Quarryfield Capital Group, a small-business funding broker in Hillsboro, Oregon, arranges equipment financing, working capital, lines of credit and term loans for restaurants and food service businesses through lending partners. Washington County, Oregon had 1,346 food service and drinking place employer establishments in 2023. Partners review sales, bank statements and quotes, decide on credit and set rates and terms.
| Food service employers, county | 1,346 (CBP 2023) |
|---|---|
| Sit-down, counter and other eateries | 1,146 establishments |
| Under five employees | 361, or 26.8% |
| Employees | 22,324 (March 2023) |
| Food service businesses without employees | 755 (NES 2024) |
| Common structures | Kitchen equipment deals, short-term cash, lines |
Restaurant and bar counts for Washington County, OR
Washington County, Oregon had 1,346 food service and drinking place employer establishments in 2023, employing 22,324 people with an annual payroll of about $610.5 million (County Business Patterns 2023). Restaurants and other eating places accounted for 1,146 of them and 20,132 employees.
Restaurants here are not tiny operations: only 26.8% of food service establishments had fewer than five employees, and among restaurants the share was 22.9%. Compare that with 52.6% for all county employers. Larger payrolls mean wages are usually the biggest recurring cost to plan financing around.
Kitchen equipment
Ranges, hoods, cold storage, dish machines and point-of-sale systems are the most common restaurant financing requests. Equipment financing or a lease lets the equipment secure the deal. Ask whether delivery, installation and electrical work can be included; some partners finance only the hardware.
Used kitchen equipment can be financed, though partners may want the seller's details and a shorter term.
Remodels, added rooms and a second site
A remodel, an added dining room or a second location usually calls for a term loan, sometimes alongside equipment financing for the kitchen. Our post on opening a restaurant in Hillsboro, OR walks through the order in which permits, the lease, the build-out, equipment and opening stock have to be paid for.
Payroll and supplier gaps
Food and beverage suppliers often want payment on delivery, and payroll runs every week or two. Working capital or a credit line can carry a restaurant through a short dip, but neither fixes a menu that loses money. If the gap returns every month, look at pricing and costs first.
Payroll weight in food service
Food service pay per worker is lower than the county average, but there are more workers per location. Annual payroll for Washington County food service and drinking places averaged about $27,350 per employee in 2023, against about $87,500 for all county employers, while each establishment averaged roughly 16.6 employees (our arithmetic from County Business Patterns 2023). The result is a business where wages are a large, frequent and fixed outflow, which is why payment timing matters more than headline rate for most restaurant funding.
The lease shapes what a partner will fund
For a restaurant, the lease is often the single most important document after the bank statements. A partner financing a build-out or a term loan will want the remaining lease term to run at least as long as the funding, and will look at renewal options, personal guarantees in the lease, and whether the landlord is contributing to improvements. A short remaining term can limit what is offered even when sales are strong.
Caterers and businesses without employees
Washington County had 755 food service and drinking place businesses with no paid employees in 2024, 215 of them restaurants and other eating places (Nonemployer Statistics 2024). The rest of that group falls in other food service categories, such as caterers, mobile food services and drinking places. Without payroll, these owners usually look first at equipment financing for a trailer, kitchen equipment or a vehicle, with the asset securing the deal.
Why card-heavy kitchens get advance offers
Because restaurants take most payments by card, they are frequently offered merchant cash advances. An advance is not a loan: the funder buys future card receipts and collects them through a holdback. It can be quick to arrange, but the total remitted is often high. Compare it with equipment financing or working capital before agreeing, and read the merchant cash advance page first.
Second-location math partners look at
For an owner opening a second restaurant, the first location's statements become the evidence. Partners look at whether that location's deposits have been steady, how much of its cash flow the new payment would absorb if the second site is slow to start, and whether the owner is putting their own money into the expansion. A strong first location with a modest request for the second is the easiest file to fund.
Restaurant funding options compared
| Need | Usual structure | What partners look at |
|---|---|---|
| A hood, range or cooler | Equipment financing or lease | Quote, asset, card and bank sales |
| A remodel or second room | Term loan | Tax returns, sales history, estimate |
| Wages during a thin few weeks | Short-term cash or a revolving line | Bank deposits, existing debt |
| Card-heavy, urgent need | Receipts advance (never a loan) | Card receipts |
What partners look for in a restaurant file
- Several months of bank and card-processing statements.
- Business tax returns, for larger requests.
- The lease, with its months remaining highlighted.
- Vendor quotes for equipment, or a contractor's estimate for the space.
- Any advance already being remitted.
The sector overview compares restaurants with the county's other confirmed sectors, and the county figures are on our Hillsboro, OR page.
By Quarryfield Capital Group · Updated