Restaurant Feasibility Study in Louisiana

Louisiana's top class, led by Orleans Parish

Full-service restaurants lead Louisiana's SBA lending, 1 of 39 among classes (location quotient 1.05x), and the state's 235 loans worth $141.2 million over FY2017 to FY2026 rank it 35 of 54. The median loan, $303,500, is 1.10x the national midpoint. The Louisiana record has no outlier among its headline figures, so the cell's character comes from the class's dominance in the state and from where the loans sit.

Parishes and lenders

Orleans Parish leads with 59 loans, Saint Tammany follows with 36, then East Baton Rouge with 29, Jefferson with 26 and Lafayette with 17. American Bank holds 26 Louisiana loans worth $21.9 million, the largest dollar book on the list, Fidelity Bank 19 for $5.7 million and Hancock Whitney Bank 18 for $7.5 million; Newtek Bank, National Association and JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association hold 13 each. Of the 235 loans, 218 used 7(a) and 17 used 504, with Community Certified Development Corporation holding 7. The middle half falls between $150,000 and $692,250, and franchises take 13.2%. FY2024 brought 34 loans and $22.6 million, the strongest year for dollars, and FY2025 added 35 loans.

Losses and cancellations in Louisiana

Of the 96 Louisiana restaurant loans disbursed over FY2017 to FY2021, 8.3% are charged off to date and 5.2% within five years, both floors. Cancellations take at least 14.1% of FY2017 to FY2024 approvals, 15.2% at the ceiling. For a lender, those numbers call for equity, a reserve and an operator with a record; for a borrower, they mean the plan has to show that the concept fits the parish and the street, not just the cuisine.

A Louisiana restaurant study has to test demand from residents, workers and visitors at the site, with seasonality and event calendars where the location depends on them, and the competing restaurants within the same draw. Louisiana cost estimates should carry the build-out or purchase, the kitchen and opening expenses. Coverage has to be tested on believable covers and checks, and stress-tested for a slow season and higher insurance or labour costs. Where a building is bought, a Louisiana appraiser will judge it for restaurant or retail use, and the study should support that judgement. Full-service restaurants carry no coding caveat.