Unclaimed money for restaurants and food businesses
Updated
At least 110 California businesses whose names mark them as restaurants and food businesses are each owed $10,000 or more by the State Controller, $2.5 million in total. The median owner is owed $15,797 (all business-type owners: $18,087).
What these businesses are owed
| Property type | Amount | What it usually is |
|---|---|---|
| Accounts payable | $551k | payments a company owed a supplier (accounts payable) that never got through, where the supplier is the owner |
| Credit balances on accounts receivable | $185k | credits on an account with a supplier: overpayments, duplicate payments and unapplied credits |
| Insurance premium refunds | $175k | refunds of insurance premiums, for example after a policy was cancelled or re-rated |
| Underlying shares | $171k | the shares themselves, not just their dividends, after the account went dormant |
| Unexchanged stock of a successor company | $162k | stock in a company that was acquired, where the old shares were never exchanged for the successor's |
Why it happens in this line of business
High supplier volume and frequent location changes mean credits with suppliers and deposits can be left behind.
44% of these owners have two or more records, so searching every former name, DBA and address matters.
Claiming it
The claim follows the standard business process: an authorized person signs the Controller's form in wet ink (notarized for $1,000+ in cash or any securities), with proof of authority, the FEIN and the reported address. We assemble and file it for 10% of what the state pays, after payment.
Industry is inferred from words in the owner's name, so these counts are a floor: many businesses in this industry have names that do not show it. Source: California State Controller unclaimed property file, records of $500 and up, dated November 4, 2026. Open records only (no claim pending or paid), owner address in California, owner = name + ZIP code, business-type names only, government names removed, owners whose records total $10,000 or more. RecoverOwed computation; classifying owners by name pattern is approximate. No individual owner is named on this site.