Bridge the winter
Two months cannot support a fixed payment. Draw for rent and payroll in January, then repay out of spring.
- Draw in JanuaryRent and payroll
- Repay by MaySpring covers it
- Avoid fixed termsWinter cannot carry
Industriesrestaurants
Business Funding for Restaurants & Food Service
Capital that survives a five percent margin.
One place for operators to run prime cost, size a break-even service, and see which financing structure fits the next move, from a dead walk-in on a Friday night to a second dining room.
No hard credit pull to start. No applicant fees. Independent business capital advisors.
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Start with the move
What restaurants use business funding for
Pick one and the calculator below changes to the question that move actually asks.
Run the numbers first
Prime cost calculator
Cost of goods plus every dollar of labour, against sales. It is the only part of a restaurant P&L you can move this month, and the second number here says what one point of it is worth.
$145,000
Net of comps and discounts. Exclude sales tax.
$47,000
What you used this month, not what you ordered. Bar and wine belong here too.
$41,500
Every wage and salary, front and back, including your own draw.
$8,000
Employer taxes, workers comp and benefits. Leaving these out is the usual error.
$12,250
Base rent, common area maintenance, property tax and property insurance.
Projection
Prime cost
At these figures, prime cost comes out at 66.6%.
Prime cost
66.6%
Base, example figures- One point monthly
- $1,450
- One point annually
- $17,400
Full breakdown
- Prime cost dollars
- $96,500
- Cost of goods
- 32.4%
- Total labour, loaded
- 34.1%
- Occupancy
- 8.4%
- After prime, occupancy
- $36,250
- Share of sales
- 25%
Key insights
- Prime cost runs from 132.2% to 44.3% as monthly sales moves from $73,000 to $218,000.
- Prime cost falls as monthly sales rises.
Nothing you type here leaves your browser
Every figure is worked out on this page. No input is sent anywhere, stored, or attached to you.
Every figure here is yours to check
It runs on the numbers you entered and nothing else, so you can rebuild any line of it by hand.
Talk to a funding specialist
A real conversation about what these numbers mean before you apply to anything.
What this model leaves out An estimate from your own inputs, not an offer or a projection.Read the full note
Payroll tax and benefits sit in a different part of the P&L from wages, which is why they get left out, and leaving them out is the usual reason an operator quotes a prime cost several points lower than the real one. Rent is not part of prime cost, but it decides what prime cost has to leave behind. Read one point of prime cost as the size of the prize: shaving a single point is worth that much every month, and that much times twelve every year. No benchmark band is shown beside any of this on purpose, because the food cost and labour cost bands that circulate in this industry have no named publisher behind them. Compare yourself to your own last six months instead. Anything left after prime cost and occupancy is what has to cover everything else, including any payment you are about to take on.
Typical restaurant funding requests
- $15K-$250KTypical request range
What we actually structure for this industry. Your amount depends on the file.
- 8Structures we place
Equipment, line of credit, term, SBA, asset-based, receivables, revenue-based, and a business HELOC.
- $0Cost to ask
No applicant fees and no hard credit pull to start. Funding partners set final terms.
The numbers
What this industry runs on.
Unless noted: National Restaurant Association ·
- ~5%Typical pre-tax profit margin
- 42%Operators reporting no profit in 2025
- Up 36%Total operating expenses since 2019
- Up 35%Average wholesale food prices since 2019
- Up 41%Average hourly earnings, restaurant employees
- Food ~33%, labour ~33%, other ~29%What a restaurant P&L looked like before 2020
- 3.6% in 2026Food away from home, forecast price changeUSDA Economic Research Service, Food Price Outlook ·
- $1.55TProjected US industry salesNational Restaurant Association, State of the Restaurant Industry ·
- 7 in 10Single-unit operationsNational Restaurant Association, national statistics ·
- 0.73% of value, plus $0.34Debit card interchange, all transactionsFederal Reserve, Regulation II average debit card interchange fees ·
The cash year
Restaurant seasonality and cash-flow gaps
Restaurant Seasonality Timeline
Two weak months, a long trading season, and a December that flatters. Plan the payment around all three.
Seasonal pattern
- Lower
- Building
- Stronger
Winter troughRent and payroll on the weakest sales
Patio season opensTraffic returns before cash does
Patio to partiesPeak revenue and peak payroll together
- JAN
- FEB
- MAR
- APR
- MAY
- JUN
- JUL
- AUG
- SEP
- OCT
- NOV
- DEC
December misleads
Party deposits and gift cards are cash now and food, labour and service later. It is the least honest week of the year.
- Separate depositsNot yet earned
- Judge the yearDecember flatters
- Reserve for JanuaryThe service lands
Buy in October
October is the cheapest month to work on the building. Three quarters of trading sit behind you, the holidays ahead.
- Start payments OctoberHolidays fund them
- Service the lineBefore summer heat
- Skip May purchasesSummer is committed
This is a typical full-service year. A tourist room, a campus room and a neighbourhood room each run a different one.
Funding products
What actually gets placed for restaurants.
Monthly
The Restaurant Capital Brief
Once a month: what the cost base is actually doing, what structures are being written for operating restaurants, and the compliance changes worth knowing about. No pitch, unsubscribe in one click.
Reading
Restaurant funding guides and comparisons
Everything we have published for restaurants, newest first. 6 pieces in total. Narrow it to the shelf you need, or read straight down the list.
- MCA vs. Equipment Financing: Which Fits?Compare MCA and equipment financing by cost, speed, collateral, payment size, and qualification to see which structure fits an equipment purchase.Updated Sep 11, 2026
- Equipment Financing Without Draining CashHow equipment financing works, illustrative rates and terms, how to qualify, and when it beats leasing, a term loan, or paying cash.Jul 9, 2026
- Business Line of Credit: How It WorksHow a business line of credit works, what it costs, who qualifies, and when a revolving line beats a term loan or an advance.Jul 1, 2026
- Every Way to Fund a Small Business, ComparedTerm loans, SBA, lines of credit, equipment, factoring, revenue-based funding, cards, and MCAs compared. When each fits, and when it does not.Jun 2, 2026
- How to Prepare Your Business for Fast FundingThe document checklist, revenue benchmarks, and what underwriters actually look at, so you can prepare before you apply for fast funding.Apr 5, 2026
- Revenue-Based Funding vs. Traditional LoansAn honest side-by-side of revenue-based funding and term loans: cost, speed, qualification, and when each option makes sense for your business.Apr 1, 2026
Disclosure
Figures on this page are illustrative estimates only and are not an offer of financing. All amounts, rates, factor rates, terms, payment amounts, timelines, and qualification criteria vary by lender, depend on funder underwriting and your business's bank statement history, and are subject to change without notice. Nothing here is guaranteed until a funder issues terms and you sign them. Factor rates do not represent APR. Commera is a broker, not a lender, and does not set rates.
Local market guides
restaurants funding by location
Compare local demand, operating costs, cash timing, and funding considerations in the markets where we have dedicated guidance.
Common questions
Restaurant funding questions, answered straight.
The questions owners ask before they apply, answered for restaurants.
Yes. Funders underwrite the pattern, not a single slow month. Revenue-based funding flexes with daily sales, so a quiet February costs less to service than a busy July. Show 4 months of statements that include a slow stretch; a documented seasonal dip is normal and rarely disqualifying on its own.
Typically 50-150% of average monthly deposits, which for most independents lands between $25K-$500K. Card volume, months open, and existing advances set where in that band a file falls. Final amounts come from the funder after underwriting.
Not by itself. Revenue-based options start around 500 FICO because they weigh deposit consistency more heavily than personal credit. Score still affects price, so a 550 file and a 700 file with identical revenue will see different factor rates.
Equipment replacement, a build-out or second location, inventory ahead of a busy season, payroll through a slow stretch, and marketing. Funders care that the use produces revenue or protects it, not that it fits a category.
First options typically come back within 24 hours of a complete file, and funds commonly wire 24-48 hours after you accept. Equipment financing and SBA-backed routes take longer, often several weeks, and cost less.
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