What permits do you need to open a coffee shop in El Paso?

There is no single figure, and any site quoting one is rounding away the part that matters. Of the 13 records listed for a coffee shop in El Paso, TX, 7 apply to every business of this type and 6 are conditional. Adding every fee on the page together would overstate what most operators pay, because it would include permits they never need.

Of the 7 that always apply, 2 carry a flat fee, coming to $110.00. That is a floor, not a total. 7 of the 13 are charged as a range or a formula set by the issuing agency, and 0 have no fee published at all. The ones particular to this business that vary:

Food Handler Certification: $10–$32 per person, internet or in person

Temporary Food Establishment Permit: $79–$265 temporary, seasonal or recurrent

Fire Operational Permit: $125–$205 per license, by hazard

Food Establishment Plan Review: $105–$263 per review, by floor area

Food Service Establishment Permit: $174–$685 per year, by floor area

The other 2 variable fees belong to permits that apply to every type of business here; their formulas are set out on the El Paso permits page and the TX state page.

Comparing like with like — only the permits charged as a single flat fee, since a valuation formula has no figure to rank — El Paso sits where the table below puts it against every other TX jurisdiction covered here that publishes the same permit.

Certificate of Occupancy: El Paso charges $110. Across 22 jurisdictions it runs from $50 in Waco to $425 in Universal City, with a median of $105. 11 charge less and 10 charge more.

Demolition Permit: El Paso charges $115. Across 6 jurisdictions it runs from $50 in Grand Prairie to $200 in Arlington, with a median of $106.50. 3 charge less and 2 charge more.

Read the spread rather than the rank. Certificate of Occupancy varies by $375 between the cheapest and dearest jurisdiction here, which is the sort of gap worth knowing before you sign a lease on one side of a city line rather than the other.

• Coffee shops in Waco, TX
• Coffee shops in Universal City, TX
• Coffee shops in Grand Prairie, TX
• Coffee shops in Arlington, TX

Permits for a coffee shop in El Paso, TX come from 5 separate offices: City of El Paso Environmental Services Code Enforcement, City of El Paso Planning and Inspections Department, El Paso Fire Department, Fire Marshal's Office, Texas Secretary of State, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. No single office issues them all, which is why an opening means filing in several places rather than one.

• City of El Paso Environmental Services Code EnforcementIssues 5 permits on this page, including Food Handler Certification, Temporary Food Establishment Permit, Food Establishment Plan Review5115 El Paso Drive, El Paso, TX 79905 · (915) 212-6610www.elpasotexas.gov/public-health/services/food-inspection
• City of El Paso Planning and Inspections DepartmentIssues 4 permits on this page: Commercial Plan Review, Commercial Building Permit, Certificate of Occupancy, Demolition Permit811 Texas Avenue, El Paso, TX 79901 · (915) 212-0104www.elpasotexas.gov/planning-and-inspections
• El Paso Fire Department, Fire Marshal's OfficeIssues 1 permit on this page: Fire Operational Permit416 N Stanton Street, El Paso, TX 79901www.elpasotexas.gov/fire-department
• Texas Secretary of StateIssues 2 permits on this page: Certificate of Formation, Assumed Name Certificate (DBA)www.sos.state.tx.us
• Texas Comptroller of Public AccountsIssues 1 permit on this page: Texas Sales and Use Tax Permitcomptroller.texas.gov/taxes/permit

The other 4 local permits in the tables apply to every type of business in El Paso, TX; what each one involves is set out on the El Paso permits page. The 3 state-level registrations apply to every type of business across TX and are covered on the TX state page.

The closest match is a retail store, which shares 6 of these permits. A retail store needs Commercial Swimming Pool and Spa Permit and Rezoning Application, which a coffee shop does not.