Franchise funding by sector
Servers, a bar program and a full kitchen line: what funds each cost line in a casual dining franchise.
✓ 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
Already running a casual dining franchise and need capital? Merchant Fund Express funds existing full-service restaurant owners with business loans, merchant cash advances, revenue-based financing, lines of credit, equipment financing and working capital. We read the restaurant's card deposits, count royalty and ad fund drafts and tip-outs as normal costs, and size the payment after them. A complete file gets a same-day decision.
A casual dining unit carries more of everything. The staff list is long: servers, bartenders, hosts, bussers, line cooks, prep cooks, dishwashers and managers, often paid weekly with tips flowing through payroll. The bar is a separate inventory business with its own distributors, payment terms and shrink. The kitchen runs a full line of fryers, flat-tops, char-broilers, salamanders and reach-ins rather than a single assembly station. And the dining room is part of the product, so worn booths, tired lighting and a dated bar top show up in guest counts.
Average checks are higher and tables turn slower, so deposits arrive as fewer but larger card batches. Merchant Fund Express reads those deposits at the unit level, with royalty and advertising fund drafts subtracted first, and sizes funding on what is left after rent, payroll and existing positions. For the generic restaurant view, see restaurant funding.
| Cost line | Timing | What fits |
|---|---|---|
| Front and back of house payroll | Weekly or biweekly, every period | Franchise payroll funding or a line of credit |
| Liquor, beer and wine inventory | Distributor terms, often cash on delivery | Inventory funding or a line draw |
| Fryers, char-broilers, flat-tops, hood work | Failure or planned replacement | Equipment financing on the quote |
| Walk-in and bar coolers | Compressor failure | Refrigeration funding |
| Dining-room and bar remodel | Franchisor-scheduled refresh or lease renewal | Remodel funding: term loan for Tier 1, working capital otherwise |
| Royalty and ad fund drafts | Recurring | Counted before sizing |
We have not yet published brand pages for casual dining concepts, and that changes nothing for an owner who is already open. Merchant Fund Express reviews any operating full-service franchise on the same items: the unit's card deposits over about 3 months, the royalty and ad fund drafts, payroll size and frequency, the bar program's distributor payments, and any existing positions on the account.
Name the brand on the application so the reviewer recognizes the drafts and any franchisor-scheduled refresh you mention.
Suppose a hypothetical casual dining unit deposits $210,000 a month. Royalty and ad fund drafts, rent, and an existing equipment payment take $41,000. The owner has a $120,000 contractor bid for a dining-room and bar refresh and a $28,000 quote for a fryer bank with new filtration.
Figures in this example are illustrations of the arithmetic, not an offer, quote or approval. Real terms depend on the file and the funder.
Each restaurant entity is read on its own account. If one LLC runs three restaurants from one operating account, that account is one file; if each unit has its own LLC, each is reviewed on its own deposits. A group can request funding for a weaker unit's remodel, but the unit carrying the payment needs the deposits to support it. Merchant Fund Express explains the structure choices on multi-unit franchise funding.
Existing positions are counted. A line of credit can sit in second position; a term loan needs first. A new structure can lower a heavy daily payment instead of stacking another on top. Terms depend on the business's revenue and history.
No tax returns for a typical first review; full financials usually only above $250,000. The application takes about 5 minutes. Opening a first restaurant needs an operating history; see opening a restaurant franchise.
Yes. Merchant Fund Express funds operating full-service restaurants from $25,000 to $5,000,000, sized on the unit's deposits after royalty, ad fund and existing obligations.
Yes. Liquor, beer and wine stock is a normal purpose. A line of credit suits recurring buys; working capital suits a one-time stocking.
Card tips settle with the batch and are paid out through payroll, so the review reads the batch and the payroll together rather than counting tips as profit.
Yes. They are often split: equipment financing for the line on the quote, and a term loan or working capital for the build-out from the contractor bid.
Scores from 500 are considered, 600 or higher opens better offers, and Tier 1 term loans and lines look for 650 or higher with 3 or more years in business.
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.
