Florida is carrying 59,721 active restaurant licenses in the current DBPR license file. In April 2026, the application side added 604 new-facility approvals, the closure-status side added 193 inactive or expired restaurant records, and the ownership file added 441 change-of-owner approvals.
Month over month, the flow cooled: openings moved from 627 to 604, closures moved from 277 to 193, and ownership changes moved from 475 to 441. The year-over-year inspection comparison is available from the 11-year inspection corpus: 11,935 inspections in April 2026 versus 0 in the same calendar month one year earlier.
What Changed This Month
604 new-facility approvals in April 2026, down 3.7% from 627 in the prior month. Named approvals include GULF COAST BARTENDER COMPANY in Holmes Beach, and MR FARMER in Saint Augustine.
193 closure-status license records in April 2026, down 30.3% from 277 in the prior month. Named records include AJI CORP in Atlantis, and CRAB CRAZE LLC in Winter Haven.
441 ownership-change approvals in April 2026, down 7.2% from 475 in the prior month. Named filings include ORIGINAL IGY'S CAFE in Tampa, and K-CRUNCH in Wesley Chapel.
Duval County added 9 closure-status records versus 3 in the prior month, a move of +6.
Pizza led named cuisine closure-status counts with 11 records; examples include SAL'S EXPRESS ITALIAN TO GO in Palm Beach Gardens, and MARCO'S PIZZA in Lake Park.
Five monthly shifts
| Opening pace | 604 new-facility approvals in April 2026, down 3.7% from 627 in the prior month. Named approvals include GULF COAST BARTENDER COMPANY in Holmes Beach, and MR FARMER in Saint Augustine. |
| Closure-status flow | 193 closure-status license records in April 2026, down 30.3% from 277 in the prior month. Named records include AJI CORP in Atlantis, and CRAB CRAZE LLC in Winter Haven. |
| Ownership-change filings | 441 ownership-change approvals in April 2026, down 7.2% from 475 in the prior month. Named filings include ORIGINAL IGY'S CAFE in Tampa, and K-CRUNCH in Wesley Chapel. |
| County pressure move | Duval County added 9 closure-status records versus 3 in the prior month, a move of +6. |
| Cuisine count leader | Pizza led named cuisine closure-status counts with 11 records; examples include SAL'S EXPRESS ITALIAN TO GO in Palm Beach Gardens, and MARCO'S PIZZA in Lake Park. |
Per-Metro Mini-Tables
Miami: 9,093 active licenses, 100 new approvals, 13 closure-status records, and 37 ownership-change filings in April 2026. The monthly closure-status rate is 0.1% of the active base.
Fort Lauderdale: 5,435 active licenses, 34 new approvals, 8 closure-status records, and 40 ownership-change filings in April 2026. The monthly closure-status rate is 0.1% of the active base.
West Palm Beach: 4,139 active licenses, 23 new approvals, 14 closure-status records, and 31 ownership-change filings in April 2026. The monthly closure-status rate is 0.3% of the active base.
Orlando: 8,782 active licenses, 96 new approvals, 50 closure-status records, and 73 ownership-change filings in April 2026. The monthly closure-status rate is 0.6% of the active base.
Tampa Bay: 8,407 active licenses, 90 new approvals, 33 closure-status records, and 60 ownership-change filings in April 2026. The monthly closure-status rate is 0.4% of the active base.
Jacksonville: 4,916 active licenses, 37 new approvals, 10 closure-status records, and 34 ownership-change filings in April 2026. The monthly closure-status rate is 0.2% of the active base.
Per-metro FRII metrics
| Miami | 9093 | 100 | 13 | 37 | 0.1% |
| Fort Lauderdale | 5435 | 34 | 8 | 40 | 0.1% |
| West Palm Beach | 4139 | 23 | 14 | 31 | 0.3% |
| Orlando | 8782 | 96 | 50 | 73 | 0.6% |
| Tampa Bay | 8407 | 90 | 33 | 60 | 0.4% |
| Jacksonville | 4916 | 37 | 10 | 34 | 0.2% |
| Florida Keys | 801 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0.1% |
| Treasure Coast | 1814 | 20 | 3 | 15 | 0.2% |
| Southwest Florida | 4386 | 28 | 10 | 30 | 0.2% |
| North Florida | 1762 | 58 | 2 | 38 | 0.1% |
Raw counts mislead -- Putnam County losing 4 places is different from Miami losing 4. Use the rate or per-capita column for defensible comparisons. Methodology details linked above.
The Industry-Wide Number
The industry-wide read is 8.0%: 4,793 current closure-status licenses against 59,721 active licenses. That number is not a monthly failure rate; it is the standing inactive-license load the active market is carrying in the current file.
The useful monthly proxy is the flow difference. In April 2026, DBPR new-facility approvals outnumbered closure-status records by 411. That is expansion on paper, but it is expansion with churn underneath it: 441 ownership-change filings mean many restaurants changed hands without changing the sign on the building.
How To Read The Month
The clean headline is that new approvals exceeded closure-status records by 411 in April 2026. The more useful read is that the month had three different speeds at once: new approvals were only down 3.7%, closure-status records fell much faster at down 30.3%, and ownership changes barely loosened at down 7.2%. A market can look healthier in the opening column while still feeling unstable to operators because ownership churn keeps moving underneath the visible consumer-facing brand.
Metro geography explains why a statewide number can feel wrong at street level. Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Orlando, Tampa Bay, and Jacksonville all sit inside the same Florida ledger, but each carries a different mix of active-license density, tourist traffic, landlord exposure, and chain concentration. That is why the metro table is not decoration: it keeps 59,721 active statewide licenses from flattening local reads that should stay local.
The named rows are the check against abstraction. TOOTSIE'S ORCHID LOUNGE in Panama City and EL SABOR VENEZOLANO in Kissimmee anchor the opening side; TIJUANA FLATS BURRITO CO in Jacksonville and EL PATIO DEL CHEF in Hollywood anchor the closure-status side; TIJUANA FLATS in Coral Springs and COUNTRY INN in Lake Worth anchor the ownership-change side. FRII is strongest when those names and the statewide arithmetic are read together.
The final caution is timing. This brief uses April 2026 because it is the last complete month available at render time, while the page itself was generated on 2026-05-22. That prevents five early-May days from being compared against full March and April months. The result is less dramatic, but more useful: one complete monthly ledger, one prior-month comparison, and one year-over-year inspection-volume anchor.
Methodology
Methodology: FRII uses current DBPR license records for the active base and closure-status inventory, DBPR new-facility approvals for openings, DBPR change-of-owner approvals for ownership churn, and DBPR inspections for year-over-year inspection-volume context. Monthly rows use the last complete calendar month available at render time.
Data sources: Inspection data. Built from DBPR public inspection records, Florida Sunbiz business filings, and Foursquare/OSS location data. All counts are derived from public records โ no estimates or projections unless labeled as forecast.