Restaurants and food trucks.
Confirm the authority for your exact address. Some cities run their own health division, and building, planning, fire, sewer/grease and business-license approvals are separate even when NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) issues the health permit.
What the local foodservice landscape looks like — useful whether you’re opening here or sizing up the competition.
▲ 2.1% change in establishments since 2022 (24,122 → 24,639).
The average foodservice wage here is $5,227 above the New York average ($30,677); New York has about 52,317 food & drink establishments statewide.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023 (NAICS 722, food services & drinking places) — establishments with paid employees. Some small-county payroll figures are withheld by Census for confidentiality.
$280 base permit (valid ~2 years); add $25 if serving frozen desserts; At least one supervisor must hold a Food Protection Certificate; Business may open 22 days after applying even without a pre-permit inspection
Turnaround: Pre-permit inspection scheduled around the 22-day mark
NYC DOHMH assigns A/B/C from inspection points (A 0-13, B 14-27, C 28+); a grade card is required in the window and results are posted online (ABC Eats).
Full-term MFV unit permit ~$200 (2-yr); operator Mobile Food Vending License ~$50 (2-yr); REALITY: full-term permits are hard-capped and frozen since the early 1980s; decades-long waitlist; Local Law 18/2021 & LL54/2026 add permits gradually (target +12,780 by 2031); New 'supervisory license' tier created; supervisory license renewal is $438/2-yr (initial issuance free); Gray-market permit leases run ~$15k-$25k per 2-yr cycle
Fees/payment and forms are on the department site; application steps vary by concept — see the checklist below.
Check the health-inspection history and violation scores for any food establishment in New York City and New York. NYSDOH publishes food service establishment inspection data statewide except New York City, which runs its own restaurant grading system.
New York inspection lookup →Under IPC 2018 (Plumbing Code of NYS 2020), food establishments here must control fats, oils & grease (FOG) with a grease interceptor or trap, and typically register with the local sewer/wastewater authority. Grease interceptors are required where grease-laden waste is produced, sized under the state plumbing code, with the FOG discharge permit issued by the local sewer authority.
Size the interceptor with our grease-trap sizing calculator, compare units in the grease-trap catalog, and confirm the local FOG permit with NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) (contact above).
Hood fire suppression (IFC 2018 (Fire Code of NYS 2020)): commercial cooking under a Type I hood needs a wet-chemical suppression system to NFPA 96, permitted and inspected by the local fire marshal. Commercial kitchen hood suppression follows NFPA 96 and is permitted and inspected by the local code/fire official under the Fire Code of NYS. See do I need a hood? and the hood CFM calculator.
Backflow prevention: An annual RPZ/backflow assembly test is required under state cross-connection control rules and administered by the public water supplier. A certified backflow assembly (often an RPZ) on the water service, tested annually, is standard — confirm with your water utility.
| Category | Annual fee | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| caterer | — | Caterers operate under a Food Service Establishment Permit ($280 new); a valid FSE or Mobile Food Vending permit exempts an operator from needing a separate temporary permit at events |
| temporary/seasonal/special-event | $70 | "Temporary Food Service Establishment Permit" to make/serve food at a temporary special event from booths, stands, kiosks, vehicles or carts; $70.00 |
| food processing/wholesale | +$25 frozen dessert endorsement | FSE permit is $280; add $25 if making frozen desserts; NYC food manufacturers/processors are primarily regulated by NYS Dept of Agriculture & Markets, not DOHMH |
Health-department plan review looks for specific, code-compliant fixtures. Compare spec-filtered options, then confirm counts and sizes with your local requirements. See the full list in what equipment a commercial kitchen requires.
This is a typical sequence — confirm the exact sequence with your authority having jurisdiction.
Official plan-check requirements: plan-check guide →