16 permits · verified 2026-08-24
What permits do you need to open a restaurant in Frisco?
In short
A restaurant in Frisco, TX has 8 permits that apply to every business of this type, plus 8 more that depend on your premises, signage or how you are set up. City of Frisco Development Services charges $100 per certificate for the certificate of occupancy. 6 of the 16 are charged as a range or formula rather than a flat fee. Verified 2026-08-24 against the issuing agencies’ published fee schedules.
Permits particular to a restaurant in Frisco
| Permit | Issuing agency | Fee | Renews | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Limited Food Establishment Permitonly if it applies to you | City of Frisco Environmental Health Services | $200 per year | one year | 2026-08-24 |
| Temporary Event Food Permitonly if it applies to you | City of Frisco Environmental Health Services | $52 per event, 14-day maximum | 14 days maximum | 2026-08-24 |
| Backflow Test Fee | City of Frisco Public Works Department | $40 per test | not stated in the published fee schedule | 2026-08-24 |
| Food Establishment Permit | City of Frisco Environmental Health Services | $300–$773 per year, by risk level | one year | 2026-08-24 |
| Food Establishment Variance Requestonly if it applies to you | City of Frisco Environmental Health Services | $200 for the first hour, then $50 per hour | one-time, per application | 2026-08-24 |
| Oil, Grease and Grit Interceptor Permit | City of Frisco Public Works Department | $25 per year, owner or operator | not stated in the published fee schedule | 2026-08-24 |
| Fire Permit | Frisco Fire Department, Fire Prevention Office | No fee | not stated in the published material | 2026-08-24 |
| Mixed Beverage Permit (MB)only if it applies to you | Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission | $2,650–$5,300 per two-year period; $5,300 original, $2,650 renewal | every 2 years | 2026-08-21 |
Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.
Local permits that apply to every type of business in Frisco
| Permit | Issuing agency | Fee | Renews | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Certificate of Occupancy | City of Frisco Development Services | $100 per certificate | does not expire; a new certificate is required on a change of business name, ownership or use | 2026-08-24 |
| Sign Permitonly if it applies to you | City of Frisco Development Services | Varies — formula on the Frisco page | not stated in the published fee schedule | 2026-08-24 |
| Commercial Electrical Permit | City of Frisco Development Services | Varies — formula on the Frisco page | not stated in the published fee schedule | 2026-08-24 |
| Commercial Building Permit | City of Frisco Development Services | Varies — formula on the Frisco page | not stated in the published fee schedule | 2026-08-24 |
| Demolition Permitonly if it applies to you | City of Frisco Development Services | $50 per permit | not stated in the published fee schedule | 2026-08-24 |
Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.
TX registrations that apply to every type of business
| Permit | Issuing agency | Fee | Renews | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Certificate of Formationonly if it applies to you | Texas Secretary of State | $300 one-time filing | no expiry | 2026-08-20 |
| Assumed Name Certificate (DBA)only if it applies to you | Texas Secretary of State | $25 one-time filing | up to ten years, renewable | 2026-08-21 |
| Texas Sales and Use Tax Permit | Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts | No fee — there is no fee for this permit | no expiry while actively engaged in business | 2026-08-21 |
Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.
How much does it actually cost to permit a restaurant in Frisco?
There is no single figure, and any site quoting one is rounding away the part that matters. Of the 16 records listed for a restaurant in Frisco, TX, 8 apply to every business of this type and 8 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 8 that always apply, 4 carry a flat fee, coming to $165.00. That is a floor, not a total. 6 of the 16 are charged as a range or a formula set by the issuing agency, and 1 has no fee published at all. The ones particular to this business that vary:
Food Establishment Permit: $300–$773 per year, by risk level
Food Establishment Variance Request: $200 for the first hour, then $50 per hour
Mixed Beverage Permit (MB): $2,650–$5,300 per two-year period; $5,300 original, $2,650 renewal
The other 3 variable fees belong to permits that apply to every type of business here; their formulas are set out on the Frisco permits page and the TX state page.
Is Frisco expensive for a restaurant?
Comparing like with like — only the permits charged as a single flat fee, since a valuation formula has no figure to rank — Frisco sits where the table below puts it against every other TX jurisdiction covered here that publishes the same permit.
Certificate of Occupancy: Frisco charges $100. Across 22 jurisdictions it runs from $50 in Waco to $425 in Universal City, with a median of $105. 5 charge less, 11 charge more and 5 charge exactly the same.
Demolition Permit: Frisco charges $50. Across 6 jurisdictions it runs from $50 in Grand Prairie to $200 in Arlington, with a median of $106.50. 4 charge more and 1 charges exactly the same.
Temporary Event Food Permit: Frisco charges $52. Across 4 jurisdictions it runs from $30 in Fair Oaks Ranch to $52 in Hays County, with a median of $46. 2 charge less and 1 charges exactly the same.
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.
Which offices issue these permits in Frisco?
Permits for a restaurant in Frisco, TX come from 7 separate offices: City of Frisco Development Services, City of Frisco Environmental Health Services, City of Frisco Public Works Department, Frisco Fire Department, Fire Prevention Office, Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, 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 Frisco Development ServicesIssues 5 permits on this page, including Certificate of Occupancy, Sign Permit, Commercial Electrical PermitGeorge A. Purefoy Municipal Center, 6101 Frisco Square Blvd, 3rd Floor, Frisco, TX 75034 · 972-292-5300www.friscotexas.gov/1647/Apply-for-Commercial-Permits
- City of Frisco Environmental Health ServicesIssues 4 permits on this page: Limited Food Establishment Permit, Temporary Event Food Permit, Food Establishment Permit, Food Establishment Variance Requestwww.friscotexas.gov/1751/Apply-for-Food-Establishment-Permits
- City of Frisco Public Works DepartmentIssues 2 permits on this page: Backflow Test Fee, Oil, Grease and Grit Interceptor Permit11300 Research Road, Frisco, TX 75033 · 972-292-5800www.friscotexas.gov/160/Fee-Schedule
- Frisco Fire Department, Fire Prevention OfficeIssues 1 permit on this page: Fire Permit8601 Gary Burns Drive, Frisco, TX 75034 · 972-292-6320www.friscotexas.gov/337/Fire-Prevention-Office
- Texas Alcoholic Beverage CommissionIssues 1 permit on this page: Mixed Beverage Permit (MB)www.tabc.texas.gov
- 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
What does a restaurant need in Frisco that other businesses do not?
1 of the 8 permits particular to a restaurant here applies to no other business type we cover in Frisco: Mixed Beverage Permit (MB).
Limited Food Establishment Permit
$200 a year, the cheapest standing food permit Frisco issues. Below it sit the narrower categories: a concession permit and a short-term merchant permit are $100 each a year, and a seasonal food establishment running a maximum of 30 days is $150. A coffee bar or packaged-goods counter is often a limited establishment rather than a full one — worth asking before applying at the $300 band.
Backflow Test Fee
$40 per test. The schedule adds a warning worth taking seriously: additional fines and restrictions, including meter confiscation, may apply where the conditions of the city's Backflow Ordinance are not met — losing the meter closes the business, which puts this small recurring fee in a different category from the rest of the list.
Food Establishment Permit
Food Establishment I is $300, II is $664 and III is $773, and the schedule states plainly what the numbers mean: type I is risk level 1, type II risk levels 2 and 3, and type III risk level 4 — the categories set the inspection frequency as well as the fee. Because Frisco prices on risk rather than turnover, a small restaurant doing complex preparation can pay $773 where the same business in Dallas or Fort Worth, banded on gross annual food sales, would pay $258. The late renewal penalty is proportional rather than flat: half the annual fee at 1 to 30 days, the whole annual fee at 31 to 60. Reinspection is $200 for a fixed establishment and $100 for a non-fixed one, and a risk violation occurrence is $75.
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 Frisco
- Temporary Event Food Permit — City of Frisco Environmental Health Services, $52 per event, 14-day maximum, 14 days maximum. Also required for coffee shops and food trucks; what it involves is set out on the coffee shops page.
- Food Establishment Variance Request — City of Frisco Environmental Health Services, $200 for the first hour, then $50 per hour, one-time, per application. Also required for coffee shops and retail stores; what it involves is set out on the coffee shops page.
- Oil, Grease and Grit Interceptor Permit — City of Frisco Public Works Department, $25 per year, owner or operator, not stated in the published fee schedule. Also required for coffee shops and auto repair shops; what it involves is set out on the auto repair shops page.
- Fire Permit — Frisco Fire Department, Fire Prevention Office, No fee, not stated in the published material. Also required for coffee shops, retail stores, fitness studios, auto repair shops, childcare centres and veterinary clinics; what it involves is set out on the childcare centres page.
The other 5 local permits in the tables apply to every type of business in Frisco, TX; what each one involves is set out on the Frisco permits page. The 3 state-level registrations apply to every type of business across TX and are covered on the TX state page.
How does a restaurant compare with other businesses in Frisco?
The closest match is a coffee shop, which shares 7 of these permits. A restaurant also needs Mixed Beverage Permit (MB). A coffee shop needs nothing here that a restaurant does not.
| Business | Its own permits | Shared with a restaurant | Only a restaurant needs | Only it needs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coffee shops | 7 | 7 | 1 | 0 |
| Retail stores | 10 | 5 | 3 | 5 |
| Auto repair shops | 3 | 3 | 5 | 0 |
| Veterinary clinics | 3 | 2 | 6 | 1 |
| Fitness studios | 4 | 2 | 6 | 2 |
| Food trucks | 2 | 1 | 7 | 1 |
| Salons and barbers | 2 | 1 | 7 | 1 |
| Childcare centres | 3 | 1 | 7 | 2 |
| Contractors and trades | 2 | 0 | 8 | 2 |
Sources
Every figure for the permits explained on this page was read from one of these government pages on the date shown. Sources for the permits shared with other businesses are listed with their explanations on the coffee shops page, auto repair shops page and childcare centres page. Sources for the permits that apply to every type of business are listed on the Frisco permits page and the TX state page. Confirmed by Editorial Team.
- Permit, Inspection and Miscellaneous Consolidated Fee Schedule, updated 7 October 2025City of Frisco Development Services · primary source · retrieved 2026-08-24
- Public Works Fee Schedule, effective 2 March 2026City of Frisco Public Works Department · primary source · retrieved 2026-08-24
- Two-Year Licensing Fees — TABCTexas Alcoholic Beverage Commission · primary source · retrieved 2026-08-22
Related
Commercial Compliance Hub publishes information, not legal advice. Requirements change — confirm anything you rely on with the issuing agency before you file.