Restaurant Licenses and Permits: What You Need Before You Open

Every restaurant needs a business license, a health department food establishment permit, a food handler or manager certification for staff, and a certificate of occupancy. Most also need a seller's permit, a sign permit, and a liquor license if they serve alcohol. The health permit is the one that gates the opening date.

Search this topic and you get lists written by insurance brokers and point-of-sale vendors. Those lists are not wrong, but they treat all eleven or twelve permits as equivalent line items on a checklist. They are not equivalent. Most of them are paperwork you can complete in an afternoon. One or two of them involve an inspector walking your build and deciding whether it passes. Those are the ones that move your opening date, and they are the ones this page is about.

Which licenses and permits does a restaurant actually need?

The exact set depends on your state, your county, your city and what you serve. The categories below are close to universal in the United States.

Two of these are worth understanding properly rather than just ticking off, because they are where new operators lose months.

Why the health permit is the one that gates everything

You can hold a business license, a seller's permit and a certificate of occupancy and still be legally unable to sell a single plate of food. The food establishment permit is issued by your local health department, and it is issued after they inspect what you built, not before.

This is the structural fact that reorders the whole process. Every other permit on that list is a form and a fee. The health permit is an outcome. It depends on your equipment, your plumbing, your finishes, your handwashing stations, your refrigeration capacity and your ability to demonstrate that you know how to run the place safely.

Local health departments enforce their state's adopted version of the FDA Food Code. The FDA publishes a model code, currently the 2022 edition as amended by its November 2024 Supplement, and each state adopts it on its own timetable. Some states are still on an older edition. What your inspector enforces is the state rule, not the current model. Our regulatory inspections hub explains how that authority is structured and what inspectors are looking for.

Plan review is the step most first-time operators miss

Here is the expensive mistake. In most jurisdictions you are required to submit your plans to the health department before construction begins, not after.

Plan review means the health department looks at your proposed layout, your equipment schedule, your finish schedules and your menu, and tells you what will not pass. It covers things like the number and placement of handwashing sinks, whether your three-compartment sink is sized for your largest utensil, whether your floor and wall materials are smooth, durable and cleanable, and whether your refrigeration can actually hold the volume your menu implies.

Operators who skip plan review and build first discover the problems at the pre-opening inspection, when the tile is already down and the equipment is already plumbed. Rework at that stage is the single most common reason a restaurant opens late.

The requirements themselves are not mysterious. They come out of the same material a food protection manager is trained on. Our facility design hub covers the materials and layout standards that plan review is checking against.

The certified food protection manager requirement

The FDA Food Code requires that the person in charge be a certified food protection manager. Most states have adopted some version of that requirement, and many health departments will not issue a food establishment permit until you can name a certified manager on staff.

Certification comes from an accredited program, meaning one evaluated and listed by an accrediting agency as conforming to national standards. ServSafe is the most widely recognized of these, and its Food Protection Manager exam is the one most health departments encounter. The exam runs 90 questions, of which 80 are scored, and the passing score is 70 percent. Ten questions are unscored pilot items that do not count toward your result.

FDA's own retail food risk factor data points to a correlation between having a certified food protection manager present and better food safety practices in the operation. That is the reasoning behind the requirement, and it is also the reasoning behind building the role into your staffing plan rather than treating it as a certificate you obtain once.

Requirements vary. Some jurisdictions require a certified manager on site during all hours of operation, which means more than one certified person unless you never take a day off. Check your local rule before you plan the schedule. If you need the credential, the ServSafe Manager track covers the full syllabus.

What about permits that have nothing to do with food?

The liquor license is usually the longest lead time item on the entire list. State alcohol boards run their own process, frequently with a public notice period, sometimes with a local government sign-off, and in some states with a quota that means no license is available at any price without buying one from an existing holder. If alcohol is part of your business model, start that application before you sign the lease.

Music licensing catches people off guard because it is not a government permit. If you play recorded music in a commercial space you need a license from the performing rights organizations, and they do enforce it.

Grease trap and dumpster permits are municipal and routine, but they are also inspected, and a failed grease interceptor is a health code issue as well as a plumbing one.

What this means for you

Sequence the work like this.

1. Call the health department before you sign the lease. Ask whether the space has been permitted as a food establishment before and whether there are outstanding issues on it. A space with no grease interceptor and no path to installing one is a deal you want to find out about early.
2. Submit plan review before construction. Not after. This is the single highest-leverage thing on the list.
3. Start the liquor application first if you serve alcohol, because it is the slowest.
4. Get your certified manager in place early. The permit may depend on it, and the training will make plan review go better because you will understand what they are asking for.
5. Train the line staff on schedule. Food handler card requirements run on their own local clock, frequently within 30 days of hire.
6. Build the food safety system, not just the permit file. Permits get you open. Staying open is a matter of managing risk day to day, which is what active managerial control describes.

Frequently asked questions

What licenses and permits are needed to open a restaurant?

At minimum: a business license, an employer identification number, a health department food establishment permit, a certificate of occupancy, a seller's permit for sales tax, and food safety certification for staff. Add a liquor license if you serve alcohol, plus sign, music and waste permits. The exact set is set locally.

Can you sell food without a license?

No. Selling food to the public without a health department permit is illegal in every state, and operating without one typically brings closure and fines rather than a warning. Limited cottage food exemptions exist in many states for certain low-risk items made at home, but they do not cover restaurant operation.

How long does it take to get a restaurant health permit?

It varies widely by jurisdiction, but the controlling factor is usually plan review and construction rather than the paperwork. Departments that require plan review before construction will not issue the permit until a pre-opening inspection passes. Budget months, not weeks, and start the conversation before you build.

What is the 30/30/30 rule for restaurants?

It is an industry cost-structure rule of thumb, not a regulation: roughly 30 percent of revenue to food cost, 30 percent to labor, 30 percent to overhead, leaving about 10 percent profit. No health department or licensing body uses it. Treat it as a budgeting heuristic rather than a standard you must meet.

Do I need a certified food protection manager to get a permit?

In most jurisdictions, yes. The FDA Food Code requires the person in charge to be a certified food protection manager, and most states have adopted a version of that rule. Many health departments will not issue a food establishment permit until you can name a certified manager. Confirm your local requirement directly.

Does a food handler card cover the manager requirement?

No. A food handler card is basic training for line staff and does not satisfy a certified food protection manager requirement. The manager credential comes from an accredited certification program and covers managing an entire food safety system. They are separate credentials on separate renewal clocks.

Need the manager credential before your permit application? Start with the free ServSafe Manager practice test.

Sources

• How to Start a Food Business - U.S. Food and Drug Administration
• FDA Food Code - U.S. Food and Drug Administration
• Summary of Changes in the 2022 FDA Food Code - U.S. Food and Drug Administration
• State Retail and Food Service Codes and Regulations by State - U.S. Food and Drug Administration
• Retail Food Safety Initiative - U.S. Food and Drug Administration
• Food Protection Manager Certification - ServSafe
• Food Safety - U.S. Department of Health and Human Services