A restaurant remodel is not working capital. Working capital is payroll, food, and the merchant cash advance that is eating Saturday. A remodel is the hood that failed inspection, the dining room that cannot hold the check average you need, and the patio the landlord will not fund before summer.
Restaurant renovation financing is an unsecured term loan from $50,000–$500,000 for that live-room work. Terms are 3, 5, or 7 years, often funded in 3–10 business days, with no lien on the dining room. Pricing is quoted per file in an approximate 6%–18% band.
Payroll, opening-week inventory, and MCA payoff still live on unsecured loans for restaurants. SBA restaurant loans remain the better permanent stack when you have 45–90 days.
Jaken Finance Group originates property loans. The live-room remodel is a separate unsecured application — payroll and MCA stay on unsecured loans for restaurants.
Pre-qualify for an unsecured term loan →
See if you qualify for intro 0% funding →
What the money is for in a live-room remodel
- Hood, makeup air, and fire-suppression when the inspector will not let you open next month
- Dining room, bar, and patio when covers are capped by seats, not by the line
- Restrooms and ADA / code the lease requires and TI will not cover
- Front-of-house FF&E mixed with labor on one GC invoice
- A second hood or a smallware package that is awkward for a full equipment loan
If the invoice is a walk-in or a range battery with a dealer quote, start on equipment at 6%–14%. If daily drafts are the problem, refinance the MCA.
Model extra covers against the note
Default load: a $155,000 hood, patio, and booth bid, 45 extra covers a week, a $48 average check, 62% prime cost, $4,200 current weekly net after prime, and 3 weeks of reduced service. A 5-year note at an illustrative 12.5% is about $3,487 a month. Do not treat one strong Saturday as every week. If you are closed, the payment starts anyway — budget from the other location or a personal draw.
Restaurant remodel vs the payment
Test whether extra covers from a hood, dining-room, or patio remodel cover the unsecured installment after prime cost and weeks of reduced service. Do not model a peak Saturday as every week. Estimates only. Pricing is quoted per file.
Monthly payment
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Fully amortizing
Extra monthly net after prime cost
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After the remodel is open
Coverage
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Lift ÷ payment
Net monthly after payment
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Does not include construction weeks
Construction hole
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Lost weekly net + payments while dark
Months to fill the hole
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If net monthly stays this high
Thin revenue or a new location? See intro 0% funding
Working capital / MCA: unsecured loans for restaurants. Tool-only payment: unsecured term loan calculator.
Unsecured vs SBA vs equipment vs intro 0%
| Need | Better first call |
|---|---|
| Remodel a room that is already open | This page |
| Payroll, opening costs, or MCA payoff | Unsecured loans for restaurants |
| New concept, thin revenue, wants the 0% window | Intro 0% business financing |
| Buy a profitable restaurant, 45–90 days available | SBA restaurant loans |
| Single vendor invoice for a serial-numbered asset | Equipment financing, 6%–14% |
| You own the building | Commercial financing or SBA 504 |
Do not price unsecured 6%–18% as if it were hard money (8.99%–13.5%) or DSCR (5.75%–10.5%).
The FTC’s small-business financing notes are worth a read if an MCA broker is still in the inbox.
Worked example: hood and dining room, store stays open
A 70-seat independent needs $155,000 for a new hood, a 12-seat patio, and booth replacement. The kitchen stays open for lunch. Dinner covers drop for three weeks.
A $155,000 5-year note at an illustrative 12.5% is about $3,487 a month. If trailing prime cost is already inside 60%–65% and rent-to-sales is honest, the note is a code-and-covers tool. If prime cost is already 72%, a prettier room will not print the payment.
Worked example: do not use this page for the MCA
Sales $72,000 a month. MCA leftover $95,000. That file belongs on MCA refinance, not on a remodel invoice. Mixing “refresh” language onto an ACH payoff is how underwriting stalls.
What underwriting still wants
- Two years of personal tax returns and a year-to-date P&L that matches the bank statements
- FICO 8 — no published minimum
- Lease remaining term and any landlord consent already on the lease
- GC bid or hood vendor quote
- If an MCA exists, a dated payoff — then use the MCA page
How to apply
- Write a one-page scope: hood vs dining room vs patio vs code. Keep payroll and MCA off this list.
- Run the remodel amount in the calculator on 5 years, then stress 3 and 7.
- Submit the unsecured financing form. Thin revenue: intro 0%.
- If SBA is still the takeout, start from SBA restaurant loans.
Pre-qualify for restaurant renovation capital · Restaurant working capital · (833) 264-7776
Sources
Full-service and limited-service restaurants sit at the top of SBA industry volume — that is the purchase stack, not a hood that failed last week. SBA loan programs. If an MCA broker is still quoting a factor as “interest,” read the FTC staff perspective. Owner-occupied mortgage rules do not apply: CFPB Ability-to-Repay.
Calculator figures are estimates for a live-room remodel, not a quote. Jaken Finance Group originates investment-property loans and can help match SBA restaurant financing. Unsecured term-loan and intro 0% pre-qualification stay on separate applications.