What permits do you need to open a restaurant in New Orleans?

There is no single figure, and any site quoting one is rounding away the part that matters. Of the 13 records listed for a restaurant in New Orleans, LA, 8 apply to every business of this type and 5 are conditional. Adding every fee on the page together would overstate what most operators pay, because it would include permits they never need.

Of the 8 that always apply, 3 carry a flat fee, coming to $365.00. That is a floor, not a total. 5 of the 13 are charged as a range or a formula set by the issuing agency, and 2 have no fee published at all. The ones particular to this business that vary:

Occupational License Tax — Retail Dealers in Merchandise, Services and Rentals: $50–$6,200 a year, by gross receipts bracket under Table 1

Conditional Use Permit: $1,160–$4,640 by building size — $1,160 up to 4,999 sq ft, $2,320 for 5,000–24,999, $3,480 for 25,000–74,999, $4,640 for 75,000 and above; a multi-family or townhouse project is $500 to $700 instead

Sign Permit: $60 base plus $5 per $1,000 of installation/purchase cost, plus a flat $125 sign review fee, plus a $40 annual operating fee (the first year's operating fee is bundled into the initial permit). A 50% surcharge applies in a Vieux Carré Commission or Historic District Landmarks Commission district.

The other 2 variable fees belong to permits that apply to every type of business here; their formulas are set out on the New Orleans permits page and the LA state page.

Permits for a restaurant in New Orleans, LA come from 7 separate offices: City of New Orleans Bureau of Revenue, Department of Finance, City of New Orleans Department of Safety and Permits, New Orleans Fire Department, Fire Prevention Division, City of New Orleans City Planning Commission, Louisiana Secretary of State, Commercial Division, Louisiana Department of Revenue, Central Registration Section, Louisiana Department of Health, Office of Public Health, Retail Food Program. No single office issues them all, which is why an opening means filing in several places rather than one.

• City of New Orleans Bureau of Revenue, Department of FinanceIssues 1 permit on this page: Occupational License Tax — Retail Dealers in Merchandise, Services and Rentals1300 Perdido Street, Room 1W15, New Orleans, LA 70112www.nola.gov
• City of New Orleans Department of Safety and PermitsIssues 3 permits on this page: Commercial Building Permit, Sign Permit, Certificate of Use and Occupancynola.gov
• New Orleans Fire Department, Fire Prevention DivisionIssues 1 permit on this page: Fire Inspection and Plan Review317 Decatur Street, New Orleans, LA 70130 · (504) 658-4700nola.gov
• City of New Orleans City Planning CommissionIssues 1 permit on this page: Conditional Use Permitnola.gov/conditional-use-request
• Louisiana Secretary of State, Commercial DivisionIssues 4 permits on this page: Articles of Incorporation, Annual Report, General Business License — Louisiana Position (geauxBIZ checklist), Articles of Organization (LLC)8585 Archives Avenue, Baton Rouge, LA 70809 · (225) 925-4704www.sos.la.gov/business-services/forms-fee-schedule
• Louisiana Department of Revenue, Central Registration SectionIssues 1 permit on this page: Sales Tax CertificatePO Box 1469, Baton Rouge, LA 70821 · (855) 307-3893revenue.louisiana.gov
• Louisiana Department of Health, Office of Public Health, Retail Food ProgramIssues 2 permits on this page: Retail Food Establishment Permit, Food Safety Certificate628 North 4th Street, Baton Rouge, LA 70802 · (225) 342-7522ldh.la.gov/page/retail-food

The other 3 local permits in the tables apply to every type of business in New Orleans, LA; what each one involves is set out on the New Orleans permits page. The 5 state-level registrations apply to every type of business across LA and are covered on the LA state page.

The closest match is a coffee shop, which shares 4 of these permits. A restaurant also needs Conditional Use Permit. A coffee shop needs nothing here that a restaurant does not.