own interests in a pass-through structure and provides current and potential future tax benefits for the public company and economic benefits for the existing partners when they ultimately exchange their pass-through interests and corresponding shares of Class B common stock for shares of Class A common stock. See “—Tax Receivable Agreement.”

GEN Inc. will be a holding company and, following this offering, its only business will be to act as the managing member of GEN LLC, and its only material assets will be Class A units representing approximately    % of GEN LLC units (or    % if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares of Class A common stock in full). In its capacity as the managing member, GEN Inc. will operate and control all of GEN LLC’s business and affairs. We will consolidate the financial results of GEN LLC and will report non-controlling interests related to the interests held by the continuing members of GEN LLC in our consolidated financial statements. The membership interests of GEN LLC owned by us will be classified as Class A units and the remaining approximately    % of GEN LLC units (or    % if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares of Class A common stock in full), which will continue to be held by the current members of GEN LLC, will be classified as Class B units. GEN Inc. consolidates GEN LLC due to GEN Inc.’s power to control GEN LLC, making it the primary beneficiary and managing member of the variable interest entity.

Pursuant to the GEN LLC Agreement, each Class B unit will be exchangeable for one share of GEN Inc.’s Class A common stock or, at GEN Inc.’s election, for cash. The exchange ratio is subject to appropriate adjustment by GEN Inc. in the event Class A units are issued to GEN Inc. without issuance of a corresponding number of shares of Class A common stock or in the event of certain reclassifications, reorganizations, recapitalizations or similar transactions. Any beneficial holder exchanging Class B units must ensure that the applicable corresponding number of shares of Class B common stock are delivered to us for retirement as a condition of exercising its right to exchange Class B units for shares of our Class A common stock or, at our election, for cash. The diagram below illustrates our structure and anticipated ownership immediately after the Reorganization and this offering (assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares) and does not reflect the issuances of awards pursuant to the 2022 Plan.

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Amounts may not sum to total due to rounding.

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Subject to the availability of net cash flow at the GEN LLC level, GEN Inc. intends to cause GEN LLC to distribute to GEN Inc. and the other members of GEN LLC pro rata cash distributions for the purposes of funding tax obligations in respect of the taxable income and net capital gain that is allocated to the members of GEN LLC and GEN Inc.’s obligations to make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement. In addition, GEN LLC will reimburse GEN Inc. for corporate and other overhead expenses.

Assuming GEN LLC makes distributions to its members in any given year, the determination to pay dividends, if any, to our Class A stockholders out of the portion, if any, of such distributions remaining after our payment of taxes, Tax Receivable Agreement payments and expenses (any such portion, an “excess distribution”) will be made by our board of directors. Because our board of directors may determine to pay or not pay dividends to our Class A stockholders, our Class A stockholders may not necessarily receive dividend distributions relating to our excess distributions, even if GEN LLC makes such distributions to us.

Ownership of Our Businesses

The diagram below summarizes the ownership structure of GEN LLC’s operations on a fully diluted basis prior to the Reorganization.

The GEN LLC Agreement

As a result of the Reorganization, GEN Inc. will indirectly control the business through GEN LLC and any consolidated subsidiaries. The operations of GEN LLC, and the rights and obligations of its members, are set forth in the GEN LLC Agreement, a form of which has been filed as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. The following is a description of certain terms of the GEN LLC Agreement.

Classes of GEN LLC Units

GEN LLC will issue Class A units, which will be issued only to GEN Inc., and Class B units. In connection with the closing of this offering, members holding preferred and common units prior to the closing will have such units reclassified into Class B units.

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Economic Rights of Unitholders

Class A units and Class B units will have the same economic rights per unit. After the closing of this offering, the holders of GEN Inc.’s Class A common stock (indirectly through GEN Inc.) and the holders of Class B units of GEN LLC will hold approximately            % and            %, respectively, of the economic interests in GEN Inc.’s business (or            % and            %, respectively, if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares of Class A common stock in full).

Net profits and net losses of GEN LLC will generally be allocated on a pro rata basis in accordance with the number of units held by such holder; however, under applicable tax rules, GEN LLC will be required to allocate taxable income disproportionately to its members in certain circumstances. The GEN LLC Agreement will provide for quarterly cash distributions, which we refer to as “tax distributions,” to the holders of the units in a manner to approximate an amount to enable each member to pay applicable taxes on taxable income allocable to such member. If the amount of tax distributions to be made exceeds the amount of funds available for distribution, GEN Inc. shall receive a tax distribution calculated using the corporate rate before the other members receive any distribution, and the balance, if any, of funds available for distribution shall be distributed to the other members pro rata. For a more complete overview of the assumed tax rate calculation, see “—Certain Tax Consequences to GEN Inc.” In addition, GEN LLC will make non-pro rata payments to reimburse GEN Inc. for corporate and other overhead expenses (which payments from GEN LLC will not be treated as distributions under the GEN LLC Agreement). However, GEN LLC may not make distributions or payments to its members if doing so would violate any applicable law or result in GEN LLC or any of its subsidiaries being in default under any material agreement governing indebtedness (which we do not expect to be the case upon the closing of this offering and the Reorganization).

Voting Rights of Unitholders

After the closing of this offering, GEN Inc. will act as the managing member of GEN LLC. In its capacity as the managing member of GEN LLC, GEN Inc. will control GEN LLC’s business and affairs. GEN LLC will issue Class A units, which will only be issued to GEN Inc., and Class B units. Class B unitholders will have no voting rights in GEN LLC, except for the right to approve amendments to the GEN LLC Agreement that adversely affect their rights as Class B unitholders.

Coordination of GEN Inc. and GEN LLC

Any time GEN Inc. issues a share of its Class A common stock for cash, unless used to settle an exchange of a Class B unit for cash, the net proceeds received by GEN Inc. will be promptly transferred to GEN LLC, and GEN LLC will issue to GEN Inc. a Class A unit. If at any time GEN Inc. issues a share of its Class A common stock upon an exchange of a Class B unit or settles such exchange for cash as described below under “—Exchange Rights,” GEN Inc. will contribute the exchanged unit to GEN LLC and GEN LLC will issue to GEN Inc. a Class A unit. In the event that GEN Inc. issues other classes or series of its equity securities (other than pursuant to our incentive compensation plans), GEN LLC will issue to GEN Inc. an equal amount of equity securities of GEN LLC with designations, preferences and other rights and terms that are substantially the same as GEN Inc.’s newly issued equity securities. If at any time GEN Inc. issues a share of its Class A common stock pursuant to our 2022 Plan, GEN Inc. will contribute to GEN LLC all of the proceeds that it receives (if any) and GEN LLC will issue to GEN Inc. an equal number of its Class A units, having the same restrictions, if any, as are attached to the shares of Class A common stock issued under the plan. If GEN Inc. repurchases, redeems or retires any shares of its Class A common stock (or its equity securities of other classes or series), GEN LLC will, immediately prior to such repurchase, redemption or retirement, repurchase, redeem or retire an equal number of Class A units (or its equity securities of the corresponding classes or series) held by GEN Inc., upon the same terms and for the same consideration, as the shares of our Class A common stock (or our equity securities of such other classes or series) are repurchased, redeemed or retired. In addition, GEN LLC units, as well as GEN Inc.’s common stock, will be subject to equivalent stock splits, dividends, reclassifications and other subdivisions.

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GEN Inc. will issue additional shares of Class B common stock only to holders of Class B units only in a number necessary to maintain a one-to-one ratio between the number of Class B units and the number of shares of Class B common stock outstanding.

Issuances and Transfer of GEN LLC Units

Class A units will be issued only to GEN Inc. and are non-transferable except as provided in the GEN LLC Agreement. Class B units will be issued in connection with the Reorganization as described herein and may be issued pursuant to the GEN LLC Agreement, provided that a corresponding number of shares of Class B common stock is issued to the holder of such Class B units. Class B units may not be transferred, except with GEN Inc.’s consent or to a permitted transferee, subject to such conditions as GEN Inc. may specify. In addition, Class B unitholders may not transfer any Class B units to any person unless he, she or it transfers an equal number of shares of GEN Inc.’s Class B common stock to the same transferee.

Under the GEN LLC Agreement, GEN Inc. can require the holders of Class B units to sell all of their interests in GEN LLC in the event of certain acquisitions of GEN LLC.

Tax Receivable Agreement

GEN Inc. will enter into a tax receivable agreement for the benefit of certain continuing members of GEN LLC (not including GEN Inc.), pursuant to which GEN Inc. will pay 85% of the amount of the net cash tax savings, if any, that GEN Inc. realizes (or, under certain circumstances, is deemed to realize) as a result of utilization of certain tax benefits resulting from GEN Inc.’s acquisition of a continuing member’s GEN LLC units in future exchanges and (ii) any payments GEN Inc. makes under the Tax Receivable Agreement. Generally, payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement will be made to certain continuing members of GEN LLC (not including GEN Inc.) pursuant to the terms of the Tax Receivable Agreement. Such payments will reduce the cash provided by the tax savings generated from the previously described transactions with the members of GEN LLC that would otherwise have been available to GEN Inc. for other uses, including reinvestment or dividends to GEN Inc. Class A shareholders. See “Certain Relationships and Related Person Transactions—Tax Receivable Agreement.”

The amount payable under the Tax Receivable Agreement will be based on an annual calculation of the reduction in our U.S. federal, state and local taxes resulting from the utilization of certain tax benefits resulting from sales and exchanges by certain continuing members of GEN LLC. Assuming no material changes in the relevant tax law and that we earn sufficient taxable income to realize all tax benefits that are subject to the Tax Receivable Agreement, we expect that the reduction in tax payments for us associated with the federal, state and local tax benefits described above would aggregate to approximately $             million through 2037. Under such scenario we would be required to pay certain continuing members of GEN LLC 85% of such amount, or $             million through 2037.

Certain Tax Consequences to GEN Inc.

The holders of GEN LLC units, including GEN Inc., generally will incur U.S. federal, state and local income taxes on their proportionate share of any net taxable income of GEN LLC. Net income and net losses of GEN LLC generally will be allocated to its members pro rata in proportion to their respective membership units, though certain non-pro rata adjustments will be made to reflect depreciation, amortization and other allocations. In accordance with the GEN LLC Agreement, we intend to cause GEN LLC to make distributions to each of its members, including GEN Inc., in an amount intended to enable each member to pay applicable taxes on taxable income allocable to such member, and to make non-pro rata payments to GEN Inc. to reimburse it for corporate and other overhead expenses (which payments from GEN LLC will not be treated as distributions under the GEN LLC Agreement). If the amount of tax distributions to be made exceeds the amount of funds available for distribution, GEN Inc. shall receive a tax distribution calculated using the corporate rate before the other members receive any distribution, and the balance, if any, of funds available for distribution shall be distributed to the other members pro rata.

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GEN LLC will have in effect an election under Section 754 of the Code for the taxable year of the offering and each taxable year in which an exchange of Class B units for shares of our Class A common stock occurs. As a result of this election, the exchanges of Class B units for shares of our Class A common stock, are expected to result in increases in the tax basis of the tangible and intangible assets of GEN LLC, which will be allocated to GEN Inc. and are expected to increase the tax depreciation and amortization deductions available to GEN Inc. and decrease gains, or increase losses, on a sale or other taxable disposition, if any, of such assets and therefore may reduce the amount of tax that GEN Inc. would otherwise be required to pay.

Voting Rights of Class A Common Stock and Class B Common Stock

Except as provided in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or as required by applicable law, holders of Class A common stock and Class B common stock vote together as a single class. Pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, we may not amend, alter, repeal or waive the provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that relate to the terms of our capital stock without the approval of the holders of a majority of the then outstanding shares of our Class B common stock, voting as a class. Holders of the Class A common stock and Class B common stock, as the case may be, would also have a separate class vote if we subdivide, combine or reclassify shares of the other class without concurrently subdividing, combining or reclassifying shares of such class in a proportional manner. Pursuant to the Delaware General Corporation Law, or the DGCL, the holders of the outstanding shares of a class shall be entitled to vote as a class upon a proposed amendment, whether or not entitled to vote thereon by the certificate of incorporation, if the amendment would increase or decrease the par value of the shares of such class or alter or change the powers, preferences, or special rights of the shares of such class so as to affect them adversely. Each share of our Class A common stock will entitle its holder to one vote per share, while each share of our Class B common stock will entitle its holder to ten votes per share.

Immediately after this offering, our Class B stockholders will collectively hold approximately            % of the combined voting power of our common stock (or            % if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares in full). When a Class B stockholder exchanges Class B units for the corresponding number of shares of our Class A common stock or, at our election, for cash, it will result in the automatic cancellation of the corresponding number of shares of our Class B common stock and, therefore, will decrease the aggregate voting power of our Class B stockholders.

Exchange Rights

The GEN LLC Agreement will entitle certain of its members (and certain permitted transferees thereof) to exchange their Class B units, together with an equal number of shares of Class B common stock, for shares of Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis or, at our election, for cash. The exchange ratio is subject to appropriate adjustment by GEN Inc. in the event Class A units are issued to GEN Inc. without issuance of a corresponding number of shares of Class A common stock or in the event of certain reclassifications, reorganizations, recapitalizations or similar transactions.

The GEN LLC Agreement will provide that an owner will not have the right to exchange Class B units if we determine that such exchange would be prohibited by law or regulation or would violate other agreements with the Company, GEN LLC or any of their subsidiaries to which GEN LLC unitholder is subject. We intend to impose additional restrictions on exchanges that we determine to be necessary or advisable so that GEN LLC is not treated as a “publicly traded partnership” for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

The GEN LLC Agreement also provides for mandatory exchanges under certain circumstances, including at the option of GEN Inc. if the number of units outstanding (other than those held by GEN Inc.) is less than a minimum percentage and in the discretion of GEN Inc. with the consent of holders of at least 50% of the outstanding Class B units.

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Any beneficial holder exchanging Class B units must ensure that the applicable corresponding number of shares of Class B common stock are delivered to us for retirement as a condition of exercising its right to exchange Class B units for shares of our Class A common stock or, at our election, for cash.

Shares of Class B common stock retired upon an exchange will be restored to the status of authorized but unissued shares of Class B common stock.

Registration Rights Agreement

Prior to the consummation of this offering, we intend to enter into a Registration Rights Agreement that will provide holders of our Class B common stock with certain registration rights whereby, at any time following the lockup restrictions described in this prospectus, they will have the right to require us to register under the Securities Act the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exchange of Class B units. The Registration Rights Agreement will also provide for piggyback registration rights for the holders party thereto, subject to certain conditions and exceptions.

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USE OF PROCEEDS

We estimate that our net proceeds from this offering, based on an assumed initial public offering price of $            per share of Class A common stock (the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover of this prospectus), after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions but before deducting expenses of this offering and the Reorganization payable by us, will be approximately $            million, or approximately $                million if the underwriters exercise in full their option to purchase additional shares of Class A common stock.

Each $1.00 increase or decrease in the assumed initial public offering price of $            per share of Class A common stock would increase or decrease the net proceeds to us from this offering by approximately $            million, assuming that the number of shares of Class A common stock offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions but before deducting expenses of this offering and the Reorganization payable by us. Similarly, each increase or decrease of one million in the number of shares of Class A common stock offered by us would increase or decrease the net proceeds to us from this offering by approximately $            million, assuming no change in the assumed initial public offering price of $            per share and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions but before deducting expenses of this offering and the Reorganization payable by us.

The principal purposes of this offering are to increase our financial flexibility, create a public market for our Class A common stock, and facilitate our future access to the capital markets.

We currently intend to use the net proceeds of this offering as follows:

The term loan from Pacific City Bank bears interest in monthly installments at a fixed interest rate of 6.0%. Payments of principal and interest are due monthly in accordance with an amortization schedule with a maturity date of September 15, 2024. Certain of the entities that will become our indirect subsidiaries as a result of the Reorganization previously had notes payable, or the Ignite Notes, to Ignite Enterprises, LLC, or Ignite, owned by David Kim, our co-founder, each with similar terms. See “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions” for additional information on Ignite. In March 2022, we obtained a line of credit from Pacific City Bank for $8 million, which amount was subsequently used to repay the Ignite Notes in full. We will use the proceeds from this offering to repay the line of credit from Pacific City Bank.

The expected use of net proceeds from this offering represents our intentions based upon our present plans and business conditions. We cannot predict with certainty all of the particular uses for the proceeds of this offering or the amounts that we will actually spend on the uses set forth above. Accordingly, our management will have significant flexibility in applying the net proceeds of this offering. The timing and amount of our actual expenditures will be based on many factors, including cash flows from operations and the anticipated growth of our business. Pending their use, we intend to invest the net proceeds of this offering in a variety of capital-preservation investments, including short- and intermediate-term, interest-bearing, investment-grade securities.

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DIVIDEND POLICY

We have no present intention to pay cash dividends on our common stock. Any determination to pay dividends to holders of our common stock will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend upon many factors, including our financial condition, results of operations, projections, liquidity, earnings, legal requirements, restrictions in our existing and any future debt and other factors that our board of directors deems relevant.

Following the Reorganization and this offering, GEN Inc. will be a holding company and its sole asset will be ownership of the Class A units of GEN LLC, of which it will be the managing member. Subject to funds being legally available, we intend to cause GEN LLC to make distributions to each of its members, including GEN Inc., in an amount intended to enable each member to pay applicable taxes on taxable income allocable to such member and to allow GEN Inc. to make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement, and non-pro rata payments to GEN Inc. to reimburse it for corporate and other overhead expenses. Distributions from GEN LLC to GEN Inc. to make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement will reduce the cash that would otherwise have been available to GEN Inc. for other uses, including reinvestment or dividends to GEN LLC Class A stockholders. If the amount of tax distributions to be made exceeds the amount of funds available for distribution, GEN Inc. shall receive the full amount of its tax distribution before the other members receive any distribution and the balance, if any, of funds available for distribution shall be distributed to the other members pro rata. Holders of our Class B common stock will not be entitled to dividends distributed by GEN Inc., but will share in the distributions made by GEN LLC on a pro rata basis.

To the extent that the tax distributions GEN Inc. receives exceed the amounts GEN Inc. actually requires to pay taxes and other expenses and make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement, our board of directors, in its sole discretion, will make any determination from time to time with respect to the use of any such excess cash so accumulated, including potentially causing GEN Inc. to contribute such excess cash (net of any operating expenses) to GEN LLC. Concurrently with any potential contribution of such excess cash, in order to maintain the intended economic relationship between the shares of Class A common stock and GEN LLC units after accounting for such contribution, GEN LLC and GEN Inc., as applicable, may undertake ameliorative actions, which may include reverse splits, reclassifications, combinations, subdivisions or adjustments of outstanding units of GEN LLC and corresponding shares of Class A common stock of GEN Inc., as well as corresponding adjustments to the shares of Class B common stock of GEN Inc. To the extent that GEN Inc. contributes such excess cash to GEN LLC (and undertakes such ameliorative actions), a holder of Class A common stock would not receive distributions in cash and would instead benefit through an increase in the indirect ownership interest in GEN LLC represented by such holder’s Class A common stock. To the extent that GEN Inc. does not distribute such excess cash as dividends on the Class A common stock or otherwise undertake such ameliorative actions and instead, for example, holds such cash balances, the members of GEN LLC (not including GEN Inc.) may benefit from any value attributable to such cash balances as a result of their ownership of Class A common stock following an exchange of their Class B units for shares of the Class A common stock, notwithstanding that such members may previously have participated as holders of Class B units in distributions by GEN LLC that resulted in such excess cash balances at GEN Inc.

Prior to this offering, certain companies within GEN Restaurant Group have made distributions to their members. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Liquidity and Capital Resources.”

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CAPITALIZATION

The following table sets forth the cash and capitalization as of December 31, 2021 of GEN Restaurant Group on a historical basis and GEN Inc. on a pro forma basis to give effect to the Reorganization and the issuance and sale of shares of Class A common stock in this offering at an assumed initial public offering price of $                per share, the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, after (i) deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us and (ii) the application of the proceeds from this offering, as described under “Use of Proceeds,” and on a pro forma as adjusted basis to reflect certain distributions made by companies within GEN Restaurant Group to their members after December 31, 2021 but prior to this offering.

You should read this information together with the information in this prospectus under “Selected Historical Financial Information,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Description of Capital Stock,” and with the financial statements and the related notes to those statements included elsewhere in this prospectus.

The above table does not include:

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DILUTION

If you invest in our Class A common stock, your interest will be diluted to the extent of the difference between the initial public offering price per share of our Class A common stock and the pro forma net tangible book value per share of our Class A common stock immediately after the completion of this offering. Dilution results from the fact that the per share offering price of the Class A common stock is substantially in excess of the book value per share attributable to the existing equity holders.

Our pro forma net tangible book value as of December 31, 2021 was approximately $            million, or $            per share of our Class A common stock. Pro forma net tangible book value represents the amount of total tangible assets less total liabilities, and pro forma net tangible book value per share represents pro forma net tangible book value divided by the number of shares of Class A common stock outstanding, after giving effect to the Reorganization and assuming that all of the Class B unitholders exchanged their Class B units outstanding immediately following the completion of the Reorganization and this offering for newly issued shares of our Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis as if such units were immediately exchangeable.

After giving effect to (i) the Reorganization, (ii) the issuance and sale by us of            shares of our Class A common stock in this offering at an assumed initial public offering price of $            per share, the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and offering expenses payable by us and assuming the exchange of all Class B units outstanding immediately following the completion of the Reorganization and this offering for shares of our Class A common stock as if such units were immediately exchangeable; and (iii) the application of such proceeds as described in the section entitled “Use of Proceeds,” our net tangible book value, our pro forma net tangible book value as of December 31, 2021 would have been $            million, or $            per share. This represents an immediate increase in pro forma net tangible book value of $            per share to existing equity holders and an immediate dilution in net tangible book value of $            per share to new investors.

The following table illustrates this dilution on a per share basis assuming the underwriters do not exercise their option to purchase additional shares:

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The information in the preceding table is based on an assumed offering price of $            per share, the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus. A $1.00 increase or decrease in the assumed price per share would increase or decrease, respectively, the pro forma net tangible book value after this offering by approximately $            million and increase or decrease the dilution per share of Class A common stock to new investors in this offering by $            per share, in each case calculated as described above and assuming that the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same. Similarly, each increase or decrease of 1.0 million shares in the number of shares of our Class A common stock offered by us would increase or decrease, as applicable, our pro forma net tangible book value by approximately $            per share and increase or decrease, as applicable, the dilution to new investors in this offering by $            per share, assuming the assumed initial public offering price remains the same, and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us.

If the underwriters purchase additional shares of common stock from us pursuant to the Representative’s Warrants, the pro forma net tangible book value after the offering would be $             per share, the increase in pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share to existing stockholders would be $             per share and the dilution in pro forma net tangible book value to new investors would be $             per share, in each case assuming an initial public offering price of $             per share, which is the midpoint of the price range listed on the cover page of this prospectus.

The following table summarizes, on the same pro forma basis as of December 31, 2021, the total number of shares of Class A common stock purchased from us, the total cash consideration paid to us and the average price per share paid by the existing equity holders and by new investors purchasing shares in this offering, assuming that all of the Class B unitholders exchanged their Class B units for shares of our Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis as if such units were immediately exchangeable.

The above table does not include:

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UNAUDITED PRO FORMA CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL INFORMATION AND OTHER DATA

The following unaudited pro forma consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2021 gives pro forma effect to the Reorganization (see transactions described under “Organizational Structure”), the consummation of this offering and our intended use of proceeds therefrom after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and other costs of this offering, or collectively, the Transactions, as though such transactions had occurred as of December 31, 2021. The unaudited pro forma consolidated statements of operations for the year ended December 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020 present our consolidated results of operations giving pro forma effect to the transactions described above as if they had occurred as of January 1, 2021.

The pro forma adjustments are based on available information and upon assumptions that management believes are reasonable in order to reflect, on a pro forma basis, the effect of these transactions on the historical financial information of GEN Restaurant Group. The unaudited pro forma consolidated balance sheet and unaudited pro forma consolidated statements of operations may not be indicative of the results of operations or financial position that would have occurred had this offering and the related transactions taken place on the dates indicated, or that may be expected to occur in the future. The adjustments are described in the notes to the unaudited pro forma consolidated balance sheet and the unaudited pro forma consolidated statements of operations. The unaudited pro forma consolidated financial information and other data should be read in conjunction with “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and our consolidated financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus.

The pro forma adjustments in the Reorganization and Offering Adjustments column principally give effect to:

Except as otherwise indicated, the unaudited pro forma consolidated financial information presented assumes no exercise by the underwriters of their option to purchase additional shares of Class A common stock from us in the offering.

GEN Restaurant Group is considered our predecessor for accounting purposes, and its financial statements will be our historical financial statements following this offering.

GEN Inc. will enter into the Tax Receivable Agreement for the benefit of the continuing members of GEN LLC (not including GEN Inc.), pursuant to which GEN Inc. will pay them            % of the amount of the net cash tax savings, if any, that GEN Inc. realizes (or, under certain circumstances, is deemed to realize) as a result of (i) increases in tax basis (and utilization of certain other tax benefits) resulting from GEN Inc.’s acquisition of a continuing member’s GEN LLC units in connection with this offering and in future exchanges and (ii) any payments GEN Inc. makes under the Tax Receivable Agreement (including tax benefits related to imputed

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interest). Generally, payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement will be made to certain continuing members of GEN LLC (not including GEN Inc.) pursuant to the terms of the Tax Receivable Agreement. Such payments will reduce the cash provided by the tax savings generated from the previously described transactions with the members of GEN LLC that would otherwise have been available to GEN Inc. for other uses, including reinvestment or dividends to GEN Inc. Class A stockholders. See “Organizational Structure” and “Certain Relationships and Related Person Transactions—Tax Receivable Agreement.”

We have not made any pro forma adjustments relating to reporting, compliance and investor relations costs that we will incur as a public company. No pro forma adjustments have been made for these additional expenses as an estimate of such expenses is not determinable.

The unaudited pro forma consolidated financial information is included for informational purposes only. The unaudited pro forma consolidated financial information should not be relied upon as being indicative of our results of operations or financial condition had the Transactions, including this offering, occurred on the dates assumed. The unaudited pro forma consolidated financial information also does not project our results of operations or financial position for any future period or date. The unaudited pro forma consolidated statement of operations and balance sheet should be read in conjunction with the “Risk Factors,” “Prospectus Summary—   Summary Historical Financial Information,” “Selected Historical Financial Information,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and our consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus.

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In accordance with the rules of Article 11 of Regulation S-X, the following adjustments were made:

Upon completion of the transaction, and being a publicly traded company, the following adjustments to Operations are anticipated: (i) An increase in general and administrative costs for an additional $6.8 million in compliance costs, (ii) a reduction of Consulting fees - related party of $12.5 million, and (iii) a reduction of management fees that will not be incurred.

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SELECTED HISTORICAL FINANCIAL INFORMATION

The following table sets forth selected financial information and other data of GEN Restaurant Group on a historical basis. GEN Restaurant Group is considered our predecessor for accounting purposes and its financial statements will be our historical financial statements following this offering. The following selected statement of operations data for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 and the selected balance sheet data as of December 31, 2021 and 2020 have been derived from GEN Restaurant Group’s audited financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus. Our historical results and growth rates are not necessarily indicative of results or growth rates to be expected in future periods.

You should read the following information in conjunction with “Capitalization,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” “Certain Relationships and Related Person Transactions” and our consolidated financial statements and related notes thereto included elsewhere in this prospectus.

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MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The following management’s discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with, and is qualified in its entirety by reference to, the section entitled “Selected Financial Data” and “Pro Forma Consolidated Financial Information and Other Data” and the financial statements of GEN Restaurant Group and the related notes included within this prospectus. The historical financial data discussed below reflect the historical results of operations and financial position of GEN Restaurant Group. The financial statements of GEN Restaurant Group, our predecessor for accounting purposes, will be our historical financial statements following this offering. The historical financial data discussed below relate to periods prior to the Reorganization described in “Organizational Structure” and do not give effect to pro forma adjustments. As a result, the following discussion does not reflect the significant effects that such events will have on us. See “Organizational Structure” and “Pro Forma Consolidated Financial Information and Other Data” for more information.

This discussion and analysis contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties which could cause our actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, risks and uncertainties discussed under the heading “Forward-Looking Statements,” “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this prospectus. Additionally, our historical results are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for any period in the future.

Overview

Gen Restaurant Group is an Asian casual dining restaurant concept that offers an extensive menu of traditional Korean and Korean-American food, including high-quality meats, poultry, and seafood, all at a superior value. Founded in 2011 by two Korean immigrants, we have grown over the last ten years to 28 company-owned restaurants located in California, Arizona, Hawaii, Nevada and Texas. Our restaurants have modern décor, lively Korean pop music playing in the background and embedded grills in the center of each table. We believe we offer our customers a unique dining experience in which guests cook the majority of the food themselves, reducing the need for chefs and servers and providing a similar customer experience across the restaurants.

We expect to continue growing our number of restaurants in the future. Our new restaurants have typically generated average Payback Periods of approximately 1.7 years. Restaurants range in size from 5,000 to 12,000 square feet, and are typically located in high-activity commercial areas.

Business Trends; Effects of COVID-19 on Our Business

Following the success of our initial restaurant that opened in 2011 in Tustin, California, we opened more restaurants in Southern California and tested the portability of the concept by opening restaurants in other markets. We opened four new restaurants in both 2018 and 2019, expanding into new markets and existing markets that had produced strong positive results. Revenue in 2019 of $113.9 million and net income in 2019 of $7.0 million reflected the profitability of the 28 restaurants we had opened. However, expansion in 2020 and 2021 was put on hold as the COVID-19 pandemic hit and temporary closures and capacity constraints were required by governmental authorities. Revenue in 2021 of $140.6 million and net income in 2021 of $42.9 million reflect the Company’s recovery from the global pandemic, as discussed below.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact upon our business. In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared the novel strain of coronavirus COVID-19 to be a global pandemic. This contagious virus has adversely affected workforces, customers, economies and financial markets globally. In response to this outbreak, many state and local authorities mandated the temporary closure of non-essential businesses and

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dine-in restaurant activity. COVID-19 and the government measures taken to control it have caused a significant disruption to our business operations. On March 17, 2020, we announced the temporary closure of all of our restaurants. Within one week, we modified operations at 15 locations to add take-out only service. As restrictions were lifted over the next few months, we were able to gradually reopen more restaurants at reduced indoor dining capacities and we also started offering outdoor dining at certain locations. As of December 31, 2021, all of our restaurants were fully operational with indoor dining at full capacity and some also still retained their added outdoor dining capacity. Additionally, the Biden administration previously announced a vaccine mandate and related rules applying to private businesses with 100 or more employees. Although the rule applying to private businesses was ultimately overturned by the United States Supreme Court, any similar vaccine-related rules could impact our employee base and ability to hire qualified employees.

To support our employees during this challenging time, we continued paying normal payrolls to all employees through April 5, 2020 and to all kitchen employees through May 9, 2020. After those dates, we furloughed most employees but continued to pay store managers and key kitchen staff throughout the periods when their respective restaurants were temporarily closed. We also continued to pay the employee portion of all furloughed employees’ health insurance through July 31, 2020. As our restaurants reopened with expanding capacities allowed during late spring and summer of 2020, we were able to invite back many of our furloughed employees.

In response to the ongoing pandemic, we prioritized actions to protect the health and safety of our employees and customers. We increased cleaning and sanitizing protocols in our restaurants and implemented additional training and operational manuals for our restaurant employees, as well as increased handwashing procedures. We provided each restaurant employee with face masks and gloves, and required each employee to pass a health screening process, which included a temperature check, before the start of each shift.

The temporary restaurant closures and the reduced capacities at the reopened restaurants caused a substantial decline in our sales. In light of the challenges posed by the pandemic, we focused on maximizing our restaurant dining capacity by adding outdoor dining as permitted by the jurisdictions and landlords where we operate. Beyond prioritizing actions to help assure a safe environment for our employees and customers, we worked hard to maintain our operational efficiencies as much as possible to preserve our liquidity.

Although we temporarily paused our new restaurant opening plans during the pandemic, our long-term growth strategy is to continue to open new restaurants in locations that we believe will achieve profitability levels consistent with our pre-pandemic experience. As of December 31, 2021, we have four new restaurant locations with leases that are signed and that are expected to open in 2022. Future sales and profitability levels of our restaurants and our ability to successfully implement our growth strategy in the near term, however, remain uncertain, as the full impact and duration of the pandemic continues to evolve as of the date of this prospectus.

Recent Events Concerning Our Financial Position

During 2020, we entered into various agreements with Pacific City Bank, which provided for a loan in the amount of $9.5 million, or the 2020 PPP Loans, and $0.9 million in Economic Injury Disaster Loans, or the EIDL Loans, pursuant to the Paycheck Protection Program under the CARES Act, signed into law on March 27, 2020, or PPP. By the end of 2021, we had received loan forgiveness on the 2020 PPP Loans in the amount of $9.2 million, and recorded the amount of the forgiven balances in “Gain on extinguishment of debt” in 2021.

During 2021, we also entered into several additional PPP loan agreements, or the 2021 PPP Loans and together with the 2020 PPP Loans, the PPP Loans, which have provided for an aggregate total loan in the amount of $13.5 million. During the month of December 2021, we received notices of loan forgiveness on the 2021 PPP Loans that totaled $13.1 million. In addition, during 2021, we received $16.8 million in Restaurant Recovery Fund, or RRF, grants. These RRF grants are being recognized as income as the money is spent, with $13.0 million recorded as income as of December 31, 2021, and $3.8 million is deferred as of December 31, 2021.

We assessed our long-lived assets for potential impairment with the result that no impairment charges were recorded in any of the periods presented.

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In March 2022, we took out a line of credit with Pacific City Bank for an aggregate amount of $8 million. As of March 24, 2022, we had the full amount outstanding. The funds from the line of credit were used to repay the notes payable with Ignite in full in the amount of $7.9 million, and the proceeds from this offering will be used to repay the line of credit with Pacific City Bank.

Key Performance Indicators

In assessing the performance of our business, we consider a variety of financial and performance measures. The key measures for determining how our business is performing include Net Income Margin, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA Margin, Restaurant-Level Adjusted EBITDA, Restaurant-Level Adjusted EBITDA Margin, Average Unit Volumes, comparable restaurant sales growth, the number of restaurant openings and revenue per square foot.

Net Income Margin

Net Income Margin is net income measured under U.S. GAAP divided by revenue.

Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin

Adjusted EBITDA represents net income (loss) excluding interest expense, income taxes, depreciation and amortization, and consulting fees paid to a related party, and we also exclude other income recorded from PPP loan forgiveness and RRF grants. Adjusted EBITDA Margin is defined as Adjusted EBITDA divided by revenue. Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin are non-GAAP measures intended as supplemental measures of our performance and are neither required by, nor presented in accordance with, GAAP. For a discussion of why we consider these measures to be useful and their material risks and limitations, see “Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”

Restaurant-Level Adjusted EBITDA and Restaurant-Level Adjusted EBITDA Margin

Restaurant-Level Adjusted EBITDA is Adjusted EBITDA plus adjustments to add-back the following expenses: Pre-opening costs, General and administrative, Management fees and adjust for the income or loss in Other income, Equity in income of equity method investee and Net income attributable to noncontrolling interest. Non-cash items such as charges for asset impairments and asset disposals are not included in Restaurant-Level Adjusted EBITDA. Restaurant-Level Adjusted EBITDA Margin is the calculation of Restaurant-Level Adjusted EBITDA divided by revenue. For a discussion of why we consider these measures to be useful and their material risks and limitations, see “Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”

Average Unit Volume

“Average Unit Volume” or “AUV” means the average annual restaurant sales for all restaurants that opened a full 18 months before the end of the period measured. AUV is calculated by dividing annual revenue for the year presented for all such restaurants by the total number of restaurants in that base. We have not made any adjustments to exclude restaurants in 2020 and early 2021 due to temporary closures and mandated capacity limitations caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This measurement allows management to assess changes in consumer spending patterns at our restaurants and the overall performance of our restaurant base.

The following table shows the AUV for the years ended December 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020