Florida Restaurant Opening Data for Software and AI Agents

1. What data is available

Programmatic access covers the public Florida restaurant signal dataset: matched restaurant entities with regulatory status, commercial stage, confidence labels, opportunity tags, latest signal, and a source-backed signal timeline per entity. The data is a periodic snapshot of public regulatory records, not a live feed.

2. REST API

Versioned REST endpoints expose listing and detail reads over the public dataset under the /api/v1 path. Responses are read-only and carry the same stage and confidence model as the public pages. Access requires an API key passed with the request.

3. MCP access

PreOpen Signal exposes its public dataset through an MCP (Model Context Protocol) endpoint, so AI agents and assistant software can query Florida restaurant opening signals directly as tools instead of scraping pages.

4. Available MCP tools

find_preopening_restaurants

Find restaurants whose observed signals indicate a likely pre-opening or recently approved stage, filterable by city and other public fields.

find_new_restaurants

Find restaurants with recent opening-related regulatory activity in the current snapshot.

get_restaurant_signal

Retrieve the source-backed signal history, including signal dates, types, and provenance, for one restaurant entity.

find_owner_changes

Find restaurants with observed ownership-change filings or approvals.

5. Source provenance

Data is derived from public records provided by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Programmatic responses carry the same source dataset, retrieval timestamp, and official source links as the public pages, so machine consumers can trace every signal back to its evidence.

6. Authentication

API and MCP access requires an API key issued for the deployment. Keys are bearer credentials: keep them server-side, never embed them in public pages or client-side code, and revoke keys that may have leaked.

7. Data snapshot / freshness

The dataset is a periodic snapshot of public regulatory records. The current snapshot date is shown on every public page and reflects what the regulator had published at retrieval time; recent real-world events may not yet appear.

8. Limitations

• Commercial stages are interpretations of observed public records, not regulator findings.
• Confidence labels describe signal strength and recency, not an opening probability.
• No confirmed opening dates are provided or estimated.
• A regulatory filing or approval does not guarantee that a business will open or remain open.
• The snapshot may lag real-world events.

9. Example use cases

• Find likely pre-opening restaurants in Miami for timed sales outreach.
• Find recently approved restaurants in Orlando to track new market entries.
• Retrieve the source-backed signal history for one restaurant before contacting it.
• Find restaurant ownership changes that may precede remodels or rebrands.

See the methodology for how signals, stages, and confidence are defined.