Michigan Permit PathfinderA Michigan Porch tool
Example only. This is a finished call sheet for a fictional scenario — leasing a former café in Lansing to open a restaurant with a grill line. Your own answers produce your own sheet. Run the real restaurant check or choose another route.

Sample restaurant site check

Here’s what to check before you commit.

Lease a site · Restaurant or counter-service place · Lansing

Sample sheet · Route rules reviewed July 11, 2026
Start your own check
Start with these
  1. Call the local food-safety office before you commit
  2. Get the plan-review answer before work or equipment
  3. Check the hood and fire system before buying cooking equipment
01

Before signing, buying, or starting work

Official check

Call the local food-safety office before you commit

Michigan fixed restaurants, cafés, and catering kitchens work through the local health department for food-service licensing and plan review.

Ask

“Does your office license this exact operation, and what should I submit before I sign, build, buy equipment, or choose an opening date?”

Have ready
The exact address, draft menu, service model, current site use, ownership plan, floor plan if available, and planned opening date.
Who to call
The local health department food-service program for the site
Official sources and what this cannot tell

This check does not identify the health department from a typed address or confirm how that office will classify the operation.

Official check

Get the local use answer in writing

You plan to run a fixed food business in Lansing. Restaurant use, cooking, seating, carryout, catering, signs, hours, parking, and outdoor activity can be treated differently by local rules.

Ask

“Is this exact food-service use allowed at this address? What zoning, site-plan, parking, sign, outdoor-use, fire, or occupancy approvals come first?”

Have ready
The address, a draft menu, service style, hours, seating count, parking, delivery plan, outdoor plan, sign plan, and a simple site sketch.
Who to call
The city, village, or township that controls land use at the site
Official sources and what this cannot tell

This check cannot see the parcel's zoning district or identify the correct local office from a mailing address.

Practical step

Ask for the restaurant's paper trail

A lease or purchase can leave you with an old license, unapproved equipment, unfinished inspection items, a weak hood system, or utility limits that are hard to see during a tour.

Ask

“Please provide the food license and inspection reports, approved plans and menu, occupancy record, building and trade permits, hood and fire-suppression records, grease records, water or septic approvals, equipment list, and open violation letters.”

Have ready
The lease or purchase draft, seller asset list, floor plan, prior approvals, equipment serial numbers, service records, and names of the current health, building, fire, sewer, and utility contacts.
Who to call
The owner or seller, then each office that issued the record
Official sources and what this cannot tell

This is a practical document request. A complete-looking file does not prove that approvals transfer, equipment works, or the site fits your menu.

02

Before ordering equipment, building, or changing the site

Official check

Get the plan-review answer before work or equipment

New construction, conversion to food service, and many remodels or changes in operation need food plan review. The local health department decides what this project must submit, and required plans must be approved before construction or remodeling.

Ask

“What plan-review package, fee, drawings, menu details, procedures, equipment sheets, and utility approvals do you need for this project?”

Have ready
A full draft menu, standard operating procedures, scaled floor plan, equipment list and spec sheets, finish schedule, plumbing plan, water and sewer details, and project schedule.
Who to call
The local health department food-service plan reviewer
Official sources and what this cannot tell

This check does not review plans, size equipment, or tell you that a kitchen layout will be approved.

Official check

Check the hood and fire system before buying cooking equipment

You selected cooking equipment, frying, grilling, smoking, or hood work. The menu and appliances affect exhaust, make-up air, gas, and fire-suppression design.

Ask

“What hood, exhaust, make-up air, fire-suppression, gas, and inspection requirements apply to this exact appliance line and menu?”

Have ready
Menu and cooking methods, appliance cut sheets, hood and fan details, roof or wall route, make-up air, gas load, existing suppression records, and floor plan.
Who to call
The mechanical and fire enforcing agencies for the site, coordinated with food plan review
Official sources and what this cannot tell

This check cannot choose a hood type, size a system, approve an appliance, or confirm that existing equipment can stay.

Official check

Line up building, trade, fire, and occupancy review

Your answers raise a building or equipment change that may need plan review, permits, inspections, fire review, or an updated occupancy approval.

Ask

“Which office enforces each code here, and what plans, permits, inspections, fire review, and occupancy approval come before this work and before opening?”

Have ready
Current occupancy record, approved food plans, floor and site plans, seating count, equipment specs, contractor details, utility loads, and the full work list.
Who to call
The state, county, or local enforcing agency for each code discipline
Official sources and what this cannot tell

The enforcing office can differ by code discipline. This check cannot identify it or approve a change of use.

Official check

Confirm water, sewer, grease, and drain capacity

Your menu or plumbing changes can affect water demand, hot-water sizing, grease control, drains, and what the sewer authority will accept.

Ask

“Is the water supply approved for this operation? Where do all sinks and drains go? What grease control, plumbing changes, sewer approval, well review, or septic review is needed for this menu and volume?”

Have ready
Water and sewer bills, well and septic records, plumbing drawings, grease-interceptor records, equipment flow rates, seating, meal volume, menu, and planned cleaning methods.
Who to call
The local health department, plumbing official, and public sewer authority; Michigan EGLE when the discharge is outside an approved sanitary system
Official sources and what this cannot tell

This check cannot size a water heater or grease device, test a well or septic system, trace drains, or approve a discharge.

03

Before opening or putting the change into use

Official check

Open the separate employer checklist

You plan to have employees. That brings unemployment, workers' compensation, workplace-safety, payroll, wage, leave, and federal duties beyond the food-service license.

Ask

“Which employer registrations, insurance, safety steps, posters, records, and training apply before the first employee starts?”

Have ready
Entity and tax IDs, start date, headcount, job duties, hours, payroll setup, kitchen hazards, and insurance information.
Who to call
Michigan UIA, Workers' Disability Compensation Agency, MIOSHA, Treasury, and the relevant federal agencies
Open the related check
Official sources and what this cannot tell

This restaurant check only gives an employer starting point. It does not cover payroll, wage-and-hour, leave, tax, or federal hiring duties.

Official check

Apply for the food-service license on time

A new food-service application must be submitted at least 30 days before opening, and an inspection must happen before the license can be issued.

Ask

“When should I submit the fixed food-service application, what fees and approvals go with it, and what must be ready for the opening inspection?”

Have ready
Ownership and tax details, approved plans, menu, certified manager information, equipment and utility approvals, application fee, and target opening date.
Who to call
The local health department food-service program
Official sources and what this cannot tell

This check cannot reserve an inspection, predict an opening date, or confirm that the site will pass.

Official check

Put a trained person in charge on every shift

Michigan requires a person in charge during all hours of operation. Most ordinary restaurants also need at least one full-time managerial employee certified through an accredited food-safety program. The local office can identify a narrow low-risk exception.

Ask

“Who will be the certified food-safety manager, who is the person in charge on each shift, and what food-safety and allergen knowledge should they be ready to show?”

Have ready
Manager names, shift plan, current certificates, course enrollment if needed, menu and allergen information, and written food-safety procedures.
Who to call
The local health department food-service program
Official sources and what this cannot tell

This check does not approve a course, certificate, staffing plan, or a person's food-safety knowledge.

Official check

Set up Michigan tax registration and the food tax rules

Restaurants commonly sell taxable prepared food. Michigan's prepared-food rules can turn on how food is heated, combined, packaged, and served with utensils.

Ask

“Which Michigan tax accounts do I need, and how should each menu and point-of-sale item be treated under the current prepared-food rules?”

Have ready
Entity and federal tax IDs, ownership start date, locations, full menu, service and packaging practices, utensil practices, and point-of-sale categories.
Who to call
Michigan Department of Treasury, with a qualified tax adviser when needed
Official sources and what this cannot tell

This check does not classify menu items, calculate tax, register the business, or cover income, payroll, city, or federal taxes.

04

After opening, finishing work, or putting the change into use

Practical step

Put license renewal and inspection follow-up on the calendar

Michigan's food license year runs from May 1 through April 30. Licenses must be renewed, and inspection findings still need timely follow-up.

Ask

“What renewal date, fees, inspection schedule, records, and follow-up deadlines apply to this location?”

Have ready
The issued license, inspection reports, correction records, manager certificates, and the account used for renewal notices.
Who to call
The local health department food-service program
Official sources and what this cannot tell

This check does not track renewals, inspection dates, or correction deadlines for you.

Questions still open

Keep these facts with your call sheet.

Every answer in this sample was settled. A real check often has open questions, and they are always listed here — never silently dropped.

Coverage receipt

What this check covered

This route covers a fixed restaurant, café, or catering kitchen at one Michigan address.

Checked

local site use and food-service office routing, food plan review and food-service licensing, certified manager and person-in-charge starting points, Michigan business-tax and prepared-food starting points, records to request from the owner or seller, building, trade, fire, and occupancy routing, commercial hood and fire-system routing, water, sewer, grease, drain, well, or septic routing, a starting handoff for employer duties.

Still decided elsewhere

The actual zoning decision, enforcing offices, plan approval, equipment sizing, permit needs, utility capacity, inspection result, tax treatment of each sale, and approval to open.

Not checked

Food trucks, mobile units, temporary stands, cottage food, grocery or convenience retail, wholesale food manufacturing, a full liquor-license review, full business formation, payroll and wage rules, a full MIOSHA program, federal food rules, emergencies, or active enforcement matters.

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