14 permits · verified 2026-09-05
What permits do you need to open a restaurant in Spokane?
In short
A restaurant in Spokane, WA has 9 permits that apply to every business of this type, plus 5 more that depend on your premises, signage or how you are set up. Spokane Regional Health District charges $10 required within 14 days of hire; valid 2 years initially, 3 years on renewal (5 years alongside a CFPM) for the food worker card. 6 of the 14 are charged as a range or formula rather than a flat fee. Verified 2026-09-05 against the issuing agencies’ published fee schedules.
Permits particular to a restaurant in Spokane
| Permit | Issuing agency | Fee | Renews | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Food Worker Card | Spokane Regional Health District | $10 required within 14 days of hire; valid 2 years initially, 3 years on renewal (5 years alongside a CFPM) | 2 years initially, 3 years on renewal | 2026-09-05 |
| Sign Permit | City of Spokane Development Services Center | Wall, projecting, or incidental sign: $48.70 per sign. Pole or billboard sign: $121.00 per sign. Plus a $119 Sign Review Fee. | one-time, per sign | 2026-09-05 |
| Food Establishment Permit | Spokane Regional Health District | Annual, current for 2026: Basic food establishment $290; Limited food establishment $380; Complex food establishment $850; Seasonal Complex $425; School cafeteria $300; Caterer with approved kitchen $570 (supplemental $260); Concession stand $240; Meat and fish market $250; Mobile unit with approved kitchen $630 (supplemental $340, additional unit $120); Micro market $150. | annual | 2026-09-05 |
| Fire Safety Site Inspectiononly if it applies to you | Spokane Fire Department, Fire Marshal's Office | $88 for a new business or a business changing location | one-time, tied to registration or relocation | 2026-09-05 |
| Food Establishment Permit | Washington State Department of Health, Food Safety Program | $240–$1,386 a year, set by the local health jurisdiction — there is no state fee | annual, on a cycle the local jurisdiction sets | 2026-09-03 |
| Food Worker Card | Washington State Department of Health, Food Safety Program | $10 per card | 2 years first time, 3 on renewal, 5 with extra food safety training | 2026-09-03 |
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 Spokane
| Permit | Issuing agency | Fee | Renews | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business Registration | City of Spokane, Taxes and Licenses | Varies — formula on the Spokane page | annual | 2026-09-05 |
| Certificate of Occupancy | City of Spokane Development Services Center | Varies — formula on the Spokane page | issued once per qualifying occupancy; a temporary certificate is time-limited | 2026-09-05 |
| Commercial Building Permit | City of Spokane Development Services Center | Varies — formula on the Spokane page | one-time, per project | 2026-09-05 |
Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.
WA registrations that apply to every type of business
| Permit | Issuing agency | Fee | Renews | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Articles of Incorporationonly if it applies to you | Washington Secretary of State, Corporations and Charities Division | $180 one-time filing on paper; $200 online | no expiry, but a $70 annual report is due each year | 2026-09-03 |
| Reseller Permitonly if it applies to you | Washington State Department of Revenue, Business Licensing Service | No fee | 4 years, or 2 in defined circumstances | 2026-09-03 |
| Certificate of Formation (LLC)only if it applies to you | Washington Secretary of State, Corporations and Charities Division | $180 one-time filing on paper; $200 online | no expiry, but a $70 annual report is due each year | 2026-09-03 |
| Annual Reportonly if it applies to you | Washington Secretary of State, Corporations and Charities Division | $70 a year | annual — due the last day of the month the entity was formed or registered | 2026-09-03 |
| Washington State Business License | Washington State Department of Revenue, Business Licensing Service | $50 to open, plus each endorsement's own fee; $5 a year to renew | annual — one expiration date governs every endorsement on the license | 2026-09-03 |
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 Spokane?
There is no single figure, and any site quoting one is rounding away the part that matters. Of the 14 records listed for a restaurant in Spokane, WA, 9 apply to every business of this type and 5 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 9 that always apply, 3 carry a flat fee, coming to $70.00. That is a floor, not a total. 6 of the 14 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:
Sign Permit: Wall, projecting, or incidental sign: $48.70 per sign. Pole or billboard sign: $121.00 per sign. Plus a $119 Sign Review Fee.
Food Establishment Permit: Annual, current for 2026: Basic food establishment $290; Limited food establishment $380; Complex food establishment $850; Seasonal Complex $425; School cafeteria $300; Caterer with approved kitchen $570 (supplemental $260); Concession stand $240; Meat and fish market $250; Mobile unit with approved kitchen $630 (supplemental $340, additional unit $120); Micro market $150.
Food Establishment Permit: $240–$1,386 a year, set by the local health jurisdiction — there is no state fee
The other 3 variable fees belong to permits that apply to every type of business here; their formulas are set out on the Spokane permits page and the WA state page.
Is Spokane 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 — Spokane sits where the table below puts it against every other WA jurisdiction covered here that publishes the same permit.
Food Worker Card: Spokane charges $10. Across 4 jurisdictions it runs from $10 in Seattle to $10 in Tacoma, with a median of $10. 3 charge exactly the same.
Read the spread rather than the rank. Food Worker Card varies by $0 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 Spokane?
Permits for a restaurant in Spokane, WA come from 7 separate offices: City of Spokane, Taxes and Licenses, Spokane Regional Health District, City of Spokane Development Services Center, Spokane Fire Department, Fire Marshal's Office, Washington Secretary of State, Corporations and Charities Division, Washington State Department of Revenue, Business Licensing Service, Washington State Department of Health, Food Safety Program. No single office issues them all, which is why an opening means filing in several places rather than one.
- City of Spokane, Taxes and LicensesIssues 1 permit on this page: Business Registration(509) 625-6070my.spokanecity.org/business/doing-business/licenses
- Spokane Regional Health DistrictIssues 2 permits on this page: Food Worker Card, Food Establishment Permit1101 W. College Avenue, Spokane, WA 99201 · (509) 324-1500srhd.org
- City of Spokane Development Services CenterIssues 3 permits on this page: Certificate of Occupancy, Commercial Building Permit, Sign Permit(509) 625-6300my.spokanecity.org/business/commercial
- Spokane Fire Department, Fire Marshal's OfficeIssues 1 permit on this page: Fire Safety Site Inspection(509) 625-7000my.spokanecity.org/fire/prevention/permits
- Washington Secretary of State, Corporations and Charities DivisionIssues 3 permits on this page: Articles of Incorporation, Certificate of Formation (LLC), Annual ReportPO Box 40234, Olympia, WA 98504-0234 · (360) 725-0377www.sos.wa.gov/corporations-charities/business-entities
- Washington State Department of Revenue, Business Licensing ServiceIssues 2 permits on this page: Reseller Permit, Washington State Business LicensePO Box 9034, Olympia, WA 98507-9034 · (360) 705-6705dor.wa.gov/open-business/apply-business-license
- Washington State Department of Health, Food Safety ProgramIssues 2 permits on this page: Food Establishment Permit, Food Worker Card(360) 236-4700doh.wa.gov/community-and-environment/food
What does a restaurant need in Spokane that other businesses do not?
Food Worker Card
A statewide Washington requirement administered locally by SRHD. Most food establishments must also have at least one employee with a Certified Food Protection Manager (CFPM) certificate per WAC 246-215-02107 — there is no fixed government fee for CFPM certification; cost is set by the private ANSI/ANAB-accredited provider chosen.
Food Establishment Permit
SRHD runs food permitting county-wide, including inside Spokane city limits — the city itself has no independent food-permitting role. Plan review is billed separately ($270 submittal, $180/hour pre-operation inspection); operating without a permit draws a $450 enforcement fee. This table was retrieved through a read-proxy after srhd.org blocked direct fetch, and could not be cross-checked against a downloadable PDF version — recommend one further confirmation pass before treating individual figures as final.
Fire Safety Site Inspection
Waived for low-hazard 'general business office' operations, explicitly including — quoted directly — 'insurance office, tax consultant, attorney, accountant, therapy, hair/nail salon, coffee/espresso stands, photography studios.' Salons and similar personal-care businesses are exempt from this fee, and the City publishes no separate salon-specific license beyond the standard business registration. General fire-code permits for alarms, sprinklers, standpipes and range hoods also exist (Spokane Municipal Code 17F.080.050) but the code does not print dollar amounts for them, and no separate fee-schedule table could be located.
Shared with other businesses in Spokane
- Sign Permit — City of Spokane Development Services Center, Wall, projecting, or incidental sign: $48.70 per sign. Pole or billboard sign: $121.00 per sign. Plus a $119 Sign Review Fee., one-time, per sign. Also required for coffee shops, retail stores, salons and barbers, fitness studios, auto repair shops and veterinary clinics; what it involves is set out on the retail stores page.
- Food Establishment Permit — Washington State Department of Health, Food Safety Program, $240–$1,386 a year, set by the local health jurisdiction — there is no state fee, annual, on a cycle the local jurisdiction sets. Also required for coffee shops and food trucks; what it involves is set out on the coffee shops page.
- Food Worker Card — Washington State Department of Health, Food Safety Program, $10 per card, 2 years first time, 3 on renewal, 5 with extra food safety training. Also required for coffee shops and food trucks; what it involves is set out on the coffee shops page.
The other 3 local permits in the tables apply to every type of business in Spokane, WA; what each one involves is set out on the Spokane permits page. The 5 state-level registrations apply to every type of business across WA and are covered on the WA state page.
How does a restaurant compare with other businesses in Spokane?
A restaurant and a coffee shop in Spokane, WA need exactly the same 6 permits beyond the ones every business needs.
| Business | Its own permits | Shared with a restaurant | Only a restaurant needs | Only it needs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coffee shops | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Food trucks | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| Retail stores | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| Auto repair shops | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| Veterinary clinics | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| Fitness studios | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| Salons and barbers | 2 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| Childcare centres | 2 | 0 | 6 | 2 |
| Contractors and trades | 4 | 0 | 6 | 4 |
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 retail stores page and coffee shops page. Sources for the permits that apply to every type of business are listed on the Spokane permits page and the WA state page. Confirmed by Editorial Team.
- Spokane Regional Health District — Food Worker CardSpokane Regional Health District · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-05
- Spokane Regional Health District — food safety fees for 2026Spokane Regional Health District · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
- City of Spokane — Doing Business FAQs (fire safety inspection fee and exemptions)City of Spokane · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-05
Related
Commercial Compliance Hub publishes information, not legal advice. Requirements change — confirm anything you rely on with the issuing agency before you file.