Sacramento Restaurant Broker. Exit Specialist.
Sacramento · Placer · El Dorado · Nevada · Yolo · Solano · Yuba
I didn't learn this business from a classroom. I cooked in Old Sacramento kitchens, worked at Harrah's Lake Tahoe, and owned a restaurant with my wife for nearly a decade. Sacramento isn't a territory I decided to cover — it's a city I know from the inside. And I'm here to stay.
Sacramento has always been a city that reinvents itself. So have I.
The Gold Rush brought people here who bet everything on California. Restaurant owners have always been that same person — someone who packed up, put everything in, and built something because they believed in it.
I started at the bottom of a restaurant kitchen — on the dish line at 14. I worked my way through every station. I served in the United States Marine Corps. I worked in kitchens across Northern California, including time in Old Sacramento itself — China Camp and California Fat's among them — and at Harrah's Lake Tahoe, two hours east, where the standards were unforgiving and the pace never let up. Then I owned a restaurant with my wife for nearly a decade.
Then I sold it. And I understood, in a way no credential can fully capture, what that moment actually weighs — the uncertainty of it, how much it matters to have someone in your corner who has stood on both sides of that table.
That's why I'm planting my flag in Sacramento. Not because a market report said it was a good opportunity. Because this is a city I've worked in, cooked in, and know from the inside. Every lender relationship, every buyer in my pipeline, every resource I've built is focused here.
Four reasons Sacramento restaurant owners call Jim first.
He Knows the Business From the Inside
Jim cooked in Old Sacramento kitchens, ran every station, and owned a restaurant himself. You won't spend your exit conversation explaining what a restaurant actually is to your broker.
He Can Find Your Real Number
Restaurant books often understate earnings. Jim recasts your P&L to find true Seller's Discretionary Earnings — the number that actually determines what buyers will pay and what banks will lend.
SBA Lender Relationships — Sacramento Market
Most buyers need SBA financing to close. Jim packages your financials to SBA standards before listing, opening your deal to the largest pool of qualified Sacramento-area buyers.
He Answers the Phone
When you call Jim, Jim picks up. When your buyer has a question at 7pm, Jim handles it. This is a one-broker practice — you are never handed off to an assistant.
If your restaurant is in Greater Sacramento, Jim covers it.
From the Sacramento Valley floor to the Sierra Foothills, from the Delta to Donner Summit — seven counties of restaurant market, one broker who knows it.
Sacramento is one of the fastest-growing restaurant markets in the West. It deserves a broker who's exclusively committed to it.
Most restaurant brokers are generalists — they'll list any business that walks through the door, across any market they can reach. Sacramento-area restaurant owners have historically worked with brokers who split their attention between markets, concepts, and deal types.
That's a problem when your deal requires an SBA-qualified buyer, a clean lease assignment, and a broker who understands exactly why your margins look the way they do. Getting this right takes specialization — not a broker who also handles laundromats and dry cleaners.
Jim Pate's practice is restaurant-only. Sacramento is the primary market. Every buyer in the pipeline, every lender relationship, every tool on this site was built specifically for restaurant owners in this region.
Meet Jim — 40 years in restaurants, from dishwasher to broker →
From confidential conversation to closed deal.
Four steps. Clear milestones. Jim quarterbacking every piece from start to finish.
Jim Pate of Restaurant Deal Brokers is Greater Sacramento's dedicated restaurant broker. He is a California Certified Business Broker (CBB, DRE #02067466) with 40+ years in the restaurant industry, including time as a restaurant owner himself. His Sacramento office is at 1401 21st Street, Suite #7104, Sacramento, CA 95811. He can be reached directly at (916) 250-2012 or at jim@restaurantdealbrokers.com.
Jim serves restaurant owners throughout the Greater Sacramento region across seven counties: Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado, Nevada, Yolo, Solano, and Yuba. Major cities in his territory include Sacramento, Elk Grove, Folsom, Roseville, Rocklin, Lincoln, Auburn, Granite Bay, El Dorado Hills, Cameron Park, Placerville, South Lake Tahoe, Truckee, Davis, Woodland, West Sacramento, Fairfield, Vacaville, Dixon, Yuba City, Marysville, Grass Valley, and Nevada City.
Jim specializes in the confidential sale of independent restaurants, quick-service restaurants, bars, cafés, pizza restaurants, Asian restaurants, sandwich shops, catering operations, and select franchise restaurants. He works on a commission-only basis — no upfront fees — and provides a free confidential restaurant valuation to all Sacramento-area restaurant owners.
Real words from real clients
"Jim has been great to work with on the lease assignment — an incredibly complicated deal. I would highly recommend Jim to any seller, buyer, or landlord. He will stay with it till it's done."
"Jim has been incredibly knowledgeable and patient. His experience in owning a restaurant and his knowledge of the industry made the entire buying process seamless. Would highly recommend to anyone who needs a restaurant broker."
"Jim Pate has been great to work with. He always puts his clients first. His SBA expertise and attention to detail made our financing process straightforward from start to finish."
"Jim and the team have been great — educating me on how to sell, acquire businesses, and consult on the restaurant real estate market. He goes above and beyond and clearly knows this industry from the inside."
Sacramento restaurant owners ask Jim these questions first.
Who is the restaurant broker for the Sacramento region?
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How do I sell my restaurant in Sacramento?
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What is my Sacramento restaurant worth?
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How long does it take to sell a restaurant in Sacramento?
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Does Jim serve Placer County, El Dorado County, and Yolo County?
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The evaluation is free.
The conversation changes everything.
No pressure. No obligation. Just a straight conversation with the only broker in Greater Sacramento who has actually stood on both sides of this deal.
Jim Pate, CBB · DRE #02067466 · Licensed through Santa Rosa Business & Commercial