How we make money: The Business Funding Club is a referral service, not a lender and not a broker. We refer businesses that ask for capital to ROK Financial. ROK and the lenders it matches you with make every funding decision. ROK pays us when a business we refer receives funding. It is free to you, and nothing here is an offer of credit. Read the full disclosure.

Illustration of a quiet restaurant kitchen line with ranges, cooler and pass lights

For restaurants and bars

Payroll and the food order are due this week. Saturday night's card sales are still settling.

A restaurant pays for food, labor and rent before guests sit down, and it runs on margins thin enough that one broken cooler shows up in the bank account. The Business Funding Club is a free referral club, not a lender. We send your request to ROK Financial. ROK and the lenders it matches you with review it and make every funding decision.

Start your application

A referral club, free to apply. ROK Financial and its lenders review every request and make all funding decisions. How we’re compensated.

Prefer to go straight to the funder? You can apply on ROK's own site. It carries our referral ID.

The math

The math

  1. BEFORE SERVICE

    You spend

    Food and beverage orders, prep labor and rent are paid before the doors open. More than 9 in 10 operators call food, labor, insurance, energy and swipe fees significant challenges[1].

  2. DURING SERVICE

    You sell

    Most guests pay with a card. Across all U.S. consumer payments in 2024, credit cards made up 35 percent and debit cards 30 percent by number[2]. Card sales reach your bank on your processor's schedule, not when the guest signs.

  3. NEXT WEEK

    You do it again

    The next food order and the next payroll are already due. This week's sales have to cover last week's bills and next week's at the same time.

The National Restaurant Association projects $1.55 trillion in restaurant and foodservice sales in 2026, yet 42 percent of operators said their restaurant was not profitable last year[1]. When margins are that tight, a timing gap or a surprise repair becomes a cash problem even in a good month. Financing the right piece of it, with the right structure, keeps the kitchen running while you grow.

By Marcus L. Barber, Publisher · Reviewed by Marcus before publishing · Updated · How we write and check facts

Where the money goes every week

Food service runs on a weekly clock. The U.S. has about 728,000 private food service and drinking place establishments, employing about 12.4 million people[3]. Average hourly earnings in the industry were $22.06 in August 2026, a preliminary figure[3]. Payroll does not wait for a slow Tuesday to pass.

  • Food and beverage purchases, often several deliveries a week
  • Payroll and payroll taxes
  • Rent and common-area charges
  • Card processing fees on most sales
  • Repairs on equipment that runs all day, every day

When kitchen equipment fails

Local health codes are built from the FDA Food Code, a model that local, state, tribal and federal regulators use to write their food safety rules[4]. In Yadkin County, North Carolina, for example, cold-holding equipment must keep food at 41°F or below at all times[5]. A walk-in that cannot hold temperature is not a repair you schedule for next quarter. It is product you may lose and a station you may have to shut down.

That is why equipment financing is its own category. It ties the payment to the cooler, the hood system or the dish machine, so the replacement does not drain the cash you need for food and payroll.

Buildouts, second locations, bars and breweries

Growth costs land long before a new room earns anything: construction, equipment, furniture, deposits, opening inventory and training payroll. Among small employer firms that applied for financing in the Federal Reserve's 2025 survey, 46 percent were pursuing an expansion or new opportunity[6].

SBA 7(a) loans can be used for working capital, machinery and equipment, furniture and fixtures, and buying or improving real estate[7]. SBA 504 loans cover buildings, land and long-term machinery with at least 10 years of useful life, but not working capital or inventory[8].

Breweries and brewpubs have an extra federal step. To brew beer for sale, you must first file a Brewer's Notice application with TTB, and brewers must have bond coverage before they begin brewing[9]. The brewhouse and the build are paid for well before the first pint is sold.

What ROK will want to see from a restaurant or bar

ROK's partner application lists at least 4 months in business and $10,000 or more in monthly gross sales, which is $120,000 a year[10]. A restaurant shows its health in its deposits, so bank statements are the core of the file.

  • Business bank statements showing card and cash deposits
  • Card processing statements, which show sales by month
  • Your lease, especially for a buildout or a second location
  • Equipment quotes with make and model for anything you plan to buy
  • For a new location: the build-out budget, contractor bid and opening timeline
  • Liquor license or Brewer's Notice status, if you serve or make alcohol
  • A list of current debts, including existing equipment financing

These are what lenders commonly review. ROK and its lenders decide what they need for your request and whether to fund it.

Know how you will repay

Working capital, sometimes called revenue-based financing, is often repaid from daily or weekly sales. That follows your sales up and down, but it also takes money out every day. Before you sign anything, ask for the total cost, how payments are collected, and what happens in a slow month.

Financing that fits this kind of gap

Which one fits your business, if any, is a conversation to have with ROK’s advisor once they have seen your file. These are the types that usually come up.

Common questions

Does The Business Funding Club lend to restaurants?

No. The Business Funding Club is a free referral club, not a lender or a broker. We send your request to ROK Financial. ROK and the lenders it matches you with review it and make every funding decision. ROK pays Digital Solomon, which runs the Club, when a referred business is funded. You never pay the Club anything.

Can I finance used restaurant equipment?

Ask ROK. It describes equipment financing as a loan or lease usable for almost any tangible business asset[12]. Whether a specific used range or walk-in works depends on the review. Have the seller's quote ready with the make, model, age and condition. With a lease, the lender holds ownership until the lease ends[12].

Can I get financing to open a second location?

You can apply for it. Bring the signed or proposed lease, the contractor's bid, a build-out budget, and bank and card statements from your current location. SBA 7(a) loans, for example, can cover real estate improvements, equipment, fixtures and working capital[7]. ROK and its lenders review the request and decide what fits.

Do bars and breweries fit?

Yes. The Club refers bars, taprooms, brewpubs and breweries along with restaurants. Breweries have a federal step first: you must file a Brewer's Notice application with TTB, and brewers need bond coverage before they begin brewing[9]. A reviewer will want to know where that stands, along with your state and local alcohol licenses.

My sales swing with the seasons. Is that a problem?

Seasonality is one input among several. What matters is that a reviewer can see your full year, not one slow month. Twelve months of bank statements and card processing statements show the pattern. ROK's partner application lists at least $10,000 in monthly gross sales, or $120,000 a year, as its minimum[10].

Sources

  1. Persistent Cost Increases and Enduring Demand Will Shape the Restaurant Industry in 2026 National Restaurant Association, checked October 16, 2026
  2. 2025 Findings from the Diary of Consumer Payment Choice Federal Reserve Financial Services, checked October 16, 2026
  3. Food Services and Drinking Places: NAICS 722 (Industries at a Glance) U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, checked October 16, 2026
  4. FDA Food Code U.S. Food and Drug Administration, checked October 16, 2026
  5. NC Food Code Yadkin County, North Carolina, checked October 16, 2026
  6. 2026 Report on Employer Firms: Findings from the 2025 Small Business Credit Survey Federal Reserve Banks, checked October 16, 2026
  7. 7(a) loans U.S. Small Business Administration, checked October 16, 2026
  8. 504 loans U.S. Small Business Administration, checked October 16, 2026
  9. Brewer's Notice Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (U.S. Treasury), checked October 16, 2026
  10. Business Financing application (ROK Financial partner page) ROK Financial, checked October 16, 2026
  11. Revolving Business Line of Credit ROK Financial, checked October 16, 2026
  12. Get Equipment Financing For Your Small Business ROK Financial, checked October 16, 2026

Before you start

What ROK looks for.

Stated plainly so you don’t spend time on a form that isn’t built for your business yet. These are the minimums ROK lists on its partner application. Meeting them is the starting line, not a decision.

  • 4 monthsminimum time in business
  • $10,000minimum monthly gross sales
  • U.S.based and operating

Credit history is one input among several. ROK reviews the whole picture: revenue, deposits, time in business, and what the money is for. What to have ready.

Start your application

A referral club, free to apply. ROK Financial and its lenders review every request and make all funding decisions. How we’re compensated.

Prefer to go straight to the funder? You can apply on ROK's own site. It carries our referral ID.

Plainly

What we are, and what we are not.

We are a referral club. We introduce small businesses to ROK Financial. That's the whole service, and it's free to you.

We are not a lender and not a broker. We don't fund anything, we don't quote figures, and we don't negotiate on your behalf. If someone tells you what your financing will look like before ROK has reviewed your file, that person is guessing.

We are paid by ROK, not by you. When a business we refer gets funded, ROK compensates us. You are never charged a membership fee or an application fee, by us or by anyone acting for us. Full disclosure here.