How to Start a Restaurant in Wyoming: $200 State Food License, the Restaurant Liquor License ($500 to $3,000, 60% Food) and 4% Plus Local Meals Tax

October 29, 2026

If you want to know how to start a restaurant business in Wyoming, the state makes the entity side simple and puts most of the work in permits. Wyoming has no general state business license, no corporate income tax, no personal income tax and no franchise tax. A restaurant instead needs a food service permit, a Department of Revenue sales and use tax license, any license the city or town where it operates requires, and, if you want to serve alcohol, a restaurant liquor license from your city, town or county. This guide puts those steps in the order that avoids the most rework.

Disclaimer: This article is informational content, not legal or tax advice. Fees, rates and rules change. Confirm every figure with the agency named before you sign a lease or buy equipment, and talk with a qualified attorney or CPA about your entity, lease, liability and tax setup.

Materials and Information You Need Before You Start

• A business name you have checked on the Secretary of State's WyoBiz filing search at https://wyobiz.wyo.gov/Business/FilingSearch.aspx
• A Wyoming registered agent with a physical street address in Wyoming, including any suite number
• A federal Employer Identification Number from the IRS, needed before you open a business bank account or hire anyone
• A signed lease or proof of site control, plus written confirmation from the city that the address allows a restaurant
• A menu, a floor plan showing the kitchen, prep areas, dish area, storage, restrooms and dining room, and equipment specification sheets, including hood and sink details
• A projected revenue split between food and alcohol, if you plan to apply for a liquor license
• A written budget that includes the fees in the table below

Startup Fee Reference

Item	Agency	Cost	Notes
LLC Articles of Organization	Wyoming Secretary of State	$100 filing fee	Filed online through WyoBiz and active when completed
LLC name reservation	Wyoming Secretary of State	$60	Paper form only, holds the name for 120 days
Trade name registration (optional)	Wyoming Secretary of State	$100 for a 10 year term	Use if you operate under a name other than the LLC name. Mail only and notarized
Annual report (annual license tax)	Wyoming Secretary of State	$60 minimum	Due the first day of the anniversary month each year
Food service permit, initial	Department of Agriculture or local health department	$200	One-year term, not transferable
Food service permit, renewal	Same agency	$100 per year	Renewals can be filed online
Temporary food permit	Same agency	$50	Covers temporary events of up to 14 consecutive days
Sales and use tax license	Department of Revenue	$60 per place of business	Required if you make taxable sales
Restaurant liquor license	City or town council, or county commissioners	$500 to $3,000 annual fee	No population quota, but strict food-sales rules
Bar and grill liquor license	City or town council, or county commissioners	$1,500 to $10,500	Quota-limited and non-transferable. A different license from the restaurant license

Fees are current as of the research date for this guide, October 2026. Ask each agency whether any additional application, inspection or processing charge applies to your situation.

Step 1: Confirm That You Qualify as a Restaurant

Wyoming law defines a restaurant by its revenue, not its decor or seating count. A restaurant is an establishment whose primary source of revenue is the sale of food (W.S. 12-1-101(a)(xiv)). This matters most if you plan to sell alcohol, because the liquor rules are built around that definition. If your concept will earn most of its money from drinks, a restaurant license is the wrong fit, and you should look at the bar and grill category instead. Decide this before you sign a lease, since a lease signed for the wrong concept is expensive to unwind.

Step 2: Choose Your Business Name and Check It

If you form an LLC, the legal name must include “Limited Liability Company” or one of the approved abbreviations under W.S. 17-29-108: LLC, L.L.C., Limited Company, LC, L.C., Ltd. Liability Company, Ltd. Liability Co. or Limited Liability Co. The name must be available and distinguishable on the WyoBiz filing search before you register. Names beginning with the letter A must be filed on paper rather than online.

If you want to reserve the name while you line up a lease and financing, the LLC name reservation costs $60, is paper only, and lasts 120 days. Download the form at https://sos.wyo.gov/Forms/Business/General/LLC/LLC-NameReservation.pdf.

If the restaurant will operate under a name different from the LLC, you can register a trade name with the Secretary of State’s Business Division. The registration is statewide, not with the county clerk, costs $100 for a 10 year term, and must be filed by mail with a notarized application. Registering a trade name is optional in Wyoming, but it helps customers and vendors find you. The form is at https://sos.wyo.gov/forms/business/tn/tn-registrationapplication.pdf.

Step 3: File Your Entity and Appoint a Registered Agent

File Articles of Organization for an LLC through WyoBiz at https://wyobiz.wyo.gov/Business/RegistrationInstr.aspx. The filing fee is $100, and the entity is active as soon as the online filing is complete. Paper filings, by contrast, are processed in the order received and can take up to 15 business days.

Every Wyoming entity must keep a registered agent who can accept legal papers. The agent must have a physical street address in Wyoming. A drop box does not qualify, and a PO box is accepted only in addition to a physical address. You can serve as your own agent if you are a Wyoming resident, or you can hire a commercial agent, which carries a $50 annual registration. Changing agents later costs $5 to appoint a new registered agent and office.

Put the first annual report on your calendar now. The $60 annual report, which is the state’s only recurring entity charge, is due the first day of the anniversary month every year. You may file it up to 120 days early. If it is not paid within 60 days of the due date, the entity is subject to administrative dissolution.

Step 4: Secure the Location and Local Approvals

Wyoming has no general state business license. Other than registering with the Secretary of State, a business may need a license or permit based on what it does, and the Secretary of State directs applicants to the City Clerk’s Office in the city where they will operate. Only cities and towns issue business licenses. Counties do not, although they handle land use, building, septic and liquor matters. Ask the city clerk, planning office and building department about zoning for a restaurant use, any city business license, and building and occupancy permits before you commit to a lease.

Electrical work is licensed at the state level, so your electrician must hold a Wyoming electrical license. Wyoming has no state contractor, plumber or HVAC license. Those trades are licensed city by city, so confirm the requirements in the city where you are building out. Contractors also pay sales tax on the materials they install, which can add real cost to a buildout budget.

Do not treat your build-out as a formality. Equipment, hood and grease systems, plumbing and seating all depend on what your local building and health reviewers approve, so get those answers early.

Step 5: Apply for the Food Service Permit

Your food service permit comes from either the Wyoming Department of Agriculture, Consumer Health Services, or one of six local health departments where they exist: Laramie, Natrona, Teton, Sweetwater and Sublette counties, and the City of Laramie. Find out which agency covers your address before you apply, because you apply to that office.

The fee is $200 for the initial permit and $100 for each annual renewal. The permit has a one-year term and is not transferable (W.S. 35-7-124). The first application is not available online, so call the Department of Agriculture at 307-777-7321. Renewals can be completed online.

Several food service requirements are not set out in the state statute, including plan review, commissary requirements and certified food manager rules. Ask Consumer Health Services or your local health department directly what they require for your concept. For example, the Casper-Natrona County fee sheet lists a plan review fee for specialty and mobile units. Check the current amount on the health department’s own schedule before you budget for it.

A knowing violation of the state food act is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to 6 months and $750 (W.S. 35-7-111 and 35-7-113). Treat the permit as a condition of operating, not a formality.

Note that Wyoming’s Food Freedom Act (W.S. 11-49) does not help a restaurant. It lets home producers sell homemade food directly to informed end consumers without a state license, up to annual caps. Homemade food cannot be an ingredient in another product under that law (W.S. 11-49-103(d)), so do not plan your recipes around homemade ingredients from a home kitchen.

Step 6: Register for Sales and Use Tax

Restaurant meals and cover charges are taxable at the 4% state rate plus any local option taxes (W.S. 39-15-103(a)(i)(F)). Gratuities are excluded. Food for home consumption is exempt, which matters if you sell grocery items or some baked goods to take out.

Wyoming has no city sales tax, but county option taxes sit on top of the state rate, and combined rates differ by county. County rates change quarterly. The rate for this guide is dated October 2026, so take your current rate from the Department of Revenue rate chart at https://excise-tax-div.wyo.gov/ before you set menu prices or your point-of-sale settings.

Register for your sales and use tax license at https://excise-tax-div.wyo.gov/salesuselodging-tax/salesuselodging-registration. The license costs $60 per place of business (W.S. 39-15-106). If you open a second location, each place of business needs its own license.

Wyoming does not issue a resale certificate. When you buy items you plan to resell or purchase tax-exempt, you sign a certificate and give it to the seller. Confirm with the Department of Revenue which of your purchases qualify before you sign anything.

Step 7: Decide Whether to Apply for a Restaurant Liquor License

Liquor licenses in Wyoming are issued by the city or town council, or by the county commissioners where that applies, not by the state. The state Liquor Division is the wholesaler of spirits and wine, so you buy those products through it, but it does not issue your license. Confirm the application process and any processing fees with your city or county clerk.

A restaurant liquor license has no population quota, which is its main advantage over quota-limited licenses. It has strict conditions:

• Valid food service permit first. You must file a valid food service permit with the application, so complete Step 5 before you apply.
• Food must be the primary revenue. At each renewal, at least 60% of gross sales from the previous 12 months must come from food (W.S. 12-4-407 and 12-4-408).
• Annual report. You file a report that splits food sales from alcohol and malt sales, so keep clean point-of-sale data from day one.
• Annual fee. The fee is $500 to $3,000 per year (W.S. 12-4-411). Your local authority sets the amount within that range.
• Dining areas only. Alcohol may be served only in dining areas equipped for food service. You may not promote the business as a bar or lounge.
• Sales follow the kitchen. Alcohol sales must stop when food service stops (W.S. 12-4-410).
• Wine to go. After a full-course meal, a patron may take one resealed, unfinished bottle of wine off the premises (W.S. 12-4-410).

A bar and grill license is a separate category. It is quota-limited, non-transferable, and costs $1,500 to $10,500 (W.S. 12-4-413). If your bar sales will exceed food sales, or you want a late-night bar identity, plan around that category instead and expect the quota to limit your options.

Step 8: Set Up Payroll and Workers’ Compensation

Accommodation and food services is an industry in which workers’ compensation coverage is compulsory (W.S. 27-14-108(a)(ii)). Coverage comes from the state fund, which is run by the Department of Workforce Services. Sole proprietors, partners, officers and LLC members are excluded unless they elect coverage, but your employees are not excluded.

Wage rules have two layers. The Wyoming minimum wage is $5.15 per hour, and the tipped minimum is $2.13 per hour. For tipped employees, the employer must make up any shortfall when tips do not bring the employee up to the minimum. The federal minimum of $7.25 per hour governs employers covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (W.S. 27-4-202), and most restaurants fall within that federal coverage. Build your labor budget on the higher federal figure.

Wyoming has no individual income tax, so do not withhold state income tax from employee paychecks. Federal withholding and payroll tax obligations still apply, so set up federal payroll with your CPA before your first hire.

Step 9: Build Your Renewal Calendar

Restaurant compliance is mostly recurring. Put these dates in one shared calendar on day one:

1. Annual report: $60, due the first day of the anniversary month. Dissolution follows if it is not paid within 60 days of the due date.
2. Food service permit renewal: $100 per year, one-year term.
3. Liquor license renewal: annual fee of $500 to $3,000, plus the food-sales test and the food-and-alcohol annual report.
4. Sales tax filings: follow your Department of Revenue filing schedule and check the county rate each quarter, since rates change.
5. Trade name renewal: $50, if you registered a trade name.
6. Local business license and building items: confirm the renewal dates with your city clerk.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Assuming the county issues your food permit. The permit comes from the Department of Agriculture or from one of the six local health departments where they exist. Confirm which applies to your address.
• Applying for a liquor license before the food permit. The application must include a valid food service permit, so the sequence matters.
• Planning a bar-heavy concept under a restaurant license. The 60% food test is measured on 12 months of gross sales, and you may not be able to recover from a slow food year. Model your food share before you sign the lease.
• Quoting an old sales tax rate. County rates change quarterly. Use the Department of Revenue chart on the date you set prices.
• Using a drop box or PO box as your registered agent address. You need a physical street address in Wyoming.
• Forgetting the annual report. Missing the $60 payment for 60 days after the due date can lead to administrative dissolution.
• Counting on homemade ingredients from the Food Freedom Act. That law does not allow homemade food to be an ingredient in your restaurant food.
• Withholding state income tax. Wyoming has no individual income tax.
• Expecting the first food permit online. Call 307-777-7321 to start the first application. Renewals can be done online.
• Skipping the local building and zoning check. A signed lease does not confirm that your use is allowed or that your buildout will pass inspection.

What to Expect and How Long It May Take

Expected results depend on your location, concept and the review schedules of your local agencies. Many restaurant owners find that the entity filing and sales tax registration are the quickest steps, since WyoBiz filings are active once complete. The food permit plan review, local building inspections and any liquor approval usually take longer and set the real opening date. Plan for those reviews to run in parallel with your buildout, and treat any opening timeline as an estimate until each agency confirms it in writing. Any claims you make about your food, in signage or marketing, should be accurate and supportable, and health claims should be avoided unless you can substantiate them under FDA rules.

Where to Get Help

• Wyoming Secretary of State, Business Division: https://sos.wyo.gov/
• WyoBiz business filing and name search: https://wyobiz.wyo.gov/Business/FilingSearch.aspx
• Wyoming Department of Revenue, Excise Tax Division: https://excise-tax-div.wyo.gov/
• Wyoming Department of Agriculture, Consumer Health Services: 307-777-7321
• Wyoming SBDC Network, free small business advising: https://www.wyomingsbdc.org/
• U.S. Small Business Administration, Wyoming district: https://www.sba.gov/district/wyoming

For a multi-location plan, a liquor license application, or a lease with personal guarantees, speak with a Wyoming attorney, and have a CPA review your entity, payroll and sales tax setup before you open.