Coveglen Loans passes funding requests from Towson, Maryland bars, pubs and taverns to funding partners. This page covers Baltimore County drinking place counts, equipment, stock, buying a tavern around a license transfer and an invented purchase.
At a glance
- Drinking places (alcoholic beverages), Baltimore County, MD
74 employer establishments, 726 paid employees (CBP 2023)
- Drinking place payroll, Baltimore County, MD
$15.9 million (CBP 2023)
- Drinking places with a ZIP 21204 address, Towson, MD
6 (ZBP 2023)
Loan for bar and restaurant in Towson, MD, by purpose
A bar and restaurant borrows for three things: equipment (coolers, draft systems, kitchen gear), stock (beer, wine and liquor bought ahead), and the business itself when an owner buys or expands. Each points to a different funding type: equipment financing, inventory financing or a credit line, and a term loan.
Drinking places counted 74 employer establishments in Baltimore County, MD in 2023, and 37 had fewer than five employees (County Business Patterns).
A bar with a kitchen may be counted as a restaurant instead, depending on how it reports its main activity; the counts here are the Census drinking place group only.
How to get a loan for a bar in Baltimore County, MD?
Getting a loan for a bar starts with the license, the lease and the numbers. A funder reads bank and card processing statements, the latest return, the lease term, and the status of the alcoholic beverage license. A bar whose license is in good standing and whose lease runs past the loan term reads as a steadier request.
In Baltimore County, retail alcohol licensing is handled by the county's liquor board; the Baltimore County liquor license guide covers what a buyer and a funder look at.
Call (443) 775-7995 with the license status and the purpose before gathering records.
Small business loan for bar in Towson, MD: taprooms, back bars and inventory
A taproom adding taps, a new back bar and a deeper inventory has an equipment cost and a stock cost. Taps, lines, a glycol chiller and back bar coolers are equipment; kegs, bottles and spirits are inventory that turns over within weeks, which a credit line can carry between distributor invoices and sales.
Ask distributors about their payment terms on larger orders; supplier terms change how much of the stock needs funding.
A taproom tied to a brewery may also carry production equipment, which is a manufacturing purchase with its own review.
Pub business loans in Towson, MD: draft lines, glass washers and patio heaters
A pub refitting its draft lines, adding a high-capacity glass washer and installing patio heaters is spending on items that last for years. All three can be financed as equipment; a patio build-out with a cover or permanent electrical work is an improvement that may need county permits and the landlord's approval.
An outdoor seating area may also need approval tied to the alcohol license, so check before spending on it.
A pub with steady card sales may be offered a merchant cash advance; it is not a loan, and its dollar cost should be compared with an equipment loan.
Business loan to buy a bar in Towson, MD: buying a tavern, coolers and kitchen upgrades
Buying an existing tavern brings its coolers, kitchen, staff, customers and lease, but the alcohol license follows its own transfer process. A funder may want the transfer approved, or a clear path to approval, before closing, and the purchase agreement often makes closing depend on it.
Illustration only, invented figures: a buyer prices an invented $380,000 tavern purchase with invented buyer cash of $57,000 (15%), an invented seller note of $38,000, and an invented term loan of $285,000 over 120 months at an invented annual rate of 9.5%. The term loan payment is about $3,688 a month, the total about $442,540 and the interest about $157,540 (our arithmetic), before the seller note payments.
Kitchen upgrades planned after closing are a separate equipment request.
Bar equipment financing in Towson, MD: kitchen additions, ice machines and liquor stock
Kitchen additions, ice machines and liquor stock are the three costs a bar adding food service runs into. The kitchen needs a hood, a fryer, refrigeration and possibly a grease interceptor, which is part equipment and part building work. Ice machines are equipment. Liquor stock is inventory.
A kitchen addition may also change how the bar is licensed or inspected; confirm with the county before committing.
Restaurant equipment is covered on the restaurant page.
Drinking place counts for Baltimore County, MD and ZIP 21204
County Business Patterns counted 74 drinking places with paid employees in Baltimore County, MD in 2023, with 726 paid employees and $15.9 million in annual payroll; 37 had fewer than five employees. ZIP 21204 had 6 (ZIP Business Patterns).
Nonemployer Statistics separately counted 86 drinking places without payroll in the county for 2024. Beer, wine and liquor stores are retail, a different Census group, and counted 197 employer establishments county-wide. See also hotel loans.
By Coveglen Loans · Updated
