Restaurant Feasibility Study in the Slidell-Mandeville-Covington, LA Metro Area

What SBA's own loan files show about full-service restaurant lending in the Slidell-Mandeville-Covington, LA Metro Area, and what a feasibility study for a project there has to test.

Full-service restaurant loans in Slidell at a glance

Slidell reports FY2017 to FY2026 approvals: 36 full-service restaurant loans, $27.4 million gross. On full-service restaurant, Slidell stands 133 of 821 among ranked areas. Within Slidell, full-service restaurant is 1 of 39. Slidell has a quotient of 1.66x, full-service restaurant above the national share.

Slidell: loan size and franchise

The median Slidell loan is $424,850; $221,375 to $864,150 holds the middle half. Slidell stands at 1.54x against the national class median. Slidell loans run above the national middle. Slidell has 36 SBA 7(a) loans. Slidell has 0 SBA 504 loans. Slidell finances fixed assets through 504. In Slidell, 7(a) is the broader program. Slidell's split shows its financing mix. Slidell prints no franchise share. Too few Slidell loans support one. Slidell loans run bigger. In Slidell, a study must prove the payment.

Slidell loan holders and counties

Slidell SBA 7(a) holder: 9 loans, $8.5 million, American Bank (LA). Holder in Slidell: Fidelity Bank, 7 loans, $2.7 million, SBA 7(a). Slidell SBA 7(a) holder: 5 loans, $1.3 million, BankFirst Financial Services. Listed Slidell names are current holders, per SBA. Slidell rows speak to files, not requirements. Slidell borrowers read the list as holders. Slidell full-service restaurant lenders get first tests. Slidell has one county, St. Tammany Parish, LA, with all 36 loans.

Slidell years and full-service restaurant coding limits

Slidell years print only in part. FY2021 brings Slidell 0 loans, $0. FY2023 brings Slidell 8 loans, $4.4 million. FY2024 brings Slidell 7 loans, $9.3 million. Other Slidell years are withheld. Thin counts leave Slidell totals unknown. In Slidell, no blank is a zero, and Slidell treats FY2026 as complete. Slidell loans approved from FY2017 to FY2024 show a cancelled-after-approval floor of 20.0%. Slidell shows no charge-off floor. Fewer than 30 Slidell loans make up that cohort. The Slidell gap is no clean record. Any Slidell rate that prints is a floor. Slidell follows July 2023 boundaries. Slidell places loans by project county. Slidell drops loans lacking a placeable county.

Slidell: what a study must prove

Slidell treats $221,375 to $864,150 as the range to explain in Slidell. The Slidell appraisal question is whether the value rests on the real estate, on the going concern, or on both, and a study keeps the two apart. Staffing and kitchen build-out in Slidell are costed from quotes, then run through a coverage test that assumes a slow first year. A Slidell study should also hold the concept against the dining rooms already open nearby, because a new room shares a finite pool of diners. Daniel Smith, MAI, signs each Slidell study. Slidell demand and cost come first. In Slidell, coverage follows, then the appraisal. Slidell borrowers are promised no approval here.

SBA full-service restaurant loans in the Slidell-Mandeville-Covington, LA Metro Area

Loans approved, FY2017 to FY202636
Gross dollars approved$27.4 million
Median loan$424,850
Middle half of loans, from$221,375
Middle half of loans, to$864,150
SBA 7(a) loans36
SBA 504 loans0
Franchise share of loanswithheld
Rank among metro and micro areas for full-service restaurant loans133 of 821
Rank of full-service restaurant among the classes in this area1 of 39
Location quotient (share of loans against the national share)1.66x
Median loan against the national median for the class1.54x

Cancellation and charge-off

Cancelled after approval, FY2017 to FY2024 approvals (a floor)20.0%
The same, counting loans still undisbursed as cancelled (a ceiling)withheld
Charged off to date, FY2017 to FY2021 disbursed loans (a floor)withheld

Both rates are floors. SBA withholds the status of open loans, so a loan counts as charged off only once SBA reports it; a rate needs at least 30 loans in its cohort and is otherwise not reported.

SBA full-service restaurant loans approved in the Slidell-Mandeville-Covington, LA Metro Area, by fiscal year

02468FY2017FY2018FY2019FY2020FY2021FY2022FY2023FY2024FY2025FY2026Loans, FY2021: 0Loans, FY2023: 8Loans, FY2024: 7
Fiscal yearLoansDollars
FY2017withheldwithheld
FY2018withheldwithheld
FY2019withheldwithheld
FY2020withheldwithheld
FY20210$0
FY2022withheldwithheld
FY20238$4.4 million
FY20247$9.3 million
FY2025withheldwithheld
FY2026withheldwithheld

Most active SBA lenders

SBA 7(a): lenders by loans approved (the current holder of each loan, as SBA reports it)
LenderLoansDollars
American Bank (LA)9$8.5 million
Fidelity Bank7$2.7 million
BankFirst Financial Services5$1.3 million

Lenders with 5 or more loans here; a lender with fewer is not listed, and loans SBA or a receiver holds are counted but never listed as a lender.

Where the loans are, by county

CountyLoans
St. Tammany Parish, LA36

Counties with 5 or more loans; smaller ones are not listed.

Metro is the CBSA (metropolitan or micropolitan statistical area) of the loan's project county, July 2023 delineation (OMB Bulletin 23-01). The county is matched by name (manifests/ld2/county-cbsa-map.csv); a loan whose county cannot be placed in a 2023 CBSA is left out of every metro.

A value marked withheld rests on fewer than 5 loans, or is withheld so that such a figure cannot be derived from other published figures.

Source: U.S. Small Business Administration, 7(a) and 504 loan-level FOIA files (data.sba.gov), as of 2026-09-30; areas from the U.S. Census Bureau CBSA delineation, July 2023 (OMB Bulletin 23-01); Loan Analytics metro cell MA-43640-C34.

Loan Analytics prepares the feasibility study a lender reads before it commits: for a full-service restaurant project in the Slidell-Mandeville-Covington, LA Metro Area, financed under SBA 7(a), SBA 504, USDA Business and Industry or a conventional bank loan. Tell us the project and the lender's deadline, and we reply with scope, timeline and fee.

Request Scope & Timeline

Start with the data.

Contact Us