What permits do you need to open a restaurant in Boise City?

Conditional Use Permit

Required whenever a proposed use is classified as a conditional (rather than outright allowed) use in its zoning district — a real possibility for a standalone child daycare facility, an auto repair shop, or a veterinary clinic depending on the specific district, per the City's own Table of Allowed Uses. This is a substantially larger fee and a substantially longer review process than the administrative Zoning Certificate recorded above, and applies only when the district-specific use table requires it rather than to every business in these industries.

Food and Beverage License (Eating and Drinking License)

An annual license for fixed-location restaurants and coffee shops, priced at $84.00 on the City Clerk's Licensing Fee Schedule under the combined label 'Eating and Drinking / Food & Beverage License'; the City's own licensing page for the same product is titled 'Food and Beverage License'. Prerequisites the City's own page states: a current Idaho Secretary of State business registration, a Central District Health permit, a Certificate of Occupancy, and (if the occupancy permit allows more than 50 guests) an Assembly Permit. The page's own text says 'All restaurants (eating/drinking establishments and vendors) must obtain a license from the City of Boise,' and that licenses must be renewed annually. The City's dedicated 'Eating and Drinking - Mobile' license page returns HTTP 410 Gone, and the City's Vendor License is the separately priced product listed for mobile food trucks; this record applies the Food and Beverage License to fixed-location restaurants and coffee shops. The page's 'vendors' wording is not reconciled with the Vendor License on any City page cited here.

Food Establishment License (Central District Health)

Central District Health, not the City of Boise or the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare directly, is the food-permitting authority here — CDH's own jurisdiction page names Ada, Boise, Elmore, and Valley counties as the four it covers directly, and Boise sits entirely within Ada County. The Idaho state-level record shows CDH's numbers as one of two illustrative district examples because Idaho's food code sets no single statewide fee; this record gives the CDH figure that applies to a Boise restaurant or coffee shop, read from the same CDH fee page.

Shared with other businesses in Boise City

• Fire Sprinkler / Alternative Extinguishing System Permit (Commercial Kitchen Hood Suppression) — City of Boise, Planning and Development Services, A base plan review and inspection permit fee of $175.00, plus $4.85 for each fire sprinkler head or appliance nozzle (the wet-chemical range-hood system counting as an 'Alternative Extinguishing System' under this same fee), capped at a maximum of $4,000.00 per permit., one-time, per installation. Also required for coffee shops and food trucks; what it involves is set out on the food trucks page.
• Assembly License (Places of Assembly Permit) — City of Boise, Office of the City Clerk, $100 annual, annual. Also required for coffee shops, fitness studios and retail stores; what it involves is set out on the retail stores page.
• Sign Permit — City of Boise, Planning and Development Services, $110.25 for a routine administrative-level on-premise sign permit (the same fee line also covers a Zoning Certificate or Home Occupation application). A Public Hearing Level Sign Program costs $176.40, an Administrative Commission Level sign review $137.55, and a Temporary Sign Permit $22.05., not stated in the published fee schedule. Also required for coffee shops, retail stores, salons and barbers, fitness studios, auto repair shops and veterinary clinics; what it involves is set out on the salons and barbers page.
• Food Establishment License — Central District Health, $200–$250 a year, set by whichever of seven independent health districts covers the address, annual — every food license in Idaho expires 31 December, with renewal due by 1 December. Also required for coffee shops and food trucks; what it involves is set out on the food trucks page.
• Food Safety Exam or Certified Food Protection Manager — Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, Food Protection Program, No fee, 5 years for the state exam certificate. Also required for coffee shops and food trucks; what it involves is set out on the food trucks page.