Restaurants, delis, caterers, food trucks
Restaurant financing that underwrites your deposits, not your dining room
Restaurants qualify on revenue consistency, not assets. Most funding partners want three months of bank statements showing $10,000+ in monthly deposits, six months of operating history, and card volume that matches what you report. A restaurant with steady deposits and a 580 credit score is frequently a better file than a restaurant with an 700 score and erratic cash flow.
Why banks are the wrong door for a restaurant
A bank underwrites collateral and tax returns. You have neither in the shape they want. Your walk-in and your hood system are worth a fraction of what you paid, your lease is not an asset, and your Schedule C shows every deduction your accountant could legally find — which is exactly what makes it look weak to a credit committee.
Meanwhile the thing that actually proves your business works — daily card settlements that land like clockwork — is not something a bank underwrites at all.
Revenue-based funders do. They pull three to six months of bank statements and read the deposit pattern directly. Consistency beats size: a restaurant depositing $38,000 a month every month is a stronger file than one that swings between $20,000 and $90,000.
The three moments restaurants come to us
Equipment failure. The walk-in dies on a Thursday. Nobody has $14,000 sitting idle and a bank cannot move in three days.
Buildout or expansion. A second location, a patio, a delivery kitchen. Real returns, real timeline, and landlords who want deposits before they want a business plan.
The seasonal trough. January and February in the Northeast, or the weeks around a major holiday when catering stops. Payroll does not pause because covers dropped.
What usually fits
Working capital
A lump sum repaid on a fixed schedule. The default answer when you need money for a specific thing with a known end date.
FastestMerchant cash advance
A purchase of future receivables, repaid as a share of daily sales. Fast, expensive, and the right tool less often than it is sold.
Most flexibleBusiness line of credit
Revolving credit you draw and repay as needed. Costs less over a year than repeated lump sums for the same problem.
Lowest costEquipment financing
The machine secures the deal, so the rate drops. Almost always the cheapest option when the money has a serial number attached.
Most restaurant files land on working capital or a merchant cash advance because speed matters more than cost when the walk-in is warm. If the need is a specific piece of equipment, equipment financing is almost always cheaper — the machine secures the deal, so the rate drops.
What funders look at in this trade
| What they check | What helps you | What hurts you |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly deposits | Consistent month over month, matching what you reported | Wide swings, or deposits well below what the application claimed |
| Negative days | Zero to three negative-balance days per month | Frequent overdrafts, NSF fees, or a balance that runs near zero all month |
| Card volume vs. total deposits | A ratio that makes sense for your concept | Card volume that cannot support the payment being requested |
| Existing positions | Disclosed up front, or none | An undisclosed advance found in the statements — this ends most files |
| Time in business | Two years plus opens far more partners | Under six months rules out nearly everyone |
| Landlord and lease | Lease with meaningful term remaining | Month-to-month, or a lease expiring inside the payback period |
What this looks like in practice
A 40-seat restaurant in a dense Brooklyn retail corridor, open four years, averaging $46,000 a month in deposits with roughly 70% on card. The compressor on the walk-in fails in July.
The owner needs $28,000 for the unit plus emergency installation. The bank quotes a three-week process for a line of credit and wants two years of returns.
What a complete file looks like: three months of statements pulled straight from the bank as PDFs, a voided check, the EIN letter, and the equipment quote. Submitted before 2pm on a Tuesday.
Offers come back the same afternoon in different shapes — a shorter advance with a higher factor rate, a longer term with a lower daily payment, and an equipment finance option secured by the compressor itself. The equipment option is the cheapest capital on the table because the machine is collateral. It is also the slowest of the three by about two days.
The decision is not about which offer is best in the abstract. It is whether two days of a closed kitchen costs more than the spread between the offers.
Example only. Actual rates, terms and outcomes are set by the funding partner and depend on your business.
Documents to have ready
- Three months of business bank statements, downloaded as PDFs from your bank (not photos, not screenshots)
- Voided business check or a bank letter confirming the account
- EIN confirmation letter
- Driver's licence
- Merchant processing statements if you want card volume credited separately
- Equipment quote or invoice, if the money is for a specific machine
- Lease, if the funder asks — larger requests usually trigger it
Straight answers
Can I get funding if my restaurant has been open less than a year?
Six months of operating history and $10,000 in monthly deposits is the practical floor. Between six and twelve months your options narrow and pricing is higher, but files do get funded. Under six months, almost nothing is available in this channel.
Does a bad Yelp rating or a health department grade affect funding?
Not directly. Funders underwrite bank statements, not reviews. Indirectly it matters, because a grade change that closes you for a week shows up in the deposit pattern, and the deposit pattern is what they read.
I use a POS that funds me directly. Should I use that instead?
Sometimes yes. Processor-integrated funding is fast and lightly documented, but you get one offer at one price with no competition. It is worth seeing what a broader submission returns before you accept it, especially on larger amounts.
Can I get funding for a restaurant I am buying, not one I own?
Acquisition financing is a different product and this channel is generally the wrong tool. Revenue-based funders underwrite your operating history, and on an acquisition you do not have one yet. An SBA 7(a) loan or seller financing usually fits better.