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21 permits · verified 2026-08-27

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

In short

A restaurant in Richardson, TX has 8 permits that apply to every business of this type, plus 13 more that depend on your premises, signage or how you are set up. City of Richardson Health Department charges $175 per application for the change of ownership application. 10 of the 21 are charged as a range or formula rather than a flat fee. Verified 2026-08-27 against the issuing agencies’ published fee schedules.

Permits particular to a restaurant in Richardson

Permits required, with issuing agency, fee, renewal term and the date each record was last verified against its source
Change of Ownership Applicationonly if it applies to youCity of Richardson Health Department$175 per applicationper application2026-08-27
Waste Hauler Permitonly if it applies to youCity of Richardson Public Services$150 per truck, per year1 year2026-08-27
Food Establishment Plan ReviewCity of Richardson Health Department$300 per reviewper review2026-08-27
Food Establishment Reinspectiononly if it applies to youCity of Richardson Health Department$125 per inspectionper inspection2026-08-27
Food Service PermitCity of Richardson Health Department$250–$750 per year, by floor area or store type1 year2026-08-27
Grease Trap and Waste Interceptor Inspectiononly if it applies to youCity of Richardson Public Services$50 per inspectionnot stated in the published schedule2026-08-27
Temporary Open-Air Market Food Vendor Permitonly if it applies to youCity of Richardson Health Department$50–$100 per vendor, by typeper market2026-08-27
Contractor RegistrationCity of Richardson Building Inspection Division, Community Services Department$100 per registration or renewalnot stated in the published schedule2026-08-27
Fire Code Operational Permitonly if it applies to youCity of Richardson Fire Department, Fire Marshal's Office$50–$100 per permit, then annual renewal1 year2026-08-27
Zoning Request and Special Permitonly if it applies to youCity of Richardson Development Services$500–$2,500 per application, by typeper application2026-08-27
Mixed Beverage Permit (MB)only if it applies to youTexas Alcoholic Beverage Commission$2,650–$5,300 per two-year period; $5,300 original, $2,650 renewalevery 2 years2026-08-21

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 Richardson

Permits required, with issuing agency, fee, renewal term and the date each record was last verified against its source
Commercial Building PermitCity of Richardson Building Inspection Division, Community Services DepartmentVaries — formula on the Richardson pageper permit2026-08-27
Commercial Electrical Installation Permitonly if it applies to youCity of Richardson Building Inspection Division, Community Services Department$150 minimum fee, commercialper permit2026-08-27
Fire Protection System Construction PermitCity of Richardson Fire Department, Fire Marshal's OfficeVaries — formula on the Richardson pageper permit2026-08-27
Interior Finish and Alteration PermitCity of Richardson Building Inspection Division, Community Services DepartmentVaries — formula on the Richardson pageper permit2026-08-27
Certificate of OccupancyCity of Richardson Building Inspection Division, Community Services Department$100 per certificate, waived with a building permitnot stated in the published schedule2026-08-27
Sign Permitonly if it applies to youCity of Richardson Building Inspection Division, Community Services DepartmentVaries — formula on the Richardson pageper permit2026-08-27
Miscellaneous Commercial Permitonly if it applies to youCity of Richardson Building Inspection Division, Community Services DepartmentVaries — formula on the Richardson pageper permit2026-08-27

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

Permits required, with issuing agency, fee, renewal term and the date each record was last verified against its source
Certificate of Formationonly if it applies to youTexas Secretary of State$300 one-time filingno expiry2026-08-20
Assumed Name Certificate (DBA)only if it applies to youTexas Secretary of State$25 one-time filingup to ten years, renewable2026-08-21
Texas Sales and Use Tax PermitTexas Comptroller of Public AccountsNo fee — there is no fee for this permitno expiry while actively engaged in business2026-08-21

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 Richardson?

There is no single figure, and any site quoting one is rounding away the part that matters. Of the 21 records listed for a restaurant in Richardson, TX, 8 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 8 that always apply, 4 carry a flat fee, coming to $500.00. That is a floor, not a total. 10 of the 21 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 Service Permit: $250–$750 per year, by floor area or store type

Temporary Open-Air Market Food Vendor Permit: $50–$100 per vendor, by type

Fire Code Operational Permit: $50–$100 per permit, then annual renewal

Zoning Request and Special Permit: $500–$2,500 per application, by type

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

The other 5 variable fees belong to permits that apply to every type of business here; their formulas are set out on the Richardson permits page and the TX state page.

Is Richardson 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 — Richardson sits where the table below puts it against every other TX jurisdiction covered here that publishes the same permit.

Certificate of Occupancy: Richardson 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.

Food Establishment Plan Review: Richardson charges $300. Across 5 jurisdictions it runs from $150 in Bell County to $500 in Arlington, with a median of $200. 3 charge less and 1 charges more.

Food Establishment Re-inspection: Richardson charges $125. Across 5 jurisdictions it runs from $75 in Allen to $200 in Bell County, with a median of $100. 3 charge less and 1 charges 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.

Which offices issue these permits in Richardson?

Permits for a restaurant in Richardson, TX come from 8 separate offices: City of Richardson Health Department, City of Richardson Building Inspection Division, Community Services Department, City of Richardson Fire Department, Fire Marshal's Office, City of Richardson Public Services, City of Richardson Development Services, 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.

What does a restaurant need in Richardson that other businesses do not?

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

Food Establishment Reinspection

$125 per reinspection — mid-range for the Metroplex, below Garland's and McKinney's $200 and above Allen's $75. Half the cost of the smallest annual permit, so a single failed inspection is a material addition to a small operator's yearly bill.

Grease Trap and Waste Interceptor Inspection

$50 — the cheapest grease trap charge recorded in this dataset, against $60 in Plano, $100 in Pearland and $145 a year in Amarillo. Codification pinned down where it comes from: section 23-235(a)(1), inside the city's Fats, Oil and Grease programme rather than under health. Any commercial kitchen with an interceptor should expect it on top of the food permit.

Temporary Open-Air Market Food Vendor Permit

$50 for a food vendor at a temporary open-air market and $100 for a concession food vendor. Two exemptions are worth knowing before paying: a non-food vendor is exempt, and so is a COTTAGE FOOD vendor — so a home baker selling under the Texas cottage food law pays nothing. A temporary food event vendor outside the open-air market framework is $50 under section 10-126(b), and the market itself needs a $500 zoning request for a temporary open-air market.

Fire Code Operational Permit

$100 for each operational permit authorised under section 105.6 of the fire code, then $50 a year to renew. Which operations need one comes from the adopted fire code rather than the fee schedule, so read the code before assuming you need none. Gates and barricades across fire apparatus access roads are their own line at $50 a year per system. The costly provision is failure: commencing operation before obtaining a required permit adds a fee equal to the original permit fee, up to $2,000, on top of the permit itself.

Zoning Request and Special Permit

$1,500 for a special permit and the same $1,500 for a zoning request in any designation except a planned development, which is $2,500. A site plan review is $600, a concept plan $500 and a non-residential landscape plan another $500 — they are separate applications, not stages of one. Two cheap lines are worth using first: a zoning verification letter is $50, which is the least expensive way to establish whether your use is permitted before committing, and a temporary open-air market zoning request is $500. Resubmitting an application costs half the original fee. A non-residential variance from the zoning ordinance is $325.

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 Richardson

The other 7 local permits in the tables apply to every type of business in Richardson, TX; what each one involves is set out on the Richardson 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 Richardson?

The closest match is a coffee shop, which shares 8 of these permits. A restaurant also needs Contractor Registration, Zoning Request and Special Permit and Mixed Beverage Permit (MB). A coffee shop needs nothing here that a restaurant does not.

Permits particular to each business type in Richardson, TX, compared with a restaurant
BusinessIts own permitsShared with a restaurantOnly a restaurant needsOnly it needs
Coffee shops8830
Retail stores10832
Auto repair shops6561
Contractors and trades5382
Salons and barbers3291
Fitness studios4292
Food trucks21101
Veterinary clinics21101
Childcare centres31102

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, retail stores page and contractors and trades page. Sources for the permits that apply to every type of business are listed on the Richardson permits page and the TX state page. Confirmed by Editorial Team.

  1. City of Richardson Code of Ordinances, Appendix B — Master Fee Schedule (adopted by Ord. No. 4559, § 2, 15 September 2025; amended by Ord. No. 4560, § 1, 13 October 2025)City of Richardson · primary source · retrieved 2026-08-27
  2. City of Richardson Health Department — Food Service Permit fees, current 2026 scheduleCity of Richardson Health Department · primary source · retrieved 2026-08-26
  3. 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.