Franchise funding by sector

Burger and Drive-Thru Franchise Funding

Drive-thru lanes, grills and overnight shifts: the cost lines of a burger unit and the product that fits each.

Check Funding Options for My Franchise Call (305) 384-8391

✓ Merchant Fund Express starts with a soft credit pull. Terms depend on your business's revenue and history.

Updated October 21, 2026 · Merchant Fund Express

The short answer

Already running a burger or drive-thru franchise and need capital? Merchant Fund Express funds existing owners with business loans, merchant cash advances, revenue-based financing, lines of credit, equipment financing and working capital. High-volume card deposits, long operating hours and franchisor-scheduled refreshes are exactly what we read, with royalty and ad fund debits counted as normal costs.

What makes a burger unit different to fund?

A burger restaurant is usually the highest-volume, longest-hours unit in quick service. The drive-thru may carry most of the sales, the kitchen runs grills, fryers and holding cabinets for sixteen hours or more, and labor covers breakfast through late night. Many owners hold several units, often in separate entities, and the brand asks for periodic image refreshes on a schedule.

Merchant Fund Express treats those as the normal shape of the business. A big refresh is a planned project with a contractor bid; a dead fryer on a Saturday is an urgent repair; a long payroll week is a timing gap. Each has its own product.

Burger unit money map

Cost line	Timing	What fits
Image refresh or remodel	Franchisor-scheduled, with bids	Term loan or remodel funding
Drive-thru tech: timers, headsets, boards	Rollouts across units	POS and tech upgrades
Grills, fryers, holding cabinets	Failure or planned replacement	Equipment financing
Overnight and weekend labor	Weekly or biweekly	Payroll funding or a line of credit
Beef, fries and paper goods	Several deliveries a week	Inventory funding
Lot, lane or canopy repair	Unplanned	Merchant cash advance for speed

Which burger and drive-thru brands have funding pages?

Brand pages are being added across the sector. Every operating burger or drive-thru franchise can apply today, listed or not, and the review reads the same things for every concept.

How does Merchant Fund Express read a multi-unit burger group?

Each LLC is reviewed on its own statements; the applying entity must match the account name.
Unit deposits are read monthly, so a slow week at one lane does not define the file.
Royalty, ad fund and rent are counted for each unit before any new payment is sized.
Existing equipment notes and advances across the group are counted; a new structure can lower the combined payment.
A group above $250,000 in requests usually sends full financials.

More on group structures: multi-unit owners and units in separate LLCs.

Which product fits which burger owner?

Open 3+ years, FICO 650+, no current advance: a term loan for the refresh, with weekly payments and 0% origination.

Strong unit, repeat timing gaps: a line of credit from $10,000 to $350,000, with a 2.49% fee per draw and interest only on what is drawn.

Six months to three years open, card-heavy: a merchant cash advance or revenue-based financing, sized on deposits.

Credit challenges: scores from 500 are considered; see franchise funding with credit challenges.

Already carrying an advance: positions are counted, and the new structure can lower the payment.

Terms depend on the business's revenue and history. The point of the list above is to match the product to the job, so a ten-year refresh is not paid for with daily debits, and an urgent fryer is not stuck waiting on a project timeline.

A hypothetical refresh-year budget

Illustration only. A three-unit owner has one store due for a refresh with a $140,000 bid. The store deposits about $1,500,000 a year and has been open five years, with no current advances.

The term loan is capped at 15% of annual revenue: 15% x $1,500,000 = $225,000, so the $140,000 bid fits under the cap and the $250,000 maximum.
Weekly payments over 18 months, debited on a weekday chosen away from the royalty draft.
Downtime reserve: a $20,000 line-of-credit draw to cover payroll during the closure days, repaid when the store reopens.

Figures in this example are illustrations of the arithmetic, not an offer, quote or approval. Real terms depend on the file and the funder.

What should a burger unit owner send?

3 months of bank statements for each entity in the request

The contractor bid or equipment quote

A schedule of existing loans, advances and equipment notes

Which entity owns which unit, plus the brand name

Then apply; the form takes about five minutes. Opening a first unit instead? Read existing vs new.

Common questions

Does Merchant Fund Express fund burger franchise owners?

Yes. Merchant Fund Express funds operating burger and drive-thru units with business loans, MCAs, revenue-based financing, lines of credit, equipment financing and working capital.

Can I fund a franchisor-scheduled refresh?

Yes. A term loan with weekly payments fits a refresh with a contractor bid, within the 15% of annual revenue cap. Larger projects can combine products.

Can I fund drive-thru technology across several units?

Yes. Equipment financing or working capital can cover a rollout; each unit's entity is read on its own statements.

Are long operating hours a problem?

No. Labor across long hours is a normal cost. The review reads deposits and obligations, not the schedule.

What if my brand has no page yet?

Apply anyway. Any operating burger or drive-thru franchise can apply; name the brand in the application.

How fast can a burger unit be funded?

Merchant Fund Express gives a same-day decision on a complete file, and funding often lands the next business day.

Apply with Merchant Fund Express

Merchant Fund Express reviews your location's revenue, deposits and existing payments. Same-day decision on a complete file; funding often the next business day. About five minutes to apply.

Check Funding Options →