Hosting a ticketed dinner in Greenville: the checklist

At a glance

Home-based food law covers your biscuits, not your supper club. Meals, plated service and ticketed dinners are out. SCDA

Often the simplest route: book a licensed venue; your tickets cover the rental fee. A common pattern (Charleston example, anecdotal). City Paper

Biggest risk: your home kitchen can't be permitted. Only a separate second kitchen can. SCDA

Quick answers

Can I sell tickets to a dinner I cook at home in Greenville? No. Your home kitchen can't be permitted, and home-based food law leaves out ticketed dinners. Only a separate second kitchen can. SCDA

What is the simplest legal way to host a ticketed dinner in Greenville? Often the simplest route: book a licensed venue; your tickets cover the rental fee. Its permit may not cover you. Reg 61-25

Can I include wine in a dinner ticket in Greenville? Usually no. Keep drinks out of your ticket; a licensed venue sells them to guests directly. Caterers can't sell alcohol here. Exception here: beer and wine only, under your own $10-a-day permit. SCDOR SCDOR permit ABL rules

Start here: one dish, free, at home

Your routes, cheapest first

Route	What you need	Cost	Lead time
Licensed venue	Its permit may not cover you (Reg 61-25)	Rental fee plus deposit	Check with the venue
SCDA permit plus commissary	Your own permit in a shared-use kitchen (Reg 61-25)	$200 year one (Reg 61-25), plus $400 to $1,000+ a month (guide site)	Apply 30 days ahead (Reg 61-25)
Temporary event	Coordinator files SCDA authorization; food from a permitted kitchen (unverified: usually tied to a community event; call first) (SCDA)	No vendor fee found (unverified)	Check with SCDA

Steps, in order

Already done some of these? Skip them.

1. Talk to a lawyer before you charge anyone.

2. Ask SCDA which food safety training your permit needs.

3. Get a Greenville business licence: $42 plus $1.62 per $1,000 (class 1) or $47 plus $1.67 (class 2). Non-residents pay double. Food class unverified. Greenville

4. Register for 6% sales tax and get a $50 retail licence. SCDOR SCDOR licence

5. Get your own SCDA permit in a shared-use kitchen. Reg 61-25

6. Get personal chef or event liability cover. FLIP

7. Put the venue's fee, deposit, permit cover and drinks plan in writing.

8. List your night.

Drinks

Keep drinks out of your ticket; a licensed venue sells them to guests directly. Caterers can't sell alcohol here. ABL rules

Exception here: beer and wine in your ticket, under your own $10-a-day Beer and Wine Special Event Permit. A drink in the ticket is a sale. SCDOR ABL rules

It needs your retail licence, a SLED check within 90 days, 30 days' SC residence or registration, licensed wholesaler stock (not Costco), and $500,000 liquor liability cover after 5pm. SCDOR 61-4-550

Each night: apply 3 days ahead, have the Greenville police chief (sheriff outside the city) sign ABL-100, email SLED 24 hours ahead. SCDOR

A caterer licence bill (H.5281) is stuck in committee; restaurant licences don't travel. Cocktails need a licensed bar selling every ticket and drink itself. ABL rules

BYOB: beer or wine, nothing in the ticket (unverified). Guests' spirits: homes or one-off private gatherings only. Hired bartenders: flat fee, no selling or delivering. City step: a Temporary Use Permit may apply (unverified). 61-6-4710 ABL rules Greenville

Watch-outs

Insurance: homeowners policies exclude activity "engaged in for money." Some policies exempt small side income; get it in writing from your insurer. ISO HO-3

Permits carry a minimum: 15 days in a row a year, or weekly for 15 weeks. Reg 61-25

From people who've done it: Sum Bar grew from Greenville pop-ups into a dim sum restaurant (anecdotal). Post and Courier