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

There is no single figure, and any site quoting one is rounding away the part that matters. Of the 18 records listed for a restaurant in Midland, TX, 5 apply to every business of this type and 13 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 5 that always apply, 2 carry a flat fee, coming to $100.00. That is a floor, not a total. 6 of the 18 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 Service Establishment Permit: $150–$250 per year, by employee count

Preliminary Plat Application: $350–$500 by site acreage

Final Plat Application: $355–$505 by site acreage, plus $1 per page

Mixed Beverage Permit (MB): $2,650–$5,300 per two-year period; $5,300 original, $2,650 renewal

The other 2 variable fees belong to permits that apply to every type of business here; their formulas are set out on the Midland 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 — Midland sits where the table below puts it against every other TX jurisdiction covered here that publishes the same permit.

Farmers Market Permit: Midland charges $50. Across 8 jurisdictions it runs from $30 in Victoria County to $250 in Allen, with a median of $100. 1 charges less and 6 charge more.

Read the spread rather than the rank. Farmers Market Permit varies by $220 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.

• Restaurants in Victoria County, TX
• Restaurants in Allen, TX

Permits for a restaurant in Midland, TX come from 7 separate offices: City of Midland Development Services, Permitting and Inspections, Midland Health Services, Environmental Health, City of Midland Planning Division, Midland Fire Marshal's 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 Midland Development Services, Permitting and InspectionsIssues 3 permits on this page: Vendor Permit, Commercial Building Permit, Commercial Plan Reviewwww.midlandtexas.gov/1424/PermitMidland
• Midland Health Services, Environmental HealthIssues 4 permits on this page: Food Service Establishment Permit, Farmers Market Permit, Temporary Food Permit, Seasonal Food Permit3303 West Illinois, Space 22, Midland, TX 79703 · 432-681-7613www.midlandtexas.gov/749/Environmental-Services
• City of Midland Planning DivisionIssues 6 permits on this page, including Preliminary Plat Application, Planned District Zone Change, Zoning Board of Adjustment Applicationwww.midlandtexas.gov/1113/Fee-Schedule
• Midland Fire Marshal's OfficeIssues 1 permit on this page: Fire Protection System Permit1500 W Wall Street, Midland, TX 79701 · 432-685-7333www.midlandtexas.gov/255/Fire-Marshals-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

1 of the 11 permits particular to a restaurant here applies to no other business type we cover in Midland: Mixed Beverage Permit (MB).

The other 4 local permits in the tables apply to every type of business in Midland, TX; what each one involves is set out on the Midland 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 10 of these permits. A restaurant also needs Mixed Beverage Permit (MB). A retail store needs Swimming Pool and Spa Permit, Flammable and Combustible Liquids Tank Permit and Grocery Department Permit, which a restaurant does not.