What permits do you need to open a restaurant in Alameda County?

Alcoholic Beverage License — State ABC License Applies (Alameda County)

The license to sell or serve alcohol comes from the State Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC), whose License Types page sets out the state license classes, recorded at the state layer; Alameda County's General Ordinance Code Title 3 (Business Licenses and Regulations), whose chapters cover the business license tax and named trades such as automobile junk yards, massage establishments, secondhand and junk dealers, taxicabs and tobacco retailers, names no alcohol license, so the County charges no fee for the alcohol license itself. A restaurant or retail store in the unincorporated area also needs the county's own Conditional Use Permit for alcohol sales, recorded separately for Alameda County as an additional, not a substitute, requirement — a business needs both the state ABC license and, in the unincorporated area, the county CUP before selling alcohol.

Retail Food Facility Permit

Any facility storing, preparing, packaging or selling food to the public must hold a valid ACDEH permit before opening — but only outside the City of Berkeley. ACDEH is the retail-food regulator for every city in Alameda County and the unincorporated area EXCEPT Berkeley, which runs its own independent local health jurisdiction and its own Environmental Health Division under Berkeley Municipal Code Title 11; a facility physically in Berkeley gets its food permit from the City of Berkeley instead of ACDEH. The fee schedule above is ACDEH's current 'Exhibit A' fee table and varies substantially by category and, for a restaurant, by seat count; the one-time $207 application fee is additional to the annual permit fee. A restaurant, coffee shop or retail store selling food in any of the other 13 incorporated cities, or in the unincorporated area, holds this permit through ACDEH regardless of which city it sits in.

Hazardous Materials Business Plan (HMBP) / CUPA Registration

Any business storing hazardous materials above threshold quantities (55 gallons liquid, 500 lbs solid, or 200 cubic feet compressed gas, aggregated) must file a Hazardous Materials Business Plan and register with its CUPA through the state's CERS system — but WHICH agency that is depends on which of the 14 cities the business sits in. ACDEH is the CUPA for Alameda, Albany, Dublin, Emeryville, Newark, Oakland, Piedmont and the unincorporated area only; this record, its fee schedule and its ACDEH filing process apply to that territory. The other six cities each run their own CUPA instead of ACDEH: Fremont Fire Department for Fremont, Hayward Fire Department for Hayward, Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department for Livermore and Pleasanton, the City of San Leandro's own Environmental Services Section for San Leandro (under its own municipal code, not an ACDEH chapter), Union City's own Environmental Programs Division for Union City, and the City of Berkeley's own Toxics Management Division for Berkeley. Industries most likely to trip the threshold include auto-repair (used oil, solvents, refrigerants, batteries), veterinary (anesthetic gases, cleaning chemicals), salons with large-volume acetone or chemical storage, and contractors storing fuel or paint at a yard; restaurants and coffee shops are usually below threshold but can trip it with bulk CO2 or cleaning-chemical storage.

Shared with other businesses in Alameda County

• Conditional Use Permit (CUP) — Alameda County Community Development Agency, Planning Department, $500–$6,000 deposit or flat fee by category, per the Fee/Deposit Schedule effective September 2025: Standard CUP $2,500 deposit (at-cost, all districts); Administrative CUP (minor/temporary land uses) $500 flat; pre-application meeting $125; mandatory review $500; larger/complex use categories (cemetery, church, school, heliport, landfill, solar farm) $4,000 deposit; wireless facilities $6,000 deposit; appeal fee $250; all credit-card payments add a 3% processing fee, not fixed by rule; the Board of Zoning Adjustments can set conditions including a validity length case by case, with no default expiration stated. Also required for retail stores, veterinary clinics, childcare centres and auto repair shops; what it involves is set out on the veterinary clinics page.
• Food Facility / Mobile Food Facility Plan Check — Alameda County Department of Environmental Health, Food Protection Program, $891–$218,850 one-time per project, by scenario (ACDEH's current schedule): Restaurant plan check under 26 seats $909, 26-50 seats $1,296, 51-75 seats $1,662, over 75 seats $2,188.50; Coffee House plan check $891; Mobile Food Facility commissary plan check (2-8 units) $907; expedited plan-check service $1,104, one-time per project. Also required for coffee shops and food trucks; what it involves is set out on the coffee shops page.
• Conditional Use Permit — Alcohol Sales (County layer, in addition to the State ABC license) — Alameda County Community Development Agency, Planning Department, $2,500 deposit, at-cost (Standard CUP, September 2025 schedule); separate from and in addition to the State ABC license fee, not fixed by rule; set case by case by the deciding Board of Zoning Adjustments. Also required for retail stores; what it involves is set out on the retail stores page.
• Fire Code Permits / Site Inspections — Alameda County Fire Department, Fire Prevention Division, ACFD's Fire Prevention Division sets its own fee schedule for fire-code permits and inspections under its locally adopted California Fire Code amendments. Confirm current fees, and which permits a specific business needs, with ACFD Fire Prevention before applying., varies by permit type; confirm with ACFD Fire Prevention. Also required for coffee shops, fitness studios, childcare centres, auto repair shops and retail stores; what it involves is set out on the fitness studios page.
• Food Facility Permit — California Department of Public Health, Food and Drug Branch, No fee, set by the local enforcement agency. Also required for coffee shops, retail stores and food trucks; what it involves is set out on the retail stores page.
• Food Handler Card — California Department of Public Health, Food and Drug Branch, $15 statutory maximum for at least one accredited course, 3 years. Also required for coffee shops, retail stores and food trucks; what it involves is set out on the food trucks page.