Cleveland Department of Public Health

Contact

What to know before you call

• Annual renewal window is February 1 – March 1. Late applications are assessed penalty fees.
• Plan review drawing sets: 4 sets for alterations, 6 sets for new construction — more than the county requires.
• Temporary event applications are due at least 10 days in advance.
• Separate direct lines by purpose: general licensing 216-664-3076, new restaurants 216-420-7355, temporary licenses 216-664-4897.
• Food safety complaints and suspected foodborne illness: 216-664-2300.

Direct links

Straight to the documents, so you can skip the phone tree.

• Food Safety Program — forms, guidance, fee schedule
• License fee schedule
• Mobile food service operations

Municipalities we have mapped to this agency

1 municipality. Not exhaustive — townships and smaller villages may be missing. Tell us what to add.

Cleveland ⚑

Sources

1. Cleveland Department of Public Health — Food Safety Program — checked August 8, 2026

Also licensing in Cuyahoga County

Coverage follows municipal lines, not county lines. If your address is not in the list above, one of these is probably yours.

• Cuyahoga County Board of Health — Licenses food operations in every municipality in Cuyahoga County except the City of Cleveland — Lakewood, Parma, Shaker Heights, Westlake, Solon, Euclid, and the rest.

Once you know your agency

• Work through the opening path — every approval in the order it has to happen, with what blocks what.
• How a food service license application actually runs — plan review, risk levels, fees and inspection order. Written for Cuyahoga County; the sequence is the same everywhere in Ohio, the desk and the fees are not.
• What has to be in the kitchen before your inspection
• Food safety and health code consultants — if you would rather have someone walk the plan review with you.