How to open a restaurant in the US: a 12-step guide and timeline

To open a restaurant in the US: test your concept, write a business plan with a real budget, raise the money, form your business and get tax IDs, sign a lease on a site that can be permitted, get your build-out plans approved, apply for your food permit and other licenses, build the kitchen, hire and train staff, set up your menu, payments and ordering, then run a soft opening before the grand opening. Expect it to take several months, and go in with honest numbers: the typical US restaurant kept only 2.8% (full service) to 4.0% (limited service) of sales as pre-tax income in 2024, according to the National Restaurant Association, though more new restaurants survive their first year than the myths suggest.

Not legal advice. Licensing is set by your state, county and city. Check every requirement with the agencies where you'll open. Figures were read on the sources' own pages on October 20, 2026.

Which kind of food business are you opening?

This guide covers a sit-down or counter-service restaurant. If you're starting smaller or more specialized, our step-by-step guides go deeper:

Step 1: Define and test your concept

Decide what you'll serve, to whom, at what price, and in what format (full service, fast casual, counter, takeout-first). Then test it before you sign a lease: cook pop-up nights, run a market stall or cater small events. Real customers paying real prices are the best market research.

The SBA's 10 steps to start a business begin with market research for exactly this reason: check there's demand and see who your competitors are.

Step 2: Write a business plan and budget

Your plan is what lenders, investors and landlords will read. Cover the concept, location, menu and pricing, staffing, marketing, start-up costs, monthly costs and a sales forecast with a break-even point.

• Build the plan with the free restaurant business plan template.
• Work out what it will cost with our guide to the cost of opening a restaurant and the restaurant startup cost calculator.
• Check your break-even sales with the restaurant break-even calculator.

Use real benchmarks: with a median margin of 3% to 4%, a small change in food or labor cost decides whether you profit. Our restaurant profit margin guide shows the math.

Step 3: Raise the money

Add your start-up budget to several months of running costs, plus a contingency. Common sources are your own savings, family and friends, partners or investors, bank loans and SBA-backed loans, and equipment financing or leasing. Keep the business's money in its own bank account from the start.

Step 4: Form the business and get tax IDs

Do this before you sign anything in the business's name.

• Choose a legal structure (LLC, corporation, partnership or sole proprietorship). It affects taxes, paperwork and personal liability; ask an accountant.
• Register your business name with your state, and a "doing business as" name if you'll trade under another name.
• Get an EIN online from the IRS. It's free; the IRS warns about sites that charge for one.
• Register for state taxes: sales tax (restaurant meals are taxable in states with a sales tax; see sales tax on restaurant food) and state payroll taxes once you hire.

Step 5: Find a site and sign the right lease

The site decides your rent, your build-out cost and your customers. Before you sign:

• Confirm the use is allowed with the city's zoning or planning office.
• Check the building: a former restaurant with a working hood, grease trap and walk-in can save a large part of your build-out.
• Ask the health department what the space needs to pass plan review.
• Negotiate rent-free months for the build-out and a lease term that matches your loan.
• Plan for accessibility: the ADA's Title III covers restaurants as public accommodations.

Step 6: Get your build-out plans approved

Most health departments must approve your plans before construction starts. The FDA Food Code's model rule says plans and specifications are reviewed and approved before a food establishment is built, converted from another use, or remodeled. Expect the reviewer to check:

• your menu and how each item is prepared;
• handwashing sinks, a three-compartment sink or dish machine, a service sink and toilets;
• refrigeration that keeps food at 41°F or below, and hot holding at 135°F or above;
• finishes that are smooth and easy to clean.

You'll also need building permits, and your fire department will review the hood, fire suppression and exits. Commercial cooking ventilation and fire protection usually follow NFPA 96 as adopted by your local fire code.

Step 7: Apply for your licenses and permits

Apply early: permits are the most common reason openings slip. The Food Code's model rule is to apply for your food permit at least 30 calendar days before opening.

You'll also need a certified food protection manager as the person in charge (the Food Code requires one unless the health department rates you low risk), and, under the 2026 Food Code released on September 17, 2026, a written employee illness policy.

Step 8: Build the kitchen and buy equipment

Order long-lead items early: hoods, walk-ins and specialty ovens can take weeks. Buy equipment for your menu, not for every possible dish. Second-hand equipment saves money, but check it's certified for commercial use and get it serviced before opening.

Step 9: Hire and train your team

Plan pay from real wages. The BLS national medians in May 2025 were $17.98 an hour for restaurant cooks, $16.94 for waiters and waitresses, $15.00 for fast food and counter workers and $21.19 for food service supervisors. Check your state's minimum wage: the federal minimum is $7.25, and states such as California ($16.90) set it higher.

Your legal checklist for staff:

• Form I-9 for every hire. USCIS says all US employers must complete one for every person they hire.
• Report new hires to your state, within 20 days of hire at most under federal law (some states set shorter deadlines).
• Tipped staff: the federal cash wage is $2.13 an hour with a maximum tip credit of $5.12, but many states require more. A mandatory service charge isn't a tip: the IRS treats it as wages when paid to staff.
• Workers' compensation is required for most employers in most states. Texas is the exception, where private employers can opt out with notice to employees and the state.

Train for two weeks before opening: menu tastings, service steps, food safety, allergens (the FDA's nine major allergens include sesame since January 1, 2023) and your systems.

Step 10: Finalize your menu and prices

Cost every dish and price it so food cost lands where your plan says. Use how to price menu items, the food cost percentage guide and the menu price calculator, and design the menu itself with how to make a restaurant menu.

If you'll grow to 20 or more locations under the same name, FDA's menu labeling rule will require calories on menus. See FDA menu labeling requirements. If you plan to pass on card fees, check credit card surcharge laws by state first.

Step 11: Set up payments, online ordering and delivery

Decide how customers will order before you open, not after.

• Payments: a POS or card reader at the counter, and online payments for orders ahead.
• Your own ordering page: customers order pickup or delivery directly, and you keep the customer relationship and the data. See online ordering for US restaurants.
• Delivery apps: useful for reach, but DoorDash's US tiers charge 15%, 25% or 30% commission. See the US delivery app commission guide.
• Your own delivery: compare your own drivers with apps in our in-house delivery guide.

How Menuthere helps. Menuthere's Free plan gives you an ordering website, QR codes and table ordering with 0% commission and 50 orders a month, with the major allergens, calories and a halal mark tagged on each dish. Lite (US$17 a month) adds unlimited orders, your own domain, card payments through your own Stripe account, scheduled orders and table booking. Pro (US$39 a month) adds your own delivery drivers with a rider app and live tracking, loyalty and more outlets. The 7-day trial on Lite and Pro needs a card. Prefer to talk it through? Book a demo.

Have your ordering page ready before opening day. with 0% commission and free QR codes.

Create your free ordering page

Step 12: Market the opening, soft-open, then open

Start marketing a few weeks before you open, so people know you're coming and your first nights have guests.

• Get found: claim your Google Business Profile and add your menu and ordering link. Our restaurant SEO guide covers the rest.
• Build a list before you open: collect emails from pop-ups and social followers. See restaurant marketing ideas.
• Soft-open to friends, family and neighbors for a few days with a short menu. Fix the bottlenecks you find.
• Open, and use a daily opening and closing checklist so every shift starts and ends the same way.

A 6-month opening timeline

Every opening is different, and permits or construction can take longer. Use this as a starting order of work:

Worked example: what a 4% margin looks like

Using the NRA's 2024 medians for a limited-service restaurant with $60,000 of monthly sales:

Now suppose $12,000 of those sales come through a delivery app at 25% commission: that's $3,000 a month, more than the $2,400 median profit. The same orders through your own ordering page at an average of $30 (400 orders) would cost $468 in Stripe card fees (2.9% + 30¢). Not every app customer will switch, but each one who does keeps most of that 25%. (The NRA figures are medians from separate surveys, so the lines don't add up to exactly 100%.)

Your opening checklist

• Concept tested with real customers
• Business plan, budget, break-even
• Funding in place, with a contingency
• Business formed; EIN; state sales tax and payroll registrations
• Site zoned for restaurant use; lease signed
• Plans approved by the health and building departments
• Food permit, business license, fire inspection, certificate of occupancy, liquor license if needed
• Certified food protection manager; written employee illness policy
• Staff hired; I-9s; new-hire reports; workers' comp where required
• Menu costed and priced
• POS, card payments and your own ordering page live
• Google Business Profile with menu and ordering link
• Soft opening done