Restaurants Businesses for Sale
Based on real acquisition conversations on Rejigg, the buyers who move confidently tend to focus on three things early: the lease, who's running the kitchen, and where revenue actually comes from.
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Due diligence
What to Look For
Practical guidance from hundreds of real acquisition conversations.
Lease Terms and Renewal
Ask to see the full lease before you spend serious time on a deal. You want to understand remaining years, renewal options, rent escalation clauses, and whether the landlord has to approve an assignment. A restaurant with five years left and two five-year options at a fixed escalation rate gives you a lot of runway to build on. Shorter leases or uncertain renewal terms are worth getting comfortable with early, since they'll shape how you think about the purchase price.
Revenue Channel Breakdown
Ask for revenue broken out by dine-in, catering, delivery, and any wholesale. A restaurant doing 25% of revenue from catering or delivery has meaningful protection against a slow dining room, which is exciting. If most revenue comes from covers, it's worth thinking through how exposed the business is to foot traffic, weather, and local competition. That's not necessarily a concern. It just means you'll want to factor it into your plan.
Kitchen Leadership and Staff Stability
Find out who runs the back of house and how long they've been there. A kitchen manager who's been running the line for three years and has recipes documented by weight is exactly what a smooth transition looks like. If the owner is the chef and no one else knows the menu, you'll want to think about how the food quality holds up after the transition. That's a solvable problem, but it helps to know about it early so you can plan for it.
Liquor License and Health Department History
Request the liquor license documents and ask about any violations or suspensions in the last three years. Also pull the health department inspection history. A clean license with a straightforward transfer path and inspection scores above 90 can give you real confidence heading into closing. If there are blemishes, they're worth understanding in context, since some issues resolve easily and others take more work.
Valuation
What Should You Expect to Pay?
2-3x
SDE
Owner-operated
3-6x
EBITDA
With management team
Restaurants span a wide range because owner dependency, lease quality, and revenue diversity each influence where a particular business lands.
What drives a premium
Multiple revenue channels: catering, delivery, or wholesale alongside dine-in
General manager and kitchen manager who run the operation without owner involvement
Clean liquor license with no violations and a clear path to transfer
Standardized recipes, prep lists, and opening/closing procedures that are written down
SBA Loan Calculator
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FAQ
Restaurants Business Acquisition
What should I look for when buying a restaurant?
Start with the lease, the kitchen leadership, and the revenue channels. A restaurant with favorable lease terms, a kitchen manager who runs the back of house, and revenue from catering or delivery in addition to dine-in gives you a strong foundation to build on. Browse restaurants for sale on Rejigg to see what's currently available.
How much does a restaurant cost?
Most single-location restaurants sell for 2 to 6 times annual profit. Owner-operated spots with the owner in the kitchen typically trade closer to 2 to 3x SDE. Restaurants with a management team in place and multiple revenue channels can reach 4 to 6x EBITDA. Use the SBA loan calculator to model what a deal at different multiples looks like for your down payment and monthly payments.
How do I evaluate a restaurant before buying?
Ask for three years of financials and request monthly P&Ls broken out by revenue channel. Look at POS data for daily sales trends, ticket averages, and day-of-week patterns. Walk the kitchen and note equipment condition, especially walk-in coolers, hoods, and ANSUL systems. Pull the health department inspection history and review the lease. Getting familiar with all of these early will help you feel confident about the earnings number.
What due diligence questions should I ask about a restaurant?
Ask: What are the lease terms, renewal options, and rent escalations? Who holds the liquor license and what's the transfer process? Is the owner in the kitchen, and who runs things when they're out? What's revenue by channel: dine-in, catering, delivery? What's the food cost percentage and how has it trended? How long has the kitchen manager been there? What's the equipment age and when was the hood last inspected? Are there any health department violations in the last three years?
Where can I find restaurants for sale?
Rejigg is built for small business acquisitions, including restaurants. You can browse restaurants for sale on Rejigg and connect directly with sellers without a broker in the middle. Listings include financial details and ownership information so you can focus on the deals that actually match what you're looking for.
How does the lease affect a restaurant acquisition?
The lease is one of the most important factors in a restaurant deal. You want enough remaining term to recoup your investment, renewal options you control, and a landlord who will consent to an assignment without repricing the rent. Ask to see the full lease document early, and find out whether there are any landlord approval requirements that could delay or complicate the close. A strong lease can make a good restaurant feel like a great deal, and a weaker one is worth understanding fully before you commit.
What does food cost percentage tell you about a restaurant?
Food cost as a percentage of revenue is one of the clearest indicators of operational discipline. Most healthy restaurants run food cost between 28% and 35%. If you see consistent numbers over three years, the kitchen is managing inventory and waste well. If food cost is all over the place or trending up, it's worth digging into whether recipes are standardized, who's ordering, and how inventory is being managed. That kind of variance can point to fixable issues, which could actually be an opportunity for a new owner.
