The Best (and Worst) Places to Open a Restaurant

In an unforgiving industry, restaurateurs are up against a lot when embarking on an entrepreneurial endeavor, city of operation included. In an effort to identify where prospective restaurateurs have the best shot at success, financial service company LendingTree analyzed the 50 largest U.S. cities, factoring average estimated annual revenue, estimated payroll costs per employee and several demographic parameters into its study to determine the best and worst places to open a restaurant.

According to the study, Milwaukee leads the way as far as promise is concerned, followed by Cincinnati and Minneapolis. Topping the list of least promising cities to open a restaurant, unsurprisingly, are New York and San Francisco, followed by New Orleans in the third-worst spot.