Buying a restaurant in Treasure Coast

• Sales that hold up through the year, or a slow season the owner plans for if the place leans on tourists and winter residents.
• Food and labor costs tracked weekly, not just totaled on the year-end tax return.
• A kitchen that runs without the owner: a chef or kitchen manager who intends to stay, and recipes written down.
• A lease with years left and renewal options, rent that leaves room for profit, and a landlord willing to assign it to you.
• A clean inspection history with the state.
• Regulars and local word of mouth, rather than heavy dependence on delivery apps.
• Equipment that has been maintained: hood and fire suppression, walk-in cooler, ice and dish machines.
• The right alcohol license for the concept, in good standing.

• Reported sales. Match point-of-sale reports to the sales tax returns, month by month. Sales the owner says never reached the books won't count for a lender, and shouldn't for you.
• The seller's taxes. Buying more than half of a business or its assets can make you liable for the seller's unpaid state taxes, up to the price or the value, whichever is greater (section 213.758). Get a certificate of compliance from the Department of Revenue before closing.
• Labor at today's rates. Under a 2020 constitutional amendment, Florida's minimum wage reached $15 an hour on September 30, 2026, and it will rise with inflation after that. The tipped wage moves with it. Rebuild payroll at current rates, not last year's totals.
• Equipment. Have a restaurant equipment technician look at the hood, refrigeration and air conditioning. Replacements are expensive.
• Inspection history. Read several years of DBPR's online inspection results.
• The lease. Remaining term, whether it can be assigned to you, personal guarantees, and who pays for the roof, grease trap and hood repairs.
• Storms. How long the place closed after recent hurricanes, and what business interruption insurance paid.

• What does a slow Tuesday look like next to a busy Saturday, and how has that changed in the last couple of years?
• Who runs the kitchen when you're not there, and do you think they'd stay on with a new owner?
• How much of your business comes from regulars, catering or delivery apps?
• How long is left on the lease, and how do you think the landlord will feel about a sale?
• When did you last replace big equipment like the hood, the walk-in or the dish machine, and what's due next?
• Do you track food and labor costs each week? Could I see a few months of those reports?
• If you were staying, what would you change about the menu or the hours?

This region covers Martin, St. Lucie and Indian River counties on the Atlantic coast and Okeechobee and Highlands counties inland: Stuart, Palm City, Port St. Lucie, Fort Pierce, Vero Beach, Sebastian, Okeechobee, Sebring and Avon Park. Port St. Lucie is the largest city and has grown quickly as a suburb within reach of Palm Beach County to the south.

The coast draws retirees and winter residents, and health care, construction, real estate, boating and sport fishing are big parts of the economy. The coast lies in the Indian River citrus district, named for the lagoon. Inland, Okeechobee and Highlands are cattle, dairy and citrus country around Lake Okeechobee and along the ridge near Sebring, with many retirees of their own. Home service companies, the building trades, marine businesses and medical practices find steady customers here.

The coast is seasonal, with winter residents filling restaurants, golf courses and service schedules, and summer is quieter. Hurricane Nicole came ashore near Vero Beach in November 2022, and the region has a long history of storms, so check insurance, flood zones and how a business came through recent ones.

Water quality in the St. Lucie River and the Indian River Lagoon is a recurring problem, and in a bad year it can hurt fishing, boating and tourism businesses. Inland, distances are longer and the labor pool thinner. A company in Sebring or Okeechobee may be one of very few of its kind nearby, which can mean loyal customers and little competition, but also few people to hire. Most new homes on the coast are going up in and around Port St. Lucie.