The Best Restaurant Business Loans of 2024 (2024)

Best Restaurant Business Loans

Best Restaurant Business Loans

Fora Financial is our top pick as the best overall choice for restaurant business loans because this lender offers restriction-free funds and 24-hour loan approvals combined with responsive customer service.

Fora Financial is a direct lender offering working capital for small business owners, including restaurateurs and food truck owners. Its application process is simple, with a one-page application and a quick approval process.

With a loan or merchant cash advance from Fora Financial, you can get $5,000 to $1.5 million for use within 72 hours after approval. The lender lets you pre-qualify for funds without affecting your credit score, and the one-page application is straightforward.

Both the loan and merchant cash advance comes with no restrictions on use with no collateral required. Fora Financial doesn’t rely solely on your credit score to make a determination. Instead, the lender looks at your restaurant’s revenue and years in business. The minimum requirements for funding are as follows:

• Six months in business
• A minimum of $15,000 gross monthly sales

Fora Financial provides flexible terms, giving you the option to choose a short-term, medium-term, or long-term loan. Short-term loans are up to 12 months. Medium-term loans are from 12 to 36 months. Long-term loans are three to 25 years. Or, if you opt for a merchant cash advance, you pay a percentage of your credit card transactions with no set terms.

Unfortunately, Fora Financial does not share information about interest rates or loan fees on their website. To get information on the cost of borrowing from them, you'll have to either begin the application process or contact customer service.

Once you’ve paid off at least 60% of your loan, you may qualify for additional funding. Fora Financial has a department dedicated to loan renewals, making it easy to get more cash. Fora Financial generally receives great reviews and responds to positive and negative ones alike.

Since roughly 90% of qualified applications referred to banks by SmartBiz get funded, SmartBiz is our pick as the best for getting a U.S. Small Business Association (SBA) loan.

SmartBiz partners with a network of banks to help you secure a loan through the SBA. Although SBA loans can be complex, the SmartBiz platform simplifies the process and connects you with the right lender for your financial situation.

Although SmartBiz specializes in SBA loans, you can also secure bank loans and alternative financing. After a five-minute pre-qualification process, you can select loan options, such as:

• SBA 7(a): $30,000 to $350,000 for working capital, equipment purchases, or refinancing existing business debt
• SBA Commercial Real Estate: $500,000 to $5 million for buying or refinancing 51% owner-occupied commercial real estate
• Bank term: $30,000 to $500,000 for debt refinancing, hiring employees, equipment, marketing, inventory, construction, and more
• Alternative: You can connect with lenders to secure invoice financing loans, credit cards, or business lines of credit with varying rates

SmartBiz offers a convenient sliding scale calculator and transparent fee structure, making it easy to see what you’ll pay before applying. Typical terms consist of:

• Interest rates for SBA loans: 11% to 12%
• Repayment terms: 10 years or 25 years (commercial real estate)
• Application fees: A one-time charge of up to $3,000
• SBA guarantee fee: Based on the loan amount, 0.00% to 3.75%
• Bank closing costs: Working capital loans cost $450

SBA loans usually take longer to process, but SmartBiz has optimized the process. Funds can arrive in your account as fast as seven days following approval. You can qualify for a loan if you’ve been in business for two years, earn enough monthly revenue to make payments, and don’t have any recent foreclosures or bankruptcies. You also must have at least a 650 credit score, among other requirements.

Crest Capital allows borrowers to spend less on upfront expenses with no hidden costs and a four-hour turnaround time for equipment financing under $250,000, making it the best for restaurant equipment financing.

Since 1989, Crest Capital has helped small to medium-sized businesses secure the equipment, vehicles, or software required to keep their company running. Unlike other lenders, Crest Capital fully funds 100% of your equipment costs plus covers soft fees, such as delivery and installation.

As a national lender, Crest Capital offers several types of equipment loans and leases. Plus, you can add an unrestricted working capital loan to any equipment funds. Your options include:

• Equipment finance agreement (EFA): A fixed-rate equipment loan
• Guaranteed purchase agreement (PUT): Either a fixed-rate loan or a loan with a balloon payment
• $1 purchase agreement: A lease that works like a loan; when it ends, you pay $1 to buy your equipment
• First amendment lease: You lease the equipment and, at predetermined points, you can renew or purchase the equipment
• 10% purchase option: A fixed monthly payment, and at the end of the lease, you can buy the equipment for 10% of its original value, renew, or return the equipment
• Fair market value (FMV) option: A low monthly lease payment, and you can renew, purchase, return, or upgrade equipment
• Operating lease: Equipment loans for items with strong aftermarket value

You can choose various plans for all of the above options, such as a line of credit, step-up payments, deferred payments, or seasonal payments. You can access an online calculator by inputting your email address or get an instant eligibility check. Requirements and terms consist of:

• 24- to 84-month term length
• $5,000 to $500,000 financing
• Up to 25% of the loan can be soft costs
• Must be in business for at least two years

The application process is simple, and the company allows the financing of used or new equipment. Furthermore, you can even purchase from a private party.

Fundbox is the best for surviving a slowdown because it provides a flexible line of credit that you can access when you need it and only pay for what you use.

Fundbox has at times offered invoice financing and term loans. However, the company now focuses on lines of credit. If you anticipate needing funds to get through a recession or cover out-of-season expenses, a flexible line of credit from Fundbox can help.

When business starts to slow, you may need funds to cover basic expenses until your revenue situation improves. However, you may not know how much money you’ll need and it can be risky to get a lump sum term loan that you can’t pay back. Fundbox offers simple borrower requirements, meaning even if you’re seeing a decrease in business, you can still qualify for a line of credit. Fundbox only requires “[three] months of transaction history in a business checking account.”

Once approved, you can draw funds at any time and the money gets transferred into your account as soon as the next business day. You only pay interest on the amount drawn, and each time you pay it off, you have access to the full line of credit again.

Fundbox is currently offering lines of credit with terms of 12 or 24 weeks. The 12-week term has an interest rate starting at 4.66%, and the 24-week term has an interest rate starting at 8.99%. The company says that these rates can vary by customer and over time.

With no restrictions on funds, you can use the money to survive a downturn and pay your loan off early without prepayment penalties.

ARF Financial allows borrowers to choose from four short-term loan options and receive funds within five days with no collateral required.

ARF Financial is a financial services company offering several unsecured loan options and flexible payment terms. Although ARF Financial lends to several industries, it focuses on food and beverage businesses. The ARF Financial experts work with you to find the terms for your needs.

With ARF Financial, you can secure a loan for up to $1 million. The total loan amounts are based on a percentage of your annual sales, and the company works with people who have credit scores of at least 551. Examples of loan amounts include:

• 12-month terms: 6% to 11% of annual sales
• 18-month terms: Up to 16.5% of annual sales
• 24-month terms: Up to 22% of annual sales
• 36-month terms: Up to 33% of annual sales

You may be able to get a loan even if you’ve only been in business for a few months. ARF Financial funds businesses, such as:

• Single unit restaurants
• Multi-unit restaurants, franchises, and quick service
• Bars and taverns
• Caterers
• Bakeries and cafes
• Specialty food shops
• Mall food outlets
• Gourmet food stores

Choose from loan terms of 12, 18, 24, or 36 months with lower interest rates for shorter loan terms. Interest rates start at 6%. Loan types include:

• Interest-only flex-pay loan: Interest-only payments are for up to one year, then you can pay off the principal or roll it over for up to two years.
• Flex pay loan: Defer up to 50% of your loan principal and get a renewable line of credit to use over six months.
• Working capital: A classic bank loan that can be used for a wide variety of purposes.
• Bridge loans: A bridge loan is a flexible line of credit that fills the gap in funds while you’re waiting on approval for a larger traditional or SBA loan.

Even with below-average or poor credit, you can get approved for a loan with Credibly, and same-day funding is possible.

Since 2010, Credibly has loaned more than two billion dollars to over 30,000 small to medium-sized enterprises. If your credit score doesn’t qualify you for a traditional loan, Credibly can help you get the money you need. The company works with business owners with scores as low as 500.

Most lenders require credit scores of 550 or higher to secure a loan. However, Credibly has minimal borrower requirements, meaning you only need a personal Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO) score of 500 to qualify. Moreover, the company considers the overall health of your business, so it doesn’t rely solely on your credit score.

However, a business line of credit requires a credit score of 650 and annual revenue of $240,000. Working capital loans are less stringent. You must be in business for six months and show a three-month average revenue of $15,000.

Loan amounts can be up to $400,000, and most business owners get funding the same day. You can choose from different loan types, such as:

• Working capital loan: Up to $400,000 and terms of six to 15 months
• Merchant cash advance: Up to $400,000
• Business expansion loan: Up to $250,000 and 18- or 24-month loan terms
• Business line of credit: Up to $300,000 and varying loan terms

Credibly charges a factor rate for working capital loans and merchant cash advances, starting at 1.11. Higher credit scores give you more favorable rates. You’ll also pay a one-time loan origination fee of 2.5% of the total loan amount that comes out of your loan balance.

As an alternative lender, Credibly offers other options through its partners, such as equipment loans or leases and long-term loans.

With Rapid Finance, you can secure a small business loan and get funds in your account on the same day.

Rapid Finance is a financial services company that funds loans and works with other providers to offer several funding types. Although many loans from other providers often take a few days to deliver funds, Rapid Finance can get money into your account within hours of approval.

Loan terms, interest rates, and factor rates are based on your credit score, the number of years in business, and monthly sales volume. You can choose from several loan options, such as:

• Small business loans: $5,001 to $1 million and three- to 60-month loan terms
• Line of credit: $5,001 to $250,000 and three- to 18-month terms
• Bridge loan: $5,001 to $1 million and three- to 60-month payment terms
• SBA loans: $500 to $5.5 million and one- to 30-year terms
• Invoice factoring: $20,000 to $10 million
• Asset-based loan: $50,000 to $10 million and six- to 36-month payment terms
• Commercial real estate: $75,000 to $2 million and five- to 20-year loan terms
• Merchant cash advance: $5,000 to $500,000 and flexible payment terms

All loans offer payments on an automatic daily, weekly, or monthly basis. To apply for a loan, you must have a business banking account, and show three months of income information. Although Rapid Finance doesn’t offer rate information online, it receives high ratings and responds to every review.

ApplePie Capital is a lending network that handles franchise companies exclusively. The provider partners with a group of various lenders, and doesn’t place restrictions on the funds, making the loans best for franchises.

When ApplePie Capital was founded, it only offered its ApplePie Core loan. However, it now provides equipment financing, SBA loans, conventional funding, and refinancing options. ApplePie features:

• Five- to 10-year payment terms
• Interest-only grace period
• No prepayment penalties
• Fixed and variable rate options
• A minimum of $100,000 for loans and $15,000 for equipment financing

Since ApplePie works with many different lenders, the rates vary and are dependent on factors, such as what the funds are used for, credit history, and type of loan. The company helps both existing and first time franchise business owners obtain financing. Requirements may be more strict for first timers.

When you start your application, you can type in the name of the franchise. If the franchise you want to buy doesn’t come up, you can email them to begin your application.