What permits do you need to open a coffee shop in Broward County?

Industrial Pretreatment / Fats-Oils-Grease (FOG) Discharge Compliance

A food-service facility with a grease interceptor or trap — a restaurant, coffee shop, or a food truck's fixed commissary kitchen — is subject to inspection and discharge standards under Broward's Industrial Pretreatment Program only where Broward County Water and Wastewater Services is the actual sewer utility serving that address. This is a limited-scope requirement, not a countywide one: several of Broward's largest cities, including Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Pompano Beach and Sunrise, run their own municipal utilities with their own FOG rules instead, and the exact boundary of Broward's own service area should be confirmed with Broward County Water and Wastewater Services. A business should confirm which utility serves its actual address before assuming either this county program or a city's own program applies. Contact Broward County Water and Wastewater Services for any permit or inspection fee under this program.

Restaurant / Coffee Shop Food-Safety Permit — State Preemption under Fla. Stat. §509.032 (Broward)

No fee applies at the county level. Under Fla. Stat. §509.032(7)(a), the regulation of public food service establishments, 'including, but not limited to, sanitation standards, inspections, training and testing of personnel,' is preempted to the state, so food-service licensing and inspection for restaurants and coffee shops sits with the state DBPR Division of Hotels and Restaurants (or FDACS for retail food stores), not county health or consumer-protection departments; the same subsection preserves local inspections for Florida Building Code and Fire Prevention Code compliance. Broward's own Consumer Protection Division publishes a regulated-category list — auto repair, motor vehicle body/paint, movers, towing, chauffeurs/vehicles-for-hire, childcare — that does not include restaurants. A restaurant or coffee shop in Broward still needs the standard commercial requirements recorded as separate requirements, such as the Local Business Tax Receipt and, in unincorporated Broward, the Certificate of Use; under §509.032(7)(a) there is no separate county food-safety permit on top of the state DBPR license.

Public Food Service Establishment License

Banded by seats, and each band is four separate charges added together — a basic fee, a capacity fee, an epidemiological fee and a HEP fee. 1 to 49 seats is $262; 50 to 149 is $273; 150 to 249 is $294; 250 to 349 is $315; 350 to 499 is $336; 500 or more is $357. On top of any of those, a first application or a change of ownership adds a $50 application fee, and a late renewal adds $50. A non-seating permanent establishment pays $242 and a mobile food dispensing vehicle $347 — a food truck costs more to license than all but the largest restaurant. Two things catch people: statute caps the aggregate license fee at $400 per establishment, but the $50 application and $50 delinquency fees sit outside that cap; and applying within six months of the annual renewal period halves the first year's fee, while applying earlier than that does not. A restaurant operating inside a hotel needs its own license.

Shared with other businesses in Broward County

• Unincorporated-Area Alcoholic Beverage Zoning Layer (separation distances) — Broward County Planning and Development Management Division (Building Services and Zoning), No fee, not applicable - this is a zoning separation-distance standard enforced through the Certificate of Use process, not a license with its own term. Also required for restaurants; what it involves is set out on the restaurants page.
• Food Service Employee Training and Manager Certification — Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Division of Hotels and Restaurants, No fee, employee training 3 years; manager certification 5 years. Also required for restaurants and food trucks; what it involves is set out on the restaurants page.