How to open a restaurant or café in Chicago
Seven stages from idea to opening day, in the order most owners work through them, with links to the agencies involved.
Concept and numbers
Test the idea and the budget before you commit.
Draft your startup budget and break-even
Use your own numbers to see how much you need and what sales cover your costs. Revisit it as quotes come in.
Check that your name is available
Search Illinois business name records and the free federal trademark search before you print signs. This is research, not legal clearance.
Get free licensing help from a Chicago Business Center
Chicago Business Centers are neighborhood organizations that offer free help, including support with business license and public way use permit applications and connections to BACP consultants.
City of Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection ↗
Business setup
Register the business and its taxes.
Register your LLC or corporation with the Secretary of State
If you form an LLC, corporation, LP or similar entity, register it with the Illinois Secretary of State. Chicago's license application asks for documents such as articles of incorporation or an operating agreement.
File an assumed business name with the Cook County Clerk
If you're a sole proprietor or partnership using an assumed name, register it with the Cook County Clerk's Office before you apply for your City license.
Get a federal EIN if you need one
An EIN is needed if you hire employees or operate as a corporation or partnership. It is free from the IRS; be wary of sites that charge for one.
Register with the Illinois Department of Revenue
Register your business with IDOR before you make purchases or sales or hire anyone. Registering online through MyTax Illinois is the fastest option; certificates of registration are issued electronically there.
Plan to collect Chicago's Restaurant Tax
Chicago imposes a Restaurant Tax on the selling price of food and beverages sold at retail by places for eating; the Department of Finance page lists the rate as 0.5%. Check that page for forms and filing.
Your site
Find a location where your business is allowed.
Get a City zoning consultation before signing a lease
Zoning review checks that your business activity is allowed in that district and meets parking, landscape and building standards. The City advises not to sign a lease until you've had a zoning consultation.
City of Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection ↗
Review your lease before you sign
Confirm the lease allows a restaurant and check who pays for build-out and upgrades. Consider having a lawyer review it; OpeningIQ can’t give legal advice.
Plan for accessibility
Businesses open to the public must follow the ADA. New construction and alterations must be accessible, and barriers in existing spaces must be removed where that’s readily achievable. Small businesses may qualify for a tax credit.
Plans, permits and build-out
Get the approvals to build out and prepare the space.
Get Department of Buildings permits for your build-out
A permit is required before most construction, demolition and repair work; only a limited range of minor repairs is exempt. Depending on the project, you may apply through standard plan review, the Express Permit Program or Self-Certification.
Submit kitchen plans to CDPH's Food Protection Program
CDPH's Food Protection Program has a plan review application for new food establishments and remodels or conversions. It asks for equipment details, cut sheets for cold storage and sinks, and a finish schedule.
Get a Certificate of Occupancy if your project needs one
A Certificate of Occupancy is required for a change of occupancy, for construction for assembly occupancies, and for non-residential work over 10,000 sq ft. Complete permit inspections, apply online, and get the certificate before you occupy.
Get a maximum capacity sign if required
Restaurants and bars are listed among spaces that require maximum capacity signs, and smaller places may need one as a condition of a business or liquor license. Post it at the main entrance.
Apply to BACP for a sidewalk café permit
To serve on the sidewalk, you need a sidewalk café permit, a valid Retail Food Establishment license, and a liquor license if serving alcohol. Apply in the City permit portal with insurance and a site plan keeping a 6-foot pedestrian path.
City of Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection ↗
Get a Department of Buildings sign permit
Most on-premise business signs need a sign permit; small window signs and incidental signs are exempt. Don't install a sign before the permit is issued. Engineered or electrical signs need licensed contractors.
Get a public way use permit for signs or awnings over the sidewalk
Signs, awnings and other items on, over or under the sidewalk or street need a BACP public way use permit, usually in addition to a Buildings sign permit. Apply through the City's permitting portal.
City of Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection ↗
Licenses
Get the licenses that let you open.
Get a City of Chicago Food Service Sanitation Certificate
Your person in charge must hold a CDPH Food Service Sanitation Certificate, earned through an approved course or by reciprocity with an ANSI-accredited Certified Food Protection Manager certification. Post the original certificate where the public can see it.
Get a Retail Food Establishment license from BACP
Restaurants and cafés need this license. Your location must be properly zoned, a certified person must be on site at all times, and you must pass a CDPH health inspection first. BACP lists fees from $660 to $1,650 by square footage.
City of Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection ↗
Apply for a Chicago Consumption on Premises license
Restaurants serving alcohol typically apply for a Consumption on Premises–Incidental Activity license alongside the retail food license. The page lists $4,400 plus a $40 publication fee for a 2-year term, plus health, fire and Buildings inspections.
City of Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection ↗
Expect community notice and background checks for liquor
When you apply, the City notifies the local alderman, police commander and registered voters within 250 feet. Controlling persons get fingerprint background checks, and the location can't be within 100 feet of schools, churches, hospitals or libraries.
City of Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection ↗
Get an Illinois retailer's liquor license from the ILCC
After your Chicago liquor license, apply for the state retailer's license. The application asks for a copy of your local license, your Illinois sales tax account ID, and liquor liability insurance if drinks are consumed on premises. You can't buy or sell alcohol without it.
Register with TTB before you sell alcohol
Businesses that sell alcohol must register with the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau before they start, for each location, and keep records of the alcohol they buy.
Get ready to open
Cover people, insurance and suppliers.
Register with IDES within 30 days of start-up
If you hire workers, register your business with the Illinois Department of Employment Security within 30 days of start-up. You can register online through MyTax Illinois.
Carry workers' compensation insurance
Illinois law requires most employers to provide workers' compensation insurance. Contact the IWCC Information Unit if you're unsure whether you're covered.
Follow Chicago minimum wage and labor laws
Chicago's Office of Labor Standards enforces the City minimum wage, including the phase-out of the tipped wage credit, plus paid leave and wage theft rules. Post the Chicago Labor Law notices and give them to workers with their first paycheck.
City of Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection ↗
Provide Chicago paid sick leave
Employees who work at least 80 hours in a 120-day period earn one hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours worked. Give written notice with the first paycheck and each year after July 1.
City of Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection ↗
If you’ll hire, set up federal payroll taxes
Withhold federal income tax using each employee’s Form W-4, pay Social Security and Medicare taxes, and pay federal unemployment (FUTA) tax, which isn’t withheld from pay.
Complete Form I-9 for every hire
Employers verify each new employee’s identity and authorization to work on Form I-9 and keep it on file.
Report new hires to your state
Report each new employee to your state’s new hire directory within 20 days of hiring; some states require it sooner.
Put up required workplace posters
Which federal posters you need depends on the laws that cover you; the Labor Department’s free Poster Advisor tells you. States have their own posters too.
Arrange business insurance
Ask an insurance broker what coverage your lease, lender and licenses call for. This is an OpeningIQ suggestion, not an agency requirement.
Line up equipment, POS and food suppliers
Get quotes early and compare delivery, payment and support terms. Your budget should guide the choices.
Check every approval is in hand
Gather your permits, licenses, certificate of occupancy and certificates in one place, and confirm each matches your address and business name.
Open and stay current
Keep licenses, permits and filings current.
Renew your food license every 2 years and expect inspections
The Retail Food Establishment license runs on a 2-year term. Places with seating get scheduled inspections at renewal, and CDPH also makes unscheduled and complaint-based inspections.
City of Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection ↗
Track these steps in a free private plan
Save your progress, notes and target dates, and see your next step at a glance. Your plan stays private and is never shared with suppliers.