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New Jersey is the ninth-largest state for restaurant SBA lending, with a distinctive profile: average deal sizes of $681K (well above national baseline) and charge-off performance meaningfully below SBA average. NY-metro-adjacent market with cleaner performance than NY itself.
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SBA 7(a) loans to restaurants operators in New Jersey, fiscal years 2020 through December 2025. Pulled from SBA FOIA 7(a) dataset.
New Jersey ranks 9th nationally for restaurants SBA volume. The leader (CA) carries roughly 3.43× New Jersey's loan count. Top 8 states account for about half of all national restaurants SBA volume.
The ten banks that have approved the most SBA 7(a) loans to restaurants operators in New Jersey FY2020-2025. Pulled directly from SBA FOIA data. Loan count alone doesn’t capture fit for your specific deal — volume leaders and specialist fit can differ.
New Jersey's restaurant SBA lender mix is distinctive: TD Bank leads with 75 loans (2× the next-largest), reflecting TD's dense Northeast branch footprint. Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company (M&T, 36 loans) holds #2. Wilmington Savings Fund Society (WSFS, 30 loans) and Northeast Bank (29) round out positions 3-4. Brookline Bank (28) rounds out the top five.
Two Korean-American community banks appear in the top ten: NewBank (23 loans) and New Millennium Bank (20 loans), reflecting the Korean-American restaurant operator network across northern NJ (Bergen County, Palisades Park corridor). Fulton Bank (27, PA-headquartered with NJ coverage), PNC (22), and Unity Bank (19, NJ-headquartered) round out the top ten. For NJ restaurant buyers: TD Bank handles the largest small-loan volume; NewBank and New Millennium fit Korean-American operator files; NJ regionals fit relationship-driven files.
New Jersey restaurant SBA lending shows an unusually favorable profile among Northeast states: 602 loans FY2020-2025 (3.7% national share), $410M in approved capital, and growing +19% YoY. Average deal size runs $681K, 29% above the national restaurant baseline of $528K, reflecting NJ's mix of NYC-suburb restaurants, Jersey Shore full-service concepts, and Philadelphia-metro South Jersey markets.
Northern NJ (NYC-metro adjacent counties: Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Passaic) carries the largest share of NJ restaurant SBA volume, followed by Central NJ (Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean) with meaningful Jersey Shore restaurant activity. Southern NJ (Camden, Burlington, Gloucester) rounds out the picture with Philadelphia-metro-adjacent operations.
NJ restaurant SBA charges off at 1.00% -- 0.74× the SBA cross-industry average of 1.36% and materially below the national restaurant rate of 1.21%. This is meaningfully cleaner than neighboring NY (1.70%). Drivers: NJ's more affordable-than-NYC cost structure combined with the same regional demand base, mature operator pool with intergenerational restaurant ownership patterns, and a Jersey Shore seasonal-tourism revenue stream that smooths overall portfolio performance.
Major New Jersey metros where our partner lenders actively run SBA deals. These pages cover broader small-business lending context for each market.
SBA 7(a) is the dominant path for restaurants acquisitions, buildouts, equipment, and working capital. Standard 7(a) goes up to $5 million; 7(a) Small Loan streamlines deals under $500K. SBA 504 handles real estate and heavy fixed-asset purchases when the deal includes the property. Minimum 10% equity injection applies; specialist lenders typically want 15-20% on New Jersey restaurants deals given the higher cost structure. Up to 5% of equity can come from seller financing on full-standby terms.
For the full SBA restaurants lending guide — including program details, independent vs. franchise dynamics, the restaurants charge-off context, and the complete national picture — see our SBA restaurants loan guide. This state page focuses on the New Jersey-specific data and market context on top of that national foundation.
New Jersey restaurants SBA is a specialist segment. The top New Jersey lenders understand the state's cost structure, labor economics, and regulatory context that generalist banks routinely miss. See the broader SBA restaurants guide or SBA loans hub.
Match with New Jersey SBA lenders →MMM does not originate SBA loans. Applications are processed through SBA-authorized lenders. Statistics above are sourced from the SBA FOIA 7(a) dataset, fiscal years 2020 through December 2025.