Important Information for Running a Restaurant
This is an interesting question I received as a member of the AllExperts panel under the category of Running a Restaurant that I thought I should share… The question was about if a Hot Dog shop needed to get a permit from the health department. This is an area of specialty for Mise Designs, so I was more than happy to provide my thoughts below on the beginning stages of their running a restaurant. You can also view the question on AllExperts by clicking the link below.
Question
I’ve been told by a friend of mine that I don’t need to contact the health department to open up a hot dog shop. Is that true?
Answer
As a general rule, you should always contact your local health department when starting a new or renovated food and beverage operation.
Every town in every county, in every state will at this point unfortunately have different regulations as to how a business must apply for a health and sanitation certificate. In Pennsylvania specifically, depending on where you are located, you may need to contact your county health department, or towards western PA, you may need to apply with the county department of agriculture. Starting and running a restaurant can be a challenge, but it is important to make sure you follow the rules of food safety.
As a designer who works all over the US and internationally, one of my biggest challenges is finding out exactly what the process of application is based on the location. Although, if you are new at the development of a food service business and you just want to put together the minimum requirements for submission yourself, I recommend you follow the FDA guidelines for commercial food service establishments. Your town may have specific plumbing requirements that you must adhere too, but overall, the FDA tends to be a bit more strict in their recommendations then many health departments so regardless of where you area, if you follow the FDA, you will probably meet or exceed your local requirements.
Click here for the FDA Food Code
We always recommend to every client that whether they utilize the restaurant consultant services we provide or from another firm that new restaurateurs always work with a consultant to make sure they are aware of all the potential surprises they may encounter before they begin to start running a restaurant.
Cheers!
Selecting a restaurant kitchen design, commercial kitchen design, or hotel kitchen design team to help you create your new concept can be one of the most challenging and stressful tasks you may encounter. Being chefs ourselves, we understand the difficulties in hiring the right people; so we’ve written several articles on how to select the team that is right for you and your project. If you found this post to be a valuable starting point to running a restaurant, we suggest you also review our other posts on selecting the right partners for your new or expanding concept.
- The Benefits of Hiring Restaurant Consulting Firms
- Considered Using Commercial Kitchen Consultants?
- Choosing a Restaurant Design Team Article
- How to Select a Restaurant or Hotel Kitchen Design Firm
- Restaurant Consulting Firm vs Restaurant Consultant
- How We Create Profit Centers with Efficient Restaurant Kitchen Design
- Commercial Restaurant Kitchen Design and Layout Philosophy