In Austin, the food permit is priced on your gross annual volume of food sales. That one sentence is most of what separates Austin from every other city’s guide — and it is the part generic checklists get wrong.
The document is the Austin food enterprise permit, issued by City of Austin (fee schedule filed with Texas DSHS).
| Band | Fee |
|---|---|
| Gross annual food sales $0 – $49,999.99 | $309.00 |
| Gross annual food sales $50,000 – $149,999.99 | $618.00 |
| Gross annual food sales $150,000 or more | $927.00 |
| Amendment to an existing permit | $125.00 |
| Each inspection | $150.00 |
These are the figures in Austin's adopted FY25–26 food permit fee schedule, filed in the Texas DSHS local ordinance registry. Austin readopts the schedule each fiscal year, so check the current one before you rely on a number.
The sales band sets the permit fee and it is the number you amend if you grow — budgeting the $618 band from the start is often cheaper than a $309 permit plus a $125 amendment.
Austin Development Services — small business permitting — official page.
Check whether your opening date is legally possible — free. Put in the business type and the address and you get the target date against the earliest legal open, with every permit, fee and deadline cited to the official source.
The full stack — every permit in filing order, the calendar, and the certificate-of-occupancy packet — is $49, one-time, no subscription. Through 30 September the code DEADLINE takes it to $29 in Austin. It is a live link your landlord or lender can verify themselves, not a PDF.
Checked at the official sources listed above on 2 September 2026. Fees and procedures change without notice and the agency’s own page is always the authority — this is a heads-up to go and look, not legal advice, and BondPermit does not file anything on anyone’s behalf.