10 licenses, permits and registrations, in the order to get them, each with the agency, the fee and the official page, and what the Census counts of cocktail bars in Virginia say.
10 licenses, permits and registrations, in the order to get them
Every row checked against its agency’s page; the latest on Oct 21, 2026.
Step 1 of 6Set up the business. Now: Articles of organization (LLC) and the annual registration fee
0 of 10 items done. Each step opens when the one before it is complete. Progress stays on this device. Members keep a dated, noted plan for each saved location in the workspace.
1Set up the business0 of 3
File through the Clerk’s Information System. The articles name a registered agent with a Virginia address. The annual fee is a flat payment, not a report, and a late payment adds a $25 penalty before the LLC is cancelled.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Needed whenever the business trades under any name other than the owner’s legal name or the LLC’s registered name. Since 2020 the certificate is filed with the Commission, not the circuit court.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Needed to hire, to open a business bank account and for the state tax registration. Issued at once online.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Register for taxOpens after step 1
Register online before the first sale. The sales tax certificate of registration must be displayed; restaurants also collect the locality’s meals tax and remit it to the Commissioner of the Revenue.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Most Virginia cities and counties require the BPOL license before opening, and the application asks for the zoning approval and the trade name. Localities also levy a tax on business tangible personal property each year.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Approve the spaceOpens after step 2
Confirm the zoning allows your use before signing; a change of use needs building permits and inspections, and the certificate of occupancy comes before the health permit and the ABC license.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Get the permits for your kind of businessOpens after step 3
Submit the plan review application with the menu, the floor plan and the equipment list before building out, then pass the pre-opening inspection. Restaurants, bars, coffee shops, bakeries and ice cream shops are all food establishments under the regulations.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
At least one employee with management and supervisory responsibility holds a food protection manager certificate from an accredited program, and the person in charge must be able to demonstrate food safety knowledge at every inspection.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Alcohol permitsOpens after step 4
A mixed beverage (liquor) license is only for a restaurant with a kitchen, and food must stay at least 45% of combined food and mixed beverage sales. Bars without that ratio hold a wine and beer license. Apply online, post the notice at the premises for 30 days and expect an investigator’s visit; allow 60 to 90 days.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Before the first hireOpens after step 5
Workers’ compensation insurance is required once the business regularly employs more than two full-time or part-time people; part-time staff, family and seasonal workers all count. Report each new hire within 20 days.
The free location checkWho lives and works around an address, the cocktail bars already there and the traffic on its road, from public records.
The full reportWhether the rules allow a cocktail bar at that address, the rent it supports, what has opened and closed nearby, and the questions to settle before signing.
No account. The cocktail bar check reads public records at the address itself.
Sources and dates
State Corporation Commission LLC pages and fee schedule (Code of Virginia 13.1-1005); State Corporation Commission fictitious name pages (Code of Virginia 59.1-69); IRS EIN page; Department of Taxation business registration pages (form R-1); Code of Virginia 58.1-3700 and following; locality BPOL ordinances; Department of Housing and Community Development building code pages; locality ordinances; Virginia Department of Health food establishment permit pages; 12VAC5-421 (Food Regulations); Virginia Food Regulations, certified food protection manager requirement; Code of Virginia 4.1-231.1 (state license fees) and 4.1-233.1 (local license fees); Virginia ABC license definitions; Virginia Employment Commission employer pages; Workers’ Compensation Commission employer information sheet; U.S. Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023; U.S. Census Bureau Business Dynamics Statistics. Fees are as published by each agency on the date checked; cities add their own.
Questions about opening here.
10 items, in order: articles of organization (llc) and the annual registration fee, assumed or fictitious name certificate, employer identification number (ein), business registration: retail sales and use tax, employer withholding, business, professional and occupational license (bpol) and zoning approval and certificate of occupancy, and 4 more.
Virginia State Corporation Commission, Internal Revenue Service, Virginia Department of Taxation, Your city or county Commissioner of the Revenue, Your city or county zoning and building departments and Virginia Department of Health, and 2 more.
With articles of organization (llc) and the annual registration fee (Virginia State Corporation Commission, Clerk’s Office), then assumed or fictitious name certificate. The steps run structure, tax, space, permits, alcohol and employer, in that order.
Yes, to sell it: mixed beverage restaurant license, or wine and beer on-premises license. The local license usually comes first.
Each item's fee, renewal cycle and official page are shown to members, as the agency published them on the date checked. Cities and counties add their own fees.
How to open a cocktail bar in Virginia (2026) | DoorWorthy
