14 permits · verified 2026-09-05
What permits do you need to open a restaurant in Seattle?
In short
A restaurant in Seattle, WA has 9 permits that apply to every business of this type, plus 5 more that depend on your premises, signage or how you are set up. Public Health – Seattle & King County, Food & Facilities Program charges $10 first card, valid 2 years; a renewal card is valid 3 years for the food worker card. 6 of the 14 are charged as a range or formula rather than a flat fee. Verified 2026-09-05 against the issuing agencies’ published fee schedules.
Permits particular to a restaurant in Seattle
| Permit | Issuing agency | Fee | Renews | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Food Establishment Permit | Public Health – Seattle & King County, Food & Facilities Program | Annual, priced by seating and a three-level risk category at once, 2026 schedule: General Food Service 0–12 seats — $441 (Risk 1), $693 (Risk 2), $945 (Risk 3); 13–50 seats — $441/$756/$1,008; 51–150 seats — $441/$756/$1,134; 151–250 seats — $441/$882/$1,260; over 250 seats — $441/$945/$1,386. A bakery with no seating is $567–$945, a caterer $567–$945. | annual, April 1 – March 31, prorated by quarter for a mid-year start | 2026-09-05 |
| Food Worker Card | Public Health – Seattle & King County, Food & Facilities Program | $10 first card, valid 2 years; a renewal card is valid 3 years | 2 years initially, 3 years on renewal | 2026-09-05 |
| Sign Permit | Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections | $193.20 for the first 32 sq ft or less, plus a marginal charge escalating from $31.45 per additional 10 sq ft (32–100 sq ft) up to $62.70 per 10 sq ft (650+ sq ft). A wall sign painted directly on the building, with no frame, is capped at $884. Renewal or reestablishment is half the base fee ($146). | one-time, per sign; renewable | 2026-09-05 |
| Fire Operational Permit (hazard-triggered)only if it applies to you | Seattle Fire Department, Fire Marshal's Office | Priced per hazard-specific operational permit rather than a blanket per-business charge: a minor-automotive-maintenance repair garage is $494/year, a major-automotive-repair garage $660/year. A mobile food truck's annual LPG/solid-fuel cooking permit with an SFD inspection is $490 ($408 with a regional inspection report instead); a single-event version is $273. | annual for most operational permit categories | 2026-09-05 |
| Food Establishment Permit | Washington State Department of Health, Food Safety Program | $240–$1,386 a year, set by the local health jurisdiction — there is no state fee | annual, on a cycle the local jurisdiction sets | 2026-09-03 |
| Food Worker Card | Washington State Department of Health, Food Safety Program | $10 per card | 2 years first time, 3 on renewal, 5 with extra food safety training | 2026-09-03 |
Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.
Local permits that apply to every type of business in Seattle
| Permit | Issuing agency | Fee | Renews | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business License Tax Certificate | Seattle Finance and Administrative Services | Varies — formula on the Seattle page | annual — every certificate expires December 31 | 2026-09-05 |
| Certificate of Occupancy | Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections | No fee | not applicable — required only when use or dwelling-unit count changes | 2026-09-05 |
| Commercial Building Permit | Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections | Varies — formula on the Seattle page | one-time, per project | 2026-09-05 |
Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.
WA registrations that apply to every type of business
| Permit | Issuing agency | Fee | Renews | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Articles of Incorporationonly if it applies to you | Washington Secretary of State, Corporations and Charities Division | $180 one-time filing on paper; $200 online | no expiry, but a $70 annual report is due each year | 2026-09-03 |
| Reseller Permitonly if it applies to you | Washington State Department of Revenue, Business Licensing Service | No fee | 4 years, or 2 in defined circumstances | 2026-09-03 |
| Certificate of Formation (LLC)only if it applies to you | Washington Secretary of State, Corporations and Charities Division | $180 one-time filing on paper; $200 online | no expiry, but a $70 annual report is due each year | 2026-09-03 |
| Annual Reportonly if it applies to you | Washington Secretary of State, Corporations and Charities Division | $70 a year | annual — due the last day of the month the entity was formed or registered | 2026-09-03 |
| Washington State Business License | Washington State Department of Revenue, Business Licensing Service | $50 to open, plus each endorsement's own fee; $5 a year to renew | annual — one expiration date governs every endorsement on the license | 2026-09-03 |
Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.
How much does it actually cost to permit a restaurant in Seattle?
There is no single figure, and any site quoting one is rounding away the part that matters. Of the 14 records listed for a restaurant in Seattle, WA, 9 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 9 that always apply, 3 carry a flat fee, coming to $70.00. That is a floor, not a total. 6 of the 14 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:
Food Establishment Permit: Annual, priced by seating and a three-level risk category at once, 2026 schedule: General Food Service 0–12 seats — $441 (Risk 1), $693 (Risk 2), $945 (Risk 3); 13–50 seats — $441/$756/$1,008; 51–150 seats — $441/$756/$1,134; 151–250 seats — $441/$882/$1,260; over 250 seats — $441/$945/$1,386. A bakery with no seating is $567–$945, a caterer $567–$945.
Sign Permit: $193.20 for the first 32 sq ft or less, plus a marginal charge escalating from $31.45 per additional 10 sq ft (32–100 sq ft) up to $62.70 per 10 sq ft (650+ sq ft). A wall sign painted directly on the building, with no frame, is capped at $884. Renewal or reestablishment is half the base fee ($146).
Fire Operational Permit (hazard-triggered): Priced per hazard-specific operational permit rather than a blanket per-business charge: a minor-automotive-maintenance repair garage is $494/year, a major-automotive-repair garage $660/year. A mobile food truck's annual LPG/solid-fuel cooking permit with an SFD inspection is $490 ($408 with a regional inspection report instead); a single-event version is $273.
Food Establishment Permit: $240–$1,386 a year, set by the local health jurisdiction — there is no state fee
The other 2 variable fees belong to permits that apply to every type of business here; their formulas are set out on the Seattle permits page and the WA state page.
Is Seattle expensive for a restaurant?
Comparing like with like — only the permits charged as a single flat fee, since a valuation formula has no figure to rank — Seattle sits where the table below puts it against every other WA jurisdiction covered here that publishes the same permit.
Food Worker Card: Seattle charges $10. Across 4 jurisdictions it runs from $10 here to $10 in Tacoma, with a median of $10. 3 charge exactly the same.
Read the spread rather than the rank. Food Worker Card varies by $0 between the cheapest and dearest jurisdiction here, which is the sort of gap worth knowing before you sign a lease on one side of a city line rather than the other.
Which offices issue these permits in Seattle?
Permits for a restaurant in Seattle, WA come from 7 separate offices: Seattle Finance and Administrative Services, Public Health – Seattle & King County, Food & Facilities Program, Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections, Seattle Fire Department, Fire Marshal's Office, Washington Secretary of State, Corporations and Charities Division, Washington State Department of Revenue, Business Licensing Service, Washington State Department of Health, Food Safety Program. No single office issues them all, which is why an opening means filing in several places rather than one.
- Seattle Finance and Administrative ServicesIssues 1 permit on this page: Business License Tax Certificate(206) 684-8484www.seattle.gov/city-finance/business-taxes-and-licenses
- Public Health – Seattle & King County, Food & Facilities ProgramIssues 2 permits on this page: Food Establishment Permit, Food Worker Card206-263-9566kingcounty.gov/en/dept/dph/certificates-permits-licenses/food-business-permits/permanent-food-business-permit
- Seattle Department of Construction and InspectionsIssues 3 permits on this page: Certificate of Occupancy, Commercial Building Permit, Sign Permit(206) 684-8600www.seattle.gov/sdci
- Seattle Fire Department, Fire Marshal's OfficeIssues 1 permit on this page: Fire Operational Permit (hazard-triggered)301 2nd Ave S, Seattle, WA 98104 · (206) 386-1400www.seattle.gov/fire/business-services/permits
- Washington Secretary of State, Corporations and Charities DivisionIssues 3 permits on this page: Articles of Incorporation, Certificate of Formation (LLC), Annual ReportPO Box 40234, Olympia, WA 98504-0234 · (360) 725-0377www.sos.wa.gov/corporations-charities/business-entities
- Washington State Department of Revenue, Business Licensing ServiceIssues 2 permits on this page: Reseller Permit, Washington State Business LicensePO Box 9034, Olympia, WA 98507-9034 · (360) 705-6705dor.wa.gov/open-business/apply-business-license
- Washington State Department of Health, Food Safety ProgramIssues 2 permits on this page: Food Establishment Permit, Food Worker Card(360) 236-4700doh.wa.gov/community-and-environment/food
What does a restaurant need in Seattle that other businesses do not?
Food Establishment Permit
Seattle itself runs no food permitting program — Public Health – Seattle & King County, a joint city-county department, is the sole authority, confirmed directly against its own current fee PDF. Plan review is separate: a new-construction facility pays a 4-hour base fee of $1,008 plus $252/hour beyond that; a remodel pays a 3-hour base of $756. A mobile food unit is priced on its own schedule instead, $630–$1,260 depending on risk.
Food Worker Card
A statewide Washington requirement, not Seattle-specific — every food worker in the state needs one, confirmed directly against the state Department of Health's own page. Public Health – Seattle & King County's own fee schedule lists the identical $10 figure under its own "Food and Beverage Worker's License" line, so the two sources corroborate each other.
Fire Operational Permit (hazard-triggered)
Seattle Fire Department ties recurring fees to specific hazard or occupancy triggers — repair garages, mobile cooking, assembly occupancy, high-piled storage, hot work — rather than charging every commercial tenant a blanket annual inspection fee. No such blanket fee is published, so none is asserted for a generic retail or office tenant.
Shared with other businesses in Seattle
- Sign Permit — Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections, $193.20 for the first 32 sq ft or less, plus a marginal charge escalating from $31.45 per additional 10 sq ft (32–100 sq ft) up to $62.70 per 10 sq ft (650+ sq ft). A wall sign painted directly on the building, with no frame, is capped at $884. Renewal or reestablishment is half the base fee ($146)., one-time, per sign; renewable. 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 fitness studios page.
- Food Establishment Permit — Washington State Department of Health, Food Safety Program, $240–$1,386 a year, set by the local health jurisdiction — there is no state fee, annual, on a cycle the local jurisdiction sets. Also required for coffee shops and food trucks; what it involves is set out on the coffee shops page.
- Food Worker Card — Washington State Department of Health, Food Safety Program, $10 per card, 2 years first time, 3 on renewal, 5 with extra food safety training. Also required for coffee shops and food trucks; what it involves is set out on the coffee shops page.
The other 3 local permits in the tables apply to every type of business in Seattle, WA; what each one involves is set out on the Seattle permits page. The 5 state-level registrations apply to every type of business across WA and are covered on the WA state page.
How does a restaurant compare with other businesses in Seattle?
A restaurant and a coffee shop in Seattle, WA need exactly the same 6 permits beyond the ones every business needs.
| Business | Its own permits | Shared with a restaurant | Only a restaurant needs | Only it needs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coffee shops | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Food trucks | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| Auto repair shops | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| Fitness studios | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| Retail stores | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| Salons and barbers | 2 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| Veterinary clinics | 2 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| Childcare centres | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
| Contractors and trades | 4 | 0 | 6 | 4 |
Sources
Every figure for the permits explained on this page was read from one of these government pages on the date shown. Sources for the permits shared with other businesses are listed with their explanations on the fitness studios page and coffee shops page. Sources for the permits that apply to every type of business are listed on the Seattle permits page and the WA state page. Confirmed by Editorial Team.
- Public Health — Seattle and King County, food and facilities programme fees 2026Public Health — Seattle and King County · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
- Washington State Department of Health — Food Worker Card, Chapter 246-217 WACWashington State Department of Health · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-05
- Seattle Fire Department — operational permit fee search toolSeattle Fire Department · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-05
Related
Commercial Compliance Hub publishes information, not legal advice. Requirements change — confirm anything you rely on with the issuing agency before you file.