Don’t Expect to See a Lot of New Restaurants in Colorado for 2024

It's one of the American dreams: to open your own restaurant. Colorado restaurants number in the very many, but new data points to that slowing down, for 2024.

Even if everything was going in your favor as a restaurant owner, the hours and stress can make it "unfun." When you take a look at the amount of money it takes to run a Colorado restaurant, you may forget the idea, all altogether.

There's a TV show, "The Bear," that has garnered a lot of great reviews and viewers, with its depiction of running a restaurant. It certainly doesn't make it look easy,  Maybe that's why so many people dive into opening their own places: The challenge of it.

WHY MIGHT THERE BE LESS NEW RESTAURANTS IN COLORADO FOR 2024?

A recent study finds that Colorado is the third most expensive state to open a restaurant. THIRD. Only California (#1) and New York (#2) are more expensive than the Centennial State.

WHAT MAKES COLORADO SO EXPENSIVE TO OPEN A RESTAURANT?

According to the data researched by Restaurant Furniture, it's about the costs you'd incur over one year in Colorado with your restaurant.

• Annual Food Service Permit: $385. (California: $805.)
• Annual Liquor License: $500.
• Colorado Sales Tax Rate: 8%. (California: 3%.)
• Colorado Corporate Tax Rate: 5%. (California: 9%.)
• Colorado Minimum Wage: $14.42/hr. (California: $16/hr.)
• Rent (per sq. ft.) for One Year: $25.95. (California: $45.74.)

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The state of Washington doesn't have a corporate tax rate, that's one of the factors that makes it the 10th most expensive state to run a restaurant.