Are you going to be cooking at this location? In other words, do you need a fully equipped space that's got ovens, and coolers and grills and other stuff like that? You may be able to find a number of shut down restaurants in your area that may be available for lease and come with all that - it may just take some elbow grease to get everything clean and up to code.
My uncle and I rented an office space for a tax service business he was starting up briefly. In hindsight I regretted us not being in such a hurry, because the place turned out to be very inconvenient. I suppose this time of year would be a good time to check out locations, in this harsh weather, to see how they hold up to it. The unit we rented was on the ground floor of a building in a small downtown area. We signed the lease when the weather was nice out, and when winter came around we realized the place had all sorts of drafts and the windows would get covered with ice, which leaked all over our desks and displays. Plus you couldn't even see our sign on the window.
Also, the shared bathroom down the hallway hadn't been used or cleaned in years - and was covered in black mold on the ceiling - which was an obvious hazard. It never occurred to us to check that out too before signing. And since we were one of the only tenants in the building, they weren't very good about fixing anything.
Lastly, the parking was a real problem. We were on a main street, which seemed like a good idea, but the customers had to park in the back of the building and walk all the way around to the front to get in. In the winter time, the whole parking lot, which was slightly sloped downward, would get covered in a sheet of ice, as would the walkway around the building - making it very treacherous to walk on. I could barely make it to my car some evenings when leaving.
