What permits do you need to open a restaurant in Austin?

Food Enterprise Plan Review

New construction $312. Remodel: under 2,500 sq ft $221; 2,500-10,000 sq ft $266; over 10,000 sq ft $312. Travis County plan review $10. Required before the operating permit for new build or remodel — a sequencing constraint, not an optional extra.

Pre-Opening Inspection

Austin Public Health inspects the premises before a food enterprise permit is issued, so this sits between fitting out and opening — you cannot trade until it passes. $178 for the inspection itself. A re-inspection after a failure is $134, having it done outside normal hours is $173, and a late fee of $120 applies if it is not booked in time. Budget for at least one re-inspection on a first fit-out; passing first time is not the norm.

Temporary Food Establishment Permit

$62 per booth for a temporary food operation at a festival, market or one-off event, covering one to fourteen days. Needed even where the business already holds a fixed food enterprise permit elsewhere in the city, because the permit attaches to the location and the event rather than to the business. Travis County charges $52 per booth for the equivalent permit outside the city, so the same stall costs $10 more inside Austin.

Alcoholic Beverage Waiver

This is a city land-use waiver, entirely separate from the state TABC permit, and it is the largest single line item on the Austin schedule. It totals $6,087.51: basic notification $587.18 and newspaper notification $195.73, which is $782.91 in notification costs, plus $5,304.60 to Austin Arts, Culture, Music and Entertainment. It applies only where a waiver is needed, so most premises never pay it — but a site that does need one faces this on top of the TABC Mixed Beverage Permit at $5,300 original and $2,650 on renewal, taking first-year alcohol permitting past $11,000. A related Site Plan Exemption is $1,569.99 and a Development Compliance Letter is $481.62.

Private Parking Patio Permit

Two City of Austin schedules disagree on this permit and we are showing both. Austin Development Services lists $144.00 for itself plus $382.00 for Austin Fire, totalling $526.00. The Austin Fire Department FY26 schedule prices its own Private Parking Patio initial review and inspection at $450.00, with annual renewal also $450.00 and a temporary occupancy load adjustment $450.00. Taking each agency as authoritative for its own charge gives $144.00 plus $450.00, or $594.00 a year, which is what we show. Budget for $594 and treat $526 as the floor; the $68 gap is a live discrepancy between two official documents both effective 1 October 2025, not an error on either side that we can resolve from the outside.

Public Assembly Permit

An annual permit required for buildings with an occupant load above 49 where alcohol is more than 51 per cent of sales — in practice, a bar rather than a restaurant with a bar. $488 a year, on top of the TABC Mixed Beverage Permit and any city Alcoholic Beverage Waiver. A reinspection after safety findings is $150 per hour with a two-hour minimum.

Kitchen Hood (UMC Type I) Extinguishing System Test

Any commercial kitchen with a Type I hood over the cooking line needs this test, which makes it one of the least avoidable fire costs a restaurant carries and one almost no permit guide lists. The first system is $370 and each additional system is $148. If the inspection fails or is left partial, every return trip after the first is charged at $148 per hour as a Technical Subsequent Inspection Fee, and cancelling a booked inspection with less than 48 hours notice costs $296.

Temporary Change of Use Permit

Issued by the Austin Fire Department for hosting public events of more than 49 people in a structure that is not a public assembly space — the permit a restaurant, gallery or shop needs to run a one-off ticketed event. The AFD FY26 schedule prices it at $525.00, with inspection fees payable separately and in advance. Circulating guidance puts this permit at $100.00, but that figure appears nowhere in the fee schedule of the department that issues it. A related AFD Temporary Occupancy Load Adjustment is $375.00 and a Temporary Use Permit is $300.00. Note that city fees paid by credit card carry a 2.35 per cent processing charge with a $2.00 minimum.

Mixed Beverage Permit (MB)

Read directly from the TABC two-year licensing fee schedule: Mixed Beverage Permit (MB) $5,300 original, $2,650 renewal, charged on a two-year cycle. A Wine and Malt Beverage Retailer's Permit (BG) is $1,900 if you do not need spirits. Note a widely-cited competitor lists $6,006 for this permit, which does not appear in the TABC schedule.

Shared with other businesses in Austin

• Food Enterprise Operating Permit — Austin Public Health — Environmental Health Services, $309–$927 per year, banded by gross annual sales, annual. Also required for coffee shops; what it involves is set out on the coffee shops page.
• Outdoor Music Venue Permit — Austin Development Services Department, $413.00 intake and permit fee, plus $580.42 sound impact review where required, annual. Also required for coffee shops; what it involves is set out on the coffee shops page.
• Open Flame Annual Permit — Austin Fire Department, $300 per year, annual. Also required for coffee shops; what it involves is set out on the coffee shops page.
• Backflow Prevention Compliance Fee — Austin Water — Utility Compliance Services, $34.44 per year, per high-hazard device, annual. Also required for coffee shops, salons and barbers, veterinary clinics, auto repair shops and fitness studios; what it involves is set out on the salons and barbers page.
• Wastewater Discharge Permit — Austin Water — Utility Compliance Services, $293.91–$1,096.38 per year, by industrial user category; Categories II to IV add analytical fees, annual. Also required for coffee shops and auto repair shops; what it involves is set out on the auto repair shops page.
• Sidewalk Cafe / Street Patio / Storefront Permit — Austin Transportation and Public Works — Right-of-Way Management, $710 non-refundable permit, plus $220 Annual Sidewalk Fee, plus $2,200 per year for each metered parking space occupied, up to five years, with annual fees. Also required for coffee shops and retail stores; what it involves is set out on the retail stores page.