How to get every restaurant permit in New York City

Yes. NYC lets you start operating 22 days after you submit the Food Service Establishment permit application, even if the permit hasn't arrived. To open sooner, call DOHMH at 212-676-1600 for a pre-operating inspection.

Only if 75 or more members of the public can gather indoors (or 200+ outdoors). Below 75, no Place of Assembly certificate is needed — which is why many restaurants design to 74.

Only for full liquor. If three or more on-premises liquor licensees are within 500 feet, the SLA holds a hearing and must find your license is in the public interest. Restaurant wine and eating place beer licenses are exempt.

Not if it's smaller than six square feet and not illuminated. Anything bigger, or any illuminated sign, needs a DOB sign permit filed by a licensed sign hanger or design professional.

Plan for several months: a 30-day Community Board notice, then SLA review (plus a hearing if the 500-foot law applies). Many restaurants open food-only and add alcohol later — start the SLA process during construction.

Buildings from before 1938 often have none. DOB can issue a Letter of No Objection confirming restaurant use is legal; if the CO conflicts with your use, you'll need a change-of-use filing that ends in a new CO.

No. The cabaret license was repealed in 2017, and the 2024 City of Yes zoning changes removed most dancing bans in commercial areas. You still need your CO/occupant load to fit, to disclose entertainment to the SLA, and to follow the Noise Code.

A BIC-licensed carter — and once your Commercial Waste Zone launches, one of the zone-authorized carters. If you don't sign by the zone's final date, DSNY assigns one at the maximum rate.

FDNY requires commercial kitchen exhaust systems to be inspected and cleaned at least every three months by an FDNY-approved company, and the suppression system serviced by certified technicians.

Only if you're in Manhattan south of 96th Street and pay $250,000+ a year in rent (Commercial Rent Tax). Small-business credits eliminate it for many tenants with income up to $5 million and base rent under $500,000.

Yes. A Restaurant Wine license (beer, cider, wine; 2 years) or Eating Place Beer license (beer and cider; 3 years) costs $960 plus a $100 filing fee in every borough versus $4,352 + $200 for On-Premises Liquor in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx, and neither wine nor beer class is subject to the 500-foot law, so there's no hearing. You still send the 30-day Community Board notice.

No. The cabaret license was repealed in 2017 and there is no late-hours permit. State law lets NYC on-premises licensees serve until 4 AM, but the hours you declare in your SLA method of operation — and any earlier closing you stipulate to with the Community Board — bind you. Changing hours or adding music/dancing later takes an SLA Method of Operation Change application.

Yes. Health Code Article 81 expressly covers bars, so a bar serving ice, garnishes and bottled drinks still needs the DOHMH Food Service Establishment permit, a Food Protection Certificate holder on site, and inspections.

Yes — New York doesn't mandate server training. But the SLA recommends an Alcohol Training Awareness Program (ATAP) course for all licensees and staff, and proof of training may reduce the penalty if you're charged with a sale to a minor or an intoxicated patron.

Register as a NYS employer (NYS-100 on NY Business Express for unemployment insurance and withholding), carry workers' comp, disability and Paid Family Leave coverage, hand each hire the NYC Paid Safe & Sick Leave notice and the Workers' Bill of Rights poster, post the NYS DOL posters, and give a Wage Theft Prevention Act pay notice. Fair Workweek applies only if you're part of a 30+ location fast-food chain.

Yes: delivery apps need a written agreement and their fees are capped (15% delivery / 5% basic service, 20% enhanced / 3% processing); you must honor the agreement's bathroom-access terms for app delivery workers; 'Skip the Stuff' means utensils, condiment packets, napkins and extra containers only on request; and foam containers are banned.

The personal Mobile Food Vending License is easy ($50, a $53 course, in-person appointment). The unit permit for the truck is the obstacle: full-term permits ($200 / 2 years) are capped, issued only to Supervisory License holders from a waiting list, and the unit must live at an approved commissary. Propane trucks also need an FDNY LPG permit ($105) and a G-23 Certificate of Fitness.

Only if the CO lists the roof as occupiable (otherwise your job becomes an Alt-CO), and DOB treats roof terraces as indoor space for Place of Assembly — 75 or more people on the roof triggers a PA certificate, two exits and an annual FDNY permit. Noise Code limits and SLA premises approval apply too.

The CO (if it lists an eating & drinking use), the hood, suppression and grease interceptor if signed off, and the plumbing/gas infrastructure. Nothing operational transfers: you apply for your own DOHMH permit, FDNY cooking permit and SLA license, and open DOB/ECB violations on the building can block you until cleared.

It skips Place of Assembly, outdoor dining and seating-driven items, but Article 81 covers any place preparing food for sale, so the DOHMH permit, Food Protection Certificate, hood/FDNY cooking permit and grease interceptor all apply, and the CO or LNO must cover a commercial kitchen use.

An awning attached to the building needs a DOB permit (and a sign permit if lettered; LPC approval first in a historic district). A canopy on poles in the sidewalk is different: DOT canopy authorization, a Street Opening Permit for the poles and a $50 annual maintenance permit.

Keep shellfish tags for 90 days, buy from licensed shippers, print the raw/undercooked consumer advisory on the menu, and submit a HACCP plan to DOHMH before using vacuum packing, sous vide, curing, fermentation or acidified rice held at room temperature.