How to open a restaurant

The restaurants are among the catering companies, that is, between the commercial establishments whose activity is directed to the public administration of food and beverages, including alcoholic ones. It can be a complicated process that requires particular requirements, administrative procedures to be fulfilled and economic resources to cover the costs of starting up and managing the business. Here are the main aspects to consider to start this economic activity.

Requirements required to open a restaurant

To open a restaurant it is necessary to be of age and possess the requisites, moral and professional.

The moral requirements concern integrity: for example, those who have been declared habitual or professional offenders or those who have been convicted for which a custodial sentence is not lower than three years.

Among the professional requirements it is necessary to possess at least one of the following titles:

1) to have successfully completed a SAB course (Food and Beverage Administration) professional for the trade, preparation or administration of food and beverages, established or recognized by the Regions;

2) to have been self-employed, for at least two years, even non-continuous in the previous five-year period, business activity in the food sector or in the food and beverage administration sector or having worked in such companies as a qualified employee ;

3) be in possession of a secondary school or university degree, even if every three years, provided that in the course of studies are provided subjects related to the trade, preparation or administration of food. Among the qualifying qualifications: diploma of “Technician of the catering services” issued by a Professional Institute of State for Hotel and Catering Services, degree in food science and technology, in science and culture of gastronomy and catering, in Medicine and Surgery, in Veterinary Medicine, in Dietetics and in Pharmacy.

All the requisites must be self-certified at the one- stop- shop for companies by means of specific forms.

 Practical files 
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Requirements for the public exercise

Public exercises must possess specific requirements, varying from region to region:

– urban planning and building requirements , respect for the landscape and historical constraints of the local and suitable square footage. A concrete example concerns the toilets for customers who must also be accessible to the disabled, with a pre-established height and with natural ventilation or through a system;

– intended for commercial use (preferable);

– technical and hygienic-sanitary requisites . For example, the counter of the restaurant must be equipped with surfaces suitable for contact with food and perfectly washable and disinfectable, as well as the area of ​​food preparation. For more specific examples, consult the Milan ASL document ;

– monitoring requirements ;

– requirements on occupational safety and fire prevention .

If you are in possession of the aforementioned requirements anyone can open a restaurant in the rooms you want; in fact it is no longer necessary to obtain a free competition license, or a permit issued by the competent administration with the aim of avoiding the opening of an excessive number of public buildings in the same area.

The simplest company form to open a restaurant is individual, through the opening of a VAT number .

How much does it cost to open a restaurant

The investments necessary to start a restaurant can be determined by a series of variables that concern, for example, the initial costs for:

– lease or purchase of the premises;

– furniture and equipment;

– any employees;

– purchase of raw materials;

– SAB professional training courses (on average, a course costs between 200 and 800 euros);

– preparation of the HACCP self-control plan relating to food hygiene;

– license for the sale of alcohol and spirits;

– administrative and professional costs for the presentation of the opening practice.

How to submit a start-up SCIA

The SCIA – Certified Activity Report – is one of the main administrative tasks to be undertaken to start, modify or cease a craft, commercial or industrial production activity. The SCIA is an administrative declaration that produces immediate effects using the appropriate forms that is filled in self-certification. Except for a few exceptions, it is sufficient for companies to present the relevant SCIA model, correctly completed and complete in its entirety, to start its economic activity.

What is SCIA for?

The SCIA (Certified Report of the beginning of activity) is the administrative declaration to be presented in the Municipality that allows companies to start, modify or cease a productive activity (craft, commercial, industrial). It produces immediate effect , as it is not necessary to wait for the timing, the execution of checks on the requisites and preliminary checks by the competent bodies.

The SCIA, which came into force on July 31, 2010, replaced the DIA (Start of Business Report) and the DIAP (Declaration of the start of production) and consists of a self-certification with attachments, necessary to document the possession of:

– subjective requirements (moral and professional if required for the performance of certain activities);

– objective requisites: foreseen by the law according to the type of economic activity to be initiated, concerning for example the urban, building, sanitary and environmental compliance of the premises or the company equipment.

When to present the SCIA

The SCIA must be presented before the start, modification, suspension or cessation of the activity. Since this is a self-declaration in which the existence of the requirements for the opening of the activity is declared, it is necessary that, on the date of presentation of the same, the applicant already has all the necessary requirements to start the business (for example the company must already be established).