Shorerock Loans, a small-business funding service in Marietta, Georgia, explains restaurant financing for Cobb County kitchens: equipment loans, lines of credit, buying a restaurant and bar funding, with Census Bureau counts for the county's restaurants.
At a glance
- Full-service restaurants, Cobb County, GA
602 employers, 15,606 employees (CBP 2023)
- Limited-service restaurants
751 employers, 13,716 employees (CBP 2023)
- Restaurants with a ZIP 30060 address
44 full-service, 56 limited-service (ZBP 2023)
Restaurant Loans in Marietta, GA
Restaurants employ many people for each location. Cobb County's 602 full-service restaurants had 15,606 employees and $412.9 million in payroll in 2023, and its 751 limited-service restaurants had 13,716 employees and $271.8 million (County Business Patterns). Only 21.8% of full-service restaurants had fewer than five employees, compared with 58.6% of all county employers.
For a kitchen, the funding expenses are equipment, food and payroll, and the timing is short: deliveries are paid in days, while a slow week shows up in the next payroll.
Bar and Restaurant Loans for Cobb County, GA Businesses
Cobb County had 22 bars (drinking places) with payroll in 2023. A bar or a restaurant with a bar adds a deep beverage inventory, coolers and draft systems, and an alcohol license that must be current. Funding partners may ask to see that license; licensing questions belong with the issuing office and counsel.
Restaurant Equipment Loan Around Marietta, GA
- Hood and fire suppression systems
- Walk-in coolers and freezers
- Ranges, ovens, fryers and dish machines
- Point-of-sale terminals
Each can be financed with the item as security through equipment financing, new or used. A used kitchen line from a closing restaurant can cost less, but ask for the service records first.
Restaurant Line of Credit: How It Works in Marietta, GA
A line covers the weeks when food costs and payroll run ahead of sales, and pays down when sales recover. If the balance never comes down, the line is masking a larger problem that a single loan will not fix either. A restaurant taking card payments may be offered a merchant cash advance; it is a purchase of receipts, not a loan, and its total cost should be compared with a line's.
Loan to Buy a Restaurant
A purchase is a term loan use. The partner reads the seller's sales by month, food and labor costs, the lease and its remaining term, and the condition of the equipment. The restaurant purchase article sets out the steps and the questions to ask a seller.
Restaurant Business Loans: What Cobb County, GA Owners Compare
| Expense | Compare | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| A walk-in cooler | Equipment loan or lease | Service history if used |
| Payroll in a slow month | Working capital or a line | Daily or weekly payments |
| Buying the restaurant | Term loan | Lease assignment and remaining term |
| A short gap with card sales | Merchant cash advance or a short loan | Total remitted in dollars |
A food-cost week, worked through
Illustration only, invented figures: a 60-seat restaurant spends $9,500 a week on food and $16,000 on payroll and takes $27,000 a week in sales. A $12,000 hood repair in a week when sales drop to $21,000 leaves a gap of $16,500 that week (our arithmetic: $9,500 + $16,000 + $12,000 - $21,000). The repair suits equipment financing; the remainder suits a short working capital product.
Cobb County, GA kitchens by the Census Bureau's 2023 count
Full-service and limited-service restaurants together number 1,353 employers (our sum of two Census codes, 2023). By our arithmetic, full-service restaurant payroll averaged $26,458 per employee, a figure that includes part-time staff. The wider accommodation and food services sector had 1,773 employers and 35,795 employees.
Related: merchant cash advances explained, working capital for payroll, county figures on the Marietta, GA page, and every line of work on the industries page.
Lease terms a Cobb County, GA restaurant should read before borrowing
- Remaining term and renewal options: a partner may compare them with the funding term
- Assignment clause: needed if you ever sell
- Who owns the hood, walk-in and fixtures at lease end
- Personal guarantee on the lease
- Rent increases and shared costs
If the lease ends before the funding does, expect a partner to ask how the restaurant will continue.
Records a partner reads for a kitchen request
Point-of-sale sales reports by month, card processing statements, bank statements, food and labor cost reports, and the equipment quote. Health inspection results are public and may be checked too.
Counter-service kitchens and franchise units
Limited-service restaurants, which include counter-service and many franchise units, numbered 751 employers in Cobb County in 2023, with 13,716 employees. A franchise unit's request also involves the franchise agreement, which may set remodel schedules and equipment standards that shape the funding.
Who decides on a kitchen request
A funding partner reviews the request and decides; Shorerock matches the request with partners and passes on their questions. Accepting an offer is the owner's call.
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