Restaurants are the highest-velocity category in business brokerage — more deals, more buyers, and more variance than anywhere else on Main Street. The economics live in three documents that never appear on the menu: the lease, the license, and the payroll register.
Wide-banded starting ranges from the same table our free valuation calculator uses — a broker review narrows them after seeing real financials:
| Segment | Typical range | What moves it |
|---|---|---|
| Full-service restaurant | 1.5× – 2.5× SDE | Lease quality + liquor license type drive variance. |
| Quick-service / franchise | 1.75× – 2.75× SDE | Quick-service / franchise units; franchise brand strength drives band. |
Term remaining, renewal options, assignment rights, and rent as a percentage of sales decide whether a buyer can finance the purchase at all. A strong operation on a two-year lease tail is a hard sale; a modest one with ten years of options and market rent is financeable.
In Florida, the liquor-license class materially changes both the buyer pool and the price. A transferable full-liquor license is an asset with its own market; a beer-and-wine license is a feature. Know which one the valuation is standing on.
POS exports that tie to bank deposits and filed returns are what buyers and lenders underwrite. Cash sales that never met a ledger may have felt like margin at the time — at sale, they are simply value that cannot be counted.
The triangle either closes or it doesn't. Where it doesn't, price only what's provable — lenders will.
Assignment consent, personal-guarantee expectations, and any redevelopment plans for the center are deal-shaping facts only the landlord can confirm.
Hood systems, grease traps, equipment age, and the health-inspection record are the capital-expenditure forecast. The dining room is staged for you; the kitchen is the truth.
Full-service restaurants commonly trade around 1.5–2.5× SDE and quick-service/franchise units around 1.75–2.75× SDE, with lease quality, license type, and brand strength driving the variance. Only provable sales — POS records that tie to deposits and returns — are underwritten. The free valuation calculator provides a personalized starting range.
Often, but the license is its own transfer with its own rules and timeline, and in some cases its own market value. Confirming license class, transferability, and the regulator's timeline early keeps the license from becoming the closing bottleneck.
ALBEO FL LLC d/b/a Albeo Business Advisors · FL Lic. CQ1075604