2.3× The typical restaurant for sale in the US asks 2.3 times its yearly cash flow.
We read nearly 6,100 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 restaurants ask between 1.7 and 3.0 times their yearly cash flow.
- Restaurants ask less than the typical business for sale, which asks 2.6 times.
- The typical asking price for a restaurant is $325,000.
- Measured against revenue, the typical restaurant asks 0.4 times its yearly sales.
- 20% of restaurants for sale offer seller financing, against 22% overall.
- 35% of owners who say why they're selling are retiring.
- 24% of restaurants for sale show no revenue, cash flow or EBITDA, against 18% overall.
- 15% of the restaurants for sale are listed in California, 13% in Florida and 7% in Texas.
Of the food and drink industries, restaurants ask less than most.
Quick service restaurants ask the most, 2.7 times their yearly cash flow, and Korean restaurants the least, 1.7 times.
- 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×
fulkersonadvisors.com
53% of restaurants ask between two and four times their yearly cash flow.
37% ask less than two, and 10% more than four.
fulkersonadvisors.com
Restaurants ask 2.2 to 3.0 times at each size.
The typical ask is 2.5 times below $100,000 of yearly cash flow, 2.2 times at $100,000 to $250,000, 2.4 times at $250,000 to $500,000, 2.8 times at $500,000 to $1 million and 3.0 times at $1 million to $2 million.
- Under $100k: median 2.5×, middle half from 1.8× to 3.4×
- $100k to $250k: median 2.2×, middle half from 1.6× to 2.8×
- $250k to $500k: median 2.4×, middle half from 1.8× to 3.0×
- $500k to $1M: median 2.8×, middle half from 2.3× to 3.6×
- $1M to $2M: median 3.0×, middle half from 1.0× to 4.0×
fulkersonadvisors.com
What a restaurant like yours would ask.
The middle half of similar listings ask
$239,000 to $422,000
The typical one asks $326,000, 2.2× its yearly cash flow.
Based on 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 restaurants sell for?
Restaurants listed for sale in the US ask a median 2.3 times their yearly cash flow (seller's discretionary earnings), and the middle half ask between 1.7 and 3.0 times. Sale prices usually come in lower.
How much does it cost to buy a restaurant?
The typical restaurant for sale asks $325,000, and the middle half ask between $195,000 and $599,000. Sale prices usually come in lower.
How many restaurants for sale offer seller financing?
20% of restaurants for sale offer seller financing, against 22% overall.
What multiple of revenue do restaurants ask?
The typical restaurant for sale asks 0.4 times its yearly sales, and the middle half ask between 0.3 and 0.5 times.
Why are restaurants for sale?
35% of owners who give a reason are retiring. 27% are moving on to other businesses or interests, and 14% are relocating.
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 6,083 established restaurants among them. 2,992 show both an asking price and a cash flow, and 2,754 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. Listings filed as American restaurants, pizza restaurants, miscellaneous restaurant and bars, sushi and Japanese restaurants, Italian restaurants, Mexican restaurants, Chinese restaurants, Indian restaurants, Thai restaurants, diners and Vietnamese restaurants are on this page.
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 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/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.