A shared kitchen license comes in two halves. The kitchen holds a food license for the space, inspected and renewed like any commercial kitchen, and in some cities a license of its own as a shared kitchen. Each renter then needs whatever their city or state asks of someone who cooks there: in a lot of places, their own food license or registration at the kitchen's address, plus food safety training and insurance; in others, the kitchen's license covers them. Chicago, the example's city, spells both halves out. A business whose main purpose is renting kitchen space needs a Shared Kitchen Operator license, $660 for two years; a licensed restaurant or wholesaler that rents its kitchen on the side needs a Shared Kitchen Supplemental license, $330; and every renter needs a Shared Kitchen User license, $330 for two years or $75 for up to 90 days. In the example below, a Chicago pierogi maker licenses itself at a shared kitchen. Below are the layers, Chicago's licenses, the example, and a free checklist.
The short version
- The kitchen holds a food license for the space, and in some cities a shared kitchen license.
- Each renter needs what their city or state asks: often their own license or registration there.
- Renters still need food safety training and insurance naming the kitchen.
- Chicago: Shared Kitchen Operator, $660 for 2 years.
- Chicago: Shared Kitchen Supplemental, $330 for 2 years, for restaurants and wholesalers renting out space.
- Chicago: Shared Kitchen User, $330 for 2 years, or $75 for up to 90 days.
- Check zoning before signing a lease for a shared kitchen.
- TaroStack keeps members' goods apart for the kitchen, and lots for its renters. More below.
The layers
| Who | What they need | Who issues it |
|---|---|---|
| The kitchen | A food license for the space, and a shared kitchen license where one exists | City, county or state |
| The kitchen | Zoning that allows it | City |
| Each renter | Their own license or registration at the kitchen, where required | City, county or state |
| Each renter | A business name, sales tax, food safety training | State and health department |
| Each renter | Insurance naming the kitchen | Insurer |
| Renters selling to stores | FDA registration and wholesale rules, where they apply | FDA and state |
Starting a kitchen is in how to start a shared kitchen, and what renters sign in shared kitchen agreement template. Every city and state differs; this is general information, not legal advice.
Chicago's licenses
| License | Who needs it | Fee and term |
|---|---|---|
| Shared Kitchen Operator | A business mainly renting its commercial kitchen for food prep, production, storage or other food uses, without a retail food license | $660, 2 years |
| Shared Kitchen Supplemental | A licensed retail or wholesale food business renting its kitchen on the side | $330, 2 years, on top of its food license |
| Shared Kitchen User, Long Term | Anyone using a licensed shared kitchen during the 2-year period | $330, 2 years |
| Shared Kitchen User, Short Term | Anyone using a licensed shared kitchen for up to 90 consecutive days | $75 |
The city's page is the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection's shared kitchen page, which also tells operators to confirm zoning before signing a lease. Illinois food handler training is in Illinois food handler training.
An example: a Chicago pierogi maker
Avondale Pierogi Co., the made-up pierogi maker in Chicago I use in these examples, makes frozen pierogi for grocers and trays for catering in a licensed shared kitchen, three days a week:
| Layer | Status |
|---|---|
| Business name, an LLC | Done, January 2025 |
| Illinois sales tax registration | Done, January 2025 |
| Shared Kitchen User, Long Term | $330, February 3, 2025; renews February 3, 2027 |
| Short Term license | Used first: $75 for a 90-day trial before committing |
| The kitchen's Shared Kitchen Operator license | Checked on the wall before signing |
| Food manager and food handlers | The owner certified; both helpers trained |
| Kitchen agreement | Through January 31, 2027 |
| Sales to grocers | To check: whether wholesale needs more than the user license |
| General and product liability insurance | Names the kitchen; renews February 1, 2027 |
The 90-day short-term license let the owner test the kitchen's freezer space before paying for two years; the trial showed the kitchen's freezer could take about 1,000 dozen a month, enough for the grocers. What renting costs is in shared kitchen pricing, and the pierogi business in pierogi business plan.
Get the checklist
Download the shared kitchen license checklist. One sheet: each layer, who issues it, what it is, whether you need it, the cost, the date done and the renewal date; the status and the total cost fill in. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
A kitchen with twenty renters, each with goods in the walk-in and freezer, and each renter's own lots going out to grocers: the licenses are on the wall, but nobody's checklist says whose pierogi are on which shelf.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps members' goods apart for the kitchen, and each renter's lots for the renter.
For the kitchen, members' goods as theirs. With We make or keep goods for clients turned on, each member is a client and their goods are their own, on Standard at $99: kept apart from the kitchen's stock, counted on a phone where they sit, and released when they take them, with a monthly statement of what moved.
For the renter, each batch a lot. A batch of pierogi records the flour, potato and cheese lots it used, gets a lot with its date, and each grocer's order records the lots it got, so one recall report shows every customer a batch reached.
The kitchen's own supplies. Gloves, sanitizer and labels come up on the reorder list before they run out.
| The job | Notebook | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| Whose goods are on a shelf | Masking tape | Each member's goods, apart |
| Which flour went into a batch | Not recorded | The lots on its batch |
| Which grocers got a batch | Invoices | One recall report |
Lots, batches and the reorder list are on every plan, from $49 a month; keeping members' goods, with releases and monthly statements, is on Standard at $99. The first 30 days are free, with no credit card. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.