Opening a restaurant in Germany: the roadmap to opening day

Concept and location: the basis for every application

Before you fill in a single form, be clear about what you are opening: a restaurant with a full bar, a café without alcohol, a bar, an Imbiss (snack bar) or a guesthouse with breakfast. That decides which permits you need, how the premises must be equipped and which costs come your way. We have separate guides for individual business types: opening a café, opening a bar, Imbiss and food truck and guesthouse and hotel.

• Type of business: food, drinks, alcohol or not, outdoor seating, music or events.
• Location: passing trade, parking, neighbours (noise), whether the use is permitted under the local development plan (Bebauungsplan).
• Premises: Was there already a restaurant here? Then the permitted use under building law often fits already. If not, you may face a change of use.
• Financing: investment in kitchen, ventilation, furniture and till, plus start-up losses in the first months. The break-even calculator for restaurants shows how many guests a day you need to cover rent, staff and loan repayments. Ask the IHK, the employment agency (Arbeitsagentur) and the state development banks about start-up grants and subsidised loans.

Trade registration and hospitality law: licence or notice?

Your first trip to the authorities is the trade registration (Gewerbeanzeige) under § 14 of the Gewerbeordnung at your municipality's trade office (Gewerbeamt). It is mandatory for anyone starting a fixed-location business, is due at the latest when operations begin and costs a modest fee that varies by municipality. The trade office passes the data on to other bodies, including the tax office and the IHK (§ 14 (8) GewO).

Hospitality law is more complicated. The federal Gaststättengesetz (GastG), the Restaurant Act, only still applies in states that have not passed their own law. There you need a licence under § 2 GastG as soon as you serve alcohol. Under § 2 (2) GastG, no licence is needed for, among other things, serving non-alcoholic drinks, selling prepared food and catering for overnight guests. Many states have replaced the licence with a notice (Anzeige), where the authority checks your reliability if you want to offer alcohol. All the details are in our guide to the Gaststättenerlaubnis in Germany.

Hygiene: IfSG briefing, food inspection and HACCP

Anyone who commercially produces, handles or sells food needs a certificate under § 43 of the Infektionsschutzgesetz before their first shift. It is issued by the health office (Gesundheitsamt) or an authorised doctor after a briefing and may be no more than three months old when the work starts. As an employer, you must then brief your team again every two years, document this and keep the records on site (§ 43 (4) and (5) IfSG).

EU food hygiene law applies as well: you must set up a self-monitoring system based on HACCP principles, which means defining, monitoring and documenting critical points such as cooling temperatures, cooking and cleaning. The food inspection authority (Lebensmittelüberwachung) of your district or city checks this, often soon after opening. Allergen labelling is part of it from day one, too.

Building authority, change of use and premises

Under building law, a shop unit is not yet a restaurant. If a shop, office or workshop is turned into a venue, you usually need a building permit for the change of use (Nutzungsänderung) under the state building code (Landesbauordnung). The building authority then checks parking spaces, fire safety, escape routes, toilets, ventilation and noise protection. For venues serving alcohol in states with the federal GastG, the licensing authority also checks whether the premises are suitable (§ 4 (1) no. 2 GastG) and, for certain newer buildings, accessibility (no. 2a).

Allow time for the building permit: depending on the authority and the scope, it takes from a few weeks to several months. An architect with hospitality experience knows the requirements for kitchen extraction, grease separators and sanitary facilities and saves you costly rework.

Tax office and till system with TSE

After your trade registration, the tax office will not automatically get in touch with everything you need. You must submit the Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung electronically via ELSTER, the tax authorities' online portal, within one month of opening (§ 138 AO, the Fiscal Code). It covers your legal form, expected turnover, VAT and your tax number.

Germany does not yet have a general obligation to use a cash register; an open cash box is allowed. As soon as you use an electronic till system, however, it must be protected by a certified technical security device (TSE) under § 146a AO. You must issue receipts and report the till to the tax office via ELSTER within one month of purchase. More on this in the guide to till systems in Germany.

Staff, insurance and GEMA

Since 1 January 2026, the statutory minimum wage has been 13.90 euros gross per hour; an increase to 14.60 euros has been agreed for 2027. The earnings limit for minijobs is 603 euros a month in 2026. As an employer, you register employees with their health insurance fund or the Minijob-Zentrale and, for minijobs, record working hours.

• Berufsgenossenschaft: hospitality businesses are compulsory members of the BGN, the statutory accident insurer for the food and hospitality sector. Notification to the accident insurer is due within one week (§ 192 SGB VII); a trade registration filed on time counts as fulfilling this.
• Insurance: public liability, contents and business interruption insurance are not required by law, but restaurant owners can hardly do without them. Leases often require them.
• Music: if you play music in your venue, even just in the background, you need a licence from GEMA, the German music rights society. Register the use before you start.
• Broadcasting fee (Rundfunkbeitrag): business premises are liable to pay; the amount depends on the number of employees.

Website and Google profile before opening

Most guests look up a new venue on their smartphone first. If you already have a website with menu, opening hours and directions on opening day, plus a verified Google Business Profile, you start with guests instead of empty tables. Create the profile as soon as the address is fixed, and add photos as soon as the interior is ready.

Timeline: seven steps to opening day