A food truck in La Grange is priced on adjusted seller’s discretionary earnings after a buyer compares this book to Hinsdale — not on a statewide rumor multiple. CBS-1 (10 business days) plus Cook County’s 45-day local notice; Chicago’s 45-day city notice only if this business also operates in the city. The statewide food trucks playbook is on the industry hub; this page is the La Grange file. Confidential sale. No upfront listing fee.
Confidential • No upfront fees • Illinois statewide
La Grange market
Selling a food truck in La Grange
A food truck in La Grange is priced on adjusted seller’s discretionary earnings after a buyer compares this book to Hinsdale — not on a statewide rumor multiple. CBS-1 (10 business days) plus Cook County’s 45-day local notice; Chicago’s 45-day city notice only if this business also operates in the city. The statewide food trucks playbook is on the industry hub; this page is the La Grange file.
La Grange is a west Cook BNSF downtown village — a walkable Hillgrove/La Grange Road core and older households, not Hinsdale’s medical campus and not Countryside’s hotel strip.
Downtown storefronts and village design rules are the business. Buyers from Western Springs and Brookfield shop here. Cook notices apply. This is a commuter village with a real restaurant row, not an industrial park and not Oak Park’s CTA grid.
La Grange has about 15,963 residents in Cook County, inside the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin area. Nearby markets buyers already compare this book to include Hinsdale. That comparison changes who shows up: a buyer who will drive from Hinsdale is not the same buyer who will fly in from a coastal platform.
Planning facts
Typical multiple
1.5x–2.5x SDE
Typical timeline
3–8 months
SBA eligible
Usually conventional
County
Cook County
Population
15,963
Metro
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
Nearby comps
Hinsdale
Closing clock
CBS-1 (10 business days) plus Cook County’s 45-day local notice; Chicago’s 45-day city notice only if this business also operates in the city
Cook County and the City of Chicago add 45-day bulk-sale notices on top of Illinois Form CBS-1 (10 business days). That calendar is longer than most downstate businesses.
Buyer density is the highest in Illinois. Confidential outreach matters more here than a public ad on a recognizable storefront.
La Grange demand for food trucks is the customer list and the license path — not the Census population figure. About 15,963 residents is context for who already lives in the trade area. It is not a sale price.
Food Truck in La Grange
What a La Grange buyer will underwrite on this food truck
Food and liquor in La Grange close on the lease and the local board as often as they close on prime cost. Cook County health and — if the room pours — local-control liquor are La Grange clocks, not a statewide multiple. Neighbors already compare this room to Hinsdale.
Food Trucks statewide typically plan around 1.5x–2.5x SDE and a 3–8 months process when books and the lease are ready. That is a planning range, not a price for this La Grange shop. Buyers here usually argue route/event contracts, vehicle condition, equipment, social media following.
Closing clock for this La Grange file: CBS-1 (10 business days) plus Cook County’s 45-day local notice; Chicago’s 45-day city notice only if this business also operates in the city. License path: Chicago Mobile Food Vendor licenses (and the associated commissary and parking rules) are famously specific and do not automatically transfer with the truck title. The industry hub teaches the statewide rule. This URL is the La Grange application of it.
In a suburb like La Grange, first-time entrepreneurs, chefs, restaurateurs are the names that usually appear on the NDA list. A buyer who will drive from Hinsdale is not the same buyer who will fly in from a coastal platform.
Buyer pool
Who buys a food truck in La Grange
Cook has the deepest Illinois buyer pool: SBA owner-operators, PE home-services and healthcare platforms, and strategics who already have a Chicago route. Density is an asset and a leak risk. Employees and landlords hear rumors faster here than in a downstate county. Confidential outreach is the default, not a listing-site photo of a recognizable storefront.
Illustration: a single permitted truck working the West Loop and a suburban office park two days a week, commissary in a shared kitchen, seller cooking every service. Not a closed sale.
A food truck whose customers already sit in Hinsdale is a larger business than one that stops at the La Grange city limit. Tell the truth about the route. Buyers will map it.
SDE recast
How a buyer will read the books on this La Grange food truck
Food-truck recasts on repeat vending locations and contracted office parks, not a festival weekend. Add back owner-cook hours, then pull event-only spikes and any second truck that sat. Vehicle capex and commissary rent are not optional. A 1.5x–2.5x SDE band is planning language for a thin, operator-dependent asset — not a restaurant multiple.
Illustration only — not a quote for any La Grange shop. A food truck whose tax return shows $54,000 of net profit is not worth $54,000 × a rumor multiple.
Add back the owner’s $42,000 W-2 and payroll tax, $21,000 of discretionary benefits, $5,000 of accepted one-time cost, and $9,000 of personal expenses that a buyer will not run. Then subtract $11,000 of replacement labor if the owner still diagnoses, sells, or closes the books.
Adjusted seller’s discretionary earnings are $120,000. At the planning range 1.5x–2.5x, enterprise value is $180,000 to $300,000. Mid-range 2.00x is $240,000 before debt, working capital, holdback, and tax. A La Grange buyer will argue the multiple after they ride with the staff and read the lease.
At 2.00 times $120,000 of seller’s discretionary earnings, enterprise value is $240,000 before debt, working capital, holdback, and tax. That is the planning conversation. It is not a listing-site guess.
SDE line items
Reported net profit (tax return, not the marketing P&L)
+ Interest expense
+ Income taxes (not payroll, sales, or property tax)
+ Depreciation and amortization
+ Owner W-2, bonuses, and payroll taxes on the owner
+ Discretionary owner benefits that a buyer will not keep (auto, personal travel, family on payroll with no role)
+ Accepted one-time or non-recurring expenses
− Market-rate replacement labor for owner work that will not transfer
= Seller’s Discretionary Earnings (SDE)
Illustration recast for a La Grange food truck — not a quote
Net profit
$54,000
Owner W-2
$42,000
Benefits
$21,000
One-time
$5,000
Personal
$9,000
Replacement labor (subtract)
−$11,000
Recast SDE
$120,000
Planning EV at 2.00x
$240,000
Recast Seller’s Discretionary Earnings, then apply a planning multiple for food trucks.
Replacement labor is subtracted. This is a planning tool, not an appraisal.
Recast SDE—
Planning enterprise value—
Before debt, working-capital peg, holdback, and tax. Educational only.
Enter your annual Seller's Discretionary Earnings (SDE) — your net profit plus owner's salary and any personal expenses run through the business — to estimate a range.
$
1x3.0x8x
Estimated Value Range—to—
This is an estimate for planning purposes only. Actual value depends on lease terms, asset quality, customer concentration, and current market conditions. Request a professional valuation for a precise number.
Cook County adds a local bulk-sale notice on top of Illinois Form CBS-1. File the Cook County notice at least 45 days before transfer with the sales contract (revenuecompliance@cookcountyil.gov). City of Chicago businesses also file a Chicago Department of Finance bulk-sales notice at least 45 days out under Municipal Code 3-4-140, covering city taxes and Title 4 licenses. State CBS-1 is still due at least 10 business days before closing. Miss a local clock and the buyer can inherit tax or license debt.
Chicago Mobile Food Vendor licenses (and the associated commissary and parking rules) are famously specific and do not automatically transfer with the truck title. Suburban and downstate towns each issue their own mobile-food permits. County health stickers sit on the truck and the commissary agreement. The truck title, fire suppression, and propane certifications are part of the license stack.
Labor and lease
What has to keep working on Monday after close in La Grange
For a food truck in La Grange, the first labor question is: Contracted weekday slots, not festival luck.
Leases are the deal killer more often than the multiple. Loop, River North, and neighborhood retail have assignment clauses, kick-out rights, and renewal politics that collar-county industrial shops rarely see. CTA-adjacent and parking-constrained sites change buyer type. Labor is union-aware in several trades and hospitality crews turn over faster than downstate.
Cook is not one market. A bungalow-belt repair shop, a South Side contractor, and a Near North concept do not share a “Chicago premium.” O’Hare, the lakefront, and the expressway grid concentrate customers and also concentrate competing buyers. Price the business, not the skyline.
Diligence
What a serious food truck buyer will open
Levers that move the multiple in this vertical: Contracted weekday slots, not festival luck; A transferable Chicago or municipal mobile license; Truck mechanical and suppression condition; Commissary that a buyer can keep; A concept that is not only the seller’s personality.
Have these ready before anyone hears the name of the La Grange business: Title, mileage, hood suppression, generator, and propane file; Commissary contract assignability and health stickers; Chicago or municipal mobile-food license transfer path; Standing office-park or brewery slots versus festival-only income; Social following that is the seller’s face versus the concept; Whether a second permitted truck is real capacity or a parts donor.
Sale steps
How to prepare a La Grange food truck for sale
Recast this La Grange food truck. Start with the tax return. Add owner pay. Subtract replacement labor if the seller still does the work a La Grange buyer must hire. Do not treat a spike year as the new normal.
Name who can operate on Monday. List every credential that lets this food truck pull a permit or see a patient in La Grange, and whether that person stays. Personal licenses do not transfer with the assets.
Tell the truth about the La Grange trade area. Map customers against neighboring towns. Buyers will. A book that already covers those towns is larger than a book that stops at the La Grange limit.
Open the lease and the labor file. Remaining term and assignment in Cook County. Whether the crew can run without the seller living eight minutes away.
Calendar the notices that apply here. CBS-1 (10 business days) plus Cook County’s 45-day local notice; Chicago’s 45-day city notice only if this business also operates in the city. Start them at letter of intent, not the week of funding.
Read the statewide playbook, then talk. The Illinois food trucks hub is the statute and recast teaching. This page is the La Grange file. Confidential consult — no upfront listing fee.
Answers for owners and buyers in Cook County, including local closing steps.
Buyers start with seller’s discretionary earnings, then apply a planning range around 1.5x–3x SDE. That is a statewide starting point, not an appraisal. The lease, licenses, and how much of the book depends on the owner move the number more than a rumor multiple.
Most prepared Main Street sales take about six to twelve months. Clean books and an assignable lease help. License transfers and landlord consent are what add weeks.
Commissary agreements, city vending permits, and health licenses are local. They do not ride with the VIN. A Chicago truck and a downstate fair route are different permit desks.
Only part of it. Buyers pay for permits, the commissary, and repeat stops. A titled truck with no transferable spots is an asset sale, not a going-concern multiple.
Yes. Buyers sign a non-disclosure agreement before they see the name. Your staff should not learn the sale from a listing photo. Key people may hear near a signed letter of intent.
Illinois Form CBS-1 is due at least 10 business days before an asset sale. Cook County and the City of Chicago each add a 45-day local notice when the sale meets their rules. Ask counsel which notices apply to this La Grange company.
La Grange sits in the deepest Illinois buyer pool: owner-operators, neighboring shops, and platforms that already cover Cook County. Density is why a public listing leaks. Start with confidential outreach.
No. The planning multiple for food trucks is a statewide starting point, not a La Grange appraisal. Buyers in Cook County still adjust seller’s discretionary earnings, then argue the lease, licenses, labor, and owner dependency.
Service Area
Food Truck Brokerage Near La Grange
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