Restaurant licenses and permits in Egypt: a practical guide

The expensive licensing mistakes in Egypt rarely happen at the government office. They happen months earlier, when someone signs a lease on a unit that can never be licensed as a restaurant, or finishes a fit-out before anyone checked where the kitchen exhaust is allowed to go.

This guide gives you the order of operations for opening a restaurant, café or delivery kitchen in Egypt: what to check before you sign anything, which registrations come first, what the food safety and tax authorities will look for, and what the law expects from your menu and bill once you open. It is written from an operator's point of view, not a lawyer's.

1Before you sign the lease: three questions that decide everything

1. Can this unit legally be a restaurant? Ask the local district office (الحي) or city authority whether the unit's permitted use allows a public shop serving food. Units in purely residential buildings, basements or unlicensed extensions can be difficult or impossible to license.
2. Can you physically meet the kitchen requirements? Exhaust and ventilation routes, gas supply, water and drainage, space for separate storage and handwashing. A beautiful unit with no route for an exhaust duct is a café that cannot cook.
3. Who signs what? Some procedures need documents from the landlord or the building. Agree in writing, before signing, that the landlord will provide what the licensing office asks for.

2Step 1: register the business

You need a legal identity before most other offices will deal with you.

• Choose the legal form. A sole proprietorship is simpler to set up; a company (for example a limited liability company) separates your personal assets and suits partners and investors. Companies are commonly established through the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI).
• Commercial register (السجل التجاري). Registers the business activity. Make sure the activity described covers what you will actually do, such as food service, and delivery if relevant.
• Tax card (البطاقة الضريبية) from the Egyptian Tax Authority. You will need it for invoicing, bank accounts and VAT.
• Business bank account. Useful immediately for card terminals and InstaPay, and it keeps business money visibly separate from personal money.

3Step 2: the shop licence

Restaurants and cafés fall under Egypt's rules for public shops (المحال العامة), set out in Law No. 154 of 2019. The shop licence is applied for through the local authority for your area, and the process includes checks on the premises, including civil protection (fire safety) requirements.

What to prepare typically includes proof of your right to use the premises (the lease), your commercial register and tax card, identification, and technical drawings of the unit. Fire safety expectations usually cover extinguishers, emergency exits, safe gas installation and electrical safety. Ask the office for its current list of documents in writing; it saves repeat visits.

If you plan outdoor seating on the pavement, or a large sign on the façade, ask about the separate permissions these usually need from the local authority. Tables on the street without permission are an easy target for fines.

4Step 3: food safety registration and staff health

The National Food Safety Authority (NFSA), established by Law No. 1 of 2017, oversees food safety across the chain, and registration of food establishments with it is mandatory. Expect it to care about:

• Kitchen layout and flow: raw and cooked food kept apart, handwashing points, cleanable surfaces
• Storage: fridge and freezer temperatures, dry storage off the floor, labelling and dates
• Water supply, drainage and waste handling
• Pest control, usually evidenced by a contract and visit records
• Staff hygiene and training

Food handlers are generally required to hold health certificates (الشهادة الصحية), issued through health offices and renewed periodically. Build renewal dates into your staff records so nobody's certificate quietly expires before an inspection.

5Step 4: tax, VAT, receipts and staff

Tax and receipts

• VAT. Under Egypt's VAT Law (No. 67 of 2016), registration becomes mandatory once annual turnover reaches EGP 500,000, and the standard rate is 14%. Most full-service restaurants cross that threshold quickly. Confirm your registration date and rate treatment with your accountant.
• Electronic receipts. The Egyptian Tax Authority has been rolling out e-invoicing and electronic receipt systems in phases. Check with your accountant whether your business is already required to issue electronic receipts and what your POS or receipt setup must support.
• Payroll and income tax. Salaries, payroll withholding and annual returns; a good local accountant is not optional.

Staff and social insurance

Register the business and your employees with the National Organization for Social Insurance, and give staff written contracts. Restaurants have high turnover, so make registration part of your onboarding checklist for every new hire, alongside the health certificate.

6Special cases that change the route

Your situation	What changes
Tourist restaurant, or inside a hotel or tourist zone (Sharm, Hurghada, parts of Sahel)	Tourist establishments are licensed and classified through the tourism authorities, and rules on things like alcohol service are tied to that licensing. Confirm the route before you plan the concept.
Delivery-only or cloud kitchen	No dining room, but still a food business that needs licensing and food safety registration. See how to start a cloud kitchen in Egypt.
Food truck	Permission to operate at a location matters as much as the vehicle. Ask the local authority or the venue (mall, compound, event) what they require.
Inside a mall or compound	The landlord often has its own fit-out rules, approvals and fire requirements on top of the public ones.

7Planning the timeline without guessing

Nobody can give you a reliable number of days for the whole process; it depends on the district, the unit and how complete your files are. Plan with dependencies instead:

1. Unit checked for licensability → lease signed
2. Commercial register and tax card → bank account
3. Drawings and fit-out designed to the requirements → shop licence application and inspections
4. Food safety registration and staff health certificates → soft opening
5. VAT registration and receipt setup → before sales cross the threshold, ideally before opening

Then ask the office and two operators who opened recently in the same district how long each step took them, and plan rent and salaries around the slowest answer. For the operational side of launch week, read the QR menu checklist for a new restaurant opening.

• National ID copies for owners and managers
• Lease contract and any landlord or building approvals
• Commercial register extract and tax card
• Technical drawings of the unit
• Fire safety equipment invoices and installation records
• Health certificates for every food handler
• Pest-control contract and visit log

8Once you are open: prices, menus and bills

Licensing does not end at opening day. Egypt's consumer protection rules expect prices to be clearly shown to customers, and disputes often start with charges the guest did not see coming.

• Show prices for every item, on every version of the menu, printed or digital.
• State clearly whether prices include VAT and whether a service charge is added.
• Make sure the bill matches the menu, including for items you repriced this week.
• Issue a proper receipt for every sale.

Keeping prices consistent is harder when costs move every month. A digital menu helps: in Menyo you can update a price once and every table sees it immediately, and on plans with ordering you can set VAT and service charges per place so they are applied the same way to every order total. For repricing strategy, see menu pricing under inflation.

9Frequently asked questions

Do I need a lawyer or licensing consultant?

Not legally, but many first-time owners use one, especially for company setup and the shop licence. Their value is knowing the current document list and the local office, which saves repeated visits.

Do cafés need the same licences as restaurants?

Cafés serving food and drinks to the public are also public shops and need licensing and food safety registration. The details can differ with what you serve and prepare, so confirm with the local office.

Is VAT registration mandatory for a small café?

Registration becomes mandatory when annual turnover reaches EGP 500,000. Below that, ask your accountant whether voluntary registration makes sense for you.

Can I open while my licence application is being processed?

Do not assume so. Operating without the required licence risks fines or closure. Ask the licensing office in writing what you are allowed to do while your application is pending.

10Paperwork first, paint second

Check the unit before the lease, register the business before the fit-out, design the kitchen for the inspection, and keep every document in one folder. Owners who do it in that order usually spend their energy on the food instead of on repeat visits to the district office.

When your licences are in hand and you are ready to publish a menu with clear prices, VAT and service charges, set up your Menyo menu here.