Key Takeaways
- A restaurant, cafe or cloud kitchen on the Dubai mainland gets its licence from DET. If you want to use a free zone instead, the zone itself has to confirm it licenses food units.
- Executive Council Resolution 5 of 2024 tells DET to issue licences instantly. Activities on the Chairman of the Executive Council's list are the exception, and for those the permits come first.
- With an instant licence you sign an undertaking to meet the permit rules before you start and while you trade. Selling food before the food permit is issued breaks that promise.
- Your commercial lease goes into Ejari in the licensed company's name (Dubai Land Department, October 2026). You can't finish one without the other.
- Before you sign a lease, find out about the hygiene grade, the landlord NOC, the drawings the municipality wants and the rules on alcohol and pork.
Opening a cloud kitchen in Dubai, a kitchen that cooks only for delivery, follows much the same path as opening a restaurant. You need a licence, a lease and a set of permits. What costs people money is the order. Dubai lets you get the licence before the permits, and it's easy to sign a lease for a unit that then can't open for months.
Licence route, mainland and in the emirate of the premises
The licence comes from the economic department of the emirate where your kitchen is. In Dubai that's the Department of Economy and Tourism (DET), Dubai's mainland licensing office, formerly DED. In Abu Dhabi it's the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED), and in Sharjah the Sharjah Economic Development Department (SEDD). On top of the licence, plan for municipality and food-safety permits and a registered lease. Each authority will have its own list of what it needs from you.
Dubai's official guide describes three stages: initial approval, the trade name and then the licence itself (dubai.ae, October 2026). You apply on the Invest in Dubai platform. The activity name matters a lot here, because a delivery-only kitchen and a restaurant with tables may need different permits later. Ask DET which name fits your plan. The categories are explained in the guide to licence types, and the trade licence guide takes you through the application step by step.
A free zone, an area with its own authority that licenses companies under its own rules, is a different case. Its licence only works inside the zone. Check with the zone whether it licenses a food unit that's open to the public and which municipality rules would then apply.
Some founders hope to cook from a free zone and sell across Dubai. Dubai launched a six-month mainland permit for free zone companies on 8 October 2025, but in its first phase it only covers non-regulated activities (Dubai Media Office). Food may well be regulated. DET can tell you whether a food activity is covered yet. Most food businesses end up with a mainland limited liability company (LLC), and the mainland LLC guide explains how that works.
The approvals chain after the licence
Under Executive Council Resolution 5 of 2024, DET has to issue licences instantly. The only exception is a list of activities kept by the Chairman of the Executive Council. For listed activities, permits or approvals must come before the licence. For everything else, you sign an acknowledgement and undertaking, a written promise to meet the rules, and the permits and inspections happen afterwards but before you start trading.
For most kitchens this means the food permit arrives after the licence. The Resolution says some checks take place before the business opens, including staff qualifications, bank guarantees and an inspection on site. If you start selling before the food permit comes through, you break the undertaking you signed.
Whether your activity is on the Chairman's list is something DET has to confirm. It changes the whole order of work. A listed activity needs its permits first, and that also changes when it makes sense to take the lease.
Other approvals depend on the unit and what you cook. Civil defence, health and transport approvals can all apply, and the building may need a fit-out permit before you install the kitchen. Each authority should tell you what it needs and in which order.
Lease before approvals is the risk
Rent can start on the day the lease begins. Permits follow the authority's timetable, which you don't control. The Dubai Land Department says a commercial Ejari, the entry in Dubai's official register of tenancy contracts, must be in the licensed company's name (FAQ, October 2026). That ties the lease and the licence together. Registering in Ejari is compulsory under Dubai Law 26 of 2007, as amended.
The real worry is a unit that never gets its permit. Say the municipality doesn't approve the use of the space, the drawings or the kitchen layout. You're then holding a lease on a place that can't trade, and paying rent every month on a closed kitchen. How long a food permit takes depends on the authority and the unit. Get a timetable for your specific unit and keep it on paper.
Two clauses can protect you. One is a break clause linked to the approvals, which lets you leave if they're refused. The other is a rent-free period that starts on the date the permit is issued. Both are worth raising with the landlord while the lease is still a draft.
Cloud kitchen, restaurant and cafe compared by the questions they raise
Each format leads to different questions, and DET and the municipality answer them for your particular unit. A cloud kitchen has no customers eating on site. What you need to know is the activity name for a delivery-only kitchen and whether a unit off the main street is acceptable.
Running several food brands out of one kitchen is common. Here the question is whether each brand needs its own licence or trade name, or whether one licence can cover them all. A restaurant or cafe in Dubai with seating brings its own questions about capacity, the dining area and the kind of cooking you plan. Any of these can change the permits.
Keep a note of every answer you get. The guide to the DET activities list shows the exact names Dubai uses for activities, which helps when you compare answers.
Alcohol and pork licences are separate questions
Assume alcohol and pork each need their own permission until DET and the municipality say otherwise, and get that confirmation in writing. Find out which licence your menu needs, who issues it and whether your type of premises allows it at all. The answer could rule out the unit you had in mind, so settle it before the lease.
Hiring, Emiratisation and insurance
Staff in a mainland food business fall under the normal mainland labour rules. The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE) decides how many work permits you can get. It does this after Ta'qeem, MOHRE's check of your business before it sets your work-permit quota. You also need an establishment card, the immigration record that lets your company sponsor visas, and that requires a valid trade licence (MOHRE, October 2026).
Emiratisation means targets for hiring UAE nationals in the private sector, and MOHRE sets them. Find out from MOHRE whether a target applies to a restaurant of the size you're planning and what it costs if you miss it. Work that into the payroll budget.
Health insurance is also on the employer. Since 1 January 2025, employers in every emirate must buy it for private-sector workers. The u.ae page lists a basic package at AED 320 per year (as of September 2026). For VAT, Corporate Tax and what to do first in year one for the company behind the kitchen, see the small business owner guide.
Budget lines and the questions to ask
The two biggest costs to start with are the lease and the kitchen fit-out. DET sets the licence fee according to the activity. There's a twist, though. Gulf News reported in September 2026 that the Invest in Dubai cost calculator adds about 5% of annual rent to the licence fee for licences tied to premises. A higher rent means a higher licence fee too. The Dubai trade licence cost guide lists the separate fees, and the cost guide for the UAE helps you put the full estimate together.
These questions decide which permits you need and in what order. Together they tell you whether the unit you're about to rent can actually open.
- Which food-safety permit or registration does my activity need, and who issues it?
- Does my unit need a hygiene grade or classification, and what does the inspection check?
- Does the authority need a landlord NOC, a no-objection letter from the owner, and which municipality drawings must be approved before inspection?
- Do civil defence or other approvals apply to this unit and its fit-out?
- Does serving alcohol or pork need its own licence, and from whom?
- Is my activity on the Chairman's list where permits come before the licence?
The DET stages are simple enough to do yourself: initial approval, trade name, licence. Where it tends to go wrong is a lease signed before anyone knows what the approvals will need. The result is rent on a unit that can't trade. An adviser who regularly handles food-business approvals can go through the permit list for your unit and tell you the order. If you haven't settled on a concept yet, the business ideas guide may help.
AdvisoryHub may receive a fee when you request an introduction; it does not affect the information on this page.
More Company Setup Guides
Related Company Setup Guides
- Company formation cost in Dubai and the UAE, fee by fee
- Trade license Dubai and the UAE, types and how to apply
- Business setup in mainland UAE, LLC rules, ownership and cost
- Dubai professional license versus commercial and industrial
- Dubai trade licence cost and the fees behind it
- DED license in Dubai, DET and the activities list explained
- Business ideas in Dubai and the licence each one needs
- SME Dubai, mainland LLC or free zone for a small business
