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

Food Service Establishment Permit

The base annual fee is banded by one of four Food Establishment Classes (A-D, by food-preparation complexity) or six Retail Food Establishment Classes, but the City's own Rules document states that fee table 'is codified in the FSO and must go through City Council' to change — meaning it lives in the ordinance text itself rather than a separate published fee schedule. That ordinance text is published in the City's code on codelibrary.amlegal.com; no amount is published in this record for these permit classes, so contact the City Environmental Health Department for the current fee for a given class. Applicants must submit a signed pre-inspection application, City business license, and NM tax registration certificate at least five working days before opening; a provisional permit valid 30 days issues after a passing pre-opening inspection, converting to the full annual permit once fees are paid. The 2024 Rules independently require, at the city level, at least one Certified Food Protection Manager per establishment and a Food Handler Card for food employees within 30 days of hire — the same substantive requirements New Mexico's own state food code imposes, but imposed here as the City's own rule rather than merely inherited from the state.

Market Food Establishment Permit

A real, confirmed, and cheaper alternative to the standalone Food Establishment or Mobile Food Unit Permit for a vendor operating only at markets across the City — one permit covers any market citywide, though participation in a specific market is still at that market coordinator's discretion. A commissary is required unless the vendor sells only whole, uncut raw produce. The application's own questionnaire cites ROA 1994 §13-1-1 through 13-1-10 as the business-registration authority — a narrower section range than the §§13-1-1 to 13-1-18 the current Business License Ordinance page cites, suggesting this form has not been updated to reflect the ordinance's later sections.

Food Establishment Permit

As amended effective 1 October 2026 (New Mexico Register Vol. XXXVII, Issue 12, 23 June 2026), section 8-303.15 sets a $200 permit fee for food establishments, mobile food establishments, servicing areas and food processing plants, and $25 for a temporary food establishment per single event or celebration. The same amendment raised the late renewal fee from $25 to $175 and the re-inspection fee from $100 to $500, and added a $400 variance application fee and plan review fees: $300, $600 or $900 for a food establishment (up to 1,000, 1,001–2,000, or over 2,000 square feet of kitchen, storage and ware-washing area) and $400, $900 or $1,400 for a food processing plant. Permit fees are waived for operations that provide food at no charge, and for temporary food establishments serving only non-TCS food or operating no more than two days in a calendar month. The amendment also repealed the home-based food processing section and its $100 permit tier. The Environment Department's food program states that it 'does not have jurisdiction in Bernalillo County and Albuquerque, as they have their own food safety programs'.

Food Handler Card

No state fee is set — the Environment Department's training page states the card is obtained through an accredited food handler training program. Under section 2-104.11 of 7.6.2.8 NMAC (carried unchanged into the 1 October 2026 amendment), food employees must pass a food handler training test and hold a valid card, obtained within 30 calendar days of starting work and valid for three years from issuance. The rule exempts certified food protection managers, employees of an entity whose own training program the department has approved, employees who do not prepare or handle time/temperature control for safety food, people who only occasionally function as food employees, workers at temporary food establishments (where the person in charge must hold a card or manager certification), and volunteers for charitable organizations serving the needy; exempt workers must receive documented food safety training from the employer. Separately, section 2-102.12 requires at least one supervisory employee per food establishment to be a certified food protection manager.

Shared with other businesses in Albuquerque

• Temporary Food Service Establishment Permit — City of Albuquerque Environmental Health Department, Consumer Health Protection Division, $25 flat, per event/location, one-time — valid at a single location for the duration of a single event, not to exceed 14 consecutive days. Also required for restaurants and food trucks; what it involves is set out on the restaurants page.
• Sign Permit — City of Albuquerque Planning Department, Development Review Services / Code Enforcement, $10 posted-notice fee plus $0.70 per square foot of sign face, or $70, whichever is greater. An Electronic Sign Permit is priced the same way but recurs annually rather than as a one-time charge. A sign erected without first obtaining a permit is charged double: $10 plus $1.45 per square foot, or $145, whichever is greater., one-time, per sign (an Electronic Sign Permit is annual). 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 salons and barbers page.