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

Food Service License (fixed establishment, annual)

Any fixed food service establishment operating anywhere in Oakland County — restaurants, cafeterias, coffee shops, sandwich shops, bars, catering kitchens and food concessions — needs an annual Food Service License from OCHD Environmental Health before opening, with no city carve-out anywhere in the county. The fee, effective October 1, 2025, runs from $338.20 for a 0-24 seat establishment, to $398.00 for 25-99 seats, to $457.80 for 100 or more seats; commissaries are billed at the 0-24 seat rate of $338.20. Payment by card adds a 3.5% surcharge and payment by e-check adds $2.50. The license year runs through April 30, and renewal is due by that date to avoid a late fee. Applications go through the county's Accela Citizen Access online portal or the legacy EHLT0005 system for existing accounts. A retail store that only sells prepackaged, non-potentially-hazardous food is not covered by this license at all; a store selling perishable or potentially-hazardous packaged food instead needs a state MDARD retail food establishment license, not this one.

Certified Food Manager (CFM) Requirement

Michigan's Food Law requires a food establishment required to have a certified manager under MCL 289.2129 to continually employ at least one certified full-time manager, with recertification every five years, an allergen-awareness training component required since January 14, 2017, and a 90-day grace period to replace a manager who leaves or is lost. This is a state statutory mandate that OCHD's own food-safety materials restate rather than a rule Oakland County wrote itself, and it applies identically to restaurants, coffee shops and food trucks with a required manager. No fee applies at the county level: unlike some Michigan county health departments, Oakland County's own food-safety page does not list a county-run certified-manager training class or exam fee of its own — the ANSI-accredited certification course and exam are obtained through an outside accredited provider, at that provider's own separately set cost, not billed by OCHD.

Alcohol License — Michigan Liquor Control Commission (Oakland County)

No fee applies at the county level. Oakland County's Business Development 'Tools & Templates' page states that 'Oakland County does not require a business license' and that 'Licensing is managed by the State of Michigan,' and directs a new business to check with its city or township for any local license. Liquor licensing in Michigan runs through the Michigan Liquor Control Commission at the state level, combined with an approval or recommendation step from the local unit of government where the licensed premises is located — the city, village or township. A restaurant or coffee shop applying to serve alcohol works with the state Liquor Control Commission and with the city, village or township where its premises sits, such as Troy, Birmingham, Pontiac or Royal Oak.

Food Service Establishment License

The agriculture department does not license restaurants and says so: food service establishments, including restaurants, cafes, bars, catering kitchens, food trucks and temporary units, are licensed by local health departments. Its own application form tells you to contact the local health department for the fee. The state's part is a small embedded component the local schedule collects — $30 on a fixed or mobile license, $44 on a temporary one — and the rest is the county's. The counties do not even measure the same thing: Detroit, Oakland and Macomb band by seats while Washtenaw bands by floor area, so a sixty-seat restaurant pays $398 in Oakland and $898 in Washtenaw. Every license expires on 30 April. The state steps back in only where a business also serves unpackaged food with customer seating inside a retail store, which becomes an extended retail food establishment licensed by the state at $471.

Shared with other businesses in Oakland County

• Retail Food Establishment License — Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, $73–$471 a year, by establishment type, annual — the license year runs 1 May to 30 April. Also required for retail stores and food trucks; what it involves is set out on the food trucks page.
• Certified Food Safety Manager — Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, No fee, certificates are typically valid five years, set by the certifying provider. Also required for restaurants and food trucks; what it involves is set out on the restaurants page.