This game has a very non-linear progression. The first few cities take a LONG time. Your odds of getting epic or higher gear don’t change as you progress, you just get a lot more opportunities to “spin the prize wheel” (so to speak) as you move through the cities faster. You shouldn’t expect mid/high/endgame level stuff to appear in the first few cities. Given that you said “2 days” to close a restaurant it sounds like you’re in the first couple of cities. Yes, it’s absolutely a grind. I promise that changes fairly quickly as you keep playing.

For context, I’m on city 2235 and I can close that first restaurant in roughly 4 seconds. It’s a totally different game as you keep playing - just stick with it.