2.7× The typical quick service restaurant for sale in the US asks 2.7 times its yearly cash flow.
We read 187 quick service restaurants listed for sale on a major online marketplace and compared each asking price with the cash flow its seller reported.
The findings in eight sentences.
- The middle half of quick service restaurants ask between 2.1 and 3.4 times their yearly cash flow.
- Quick service restaurants ask more than the typical business for sale, which asks 2.6 times.
- The typical asking price for a quick service restaurant is $350,000.
- Measured against revenue, the typical quick service restaurant asks 0.4 times its yearly sales.
- 18% of quick service restaurants for sale offer seller financing, against 22% overall.
- 32% of owners who say why they're selling are moving on to other businesses or interests, and 16% are retiring.
- 23% of quick service restaurants for sale show no revenue, cash flow or EBITDA, against 18% overall.
- 14% of the quick service restaurants for sale are listed in California, 11% in New York and 9% in Texas.
Of the food and drink industries, quick service restaurants ask the most.
Korean restaurants ask the least, 1.7 times their yearly cash flow.
- Quick service restaurants: median 2.7×, middle half from 2.1× to 3.4×
- Bars, pubs and nightclubs: median 2.6×, middle half from 2.1× to 3.4×
- Cafes, bakeries and delis: median 2.5×, middle half from 1.9× to 3.3×
- Restaurants: median 2.3×, middle half from 1.7× to 3.0×
- Catering companies: median 2.3×, middle half from 1.8× to 2.9×
- Mediterranean restaurants: median 2.1×, middle half from 1.6× to 2.7×
- Korean restaurants: median 1.7×, middle half from 1.4× to 2.2×
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65% of quick service restaurants ask between two and four times their yearly cash flow.
21% ask less than two, and 14% more than four.
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Bigger quick service restaurants ask less for each dollar of cash flow.
The typical ask is 2.8 times below $100,000 of yearly cash flow and 2.5 times at $100,000 to $250,000.
- Under $100k: median 2.8×, middle half from 2.0× to 3.3×
- $100k to $250k: median 2.5×, middle half from 2.0× to 3.1×
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What a quick service restaurant like yours would ask.
The middle half of similar listings ask
$277,000 to $439,000
The typical one asks $353,000, 2.5× its yearly cash flow.
Based on quick service restaurants with $100k to $250k of yearly cash flow. These are asking prices, not sale prices or appraisals.
After the close.
We write the software a newly bought business runs on, one process at a time, such as quoting, scheduling or billing, and the new owner keeps the code. How we work with buyers and operating partners.
The data.
We read the listings on September 24, 2026, and their full details from September 25 to 30, 2026.
Questions
What multiple of cash flow do quick service restaurants sell for?
Quick service restaurants listed for sale in the US ask a median 2.7 times their yearly cash flow (seller's discretionary earnings), and the middle half ask between 2.1 and 3.4 times. Sale prices usually come in lower.
How much does it cost to buy a quick service restaurant?
The typical quick service restaurant for sale asks $350,000, and the middle half ask between $199,000 and $596,000. Sale prices usually come in lower.
How many quick service restaurants for sale offer seller financing?
18% of quick service restaurants for sale offer seller financing, against 22% overall.
What multiple of revenue do quick service restaurants ask?
The typical quick service restaurant for sale asks 0.4 times its yearly sales, and the middle half ask between 0.3 and 0.6 times.
Why are quick service restaurants for sale?
32% of owners who give a reason are moving on to other businesses or interests. 17% are relocating, and 16% are retiring.
How we did it
We read every listing on a major US online marketplace for businesses for sale on September 24, 2026, and went back to each one from September 25 to 30, 2026 for its full details. This page covers the 187 established quick service restaurants among them. 101 show both an asking price and a cash flow, and 100 of those are left after the exclusions below.
Older listings use a flat list of named categories, and newer ones a two-level list whose subcategories have no names. A listing without its own photo shows its category's default photo. Each default photo almost always shows up in a single newer subcategory, so each named category joins the subcategory where its photo appears.
A multiple is the asking price divided by the seller's discretionary earnings the listing reports. We left out multiples below 0.3 or above 20, and listings whose price includes the property. Prices and cash flows on this page come from the listings with a multiple. These are asking prices, and a business usually sells for less than it asks. The full method.
Cite this page
Fulkerson Advisors (2026). What quick service restaurants for sale ask. From What Small Businesses for Sale Ask: 39,587 US Listings, September 2026. https://www.fulkersonadvisors.com/research/small-business-multiples/quick-service-restaurants
Use any of these numbers or charts. Credit Fulkerson Advisors and link to this page. The data is under a CC BY 4.0 license.