French guy who wants to live in San Francisco bay area (San Jose: for sale, real estate)

[le marseillais]

Hello,

I'm living in Paris and I have a restaurant. I'm thinking to live in SF or Oakland or anywhere else.
I would like to buy a restaurant in San Francisco. Of course I will sell my actual restaurant and my house to finance.
I likee the thinking of american people.

My purpose it's to have some advices or contact for my dream

I don't know how to start.

If you need precision I'd be happy to answer (sorry for my english )

Thanks a lot

[Ruth4Truth]

Have you researched the price of commercial real estate in SF? Have you researched your competition, to see what other French restaurants are there, and what they're doing? The first step to realizing a dream is always--research.

SF is a great place for French cuisine, definitely. Oakland could conceivably support a French restaurant as well. There's a small French restaurant near the border of Berkeley and Oakland that has been doing a brisk business for years. They seem to do a much better job of breakfast and lunch than dinner, according to the reviews, but it's still a popular place. www.lebateauivre.net/ Something special in Jack London Square or on Piedmont Avenue in Oakland could do well, and would be more affordable to buy.

[le marseillais]

I don't want necessarily do a french restaurant, I would like to buy an existing restaurant to start and maybe after create a french restaurant. I already looked to real estate restaurant like bizbuysell or loopnet.

Is San Francisco the good city to buy a restaurant ?
It will be big obstacle for me like the way of thinking?
How are employees ? Difficulty of management

Maybe there is a owner of restaurant on the forum.

I would like to have your opinion.

[04kL4nD]

Have you thought about how you're going to get a work visa? It's very difficult to get one in the US.

[le marseillais]

I have the choice between two visa.

The Visa investor EB5 or the visa E-1.

The EB5 is the best for me and my family.

I have a budget of 1,8 milion euros for the business and the house

[04kL4nD]

You sound moderately wealthy. You'll be just fine in SF. Best of luck.

[le marseillais]

Thanks for your help 04kl4nD

[beb0p]

I don't run restaurants but I do own buildings that are rented to Mom and Pop restaurants.

I don't know by "buying a restaurant", you mean buying a building or do you mean buying an existing restaurant business? Many restaurants are part of a multi-unit buildings with dinning at the ground floor and residents above. If you want to "buy an entire building" then you will de facto become a landlord to the tenants living above your restaurants. Don't know if you want to sign up for that role. Also, there are not many restaurant buildings for sale. Probably less than ten at any given moment. I'm talking strictly within San Francisco, you will have more variety outside of SF.

If you want to buy an existing restaurant business, then it is probably an easier task. I see restaurant business for sale all the time but obviously there's a reason why it's for sale (9 out of 10 times the business is losing money).

I think your first order is to learn about the locations and neighborhoods. Picking the right location can make or break a business (and I'm sure you know that). And then you might want to look into leasing an empty space instead of buying a building or an existing business. Trying to rent a desirable space in SF is not easy though. Newspaper has reported some business owners paying a lum sum in the six figures (in addition to rent) in order secure a restaurant space in the Mission District. But the Mission District is always a bit crazy there. I think other neighborhoods are more reasonable. So here again, learn the city and figure out where you would want to place your restaurant at.

I'd also suggest you look outside of SF, like in Oakland, Berkeley, Walnut Creek, San Jose, etc.

.

[beb0p]

To start, I recommending the following sites:

1. loopnet.com - a commercial real estate site. You can see part of the listings for free and other listings require a paid membership. Imo, the free listings are usually the good ones. You can search for restaurants for sale, restaurant business for sale, or restaurant space for rent.

2. craigslist.org - go search under commercial real estate for spaces for rent. In terms of rental space I think craigslist.org has more listings than loopnet.com. Not such a good place to find for sale.

3. Redfin.com - this is a residential sites but they do have some multi-unit listing with restaurant at the ground floor that may not appear in loopnet.com.

Not sure how it is in France, but note that in SF you need to abide by the zoning rule. That means you cannot start a restaurant in a commercial space not zoned for one.

Also beware of the grossly complicated business rules regarding restaurants. You will need to google this.
.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by beb0p

I'd also suggest you look outside of SF, like in Oakland, Berkeley, Walnut Creek, San Jose, etc.

Walnut Creek isn't a bad idea. A good restaurant there would draw the local Orinda, Lafayette and WC crowd, and eventually, people from other parts of the East Bay. Rents would be a little lower in WC than in SF or Berkeley/Oakland, but the clientele is pretty consistently upscale.