Licensable activity
Food & beverage
Restaurants, cafés, catering, cloud kitchens and food trucks. A physical premises activity in nearly every case, which places it on the mainland unless you are operating inside a free zone for that zone's occupants.
Classification
How it is coded.
UAE activity lists derive from ISIC Revision 4, the United Nations industrial classification. Each emirate's economic department and each free zone then extends that base with its own numbering, so the same activity carries a different code in Dubai than it does in Sharjah or inside DMCC.
- ISIC Rev. 4
- Section I — Accommodation and food service activities (division 56)
- Licence category
- Commercial, plus municipality permits
- Regulator
- Municipality food control in each emirate
Approvals beyond the licence
- Food safety
- Municipality approval of the premises, kitchen layout, extraction and food handlers — before opening, and inspected after.
- Civil defence
- Fire safety approval for the fit-out.
- Signage and outdoor seating
- Separate municipality permits.
- Alcohol
- A separate licence, granted to the venue, and not available in every emirate.
In practice
Cloud kitchens have made the sector more accessible by removing the front of house, but not the food safety regime — the kitchen is inspected on the same basis.
Coverage
Where it can be licensed.
Of the 40 licensing authorities across the UAE, 6 issue licences covering this activity, spread across 6 of the seven emirates.