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

Certified Food Protection Manager

Minnesota is unusual in issuing its own certificate rather than merely accepting a third party's: you pass an accredited exam privately, then apply to the health department, pay fifty dollars in total and receive a state certificate with its own effective date and a three-year life. Renewal needs at least four hours of approved continuing education taken inside the certificate's valid dates, with a six-month grace window to file afterwards, and an initial application must be made within six months of passing the exam. Paper applications stopped being accepted in April 2025. The exemptions are real: low-risk establishments, special event stands, vehicles, portable structures and carts, and premises whose preparation is limited to packaging non-hazardous food, cutting raw meat for the customer to cook, or heating hot dogs, popcorn, nachos, pretzels and frozen pizza. The owner need not be the certified manager.

Food and Beverage Establishment License

The fee is additive rather than banded: every establishment pays the $300 base, then its highest applicable category fee, then the statewide hospitality fee and a technology fee, and then add-ons for a second food service area, a private well or sewer, a hazard analysis plan, sleeping rooms, pools and spas. A food cart, mobile unit or seasonal stand pays $150 instead of a category fee; a special event stand pays a flat $75. Licenses opened after 1 October pay half. But who licenses you depends on where you are: a county or city holding a delegation agreement issues and prices in the health department's place, and Hennepin County's six-tier schedule — $100, $215 and $405 at the lower tiers, on a license year running 1 February to 31 January — resembles the state's not at all. The one constant is the $50 statewide hospitality fee, which is owed to the state by 1 July whoever issued the license. Groceries, processors and wholesalers are a different regime again, licensed by the agriculture department on a scale banded by gross sales and risk from $90 to several thousand.

Shared with other businesses in Minneapolis

• Commercial Hood Cleaning Permit — Minneapolis Fire Department, Fire Inspection Services, $146.80 flat, not stated in the published fee schedule. Also required for restaurants; what it involves is set out on the restaurants page.
• Commercial Building Registration — Minneapolis Fire Department, Fire Inspection Services, $58–$1,260 a year, by square footage — $58 (0–5,000 sq ft) up to $1,260 (over 2,000,000 sq ft), annual — any building the state building and fire code applies to that isn't used for living. Also required for restaurants, retail stores, salons and barbers, fitness studios, auto repair shops and veterinary clinics; what it involves is set out on the veterinary clinics page.
• Restaurant License — City of Minneapolis, Business Licenses & Consumer Services, By square footage: $431 (up to 1,000 sq ft), $567 (1,001–3,000), $719 (3,001–5,000), $856 (5,001–7,000), $1,003 (7,001–9,000), $1,139 (9,001–11,000), $1,286 (11,001–13,000), $1,423 (13,001–15,000), $1,706 (15,001+). The $147 New License Processing Charge applies on top for a new application., annual — expires April 1. Also required for restaurants; what it involves is set out on the restaurants page.
• Sign Permit — City of Minneapolis, Construction Code Services, On-premises permanent sign $215; on-premises temporary sign $50; off-premises advertising sign $1,250. A $1.00 Minnesota State Surcharge is added on top of each., one-time, per sign. Also required for restaurants, retail stores, salons and barbers, fitness studios, auto repair shops and veterinary clinics; what it involves is set out on the fitness studios page.