Opening and running a restaurant in France
The paperwork, the inspections and the permits — then what comes after opening: margins, reviews, bookings, delivery. Written for people who run a restaurant in France without French as a first language. Each article cites what it relies on, and carries its date.
Chinese tourists: what DeepSeek and Doubao say about your restaurantPeople talk about ChatGPT as if it were the only one. A Chinese tourist planning a trip to Paris doesn't use it: they ask Doubao or DeepSeek, and those assistants don't read the same websites ours do.6 October 2026 · 4 min read
Kitchen extraction: the one point money cannot fixCooking fumes must be discharged above the roof, not out of the front wall. If there is no flue, one has to be built — and the owners' meeting decides that, not you.20 September 2026 · 4 min read
“All trades” does not mean restaurantTwo things share the same French word, destination: the one in your lease and the one in planning law. They are checked with two different people, and one of the two cannot be fixed afterwards.20 September 2026 · 4 min read
The building's co-ownership rules override your leaseA landlord cannot grant you more rights than they hold. The document that really decides sits with the managing agent, it is open to every co-owner, and nobody reads it.20 September 2026 · 4 min read
Commission-free bookings: what it would really save youA commission per cover is not expensive in itself. It is expensive on the customers who would have come anyway. Here is how to work out your own figure, and when a subscription becomes the right choice — or does not.5 October 2026 · 7 min read
Why ChatGPT never mentions your restaurantWhen a customer asks an AI where to eat in your neighbourhood, it names two or three places. There is no second page. Here is what decides who gets named, what nobody can promise you, and how to find out where you stand.12 November 2026 · 5 min read
Your Google listing, line by lineThree fields filled in ten minutes are worth as much as your rating. Fifteen photos are worth more than everything else. Here is the scorecard we use to grade a listing, published as it stands, points and all.19 September 2026 · 5 min read
Why you come up behind the restaurant next doorYour position on Maps does not exist: it changes with where the search is made from. What Google publishes about local ranking, the three levers you actually have, and how to check without lying to yourself.19 September 2026 · 5 min read
VAT: a set menu with a glass of wine is not taxed at 10%As soon as a fixed price includes alcohol, it has to be split between two rates — and the split has to be justified. Failing that, the tax authorities apply 20% to the whole menu.15 September 2026 · 5 min read
SACEM and SPRE: two rights, one invoicePlaying music engages two separate rights. And the Spotify subscription you already pay for does not entitle you to do it — not even on Premium, not even if you pay SACEM.15 September 2026 · 4 min read
HACCP: the binder you buy protects you from nothingIt is not a qualification, it is a method — and the food safety plan describes your kitchen, not a template's. The three parts, the temperatures, and what gets sold to you without being compulsory.15 September 2026 · 5 min read
The terrace is not sold with the businessIt is a personal permit, precarious and revocable — not an asset of the business. It ends when the business changes hands, and nothing obliges the town hall to grant it to you.12 November 2026 · 4 min read
Front of house: a role is not a person“Marc looks after the cellar” is not an organisation, it is a bet. How to write down the roles in a small house, what it earns in table turns, and the legal limit that casual staff impose.15 September 2026 · 6 min read
Opening a restaurant in France: what nobody tells you in timeEvery mandatory step, in the order it comes up — and the four that are missed every single time, because nobody announces them.12 November 2026 · 4 min read
The surveys to do before touching the wallsThe property survey from the sale does not cover building work. Asbestos, lead, noise: what you need in hand before the first hammer falls.14 September 2026 · 4 min read
Workers on your site: what you are liable for without knowing itThey are not your employees, but it is your site. The duty of vigilance, the certificate to ask for every six months, and what forgetting it costs.14 September 2026 · 3 min read
Registering your company does not declare your restaurantTwo administrations, two registers, and nobody to tell you the second one exists. The declaration to the DDPP, the approval case, and what an inspection really looks at.12 November 2026 · 5 min read
Noise impact study: who is actually concernedNo, a speaker in the ceiling is not enough to bring you within scope. But a DJ on Friday night is — and the study has to come before the soundproofing work, not after it.14 September 2026 · 5 min read
The operating permit is not the licenceTwo documents, two logics: one is about you, the other about the premises. And licence IV, which costs thousands of euros, is not the one most restaurants need.14 September 2026 · 6 min read
Set menu or à la carte: what your choice does to your marginsEvery line added to the carte costs you in stock, in waste and in training. The five possible formats, what they do to your kitchen, and the method for finding out which of your dishes actually earn their keep.14 September 2026 · 7 min read
Delivery: at what price do you start losing moneyNobody can give you the real commission rate, and that is the problem. Here is the method for working it out on your own menu — and why your dishes do not all survive it in the same way.14 September 2026 · 7 min read
No-shows: what they cost, and what actually reduces themNobody knows their real rate, and the figures going round are worthless. The calculation to do on your own room, what French law says about card guarantees, and why the reminder text is not there to remind anyone.14 September 2026 · 6 min read
Google reviews: what you are not allowed to doEveryone explains how to get more of them. Almost nobody says what is forbidden — and that is where restaurateurs put themselves at risk, often by following advice found online.20 October 2026 · 5 min read
Public-access buildings: your capacity does not depend on the number of chairsOccupancy is calculated from floor area, not from your seating plan. And it is occupancy that drives your building work, your processing time and your opening date — long before you have chosen your tables.12 November 2026 · 5 min read