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What is a restaurant worth?

Restaurants and food businesses that sold from 2021 to 2025 went for a median of 1.85x seller's discretionary earnings (SDE). The middle half sold for 1.34x to 2.53x. ^[1]

Last verified October 24, 2026

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What multiple do restaurants and food businesses sell for?

Lower quartile

1.34x

Median

1.85x

Upper quartile

2.53x

Times seller's discretionary earnings (SDE). Restaurants & food service, BizBuySell, sales 2021–2025; 8,692 sales.

SDE is the profit one owner takes out of the business: pre-tax profit plus one owner's pay and perks, interest, depreciation and one-time costs. How we calculate it.

What raises the value of restaurants and food businesses?

• Upper-quartile pricing goes with consistent financials, above-average revenue and earnings, growth potential, low owner involvement, a competitive advantage and seller financing (common to all BizBuySell benchmark pages). ^[2]

What lowers the value of restaurants and food businesses?

• Lower-quartile pricing goes with low sales volume, thin margins, full-time owner involvement and many competitors (common to all BizBuySell benchmark pages). ^[2]

What is the market for restaurants and food businesses like?

• About 6 of 10 We Sell Restaurants Q2 2026 closings were limited-service; franchise resales were 37.9% of its Q2 2026 closings (45.2% by June). No pricing. ^{[3, 4]}
• Q3 2026: restaurant median sale price $235,000, average cash-flow multiple 2.39x, 358 transactions (−4% QoQ, −23% YoY). ^[5]
• H1 2026 (We Sell Restaurants citing BizBuySell): average cash-flow multiple 'climbed to 2.41', sold-to-ask 90.3%, median sale price $205,000 (−11.8%). ^[4]

Which types of business does this cover?

Each type uses its own published quartiles where they exist; the rest use the broader category, and the table says which.

Low and high are the lower and upper quartiles: the middle half of sales. Figures are BizBuySell, businesses sold 2021–2025.

Full-service restaurants

Based on the broader category (Restaurants & food service): no published quartiles for full-service restaurants.

Value a full-service restaurants business

Limited / quick-service restaurants

Based on the broader category (Restaurants & food service): no published quartiles for limited / quick-service restaurants.

Value a limited / quick-service restaurants business

Franchise restaurants

Based on the broader category (Restaurants & food service): no published quartiles for franchise restaurants.

Value a franchise restaurants business

Bars, pubs & taverns

Based on the broader category (Restaurants & food service): no published quartiles for bars, pubs & taverns.

Value a bars, pubs & taverns business

Breweries

Based on the broader category (Restaurants & food service): no published quartiles for breweries.

Value a breweries business

Coffee shops & cafes

Based on the broader category (Restaurants & food service): no published quartiles for coffee shops & cafes.

Value a coffee shops & cafes business

Bakeries

Based on the broader category (Restaurants & food service): no published quartiles for bakeries.

Value a bakeries business

Donut shops

Based on the broader category (Restaurants & food service): no published quartiles for donut shops.

Value a donut shops business

Food trucks

Based on the broader category (Restaurants & food service): no published quartiles for food trucks.

Value a food trucks business

Catering

Based on the broader category (Restaurants & food service): no published quartiles for catering.

Value a catering business

Ice cream & frozen yogurt

Based on the broader category (Restaurants & food service): no published quartiles for ice cream & frozen yogurt.

Value a ice cream & frozen yogurt business

Juice bars

Based on the broader category (Restaurants & food service): no published quartiles for juice bars.

Value a juice bars business

How should you use these numbers?

Multiply your SDE by a multiple in the range to get a rough price for the business, not counting real estate. Where you land in the range depends on how much the business depends on you, how much revenue repeats, growth, customer concentration and the other factors in the calculator. Half of all sales land outside the quartile range, so a real deal can go higher or lower.

Where do these numbers come from?