July 2026 Restaurants, Food & Beverage new business activity in Florida

New food and beverage businesses are on the way across Florida, and the plans are public before the doors open. County and city records and companies' own announcements show breweries, food halls, restaurants, and specialty markets moving through zoning, permits, and site plans right now, from Pensacola and Bradenton to Naples, Orlando, and Miami. New restaurants, cafes, bars, food trucks, and caterers are also registering with the state every week.

Every new restaurant, grocery, bar, cafe, food truck, or caterer creates demand for the same set of local businesses. Someone has to install and service the refrigeration and kitchen equipment, clean the hoods and grease traps, set up the point-of-sale and payment systems, handle pest control, supply food and beverages, and provide signage, uniforms, and linen. Each new food business that registers adds another round of that local work.

The counts below show where new restaurant, food, and beverage businesses are registering, by region, over the last 30, 90, and 365 days. Under them are the food and beverage projects coming to Florida, pulled from county and city planning records and companies' own announcements, with the specific businesses each one will need. The state rules and official pages live at the bottom, in Restaurant and Food Business Resources.

The food and beverage businesses coming to Florida, pulled from county and city planning records and companies' own announcements, so a supplier or contractor can get in early. These are planned, approved, and under-construction projects, not past openings, spread across the state from the Panhandle to the Gold Coast.

• Southeast Florida· 2026-05-06

  Scarab Brewing wins zoning to convert a Miami River warehouse into a brewery and taproom

  A zoning application to turn a 3,878 square foot warehouse at 2996 NW North River Drive in Miami into a brewery, taproom, and small retail space went before the Miami-Dade Community Zoning Appeals Board on May 6, 2026. The plan reworks the interior and adds parking for the new use, which is not open yet. As this brewery is built out, it will need local brewery and taproom equipment installers, refrigeration and glycol-line techs, plumbers, electricians, hood and grease cleaners, POS vendors, sign shops, and a general contractor. Once it opens it becomes a new account for beverage and packaging suppliers, uniform and linen services, and pest control. A new neighborhood brewery adds jobs and returns a long-idle industrial building to the tax rolls along the Miami River.

  Source: Miami-Dade County Community Zoning Appeals Board (Area 8) agenda

• Southwest Florida· 2026-05-26

  Charlotte County approves a new Circle K store and fuel center in Port Charlotte

  On May 26, 2026 the Charlotte County Board of County Commissioners approved the final site plan for a 3,956 square foot Circle K with six fuel stations at 1785 El Jobean Road in Port Charlotte, inside the new West Port Marketplace. The store is not built yet. Building the store and fuel center is work for local general contractors, walk-in cooler and beverage-case installers, fuel-canopy and dispenser crews, electricians, sign vendors, and POS installers. Packaged-food and beverage distributors, grease and hood cleaners, and pest control gain a new stop once it opens. The store adds retail jobs and fuel-tax and sales-tax revenue as the West Port Marketplace fills in.

  Source: Charlotte County Board of County Commissioners agenda (case DRC-25-179)

• Northeast Florida· announced 2026-07-06

  A 63,000 square foot dining and food marketplace, The Hub at Nocatee, is planned in St. Johns County

  On July 6, 2026 developer Center Connect Development announced The Hub at Nocatee, a 63,225 square foot open-air marketplace of restaurants, shops, and entertainment next to the Publix at Nocatee. The developer plans to open it in 2028, so it is not built yet. A dining center this size needs commercial general contractors, kitchen and refrigeration installers, hood and grease cleaners, POS vendors, sign shops, and food and beverage distributors to build and fit out. Restaurant tenants are still being signed, so uniform, linen, and pest-control vendors can reach them early. The project adds restaurant and retail jobs and grows the St. Johns County tax base in the fast-growing Nocatee area.

  Source: Nocatee (developer announcement)

• Northeast Florida· 2026-05-05

  Downtown Palatka plans a food hall and rooftop restaurant in a historic-building makeover

  The City of Palatka Planning Board took up a planned development at its May 5, 2026 meeting to turn the building at 211 St. Johns Avenue into a first-floor food hall and add a rooftop restaurant and bar next door, tied to the planned James Hotel. The buildings are still being converted and are not open yet. As this moves into build-out, it will need local demolition, framing, roofing, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, elevator, and commercial-kitchen installers, plus sign shops. Once open, the food hall stalls and rooftop restaurant will need produce and beverage distributors, refrigeration and hood-cleaning services, linen and cleaning crews, and POS providers. The project adds food-service jobs and returns historic downtown buildings to use along Putnam County's St. Johns riverfront.

  Source: City of Palatka Planning Board meeting packet (PB Case 26-04)

• Central Florida· announced 2026-07-01

  Crooked Can is building a destination brewery and food hall in Minneola

  Crooked Can Brewing is finishing a roughly 42,950 square foot brewery and food hall at Hills City Center on North Hancock Road in Minneola, in Lake County. The developer says it opens in Summer 2026 with a taproom, event space, and 11 to 15 local food vendors, so it is not open yet. The build needs commercial refrigeration and glycol-chiller installers for the brewhouse, brew-tank riggers, and exhaust-hood installers for the food-vendor stalls, plus hood and grease-trap cleaners, POS vendors, and sign makers. Once vendors move in, local food distributors and a restaurant pest-control service will be needed too. A new food and drink destination in Lake County adds construction work, permanent jobs, and sales tax for Central Florida.

  Source: Hills City Center (developer official site)

• Tampa Bay· 2026-05-18

  Chipotle files plans for a new Bradenton restaurant with a pickup window

  Chipotle has filed a site plan for a 2,415 square foot restaurant with a pickup window at 5722 14th Street West in Bradenton. Manatee County lists it in administrative review on its weekly development project list, and it is not built yet. A new restaurant shell and fit-out means work for local general contractors, commercial refrigeration and kitchen-line installers, exhaust-hood cleaners, digital pickup-shelf and POS vendors, and sign and uniform suppliers. With the plan still in review, food distributors and build-out contractors can reach the operator early. The location adds local jobs and grows the tax base in the Bayshore Gardens commercial corridor.

  Source: Manatee County Development Services Weekly Project List

• Tampa Bay· 2026-05-11

  A new Whataburger with a drive-thru is filed for review in Bradenton

  Whataburger has filed plans for a new drive-thru restaurant at 7627 Cortez Road West in Bradenton. Manatee County shows it in administrative site-plan review on its weekly development project list, and it is not open yet. A ground-up quick-service build means work for local site and building contractors, kitchen-equipment and walk-in refrigeration installers, hood and grease-exhaust contractors, drive-thru menu-board and sign crews, POS installers, and pest-control and linen vendors. Reaching the operator now, while the plan is in review, puts local trades in front of the job before contracts are awarded. A new restaurant adds local jobs and grows the Manatee County tax base along the Cortez Road corridor.

  Source: Manatee County Development Services Weekly Project List

• Northwest Florida· 2026-05-13

  Specialty butcher Wild Fork Foods is moving toward a new Pensacola store

  Wild Fork Foods, a specialty butcher and frozen meat and seafood market, is going through Escambia County site-plan review for a new store at 6810 North Davis Highway in Pensacola. The county set its pre-application meeting for May 13, 2026, the first formal step before build-out, and the store is not open yet. A Wild Fork build-out will need local walk-in cooler and refrigeration installers, electrical, plumbing, and interior-finish trades, plus sign and POS installers. Once open it keeps area refrigeration techs, hood and grease cleaners, pest control, and uniform and linen vendors working. It adds retail jobs and a fresh-meat grocery option on the Davis Highway corridor while growing Escambia County's tax base.

  Source: Escambia County Development Review Committee

• We count each business by the date it registered with the state, so this shows new business formation, not the current number of restaurants.
• State records post about 2 weeks behind, so the last week or two will keep rising as more filings arrive.
• Every new Florida public food-service establishment is licensed and inspected by DBPR under Chapter 509 before it opens. DBPR publishes a public-records data file of all licensed food-service establishments that updates weekly, which is why brand-new food businesses are traceable soon after they form.
• Counts cover active Florida businesses and update daily.

Statewide license source: Florida DBPR, Division of Hotels & Restaurants (Public Records).

Frequently asked questions

Where are the most new restaurant and food businesses forming in Florida?

This report ranks every Florida region by new restaurant, food, and beverage businesses and shows if activity is heating up or slowing down.

What does a new Florida restaurant have to do before it opens?

Every public food-service establishment in Florida is licensed and inspected by DBPR under Chapter 509. A newly built or remodeled kitchen also goes through DBPR plan review, and the business cannot open without a passed inspection and an assigned license number. That is the exact window when owners hire kitchen installers, hood and fire-suppression contractors, and food-safety help.

Where does this data come from?

The formation counts come from official Florida business-registration records. We pull every new filing, sort it by industry and region, and update daily. We count a business by the date it registered with the state. Food-service licensing comes from Florida DBPR.

Can I see the actual businesses?

Yes. You get the real filings, with business names, addresses, and officers, free for 7 days, with no credit card required. Start a free 7-day trial to see them.

The standing rules and official pages every new Florida food business must clear before it can open, starting with the statewide licensing offices and trade association, then the local hospitality body for each region. This is the rulebook, not the news. Check it to see the rules a new business follows, or send a new owner here.