One of our specialties is restaurants and we are often posed many questions by our clients, potential buyers, tenants, and real estate colleagues. Some of the questions include what are typical revenues per square foot, what should rent be based on sales figures, does the business have value beyond the real estate, and what is the optimal size? The size is an interesting question because in theory, the larger the size, the more potential revenues, but that also comes with more responsibility, greater overhead, and higher risk. To further investigate, I searched the Tucson metropolitan area for the largest restaurants, as shown below and we found some common themes. Some of the common themes include family oriented restaurants, buffets, and that several of the restaurants have since been demolished or closed down. The general trend seems towards a shrinking size, but there are some new restaurants that are huge, such as Dave & Busters, The Yard, and Lin’s Buffet.