Opening a Restaurant

How to Open a Restaurant in Wisconsin

Katherine BoyarskyAuthor

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Opening a Restaurant Checklist

So many things go into opening a restaurant. Use this free PDF checklist to set your new restaurant up for success.

Toast | BUILT FOR RESTAURANTS

Getting ready to open a restaurant? To help you get started, we put together a comprehensive step-by-step guide for how to open a restaurant in Wisconsin. Starting a restaurant involves numerous steps and plenty of paperwork. One of your top priorities should be creating a comprehensive business plan and securing the necessary funding. This will ensure you can cover essential expenses, such as obtaining the required licenses and permits for your business.

Another critical part of opening a restaurant is being compliant with local laws. So when you’re opening a restaurant, cafe, bar, or any other food business in Wisconsin, you’re going to need to get your licenses and permits in order. 

A liquor license, food facility health permit, and certificate of occupancy each come with distinct (and sometimes overlapping) requirements. It's crucial to understand exactly what is necessary in your specific Wisconsin city or county to legally open your restaurant. 

Key Takeaways

  • Define your unique concept: A solid brand identity is essential for a restaurant. Start outlining your mission and core values. These elements will guide your decisions, from staffing to promoting your restaurant.

  • Create a business plan: Your plan review should include an executive summary, company overview, industry analysis, marketing plan, business and service model, operating plan, and a financial analysis.

  • Get funding: Options include traditional bank loans, alternative lending, small business loans, merchant cash advances, lines of credit, crowdfunding, and financial support from friends or family.

  • Choose the best location: Criteria you should focus on include an ideal customer profile (ICP), real estate market, community, size of the space, previous tenants, and zoning.

  • Apply for licenses and permits: Including an employer identification number (EIN), business license, certificate of occupancy, food seller’s permit, food handler’s permit, liquor license permits, and a food facility health permit.

  • Insurance for Wisconsin restaurants: These insurances include workers compensation, general liability, commercial property, business income, and cyber liability.

  • Design your menu items: Your menu should include food and drink options that set your restaurant apart in a competitive market. Set prices that support long-term profitability.

  • Hiring and onboarding employees: Finding the right people for your team is crucial. Network with industry professionals, use social media platforms, connect with local culinary schools, and post job openings on industry boards.

  • Invest in important technology: Implementing the right technology can streamline your operations and provide valuable insights into your business.

  • Create a marketing plan: Word of mouth can be powerful once your restaurant is established, but reaching target customers and turning them into regulars depends on marketing channels like social media and email campaigns.

  • Plan your soft launch and grand opening: Hold a soft opening to test your operations. Then, focus on planning and promoting your grand opening.

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Opening a Restaurant Checklist

So many things go into opening a restaurant. Use this free PDF checklist to set your new restaurant up for success.

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How to start a restaurant in Wisconsin

1. Develop a unique concept for your restaurant

What kind of dining experience do you want to create in Wisconsin? Start by organizing your ideas. The following questions can help shape your brainstorming:

  • What type of food will I focus on?

  • Who are the key competitors in my area, and how will I differentiate myself?

  • Will I offer a full-service restaurant with plenty of seating, or focus on takeout with limited dining space?

  • Who is my target audience or ideal customer?

  • Is my goal to run a single location, or expand into multiple locations?

  • How many staff members will I need, and will they provide casual, friendly service or a more formal, polished experience?

  • What will the restaurant's physical layout and design look like?

Establish your mission and values to help shape your brand

A strong brand identity is crucial for a successful restaurant. Begin by defining your mission and core values, as these will influence everything from staffing to marketing. With a clear direction, you can then develop a memorable restaurant name and logo that reflect your brand’s uniqueness.

2. Develop a restaurant business plan

A restaurant business plan serves as the blueprint to transform your Wisconsin restaurant idea into reality.

Start by selecting your legal business structure, such as a limited liability company (LLC), sole proprietorship, partnership, S corporation, or C corporation. For a detailed comparison of these structures, including their advantages and disadvantages, refer to our guide on restaurant business entities.

Next, ownership models can vary significantly. Some restaurants are managed by an individual with a staff, while others involve investors or cooperative models where employees also hold ownership stakes. Many food service establishments combine these approaches, with a mix of owners and partners running the business and employees sharing in the profits based on financial performance.

The next step is to determine your management style and profit-sharing structure for the restaurant. Afterward, engage a lawyer and accountant in Wisconsin to assist with the necessary paperwork.

Your business plan should include all this information and cover the following sections:

  • Executive Summary: Business name and overview

  • Company Overview: Business model and structure

  • Industry Analysis: Target audience, location, and competition

  • Marketing Plan

  • Business and Service Model: Type of restaurant (e.g., quick service, fine dining, fast food, or sit-down)

  • Operating Plan: Staffing, customer service policies, payroll, POS system, and vendor information

  • Financial Analysis: Investment needs, financial projections, cash flow estimates, and food cost projections


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Restaurant Business Plan Template

No matter where you’re at in your restaurant ownership journey, a business plan will be your north star. Organize your vision and ensure that nothing is overlooked with this free template.

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3. Securing funding for your restaurant

Starting a restaurant can cost between $95,000 and $2 million, which is often beyond the reach of many aspiring restaurateurs. In Wisconsin, you can explore several funding options:

  • Traditional bank loans

  • Alternative lending options

  • Small Business Administration (SBA) loans

  • Merchant cash advances

  • Lines of credit

  • Crowdfunding

  • Seeking financial support from friends or family 

These options differ in terms of application requirements, loan amounts, collateral, repayment terms, and speed of funding.

Traditional bank loans generally offer conventional financing with longer terms and fixed interest rates. SBA loans are popular for their lower interest rates and longer repayment periods, though they involve more complex application processes. Merchant cash advances may be suitable for those with lower credit scores, but they often come with higher fees. Crowdfunding provides a modern approach to raising funds from a broad audience, usually in exchange for future products or services.

For a deeper dive into these financing options, check out our guide on restaurant financing and loans.

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Restaurant Opening Calculator

This calculator lays out some of the fundamental financial costs of opening a restaurant, so you can start planning and bring your dream restaurant to life.

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4. Selecting the optimal location for your restaurant

Choosing the right location for your Wisconsin restaurant is crucial. Consider local demographics, market conditions, competition, and factors such as the size, visibility, and history of the space.

Decide whether to buy, lease, or build your restaurant space, as this will significantly affect your startup costs. Each option has its advantages and challenges. Building a new space or renovating an existing one will require navigating regulatory hurdles and obtaining the necessary permits and approvals.

When evaluating a potential location, focus on the following criteria to determine its suitability:

  • Target customer profile

  • Real estate market conditions

  • Community and neighborhood characteristics

  • Size and layout of the space

  • History of previous tenants

  • Zoning regulations and prior usage of the space

Ensure that the size and layout of your restaurant align well with your unique concept. For example, a small space might be perfect for a cozy, intimate bistro in Milwaukee, while a larger venue is necessary for a packed bar full of football fans in Green Bay or Madison.

5. Apply for Wisconsin restaurant licenses and permits

Like any other state, Wisconsin has specific requirements for the new licenses and permits needed to open a restaurant. Some licenses are managed at the state level, while others are handled locally (by city or municipality authorities), and fees may vary depending on the license year.

In Wisconsin, some of the licenses and licensing processes you'll need to open a restaurant include:

  1. Employer Identification Number (EIN), which connects your business to the IRS. The restaurant license application can be found on the IRS website, including all instructions and restrictions.

  2. Business License, which is issued by the state of Wisconsin. You can register for and manage your annual license on the Wisconsin State Portal.

  3. Certificate of Occupancy, which is issued by your city or county if needed, and shows that your space is up to commercial code with local regulations.

  4. Food Seller’s Permit, also known as a retail food establishment license, is required by any business that plans to sell tangible goods that are subject to sales tax. This permit allows them to charge sales tax on food sales, and it must comply with the Wisconsin Food Code.

  5. A Food Handler’s Permit, also known as Food License or Food Handler Card, is not required state-wide for every employee — but every establishment needs to have at least one trained Food Safety manager. This license shows employees or managers have taken a course teaching them the proper food handling protocols on how to prevent foodborne illness. This can be accessed on the Wisconsin Food Handler Training website.

  6. Liquor License Permits are required for any type of business to sell and serve alcohol to its patrons. Since alcohol has a high markup and a long shelf life, it’s often beneficial from a profit standpoint to sell alcohol. A liquor license can be acquired through the Wisconsin State Liquor Authority website, and typically costs between $500 and $10,000.

  7. Food Facility Health Permits in Wisconsin are under city and county jurisdiction. You’ll need to check with your local public health department to find out how to apply. All restaurants need to have their health permits in order before opening, and they must stick to safe food sanitation rules, handling, storage, and preparation practices all throughout their operations, following the Wisconsin Administrative Code.

Get additional information about the types of permits, license fees, and license costs in Wisconsin at Wisconsin.Gov.

6. Essential insurance for Wisconsin restaurants

Consider these types of insurance for your Wisconsin restaurant:

  • Worker’s compensation insurance, covers employees for healthcare expenses and lost wages if they are injured or become ill on the job. This insurance is mandatory in Wisconsin. No exemptions.

  • General liability insurance, protects against lawsuits related to customer injuries or property damage. While not mandatory, it is strongly recommended.

  • Commercial property insurance helps with repairs to your physical location and equipment if they are damaged. Though not required, it’s also highly recommended.

  • Business income insurance assists in recovering lost income due to events like fires, theft, or natural disasters. This is also not required, but highly recommended.

  • Cyber liability insurance protects against data breaches, particularly if you manage customer credit card information. This is also not required, but highly recommended.

7. Designing your menu and drink selections

Develop your menu, whether you’re working with a chef-owner, a general manager, or creating it yourself. Be ready to adjust your menu items and drink selections based on feedback from your kitchen and bar staff once they are onboard and trained.

Ensure your menu features unique food and drink options that distinguish your restaurant in a competitive market like Milwaukee. Set prices that will ensure long-term profitability.

Explore menu design and menu engineering strategies to optimize your menu’s impact.

8. Hiring and onboarding restaurant employees

When hiring staff for your restaurant in Wisconsin, ensure you comply with local labor laws and regulations.

Your employees are key to your restaurant's success. From the front-of-house team creating a welcoming atmosphere to the cooks preparing exceptional dishes and the support staff ensuring smooth operations, each role is vital.

To find the right team members, network with industry professionals, leverage social media, connect with local culinary schools, and advertise job openings on relevant industry boards.

To attract and retain top talent, foster a positive work environment. Offering competitive pay and benefits, such as health insurance, can help differentiate your restaurant.

Check out these Toast resources to assist with recruiting, hiring, and retaining talented restaurant employees:

For additional insights, explore our video course on hiring and retaining restaurant staff.

9. Invest in key equipment and technology

As your opening day nears, consider various restaurant technology options to ensure your operations run smoothly from the start.

For new restaurants in Wisconsin, investing in the following technology is highly recommended:

Adopting the right technology can streamline your operations and provide valuable business insights. These tools will help you make data-driven decisions, enhance efficiency, boost revenue, and set the stage for long-term success.

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Restaurant POS Comparison Tool

A free, customizable Restaurant POS Comparison Tool to research and compare point of sale systems in one Excel spreadsheet.

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10. Develop a restaurant marketing plan

Just like anywhere else, a restaurant in Wisconsin needs a strong marketing strategy to attract attention. While word of mouth can be powerful once your restaurant is established, reaching your target customers and turning them into regulars often depends on marketing channels like social media and email campaigns. 

Take advantage of local Wisconsin festivals and celebrations to help get the word out, some of which include:

11. Plan your soft launch and grand opening events

When your restaurant is ready, start with a soft opening special event to test your operations. Invite family, friends, and have your staff extend the invitation to their circles. This will help you identify and resolve any issues before your official restaurant launch.

Next, focus on planning and promoting your grand opening. Leverage social media to generate buzz, distribute flyers in your city or town, and utilize your existing network to maximize attendance on opening day.

You’re all set!

Opening a restaurant is a demanding but highly rewarding journey. To keep track of all the tasks that need to be completed within the following year of opening, refer to our time-bound restaurant opening checklist below.

8. Employee Health Permit in Wisconsin

In Wisconsin, an employee health permit is the same as a food handler’s license. 

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Opening a Restaurant Checklist

So many things go into opening a restaurant. Use this free PDF checklist to set your new restaurant up for success.

Toast

What are the legal requirements for opening a restaurant in Wisconsin?

In addition to the above licenses and permits, restaurants in Wisconsin will need to take care of these legal and administrative tasks before they can make it to opening day.

EIN

In order to get many of the permits above, and in order to be able to hire your employees, every business will need an Employer Identification Number, known as an EIN. 

Applying for an EIN is easy. It can be done online, via fax, or via mail. Most applicants will likely choose to take the online EIN application option, as it’s much quicker to do than to print and fax or mail an application, but it must be done in one concurrent session, so ensure you have all your paperwork and information at the ready. The application can be found on the IRS website, including all instructions and restrictions.  

Insurance

Here’s a few types of insurance for Wisconsin restaurateurs to consider:

  • Worker’s compensation insurance, which is mandatory in Wisconsin, helps employees who got sick or injured on the job to cover healthcare expenses and lost wages.
  • General liability insurance, which helps cover you in case you’re sued because of a customer injury or property damage, among many other types of lawsuits.
  • Commercial property insurance, which helps you with repairs of your physical location and the equipment in it, if they get damaged.
  • Business income insurance, which can help you recover lost income due to fires, theft, or wind disasters.

What are the financial considerations for new restaurants in Wisconsin? 

When opening a restaurant in Wisconsin you will need to choose the right type of business entity and ownership structure. Then you’ll need to secure funding for your business.

Business entity

When starting a restaurant, you’ll need to choose what kind of business entity you’ll be building. Choose between an LLC, sole proprietorship, partnership, S corporation, or C corporation. 

To learn about the benefits and drawbacks of each approach, read our guide on restaurant business entities.

Ownership Structure

Different restaurants approach ownership and profit very differently. Some simply have one owner and many employees. Some give investors a stake in the business. Others operate as a co-op, with every employee owning a stake in the business. And a lot of businesses operate somewhere in between, with owners and partners owning the business but all employees getting a little bit of profit share when the business exceeds a predetermined profit threshold. 

Figure out which kind of ownership and profit-sharing structure makes sense for your business, and work with a lawyer and accountant to draw up all the necessary paperwork and contracts.

Loans

It costs anywhere between $95,000 and 2 million to start a restaurant, and very few people have that kind of money lying around. 

Some of the options available to restaurateurs looking to go into business in Wisconsin include brick-and-mortar bank loans, alternative loans, SBA loans, merchant cash advances, lines of credit, crowdfunding, and turning to friends or family for financial support. They all vary widely in application requirements, how much you can take out, what kind of collateral you’ll need, the type of repayment and the repayment schedule, and how quickly you can receive funding.

To learn more about each of these options, read more about restaurant financing and loans.  

Toast Capital is a fast, simple, flexible funding option for restaurants

Toast has its own program that helps restaurants meet their business goals through access to funding. 

Toast Capital is designed to help restaurants gain access to capital to grow their businesses. There’s no compounding interest, application fees, or late fees. They operate using one fixed cost and borrowers pay these loans back with automated repayments that flex with sales. And with this program, you can see money in your bank account within a few business days.

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Opening a Restaurant Checklist

So many things go into opening a restaurant. Use this free PDF checklist to set your new restaurant up for success.

Toast

How do you choose a restaurant location in Wisconsin?

Choosing the right location for your restaurant is critical. You’ll need to do research on the demographics, market, and competition in your location, as well as on the actual restaurant space and its size, visibility, and history. You could also opt to go location-free by becoming a ghost kitchen.

If you choose to have a physical location for your restaurant, you can either buy or lease restaurant space, or you can build your restaurant from the ground up. Here’s some additional criteria to focus on when evaluating a restaurant location to decide if it's right for you:

  • Target market and ideal customer profile
  • Real estate market conditions
  • Community
  • Size of the site
  • Previous tenants

Naturally, the location of your restaurant and layout of the space should bring your restaurant idea to life. If you want to open an elegant steakhouse, you might need your own dedicated building. If you want to serve sandwiches or tacos to beach-goers, maybe a food truck will do.

It's important to keep in mind that your location and available square footage will also play a huge role in your kitchen design and restaurant floor plan. If you envision creating a high-volume fast-casual Italian concept with an exposed kitchen, for example, you will need a larger footprint and the ability to knock down walls and install proper ventilation. Some landlords may not let you have this leniency. 

What are the operations considerations for new restaurants in Wisconsin?  

Hiring, Training and Retaining Staff

When hiring employees for your restaurant, ensure that you are complying with local city and county guidelines for state labor laws.

The employees that you hire are true extensions of your restaurant and its brand, making them one of the most important aspects in your restaurant’s success. From front-of-house servers to the chefs, there are dozens of restaurant positions you can hire for.

You have a few options for acquiring new restaurant employees, including referrals, job boards, and career sites.

In order to attract and retain staff, you need to make your restaurant a great place to work. Here are some resources from Toast to help you attract, hire, and retain restaurant employees:

Equipment and Technology

Restaurant guests are expecting technology in their dining experience, and according to Toast’s Restaurant Technology Report, 95% of restaurateurs agree that technology improves business efficiency. 

As we've learned from the pandemic, restaurant guests don't always want to  – and won't always be able to – eat at your restaurant. That's why you need to invest in restaurant equipment and technology that facilitates an off-premise dining experience thats equally as enjoyable as your in-house dining experience. New restaurants should strongly consider investing in the following:

  • A cloud-based restaurant point of sale system
  • An online-ordering system for restaurants
  • Restaurant reporting and analytics
  • Simple scheduling and team communication
  • A restaurant payroll solution
  • Contactless payment options and order-and-pay at the table technology that makes guests feel comfortable

With this restaurant technology powering your business, your ability to grow revenue and establish yourself as a successful restaurant brand will be much easier.

Timeline for Opening a Restaurant: Next Steps

Opening a restaurant is a huge undertaking with dozens of steps, overlapping requirements, and mountains of paperwork. Writing up a solid restaurant business plan and securing funding for your restaurant are some of the first things you’ll need to do so that you can afford all the building blocks of your business, including your licenses and permits. 

As you approach opening day, you can also start to peruse your restaurant technology options and find what combination of products and systems make sense to help you set your operation up for success from day one.

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Opening a Restaurant Checklist

So many things go into opening a restaurant. Use this free PDF checklist to set your new restaurant up for success.

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