10 items, in order: articles of organization (llc) or a fictitious name, employer identification number (ein), florida business tax registration (sales and use tax, reemployment tax), local business tax receipt (county and city), zoning approval and certificate of use or occupancy and public food service establishment license, and 4 more.
How to open, Florida
How to open a pizza shop in Florida
10 licenses, permits and registrations, in the order to get them, each with the agency, the fee and the official page.
10 licenses, permits and registrations, in the order to get them
Every row checked against its agency’s page; the latest on Oct 17, 2026.
Set up the business
Articles of organization (LLC) or a fictitious name
An LLC keeps your personal assets apart from the business and is what landlords and lenders expect on a lease. Anyone trading under a name other than their own legal name or the entity’s registered name files the fictitious name, and the local business tax office asks for it.
Checked Oct 17, 2026
- Agency
- Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations (Sunbiz)
- Official page
- Members
- Fee
- Members
- Renewal
- Members
Employer Identification Number (EIN)
Needed to hire, to open a business bank account and for the state tax and local business tax registrations. Issued at once online.
Checked Oct 17, 2026
- Agency
- Internal Revenue Service
- Official page
- Members
- Fee
- Members
- Renewal
- Members
Register for tax
Florida business tax registration (sales and use tax, reemployment tax)
One application covers the sales and use tax certificate and the reemployment (unemployment) tax account; have the EIN first. The state rate is 6% plus the county’s discretionary surtax. Register before the first sale or hire.
Checked Oct 17, 2026
- Agency
- Florida Department of Revenue
- Official page
- Members
- Fee
- Members
- Renewal
- Members
Local business tax receipt (county and city)
The receipt needs the EIN and either the fictitious name registration or a statement that none is needed, plus the zoning or use approval. It is Florida’s general business license; the state has none.
Checked Oct 17, 2026
- Agency
- The county tax collector, and the city where the address is inside one
- Official page
- Members
- Fee
- Members
- Renewal
- Members
Approve the space
Zoning approval and certificate of use or occupancy
Confirm the zoning allows your use at the address before signing, then plan for the occupancy inspection: a change of use (a store becoming a restaurant, a warehouse becoming a studio) means plans, build-out to code and inspections.
Checked Oct 17, 2026
- Agency
- Your city or county building and zoning department
- Official page
- Members
- Fee
- Members
- Renewal
- Members
Get the permits for your kind of business
Public food service establishment license
For restaurants, bars and any place that serves food to eat there. Plan review is required for a new build, a remodel, a conversion from another use or a space closed 18 months, and the license is issued after the opening inspection passes. Submit the license application and plan review together.
Checked Oct 17, 2026
- Agency
- Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Division of Hotels and Restaurants
- Official page
- Members
- Fee
- Members
- Renewal
- Members
Certified food manager
Every public food service establishment needs a certified manager, certified within 30 days of starting, through an accredited program (ServSafe, the National Registry, 360training and others).
Checked Oct 17, 2026
- Agency
- Florida DBPR (exam from an accredited program)
- Official page
- Members
- Fee
- Members
- Renewal
- Members
Food handler training for every food service employee
Every employee who handles food is trained within 60 days of hire through a DBPR-approved program or an approved in-house program, and recertified every three years. Inspectors ask for the records.
Checked Oct 17, 2026
- Agency
- Florida DBPR approved programs
- Official page
- Members
- Fee
- Members
- Renewal
- Members
Alcohol permits
Alcoholic beverage license
Local zoning approval and the city or county sign-off come first; the Division then posts the premises and runs background checks. A bar without the food share needs a quota license, which can cost far more on the open market than the state fee. Server training under the Responsible Vendor Act is voluntary but shields the license from some penalties.
Checked Oct 17, 2026
- Agency
- Florida DBPR, Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco
- Official page
- Members
- Fee
- Members
- Renewal
- Members
Before the first hire
Reemployment tax account and new hire reporting
Opened with the same DR-1 application as sales tax once you expect to pay wages. Report each new hire to the state directory within 20 days.
Checked Oct 17, 2026
- Agency
- Florida Department of Revenue
- Official page
- Members
- Fee
- Members
- Renewal
- Members
How they fare in Florida
- Closed in 2023, accommodation and food services
- 10.2%
- Opened in 2023
- 12.7%
Then pick the place
- The free location checkWho lives and works around an address, the pizza shops already there and the traffic on its road, from public records.
- The full reportWhether the rules allow a pizza shop at that address, the rent it supports, what has opened and closed nearby, and the questions to settle before signing.
Have an address in mind?
Check the address freeNo account. The pizza shop check reads public records at the address itself.
Sources and dates
Division of Corporations fee schedule and fictitious name FAQ; IRS EIN page; Florida Department of Revenue account management and registration page; Form DR-1; Florida Statutes chapter 205, local business taxes; Florida Statutes chapter 205; Miami-Dade County local business tax guidance; DBPR Division of Hotels and Restaurants food license fee page and food service guide; DBPR food manager certification page; DBPR food service employee training page; section 509.049, Florida Statutes; Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco license types and fee chart (2025); Florida Department of Revenue registration page; Form DR-1; U.S. Census Bureau Business Dynamics Statistics. Fees are as published by each agency on the date checked; cities add their own.