Opening a restaurant - practical guide

To open a restaurant , the entrepreneur must follow a specific procedure and take care of several mandatory procedures in order to carry out his project.

We offer you some soft ideas for opening a restaurant in order to inform you of the steps to follow.

We are talking about taking over a restaurant in this case: Taking over a restaurant .

The choice of room to open a restaurant

The choice of location to open a restaurant is essential for the success of the project, a good location is necessary to have visibility and therefore a sufficient flow of customers.

A restaurant can still function properly by not necessarily being located in a busy location. It will then be essential to obtain a very good reputation which encourages customers to move. However, this is a fairly risky bet and it will take some time to develop the restaurant's turnover.

Then, the room chosen must be spacious enough to contain:

the reception room (with the number of covers provided),
the bar (if it has to be installed),
the kitchen,
the product storage area and the cold room,
toilets,
the customer reception area.

The premises chosen are subject to a commercial lease between the owner of the walls and the restaurant operator, or are, more rarely, purchased by the operator.

The operating permit and the license to open a restaurant

The restaurant owner must hold a license to sell alcoholic beverages in his restaurant. The nature of the license required depends on the mode of sale of beverages, incidentally to the meal (restaurant license), or during and outside of it (license to sell drinks to be consumed on site).

Before that, specific training must be followed by the restaurateur in order to obtain an operating license valid for 10 years. This operating permit is required to obtain a license.

A declaration at least 15 days before the opening of the successful restaurant must finally be made to the marie or, in Paris, to the police headquarters.

The restaurant license

When the restaurant owner wishes to sell drinks only during meals, incidentally to food, it is compulsory to hold a restaurant license . There are two categories of restaurant license:

The small restaurant license , which sells the drinks of the first two groups (fermented non-distilled drinks and natural sweet wines, wine, beer, cider, perry, mead, blackcurrant, muscat, fruit juice up to 3 ° alcohol, liqueur wine, wine-based aperitif, fruit liqueur with less than 18 ° alcohol), to be consumed on the spot only, and only during the main meals.
The restaurant license , which makes it possible to sell, for consumption on the spot, all drinks whose consumption is authorized, but only during the main meals.

The license to sell beverages on site

When the restaurant owner also wants to sell drinks outside of meals, it is compulsory to hold a license to sell drinks to be consumed on site . The restaurant license will not be necessary if a license to drink beverages to be consumed on site is obtained.

There are several license categories depending on the beverages to be marketed and their alcohol content. No license is required to sell soft drinks.

For more information, you can consult the following site: service-public.fr

The standards to be respected to open a restaurant

Important legislation regulates the opening and operation of a restaurant . These rules concern in particular safety, hygiene and accessibility standards, as well as several other obligations specific to restaurants. We talk about fast food in this file: Create a fast food business .

Rules to respect at the local level

The restaurateur must ensure that his establishment complies with the safety and accessibility standards applicable to establishments open to the public (ERP).

These rules are presented on the service-public.fr site: see here .

The smoking ban applies as soon as the premises are closed and covered, even if the facade is removable. Smoking is allowed on the terraces if they are not covered or if the facade is open.

Health and safety rules

The restaurateur must observe several hygiene and safety rules to exercise his activity, among which:

have clean premises, materials and equipment,
have facilities for personal and clothing hygiene for staff: cloakroom, washbasin, washroom, etc.
have an adequate supply of drinking water,
have adequate food storage and preservation to avoid any deterioration or contamination,
respect the cold chain,

Finally, at least one member of the restaurant staff must have undergone specific training in food hygiene .

The rules regarding opening and closing times

The restaurateur is required to respect the opening hours fixed by prefectural decree . It is therefore necessary to contact the prefecture of the department to find out the timetables to be observed.

Music broadcasting rules

The restaurant owner who wishes to broadcast music in his restaurant must request prior authorization from SACEM . A fee must be paid each year to this organization.

Display rules for opening a restaurant

Price display rules

The restaurant owner must comply with several price display rules , whether inside or outside the restaurant.

The cards and menus must include, for each service, the price as well as the mention “drink included” or “drink not included” and, in any case, indicate for drinks: the nature and capacity offered. When menus are only served at certain times of the day, this should be indicated.

Daily menus or cards as well as a card containing at least the prices of five wines, or failing that the prices of wines if less than five are served, must be displayed in a visible and legible manner from the outside:

during the service;
and at least from 11:30 a.m. for lunch and from 6 p.m. for dinner.

Inside the restaurant, menus and cards identical to those displayed outside should be offered.

Finally, customers must be informed of the drop in VAT in the catering sector and of the products benefiting from this drop.

Smoking ban, protection of minors and suppression of public intoxication

It is also necessary to post the smoking ban sign in public places, at the restaurant entrance as well as inside.

Finally, a poster must be recalled recalling the rules applicable in the protection of minors and the repression of public intoxication .

The display of the origin of beef

In a restaurant, it is also compulsory to indicate the origin of the beef offered for consumption . Several details are necessary: name of the country of birth, breeding and slaughter, or name of the country of origin if everything takes place in the same country.

The information must be given in a legible and visible way, by posting, indication on the cards and menus or on any other support.

The license display

The restaurant owner must display the license he has outside the premises (license to drink beverages on the premises or restaurant license).

Financial forecast for a restaurant opening project

This is a relatively important step which should not be overlooked.

Investments to open a restaurant

The opening of a restaurant is a project that involves the realization of several investments. Bank financing is generally requested.

In general, the following investments are expected:

the layout and layout of the premises, as well as bringing it up to standard,
kitchen equipment (oven, hob, refrigerators, etc.)
the cold room,
restaurant furniture (tables, chairs, decoration, etc.),
the layout of the bar.

Funding to open a restaurant

The opening of a restaurant is a project that requires significant funding to pay for all the investments. On most projects, the entrepreneur takes care of part of the financing by providing equity, then he takes out a bank loan to finance the rest.

The restaurant's forecast turnover

For a restaurant opening project, turnover is undoubtedly the most difficult element to budget.

We provide you with several tips on this subject in this publication: how to estimate your projected turnover?

Expenses to open a restaurant

First of all, it is necessary to provision all the purchases of goods necessary for the preparation of the planned meals. The amount provided depends on the margin envisaged. Also, it will be necessary to budget for purchases of drinks.

The rents provided for the commercial lease must be included in the forecast, as well as the deposit paid at the start (to be entered as an investment).

Then, in terms of overhead, we generally find:

energy expenditure,
equipment maintenance,
cleaning products,
small kitchen equipment,
professional insurance,
equipment rentals,
the fees of the chartered accountant,
advertising expenses,
bank charges,
and telecommunication costs.

Finally, personnel costs occupy an important place in the forecast of a restaurant.

We advise you about these budgets in this publication: Plan external charges - Plan salaries and social charges .

The creation of the company that will operate the restaurant

The restaurant owner must apply for registration in the trade and companies register to be able to operate his restaurant. Depending on the legal status chosen, different formalities must be carried out.

The prior administrative declaration of opening a restaurant

The opening of a restaurant must be the subject, at least 15 days in advance and in writing, of an opening declaration . This is done at the town hall of the municipality where your restaurant is located, or at the police headquarters in Paris.

This declaration is made using the CERFA form n ° 11542 * 04. Supporting documents must be attached to the declaration, in particular the training supporting document.

A receipt will be given to the restaurateur on this occasion.

The declaration of operation of a terrace

To install a restaurant terrace, it is necessary to obtain an operating permit from the town hall. The recommendations of the town hall must be respected.