What do you mean by "before any of that"? In the middle ages - when we had taverns and inns rather than restaurants - establishments still required a licence to

What do you mean by "before any of that"? In the middle ages - when we had taverns and inns rather than restaurants - establishments still required a licence to operate and had to comply with standards and laws. See e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ale_Houses_Act_1551 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ale_Houses_Act_1551 . Prior to that, Anglo-Saxon kings would pass laws controlling alehouses. Prior to that, the Romans set up tabernae which would likely be regulated by their own laws.