Retail Food Establishment License — City of Chicago
Any Chicago establishment serving or selling perishable food needs a Retail Food Establishment License, after a CDPH food-safety inspection.
What it is. The Retail Food Establishment License — required any time perishable food is served, stored, sold, or distributed from a fixed establishment.
Who issues it. City of Chicago — BACP processes and issues the license; the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) conducts the required food-safety inspection (City layer). No license is granted until CDPH inspection passes.
When you need it. Before opening. A valid CDPH Food Sanitation Manager Certificate must be maintained.
How to apply. Apply through BACP; pass the CDPH inspection. (License fee is set by risk/size.)
Fees. Per BACP schedule — see source (⟢ VERIFY).
What SpoonSeal tracks. The document(s) you upload for this requirement, with automatic renewal/expiration tracking (Current, Due Soon, Expired). Where the city publishes health-inspection results (e.g., NYC and Chicago), SpoonSeal syncs them automatically; elsewhere they can be added manually.
References
- City of Chicago, Retail Food Establishment — https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/bacp/supp_info/retailfoodestablishment0.html — Official source last checked: 2026-07-02
Stay ahead of this requirement
SpoonSeal stores your documents, tracks expirations, and reminds you before anything lapses — so you are always inspection-ready.
Get started free →This guide is informational and not legal advice. Always confirm current requirements with the official agency linked above.