Food Establishments
St Croix County-Licensing and Inspections is an agent of Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer (DATCP) for the licensing and inspections of the following food establishments per ATCP 75 and the WI Food Code Appendix ATCP 75:
To submit a license application or plan review go to: License and Inspections
Restaurants
A restaurant is building, mobile unit, room or place where meals are prepared, served or sold to transients or the general public.
There are four primary categories of restaurant licenses that are based on complexity of the menu starting at the level of frozen pizza's/microwave sandwiches up to a complex kitchen that has a large menu doing made from scratch batch cooking , cooling, catering, and/or banquet facilities.
Exemptions to restaurant licensing include: taverns that serve free lunches consisting of popcorn, cheese, crackers, pretzels, cold sausage, cured fish or bread and butter; churches, religious, fraternal, youths' or patriotic organizations, service clubs and civic organizations that occasionally prepare, serve or sell meals to transients or the general public; school kitchens where the food is prepared/served to students by the school; and concession stands operated for the benefit of a locally sponsored sporting event.
Retail Food Establishments
A retail food establishment is a permanent or mobile food facility where food processing is conducted primarily for direct retail sale to consumers. Examples of retail food establishments are bakeries, delis, micro markets, grocery stores, some coffee shops, and convenience stores.
There are six categories of retail food establishment license types are based on the type of foods sold, whether foods are processed, and the total annual dollars of food sales. There are two categories of micro market licenses: single market license or for multiple market license at a single location.
Food Manager Certification
Many of the Restaurant and Retail Food Establishment license types require that the facility has at least one person that has attended an approved food safety course. For more information on the approved courses go to the state DATCP Food Manager Certification.
Special Event Food Service Establishments
A Special Event Food Establishment is one that serves food at special events such as a fair, carnival, circus, public exhibition, anniversary sale or occasional sales promotion. They can be a tent, trailer, or a building where the event is typically supplying electricity and water. Note: Mobile type units that are serving food at non-special events are not eligible for this license type.
Vending Machines
Not all vending machines require licensing. In general machines that vend foods that require temperature control for food safety are licensed by the State DATCP. Once licensed the machines and/or their commissaries if located in St. Croix County are inspected by our department. To apply for the machine licenses contact the DATCP at 608-224-4923.