# New restaurant openings data: the inspection and license records that come first By Rotomal team · Updated 2026-10-29 · Part of [Opening Weekly](https://rotomal.com/opening-radar/) **Short answer:** Free early records of a new restaurant are pre-license health inspections and new licenses in city open data. In Chicago, a 'License' inspection is done as a requirement for the establishment to receive its license to operate: 181 took place from 1 to 28 October 2026, 125 of them at restaurants. New York City's inspection dataset lists restaurants that have applied for a permit but not yet been inspected (3,947 on 28 October 2026) and pre-permit inspections (206 establishments from 1 to 26 October 2026). ## Chicago: License inspections in the food inspections dataset Chicago's Food Inspections dataset covers inspections since 1 January 2010. Its data dictionary defines a license inspection as one done as a requirement for the establishment to receive its license to operate, and a consultation as one requested by the owner before the establishment opens. The portal lists the dataset as updated daily (the older data dictionary says weekly, on Fridays); in our check it held inspections through 28 October 2026. | Chicago, 1–28 October 2026 | Count | | --- | --- | | License inspections | 181 (167 distinct license numbers) | | of which at restaurants | 125 | | of which at grocery stores | 23 | | Result: Pass / Pass w/ Conditions | 94 / 15 | | Result: Fail / Not Ready / No Entry | 44 / 26 / 2 | | License re-inspections | 42 | | For comparison: license inspections in September 2026 | 183 | The data dictionary notes that re-inspections can occur for most inspection types, so the same place can appear again: there were 42 license re-inspections in the same period. ## Chicago: new food licenses Chicago's Business Licenses dataset, updated daily, marks the initial license application with application type ISSUE. From 1 to 28 October 2026 the city issued 570 new licenses of all kinds, 91 of them Retail Food Establishment licenses. A license is issued after the license inspection it requires. ## New York City: permit applicants and pre-permit inspections The DOHMH New York City Restaurant Inspection Results dataset includes a record for each restaurant that has applied for a permit but has not yet been inspected, with an inspection date of 1/1/1900. On its record date of 28 October 2026 there were 3,947 such establishments: 1,763 in Manhattan, 979 in Brooklyn, 783 in Queens, 227 in the Bronx, 121 on Staten Island and 74 with no borough. From 1 to 26 October 2026, 206 establishments had an initial pre-permit inspection. Of those, 188 were 'Pre-permit (Operational)' inspections, which the dataset notes list as gradable, so many of those places may already be serving; 18 were 'Pre-permit (Non-operational)' inspections, the kind done before a restaurant has started operating. The dataset covers only restaurants in an active status and has fields for phone number, cuisine and address. ## API access Both cities publish on Socrata portals, Chicago's open data portal (data.cityofchicago.org) and New York City's (data.cityofnewyork.us), so each dataset also answers as an API. No key is needed for light use. Chicago's data gives license inspections since 1 October and new Retail Food Establishment licenses. New York City's restaurant inspection data lists restaurants that have applied for a permit but have not been inspected. The NYC dataset has one row per violation, so count distinct camis values for establishments. ## Liquor license applications come earlier For places that will serve alcohol, the state liquor license application can be an earlier public record. California ABC posts a daily report of new applications, and Texas (TABC) and New York (SLA) publish pending applications as open data; our liquor license guide covers all three. ## Limits of the data - No agency publishes an opening date: an inspection or license is a signal, not a schedule. - Chicago's dataset notes that duplicates may remain, so de-duplicate by license number and date. - Not every new business in a food inspection is a restaurant: filter on facility type or license description. - Coverage differs by city: check your city's open-data portal or health department for inspection and license data. ## Getting one weekly list across sources Each source tells part of the story: an application, an inspection, then a license. Opening Weekly reads Chicago and New York City inspection and license data together with California, Texas and New York liquor applications, matches records that belong to the same place, and sends one Monday list with the latest signal and a link to each source. We confirm coverage for your areas by email before you pay. ## FAQ ### How do I find new restaurants opening in my city? Check your city's open-data portal for health inspections and business licenses, and your state's liquor authority for new applications. In Chicago, filter food inspections to the 'License' type; in New York City, look for permit applicants not yet inspected and pre-permit inspections. ### What is a 'License' inspection in Chicago's data? Chicago's data dictionary defines it as an inspection done as a requirement for the establishment to receive its license to operate. It happens before the business is licensed, which makes it an early opening signal. ### Is there a free list of new restaurants in Chicago? The city does not publish a ready list, but its open data covers it: license inspections in the Food Inspections dataset (181 from 1 to 28 October 2026) and Retail Food Establishment licenses in the Business Licenses dataset (91 issued in the same period). ### How do I find new restaurants in New York City before they open? Use the DOHMH restaurant inspection dataset: establishments with an inspection date of 1/1/1900 have applied for a permit but not yet been inspected, and inspection types that start with 'Pre-permit' mark inspections before a permit is issued. ### Does the inspection data include phone numbers? New York City's restaurant inspection data includes a phone field; Chicago's food inspections and business licenses datasets do not. ## Sources - Chicago open data: Food Inspections https://data.cityofchicago.org/d/4ijn-s7e5 - Chicago Department of Public Health: Food Inspections data dictionary (PDF) https://data.cityofchicago.org/api/assets/BAD5301B-681A-4202-9D25-51B2CAE672FF - Chicago open data: Business Licenses https://data.cityofchicago.org/d/r5kz-chrr - NYC open data: DOHMH New York City Restaurant Inspection Results https://data.cityofnewyork.us/d/43nn-pn8j - California ABC: Daily Report of New Applications https://www.abc.ca.gov/licensing/licensing-reports/new-applications/ - Texas open data (TABC): Pending Original New Primary and Subordinate License Applications https://data.texas.gov/d/mxm5-tdpj - New York open data (SLA): Current SLA Pending Licenses https://data.ny.gov/d/f8i8-k2gm - Socrata developer docs: queries with SoQL https://dev.socrata.com/docs/queries/ [Opening Weekly](https://rotomal.com/opening-radar/) does this for you. 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