Opening a restaurant in Munich: licence & website

If you want to open a restaurant, café or bar in Munich, you need two things in parallel: the official clearance to operate and a digital presence that is already standing on opening day. The short answer to the licensing question: as soon as you serve alcohol, you generally need a Gaststättenerlaubnis in Bavaria — the restaurant licence, colloquially called the "Konzession" — which in Munich you apply for at the Kreisverwaltungsreferat (KVR), the city's department for public order and licensing. On top of that comes a bundle of requirements and certificates.

The exact forms, fees and deadlines are supplied most reliably by the official bodies: the IHK für München und Oberbayern (the Chamber of Industry and Commerce for Munich and Upper Bavaria), the KVR and the city's service portal. That's why this article deliberately covers the official part only as an overview — and then turns to the question that appears in no official letter but decides the first months: what has to be online before the first guest arrives?

Because in Munich, the decision about where to eat is made almost entirely on the phone. Whoever only thinks about the website, the menu and reservations after opening gives away exactly the weeks in which a new place generates the most curiosity.

Note: this article is an orientation, not legal or tax advice. What applies in your specific case is a matter for the KVR, the IHK für München und Oberbayern and, where needed, professional advisors.

The Konzession: what Munich requires

Whether you need a licence at all hinges mainly on alcohol. Food and non-alcoholic drinks alone — the classic café or snack bar — are often licence-free in Bavaria and merely need to be notified. But as soon as beer, wine or spirits cross the counter, the licensing requirement under Bavarian restaurant law generally kicks in. For your exact case, the KVR is the authoritative body.

Around the licence, the authorities typically require several certificates. Without any claim to a complete or current list — the office examines each case individually — these usually come up:

Gewerbeanmeldung — the official trade registration for the business.
Gaststättenunterrichtung — an instruction session on food-law obligations for restaurateurs, organised in this region via the IHK.
Instruction under the Infektionsschutzgesetz — Germany's Infection Protection Act — provided by the health office for everyone who handles food.
Führungszeugnis (police clearance certificate) and an extract from the Gewerbezentralregister (the central trade register) to establish personal reliability.
Certificates concerning the premises — this is where it often gets complicated locally, because an existing space must be usable for gastronomy under building law.

Allow time for this official part and obtain the current conditions directly from the KVR and the IHK für München und Oberbayern. Their information is the binding source — not a blog post.

Why the location shapes the procedure

The Munich factor often lies not in the Konzession itself but in the property. A space that previously housed an office or a shop is not automatically usable as a restaurant. Whether a change of use is required, how things stand with ventilation, closing-time rules and possible outdoor seating — all of that is decided by the specific location and its neighbourhood. Especially in densely inhabited districts like the Maxvorstadt, Haidhausen or the Isarvorstadt, noise protection plays a bigger role than on an arterial road at the city's edge.

Then there is the economic side: Munich is one of Germany's most expensive locations for gastronomy. High rents and staff costs combined with strong competition mean a new place needs guests quickly — it can't afford an empty warm-up phase. Which is exactly why the digital launch is not a "nice-to-have for later" but part of the opening itself.

What must be online before the first guest

As soon as the location is fixed, your digital presence should be built — ideally weeks before opening. These four building blocks belong to it:

1. A well-maintained Google Business Profile. For a new establishment in Munich, this is the most important first search result. Address, opening hours, photos and category must be correct before the first guests search for you — and they will search the moment the sign goes up.

2. A menu that is readable on a phone. Not as a PDF to download, but as real text on a page. Whoever decides spontaneously at Marienplatz or in Schwabing wants to see in two seconds what's on offer and what it costs — without zooming. Why the PDF costs you guests is covered in detail in creating a menu for your website.

3. Reservations without commission. Via your own domain, guests book directly with you — without a booking portal earning a cut per seated table and keeping the contact details for itself. What that means in day-to-day operation is shown in restaurant website Munich: reservations without commission.

4. Multiple languages where the location demands it. Munich is one of the most visited cities in Germany. In touristy and international areas, guests search in English for "restaurant munich" or "beer garden near me". A German-only site is practically invisible to those searches — a point that matters doubly if your target audience includes internationals and expats.

Why the website belongs to the founding — not after it

The most common mistake in a gastro opening: months are spent on the renovation, the menu and the staff, and the website comes "once everything is running". That is too late. Search engines need lead time to assess a new website and to serve it for searches like "restaurant + neighbourhood". Whoever goes online only on opening day barely ranks during the first weeks — the most curious phase.

Better: the website is standing during the construction phase, perhaps initially as a preview page with the concept, the location and the planned opening date, through which interested people can already reserve or sign up. That way you collect visibility and your first guests before the doors open. How such a website project runs in Munich and what it costs is covered in having a website built in Munich.

What a gastro website can look like

How a gastronomy presence with a readable menu, direct reservations and multiple languages comes across is best shown with finished examples. The showroom holds several gastronomy designs for exactly that — for instance a Mediterranean restaurant whose entire site, menu included, switches between several languages at a click, or a larger gastronomy complex with a menu and event spaces. These are design examples that show what is technically and visually possible — from the first impression through to the reservation.

If you're planning a place in Munich and need a digital presence that is standing by the opening: look through the examples in the showroom and get in touch there. That way you see in advance what your presence could look like before you commit.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a Konzession for a café without alcohol in Munich?

For food and non-alcoholic drinks alone, operating in Bavaria is often licence-free and merely needs to be notified. As soon as you serve alcohol, the licensing requirement generally applies. Because it depends on the individual case, clarify this with the KVR in Munich before signing a lease.

Which authority in Munich handles the restaurant licence?

In Munich, the Gaststättenerlaubnis runs through the Kreisverwaltungsreferat (KVR). For the food-law instruction, the IHK für München und Oberbayern is usually the point of contact; for the instruction under the Infektionsschutzgesetz, it's the health office. The current procedures and fees are on these bodies' official pages.

When should the website be ready — before or after opening?

Before. Search engines need lead time until a new site ranks. If the website — at minimum a preview page with the concept and a way to reserve — is standing during the construction phase, you are already visible on opening day instead of only starting then.

Does my gastro website in Munich have to be multilingual?

That depends on the location. In touristy and international districts, at least an English version pays off, because many guests search in English. In a purely residential neighbourhood with local regulars, it matters less.

Does a reservation via my own website cost commission?

No. If the guest reserves directly on your domain, you pay no brokerage fee per table, and the guest data stays with you — unlike with booking portals, which charge per seated guest and later suggest that same guest to your competitors.