Open a restaurant in Poland - do I need a work permit? My karta pobytu has expired and I reapplied.

Hi,

My friends and I think about to open a restaurant in Poland. We are total 3 people and 2 of them have Karta Pobytu and work permit because of their works but my Karta Pobytu is expired. I applied again and show money in my bank account and I already registered to language course for 1 year and every week I am going there to learn Polish.

Everyone says so different says and so many consulting firms don't know what we have to do. Which documents need to open a restaurant. I will be the partner of restaurant and am I need to valid work permit or later can I take? What is the exact procedure? Some of them says when you open a firm you can work in that firm, some of them says you can not take work permit for your own firm, some of them says I am not gonna take even Karta Pobytu.

I hope someone can help me. Thank you...

Please, stay in your own country, we need to get work for Polish people, we do not want Polish restaurant owners having to compete with foreign ones, we struggle enough, Polish people have no work. We also want money to go to Polish pockets not foreign ones.

Sometimes yes however there are various subtleties. Where are you from?


In Australia?

Ignore him Rhonbarr. He's trolling. Best to ask some of your compatriates. Are you Turkish or from that region?

If someone want to open a restaurant in Warsaw, i really would advise to open one with Mediterranean / South American food.

There are a huge lack of them, and the very few that exist or are ultra-expensive, or bad.

And considering that it is a world-class, award winning cuisine, it would be a great opportunity.

Not really. Nordic cuisine is what's current at the minute.


Essentially, if you open a limited company, then you can apply for a Karta Pobytu through the company. It has a distinct "legal personality" - so Rhonbarr's Ribs can apply for a work permit for the manager, Rhonbarr. What you can't do is use the company alone to get a Karta Pobytu - you need to be employed by the company in order to get the work permit that will allow you to get the Karta Pobytu.

It's a pretty straightforward process as long as the company is legitimate.

There are so many eat places in Warsaw.
The main problem you will face is leasing a space at competitive rates - if you have deep enough pockets to buy a space outright = then you have a fair chamce of succeeding.

I think that still the whole world think of nordic cuisine as the stinkiest of the planet. At least, 3 of the 5 stinkiest foods of the world are nordic (the 1st place going to surstromming)

I mean, unless given the actual demographics, you consider Kebab as nordic cuisine hahaha.

The whole world actually thinks that Nordic cuisine is unbelievably good. Noma won the Best Restaurant in the World title what - four times in the last 5 years?

That's an excellent way to lose lots of money.


There are very good reasons why Warsaw now has so many fewer of such restaurants than it used to.


At least in Warsaw we're seeing a lot of rediscovering, reworking and reimagining of Polish food.

No surprise there, given who/what won the Michelin star. The point is very valid though - what people think of as "traditional Polish food" is actually basically Communist Poland garbage.


Levi wouldn't know that, being a Brazilian living in Saudi Arabia.

With restaurants, unless you've got a bottomless wallet and first class PR skill, it's essential to stick to the very tried and tested. Certainly no 'south american' restaurants.

Italian (huge profit margins), maybe Chinese, kebabs.

In Warsaw, location seems to be everything too.

We are from Turkey and We think about Mediterranean cuisine mixture with snacks.

For example what do we need to take ISO documentation (22000), what is the restrictions of health, is it important to area of the shop, how many squaremeter have to be at least...

If you think Warsaw is not a good idea which city is better?

Thank you

Wrocław or Gdansk. Both have a huge amount of foreign tourists as well as a relatively young population, both of which will work well in your favour.


In all honesty - if you need to ask these questions, it's best to just appoint an experienced Polish chef who will guide you through everything.

@Delph: foreign tourists would rather try Polish restaurants while visiting Poland ;). @OP: why not getting concrete from PROS instead of posting in any random forum??? Nobody here in PF does own/run a successful restaurant in Poland ;). It beats me that those thinking about opening businesses don't seek help from professionals. It does show that they are not serious.... PS: opening a restaurant is ONE thing and keeping it open is another and much harder thing (not only in Poland but everywhere)