How do I find a BBQ or smokehouse restaurant for sale?

A smokehouse may not sit under one tidy heading. Some sell as a full-service restaurant, some as a take-out counter, some as a catering kitchen with no dining room, and some as a truck or trailer. If you only search for “BBQ restaurant”, you will miss part of what is available. Search under several labels, and read each listing for what is actually being sold.

Where these sales show up

Start with business-for-sale listing sites and filter by restaurant, food service and catering. Then widen the search to mobile food and food production. Tell a few brokers who handle food businesses what you want, and ask them to call when something fits. The general approach in how to find a business to buy applies here too.

Reading the listing

Look for words about the smokers, pits and cooking line, the seating, and how much work is catering. A listing that mentions large events, corporate orders or wholesale to other shops describes a different business from a dine-in room. Note what is missing as well. If the listing does not say whether the equipment is owned or leased, or whether the lease is in place, put that on your list of questions.

What to ask first

• Do the recipes, rubs and sauce formulas come with the sale, and are they written down?
• Which catering customers are under contract, and can those contracts move to a new owner?
• Who is the pitmaster, and will that person stay for a handover?
• Who owns each smoker and trailer, and is any of it financed?

Know whom the broker acts for

Check whom a broker acts for, which depends on the agreement and the province; a listing broker often acts for the seller. That does not make the broker a poor source. It means you should check the numbers yourself and bring your own accountant and lawyer. The BDC’s guide to working with a broker, listed in the sources below, is a useful read before the first call.