RESTAURANT & BAR BROKERAGE SERVICES

Ready to Sell Your Restaurant or Bar?

NO MATTER WHAT THE REASON...

Divorce
High Rent
Employee issues
Health Issues
Behind on rent
Want to retire
Just want to give up
No Family Time
Tired
Worn out
Want to move on
Not profitable
Cant pay yourself
No free time
Stressed
IF YOUR LIVING A NIGHTMARE, READY TO RETIRE, HAVE PERSONAL ISSUES OR MORE...
WE ARE HERE TO HELP YOU!

If you're serious about selling your restaurant, bar, or hospitality business, let’s start with a confidential consultation. We’ll review your business, discuss valuation options, and build a plan to get your business sold.

Contact us for a complimentary market evaluation of your business.

EXPERIENCE MATTERS!

Sell Your Arizona Restaurant or Bar with Confidence

At Arizona Restaurant & Bar Brokers YOUR IN GOOD HANDS. We specialize exclusively in the sale of restaurants, bars, hospitality and entertainment type businesses & associated properties exclusively throughout Arizona. With decades of hands-on experience in restaurant ownership, operations, and brokerage, we know how to value, position, and sell your business—confidentially and efficiently.

Experience Matters
When it comes to selling your restaurant or bar, experience isn’t just helpful—it’s essential. With a background in restaurant ownership, corporate management, and decades of business brokerage expertise, we understand this industry from the inside out. That depth of knowledge, combined with our creativity and negotiation skills, allows us to structure deals, overcome challenges, and keep transactions moving forward. As true deal makers, we know how to navigate every stage of the process and guide your sale to a successful close with confidence. WE ARE FOCUSED AND ONLY SELL RESTAURANTS, BARS, HOSPITALITY, ENTERTAINMENT BUSINESSES AND ASSOCIATED REAL PROPERTY.

If you're considering selling, understanding how your business will be evaluated and what buyers expect is critical. We're here to guide you every step of the way.

WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN SELLING A RESTAURANT OR BAR

There Are Only Two Ways to Sell a Restaurant or Bar

When it comes to restaurant and bar sales, there are two—and only two—valuation paths:

1. Cash Flow Sale (Top-Dollar Valuation)

If your business has strong financials and proven profitability, we can price it based on a multiple of the Seller’s Discretionary Earnings (SDE)—also known as Discretionary Cash Flow (DCF).

This method typically results in the highest sale value and attracts qualified buyers who are looking for solid returns.

What You'll Need to Qualify for a Cash Flow Sale:

Accurate and organized books & records
At least 3 years of tax returns
Proof of sales and consistent income

To take this path, you’ll need to have your house in order.

Serious buyers will want to see documentation that backs up your numbers.

Due Diligence: Be Ready to Show Everything

During the Due Diligence period, the buyer and their advisors will review every aspect of your business. This includes:

Financial reports and supporting documents
Payroll and labor details
Vendor contracts and payment histories
Lease terms and obligations
Operating procedures

If you want top dollar for your business, this is the process.
Preparation, transparency, and clean financial records are essential to maximizing your sale price.

2. Asset Sale (Also Known as a Key Money Deal)

If your restaurant or bar is breaking even, losing money, or your financials can’t be verified, the business will be sold as an asset sale—sometimes referred to as a "Key Money Deal." In this type of transaction, the buyer is not purchasing your income, but rather the opportunity, infrastructure, and location.

What the Buyer Is Actually Buying?

Buyers pursuing an asset sale are typically looking for a second-generation restaurant space—one that is fully built out and ready to convert into a new concept.

What they’re buying often includes:

Exhaust hood and ventilation systems
Grease trap and plumbing infrastructure
Electrical upgrades and lighting
Flooring, walls, restrooms, and HVAC
Existing fixtures, furniture, and equipment
Signage infrastructure
The lease itself

All of these elements carry real, intrinsic value, even if they don’t show up on a financial statement.

Why Key Money Is Justified?

To build a restaurant from scratch—starting with a cold shell—can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and take months of permitting and construction. When buying a fully equipped second-gen restaurant, a new operator avoids most of those delays and costs.

The Lease Has Real Value

Even if the buyer converts the concept, the existing lease has value. In most cases, the buyer is stepping into a below-market lease rate, or taking advantage of favorable terms that would be hard to negotiate today. Assigning your lease to the buyer is part of the value you're transferring, and in many deals, it's a key reason they move forward.

What the Buyer Still Has to Spend On?

Even when taking over a built-out space, buyers will need to invest in:

Cosmetic upgrades and renovations
New paint, branding, and design
Signage replacement
Menu development and rebranding
Permitting or license modifications

They understand this—and still see the value—because the hard costs of building from scratch have already been absorbed by you.

If your financials aren’t strong or provable, this is the model that gets deals done.
It’s not about what you made last year—it’s about what someone else can create with the foundation you’ve built.

There is no in-between. Your business is either a cash-flow-based sale or an asset-based sale.

Owner Financing is Common in Arizona Restaurant Sales

In today’s market, seller financing is customary in most restaurant and bar transactions. Many buyers are ready to invest but need flexible terms to make a deal work—especially because bank or SBA loans are seldom an option in restaurant sales.

We structure deals that protect you as the seller while giving qualified buyers a path forward. Owner carry terms can help you sell faster and for more money, especially when done strategically.

ITEMS REQUESTED OF SELLER FOR LISTING

The more information we have about your restaurant or bar prior to listing it for sale, the easier it will be to help represent you properly. All the items below help us as your broker and you as the seller to be sure the asking price is right and that we have all the information we need to be able to respond to questions from potential buyers. Getting this information at the beginning of the sales process ensures a smoother transaction and it assists us in providing timely information for due diligence purposes.

As your Broker, we will work with you and assist you to help organize and package your Restaurant or Bar for sale. Please remember, TRUST THE PROCESS!

Full transparency and integrity will help protect you, save you time, and help you sell faster.

· Name of legal entity, owner of the business.

· Last three years tax returns

· Current year to date Profit & Loss Statement and Balance Sheet

· Last 3 years Profit and Loss Statements

· Copy of real property lease

· Equipment list and copies of any equipment leases and list of items not included in sale (ie personal items, pool tables, vending machines, games etc.)

· Estimate of on-hand inventory of food, beverages, and supplies

· Trade name registration

· Liquor license information

· Number of seats

· Food to beverage mix

· Average check per person

· Organization chart and employee info, full time, part time

· Exterior and interior photos

· Information on POS system

· Grease trap location and size

· Electrical capacity

· HVAC information