Skip to main content

Shared Kitchens

About

City Health and Mental Hygiene, Department of

Shared Kitchens are commercial food preparation facilities that are designed to provide up-and-coming food retailers with an opportunity to grow their businesses by providing them with kitchen space and access to professional equipment. Shared kitchens provide entrepreneurs with the opportunity to develop their skills and create products without committing to the expense of operating a commercial kitchen on their own.<br/><br/>

Shared Kitchen Operator: a person holding a permit to operate a shared kitchen shall be responsible for maintaining the condition of the establishment, its equipment, surroundings, water supply, waste handling, furnishings and operate such establishment in compliance with Article 81 of the NYC Health Code and all other applicable, federal, state and city laws, rules and regulations.

A Shared Kitchen Operator must obtain a Non-Retail Food Processing Establishment permit from the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to operate a fully equipped commercial food processing facility where entrepreneurs, who want to grow their business, can rent or lease space.

Shared Kitchen Entrepreneur: a person who wishes to prepare food that may be served or sold to the public, but who are not ready to open a restaurant or operate a commercial kitchen on their own, may contract with a permitted "shared kitchen" to rent space for that purpose.  

A Shared Kitchen Entrepreneur must obtain a Food Protection Certificate and a Food Service Establishment (FSE) permit from the NYC Department of Health and Mental DOHMH if they are planning to sell ready-to-eat food at street fairs or any type of catered event in New York City. 

An alternative to renting space in a shared kitchen is renting space in the kitchen of a permitted restaurant, in which an entrepreneur would operate under the permit and supervision of the restaurant's operator.

NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DoHMH)

Address
Bureau of Food Safety and Community Sanitation


125 Worth Street


Customer Service Window, Room 1020



New York NY 10013
Phone (212) 676-1600
Learn which permits, licenses and regulations matter to you Use the Step by Step tool to get an exhaustive list of requirements that matter to you.
Use the Step by Step tool