Summary
You can download a free restaurant business plan template as a Word file (.docx) or a PDF by entering your first name and email. It follows the eight sections the SBA lists for a traditional plan and fills them with worksheets for concept and menu, location and lease, a licenses and permits checklist (categories only), a startup budget as sources and uses, staffing, and a funding request that states debt or equity. Every number in it is a labelled example to replace with your own.
Key Takeaways
- •The template is a free Word (.docx) and PDF file: a 14-page PDF (LibreOffice layout) with a one-page summary and the SBA's eight plan sections in order, plus a risks section and an appendix checklist. Enter your first name and email to download it.
- •The SBA says you do not have to follow its outline exactly. The file keeps the eight sections and puts the restaurant worksheets (concept and menu, concept type, location and lease, licenses and permits, staffing) inside section 5.
- •The licenses and permits checklist lists categories to ask about. It states no fee, timeline or rule. Check with your state and local health department and with each agency before you plan.
- •The startup budget is a sources and uses table: what you will spend, and where the money comes from. The two totals should match.
- •The Word file has no calculations. Run the numbers in the free restaurant financial model, which is a separate download, then copy its summary figures into section 8.
- •The free model is built around seats and seat turns. A food truck or caterer has to adapt its seat and daypart inputs and check that the results make sense.
Where can I get a free restaurant business plan template?
Download it here, as a Word file (.docx) or a PDF. It follows the eight sections the SBA lists for a traditional plan and fills them with restaurant worksheets: concept and menu, location and lease, licenses and permits, staffing, a startup budget and a funding request.
- Restaurant business plan template (Word .docx, about 49 KB)
- Restaurant business plan template (PDF, 14 pages, about 354 KB)
Click either link and the form asks for your first name and email. It says: "Your download starts right away. We'll also add you to our free business-plan newsletter. Unsubscribe anytime."
What is in the file
The PDF is 14 pages: a free sample note on page 1, a title page, the scope and known-limitations boxes, a contents page, a one-page summary, the SBA's eight sections in order, a risks section and an appendix checklist. The last two are additions, not SBA sections. The page count comes from a LibreOffice layout and may differ in Word.
Sections 1 to 9 each open with a shaded "How to fill this in" box and a short list of questions to answer. Delete the boxes before you send the plan. Every example number is labelled "Example from the free restaurant financial model — replace with your numbers".
Page 1 says the file "is a sample to help you get started, not finished advice", and asks you to check every number, rule, rate and fee against current official sources and your own quotes before you rely on it.
What should a restaurant business plan include?
Start with the sections the SBA lists for a traditional plan. The SBA also says: "When you write your business plan, you don’t have to stick to the exact business plan outline. Instead, use the sections that make the most sense for your business and your needs." (SBA: Plan your business)
The table shows the file's one-page summary, the SBA's eight headings in order with what the file gives you under each, and two additions that are not SBA sections (9 and 10).
| Section | What the file gives you |
|---|---|
| One-page summary | A fill-in table you complete last, from the sections that follow. |
| 1. Executive summary | A short list to fill in: the concept, hours and seats, who runs it, startup cost and sources, the funding request, the opening date and the status of licenses and permits. |
| 2. Company description | Legal structure, owners, opening date, location, the concept in your words and why this location. |
| 3. Market analysis | A neighborhood and guests note, and a table of nearby competitors and alternatives with the prices you found and when. It supplies no market size. |
| 4. Organization and management | A table of people, what they run and related experience, plus your advisors. |
| 5. Service or product line | Five worksheets: concept and menu; concept type; location, lease and build-out; licenses and permits; operations and staffing. |
| 6. Marketing and sales | Opening promotion, a table of reservation and ordering channels, and a repeat-guest plan. |
| 7. Funding request | Amount, debt or equity, terms, the length of time the request covers, and the use of funds. |
| 8. Financial projections | Four summary tables: startup budget, three-year summary, cash and loan, and break-even covers per open day. |
| 9. Risks and what you'll do (addition) | For each risk, the model input to change, the effect on cash and your plan. |
| 10. Appendix checklist (addition) | A tick list of what to attach: lease, quotes, resumes, copies of licenses and permits, insurance and more. |
Do I need the full plan or a one-page version?
The SBA says traditional plans "can be dozens of pages long" and lean plans "can take as little as one hour to make and are typically only one page". It adds that for a lean plan, "Some lenders and investors may ask for more information." (SBA: Plan your business)
The one-page summary in the file can serve as a short version on its own. For another one-page method, see business plan vs lean canvas. Not planning a restaurant? Use the general business plan template.
How do I fill in the template, step by step?
Fill in the worksheets first and the summaries last.
- Download the Word file and save a copy. The PDF is a LibreOffice render of the same document, for reading or printing; type into the Word file.
- Read page 1, the scope box and the known-limitations box.
- Fill in the worksheets: concept and menu (5.1), location, lease and build-out (5.3), licenses and permits (5.4), operations and staffing (5.5) and the startup budget (8.1). They give you the numbers the other sections ask for.
- Run the three-year numbers in the free restaurant financial model, then copy its summary figures into section 8.
- Write the executive summary and the one-page summary last.
- Replace every [bracketed field]. Delete the grey guidance and every shaded box before you send the plan.
To make the finished plan sound like your restaurant and not a template, see how to customize a business plan template.
Which licenses and permits go in the plan, and who do I ask?
Check with your state and local health department and with each agency before you plan.
That sentence is the file's own instruction, not a rule. The checklist (section 5.4) lists categories to ask about. It states no fee, timeline, inspection, certification or rule, and it is not a list of what your restaurant needs.
The categories to ask about are:
- Food service or health permit
- Business license
- Sales tax registration
- Fire department approval
- Signage
- Alcohol license, if you serve alcohol
- Mobile vendor permit, if you run a truck
- Other
For each one, the checklist has blank fields for the issuing agency, the date you applied, the fee, the expiry or renewal date and the status.
What the SBA says: restaurants are among the "Business activities that are commonly regulated at the local level". It also says "Some licenses and permits expire after a set period of time", and the checklist has an expiry or renewal column for each one. And: "You’ll have to research your own state, county, and city regulations. Industry requirements often vary by state." (SBA: Launch your business)
For permits and licenses in general, the SBA's pointer on the same page is: "Visit your Secretary of State’s website to find out which permits and licenses you need." (SBA: Launch your business)
Whatever fee an agency quotes goes on the licenses and permits line of the startup budget, in the next section.
How do I budget startup and pre-opening costs?
Use a sources and uses table. Uses are what you will spend before and at opening. Sources are where the money comes from. The two totals should match.
The SBA's funding request guidance names the kinds of uses to describe: "Specify if you need funds to buy equipment or materials, pay salaries, or cover specific bills until revenue increases." (SBA: Plan your business) In the file, the build-out total from section 5.3 goes into this budget.
Example from the free restaurant financial model — replace with your numbers. The model's own example is a hypothetical 60-seat casual restaurant, not a real business and not an average.
| Uses of funds | Example amount | Model cell |
|---|---|---|
| Build-out / leasehold improvements | $350,000 | Startup & Funding C5 |
| Kitchen equipment | $175,000 | Startup & Funding C6 |
| Furniture, fixtures, signage and decor | $60,000 | Startup & Funding C7 |
| POS and technology hardware | $15,000 | Startup & Funding C8 |
| Opening inventory | $15,000 | Startup & Funding C9 |
| Deposits | $25,000 | Startup & Funding C10 |
| Licenses and permits | [fill in] | Startup & Funding C11 |
| Pre-opening payroll and training | $40,000 | Startup & Funding C12 |
| Pre-opening marketing | $15,000 | Startup & Funding C13 |
| Professional fees | $20,000 | Startup & Funding C14 |
| Contingency | $45,000 | Startup & Funding C15 |
| Working capital reserve | $75,000 | Startup & Funding C16 |
| Total uses | $845,000 | Startup & Funding C17 |
The total includes the model's placeholder for licenses and permits. That line is left as [fill in] here because the amount depends on your state, county and city.
Same example, sources of funds.
| Sources of funds | Example amount | Model cell |
|---|---|---|
| Bank / SBA loan | $550,000 | Startup & Funding C20 |
| Owner equity | $250,000 | Startup & Funding C21 |
| Other investor equity | $45,000 | Startup & Funding C22 |
| Total sources | $845,000 | Startup & Funding C23 |
| Surplus / (shortfall): sources minus uses | $0 | Startup & Funding C25 |
In the free model, you enter startup costs on the Assumptions tab (section 8) and financing in section 9, and the Startup & Funding tab displays both. The model counts pre-opening costs in this startup budget, not in its 36-month profit and loss, which starts on opening day.
What goes in the financial section of a restaurant plan?
Section 8 of the file holds four summary tables: the startup budget above, a three-year summary, cash and loan, and break-even covers per open day. The Word file has no calculations. The free restaurant financial model does the three-year monthly numbers; it is a separate download with its own form.
The SBA says: "Supplement your funding request with financial projections." It asks for "a prospective financial outlook for the next five years." (SBA: Plan your business)
The model is 36 months, not five years, and has no balance sheet. Neither the file nor the model covers everything the SBA lists for its financial projections.
Which plan table is filled from which tab?
| Plan table | Model tab |
|---|---|
| Concept and menu worksheet (seats, days open, dayparts) | Assumptions |
| Operations and staffing plan (5.5) | Assumptions |
| Startup budget: sources and uses (8.1) | Assumptions, Startup & Funding |
| Three-year summary (8.2) | Key Ratios |
| Cash and loan (8.3) | Key Ratios, Cash Flow, Loan |
| Break-even covers per open day (8.4) | Break-Even |
| Risks and what you'll do (9) | Assumptions |
| Funding request: lowest cash (7) | Key Ratios |
How do I plan staffing and hours?
The staffing table lists each position with its role (front of house, back of house or salaried manager), hours per week, hourly or salaried, and planned start. It sets no pay rate and no labor target. To enter staffing in the model, divide hours per week by days open per week to get hours per open day. The model takes total front-of-house and back-of-house hours per open day, an average pay for each, and one annual total for salaried management (Assumptions tab, section 6). It has no start month by position, so hourly staff runs from the opening month, and pre-opening pay and training is one line in the startup budget (Assumptions tab, section 8). The planned start column is for the plan only.
Should I ask for debt or equity?
The SBA's funding request guidance says: "Specify whether you want debt or equity, the terms you’d like applied, and the length of time your request will cover." (SBA: Plan your business) Section 7 of the file has a row for each: the amount, debt or equity, the terms you would like, the length of time, the use of funds from the startup budget and the lowest month-end cash in the year the request covers. Make the amount match the startup budget. Ask your lender or an attorney about the terms before you offer any.
The SBA says of the traditional plan: "Lenders and investors commonly request this plan." (SBA: Plan your business) For equity conversations, see restaurant pitch deck examples.
One loan path to check is SBA 7(a). The SBA says the program "provides a loan guarantee to lenders" and "You will be applying for your loan directly through a local lender." Read the SBA page for current terms before you plan around it. The file states none and promises no approval. (SBA: 7(a) loans)
What doesn't this template do?
It is a fill-in plan with example arithmetic, not a financial model and not advice. The file's own known-limitations box covers these points (paraphrased):
- No built-in calculations. Word has none. The tables lay out the numbers; the free restaurant financial model does the three-year monthly numbers.
- Built around a seated restaurant. The model uses seats and seat turns. A food truck or caterer has to adapt its inputs.
- 36 months, not five years, and no balance sheet. The model has no start-month-by-position input for staff. The file holds summary tables only.
- No rules, fees or timelines for any license, permit, inspection or certification, and no state or local requirement. Check with your state and local health department and with each agency.
- No benchmarks. No food cost, labor, prime cost, occupancy or rent figures, no menu prices and no wage rates to aim for. Your own numbers are what count.
- No market size. Every number shown is a labelled example.
- Checked in LibreOffice only. It has not been opened in Microsoft Word or Google Docs.
- Not legal, tax, accounting or lending advice.
Where should you go next?
Fill in the worksheets, run the numbers in the free model post, and copy the summaries into section 8.
Sources
- SBA: Plan your business (Common traditional business plan sections; Funding request; Financial projections), opened October 17, 2026
- SBA: Launch your business (Apply for licenses and permits; Pick your business location), opened October 17, 2026
- SBA: 7(a) loans, opened October 17, 2026
- Let's Talk Business Plans: Free restaurant financial model (36 months)
FAQs
Do I have to give my email to download it?
Yes: your first name and email. The form says: "Your download starts right away. We'll also add you to our free business-plan newsletter. Unsubscribe anytime." It adds: "Free sample: check all information before you use it. Provided as is, without support."
Is there a spreadsheet that goes with it?
Yes. The free restaurant financial model is a separate download with its own form, on its own page. The Word file lays out the tables and the model does the three-year monthly numbers.
Which licenses and permits do I need?
The template does not say. Which ones apply, what they cost and how long they take depends on your state, county and city. The checklist (section 5.4) lists categories to ask about and nothing more. Check with your state and local health department and with each agency before you plan.
Does it work for a food truck, cafe or caterer?
It has rows to fill in for each, plus cafe or bakery and ghost kitchen. It states no rule for any of them, because rules differ by place: ask the agency that issues the permit. The free financial model is built around a seated restaurant, so a truck or caterer has to adapt its inputs.
