Guide · The best options, compared
What are the best business loans for restaurants in 2026?
By Alex Makowski Published
For a build-out or a second location, an SBA 7(a) loan is the cheapest if you have the time and the credit. For kitchen equipment, equipment financing. For a slow season, a line of credit set up in the fall, otherwise working capital or an advance whose payment falls with card sales. Keep fast money for bills that pay back in months.
In this guide
- 01Who made this list, and how it is ordered
- 02Six ways to fund a restaurant, cheapest first
- 03Which one for which restaurant problem
- 04Before a restaurant takes an advance
- Won't affect your credit
- Free, no obligation
- Up to $500K
01
Who made this list, and how it is ordered
Business Loans for America wrote this list. It is a broker paid by the funders in its network when a business it placed is funded, and it places four of the six options below. It does not place SBA loans or the financing your card processor offers, and the SBA loan is first on the list.
It compares kinds of funding, not named lenders, because we have no first-hand data on other companies' approvals or prices. The options are ordered by typical cost per year, cheapest first, and each row names the restaurant job it is built for: the cheapest product used for the wrong job is how restaurants overpay. Checked October 15, 2026.
02
Six ways to fund a restaurant, cheapest first
What it usually takes is the floor most providers use. Card sales help in every row, because they are daily, verifiable revenue, which is exactly what a bank discounts and a revenue-based funder reads.
| Option | Do we place it? | Best for in a restaurant | What it usually takes | Typical cost | Money arrives |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SBA 7(a) loan | No | A build-out, a second location, or buying a restaurant | Most SBA lenders look for a score of 650 or better and tax returns | SBA sets a ceiling on the rate; the lowest on this list | Four to eight weeks, when it goes well |
| Equipment financing | Yes | Walk-ins, ranges, hood systems, dish machines, POS terminals | Around 600, six months open, about $15,000 a month in deposits | High single digits to low teens on a strong file; high teens to twenties on a newer one | Two to five business days from a signed quote |
| Business line of credit | Yes | A slow season that comes back every year | Around 600 with non-bank providers and a year or two of clean statements | Interest on what you draw, for the days it is drawn | One to three days to open; draws the same or next day |
| Working capital loan | Yes | A one-off: a compressor, an insurance renewal, a tax bill | Six months of deposits; deposits count for more than the score | Interest commonly in the twenties to fifties a year, or a fixed factor | One to three business days |
| Card processor or POS platform financing | No | A quick amount you are already pre-approved for on your card volume | Card sales through that platform; the offer appears in your dashboard | A fixed fee repaid as a share of card sales; priced like an advance | Usually within a few business days of accepting |
| Merchant cash advance with a true holdback | Yes | Payroll and stock through a slow stretch, when the payment has to fall with sales | Card sales or steady deposits; some providers set no minimum score | A factor of 1.1 to 1.5 | One to three business days |
03
Which one for which restaurant problem
Each of these has its own guide, with the costs worked through.
| The problem | Usually fits | Why |
|---|---|---|
| The walk-in cooler died | Working capital for a repair; equipment financing for a new box | A repair is a one-off bill; a new unit secures its own financing |
| January to March runs 30 percent slower | A line of credit set up in the fall | Applied for in the fall, it is priced on your strong months, not the dip |
| Opening a second location | Equipment financing for the kitchen; a line or term loan for the build-out and ramp | The kitchen secures itself; the ramp is what second locations run out of |
| Closed by the health department | Working capital on your pre-closure deposits | Every closed day costs more than the repair |
| The POS went down for good | Equipment financing for terminals; working capital for the rest | Hardware finances as an asset; recovery work does not |
| The processor is holding a reserve | Working capital sized to the amount held | It is your money delayed, so the loan is repaid as it releases |
| A large catering job before the client pays | The client's deposit, then working capital for the rest | The deposit is free; borrow only the gap |
04
Before a restaurant takes an advance
Ask how it is repaid. Most advances written today are a fixed daily debit with a reconciliation clause, not a true holdback, even when they are sold as a share of sales. A fixed debit takes the same amount on a dead Tuesday in January as on a Saturday in June, and it falls only if you ask under that clause. If you want an advance because sales move, make sure the one you sign moves with them.
An offer from your card processor or POS platform is the same kind of product, repaid from your card batches for a fixed fee. It is convenient because you are already approved, which is the reason to get one outside offer and set the two totals side by side.
Never fund a build-out with an advance. A dining room that pays back over five years, paid for over six months of daily debits, is how restaurants with good sales end up taking a second and a third position.
Written by
Alex Makowski, Owner
Alex Makowski owns and runs Business Loans for America and has been placing funding for U.S. small businesses since 2021. Businesses he has worked with have secured $50M+ in financing across 1,200+ placements. He writes and reviews every guide on this site.
FAQ
Related questions.
- Can a new restaurant get a business loan?
- From about six months of card sales, most of the options here open up. Before that, equipment financing for the kitchen, where the equipment secures the loan, and an SBA lender for the opening itself are the realistic routes; an advance needs a sales history to read.
- What credit score does a restaurant need for a loan?
- It depends on the product: around 650 for most SBA lenders, around 600 for a line of credit or equipment financing, and no fixed minimum for many advances, which are underwritten on card sales and deposits.
- Is a merchant cash advance a good idea for a restaurant?
- For a short gap that sales will repay, with a true holdback or a reconciliation clause you can actually use, it can be. For equipment, a build-out, or a second advance on top of the first, no.
Guides
More on the best options, compared
For trucking
Truck financing, quick pay, factoring and working capital: which one for the truck, the slow broker, the rebuild.
For construction
Draw gaps, retainage, materials up front and the machines: what each should be funded with.
The fastest options
Nine ways to get money, by how soon it actually lands, and the days left in 2026 when it will not move.
With bad credit
Five options a score under 600 still opens, cheapest first, including the two we do not place.
Sources
- U.S. Small Business Administration — 7(a) loansThe SBA's primary business loan programme: the agency guarantees part of a loan a participating lender makes. An option we do not place.
- U.S. Small Business Administration — LoansFederal loan programmes, eligibility and what the SBA does and does not guarantee.
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Eleven questions, about two minutes. You see offers side by side and take one, or none.
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