Restaurant & café permits in Istanbul

What licenses does a restaurant or café need in Turkey?

No commercial establishment in Turkey, including restaurants and cafés, can begin actual operations before obtaining an opening and operating license from the relevant municipality (Ruhsat). This requirement is set out in the national regulation "İşyeri Açma ve Çalışma Ruhsatlarına İlişkin Yönetmelik" issued by the Turkish state, and it applies to every commercial establishment regardless of its size or type of activity.

However, this municipal license alone is not enough to operate a restaurant or café. Food-sector establishments are subject to an additional layer of licensing related to food safety and public health, overseen by the food control authorities under the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (Tarım ve Orman Bakanlığı), which includes registering the food business and verifying that it meets hygiene, storage, and food-handling requirements.

In other words, opening a restaurant or café in Turkey rests on two complementary legal tracks: a general municipal operating license, and a health/food license specific to the food sector. Both are mandatory, neither substitutes for the other, and an establishment that obtains only one of them is not considered fully licensed under the law.

Important points to know

• Operating a restaurant or café without completing all required licenses (both municipal and food-related) exposes the business to serious legal risks, including administrative closure by the relevant authorities
• Obtaining only the general municipal license, without registering the establishment with the food control authorities, is not considered a complete license for restaurant or café operations, and does not protect the business from legal action
• Delaying completion of either licensing track, even after operations have actually begun, keeps the business in a legally non-compliant position and exposes it to administrative and financial consequences
• Every new food establishment, or one whose ownership or activity has changed, needs to review its licensing status again — an old license does not automatically carry over when circumstances change

Frequently asked questions

Is the general municipal license (Ruhsat) alone enough to open a restaurant or café? No. The municipal license is a basic requirement for every commercial establishment, but restaurants and cafés, as food businesses, additionally need a food-safety-specific license and registration with the relevant authorities under the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. The absence of either license leaves the business legally incomplete.

What happens if a restaurant or café starts operating before completing all licenses? This exposes the business to legal action that can extend to closure by the relevant authorities, in addition to other administrative penalties set out in the relevant legislation. Partial licensing or starting operations before procedures are complete does not exempt the business from these risks.

Do health licensing requirements differ between a restaurant serving full meals and a café serving only drinks? The details of classification and requirements may vary depending on the nature and scale of the activity, but the general principle remains fixed: any establishment involved in preparing or serving food and drinks to the public is subject to food safety obligations alongside the municipal license, regardless of the type of menu offered.

Last updated: 2026-09-07