How a Florida restaurant license works

Published October 24, 2026 · Florida New Openings

Before a restaurant, café or bar can serve its first plate in Florida, it needs a food-service license from the state. That license is a public record, and it usually appears weeks before the grand-opening sign goes up. Here is how the process works, what the license types mean, and how to look one up.

Who issues the license

Public food service establishments in Florida are licensed and inspected by the Division of Hotels and Restaurants, part of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR). The authority comes from Chapter 509 of the Florida Statutes, and the division’s rules live in Chapter 61C of the Florida Administrative Code. The division’s own site, myfloridalicense.com/hotels-restaurants, is the source for applications, forms, inspection reports and the license search.

“Public food service establishment” is a broad term. It covers sit-down restaurants, counter-service spots, food trucks, caterers, hotel kitchens, bars that serve food and most places that prepare and serve meals to the public. It does not cover everything that sells food: grocery and convenience stores, many bakeries and food manufacturers are regulated by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and some institutional kitchens by the Department of Health. A new bakery can therefore be real and still never show up in the DBPR file, which is why we also read new business filings.

The license types

The division issues a handful of food-service license types. The ones that matter for spotting openings:

• Permanent food service, seating. A fixed location with seats for customers. The license records a seat count, and the fee scale is tied to seating, which is why the number of seats is part of the public record. This is the license behind nearly every new restaurant, café and bar on our lists.
• Permanent food service, non-seating. A fixed location without customer seating: takeout windows, ghost kitchens, commissaries and counter-only operations.
• Mobile food dispensing vehicle. Food trucks and trailers. Mobile units are licensed to an operator, not an address, so they are a weaker signal for a neighborhood and we treat them separately.
• Caterer and temporary food service event licenses round out the list. Temporary event licenses last a few days and are not openings.

Hotel and venue restaurants carry the same permanent food service license as an independent restaurant, which is why a new hotel restaurant or a stadium concession can appear on a list next to a neighborhood pizzeria. We label those “Hotel & venue dining” so you can tell them apart.

Plan review comes first

A brand-new establishment, a major remodel, or a conversion of a space that was not a food service business must submit plans to the division before it builds out. Plan review looks at the kitchen layout, equipment, plumbing, handwashing sinks, restrooms, ventilation and the rest of the sanitation basics. Approval of the plans is a prerequisite for a license at that address.

Plan review is the earliest state-level sign that a restaurant is coming, but it is not published as an open data file in the same way the license file is, so most people first see a project when the license itself appears.

The application and the opening inspection

With plans approved, the operator applies for the license, pays the fee and requests an opening inspection. A division inspector visits the finished space and checks it against the approved plans and the food code: refrigeration temperatures, hot and cold water, sanitizer, pest control, employee training records, the certified food manager and so on. The license is issued once that opening inspection is satisfactory. After that, the establishment moves onto a routine inspection schedule, typically one to four visits a year depending on the risk of its menu and its history.

Two separate approvals are easy to confuse with the state license. The certificate of occupancy and the fire inspection come from the city or county, not DBPR. And a liquor license comes from a different DBPR division entirely, the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco. A restaurant can hold its food-service license and still be waiting on either.

Why the license appears before the doors open

Operators apply as soon as the build-out is close to finished, because they cannot legally serve without the license and they do not want a finished kitchen sitting idle. Between the application, the opening inspection and the actual first day of service there is often a gap of days to weeks: staff training, soft openings for friends and family, a liquor license still in process, a delayed sign or a delayed menu. The license record is already in the state file during that gap.

That is the window Florida New Openings is built on. When a permanent food service license appears in the file with no inspection recorded against it yet, we show it as Licensed, not yet inspected. When a license shows up in the file for the first time that week, it is New license this week. Both are earlier than a Yelp page, a press release or a sign in the window.

How to look a license up

1. Open myfloridalicense.com/hotels-restaurants and follow the link to verify a license or search inspections.
2. Search by business name, license number, or by city and license type. New places sometimes file under the operating company’s name rather than the sign on the door, so try both.
3. Read the record: license type, status, the licensed address, seat count where it applies, the licensee (the company or person responsible), and any inspection reports with their dates and findings.

Inspection reports are public too. A newly licensed place with no reports yet is exactly the kind of record our lists are made of.

Where to see new licenses in your metro

We read the DBPR file daily and sort new food-service licenses by metro: Orlando · Tampa · Miami · Jacksonville · Fort Lauderdale · West Palm Beach. By category: Orlando restaurants, Tampa restaurants, Miami restaurants, Orlando bars, Tampa coffee shops, Miami coffee shops.

Questions people ask

This guide describes the public licensing process in general terms. It is not legal advice; operators should work from DBPR’s own instructions and their local building department.

See this week’s lists: Orlando · Tampa · Miami · Jacksonville · Fort Lauderdale · West Palm Beach.