Restaurants and food trucks.
Confirm the authority for your exact address. Some cities run their own health division, and building, planning, fire, sewer/grease and business-license approvals are separate even when City of Houston Health Department, Bureau of Consumer Health Services (inside city limits); Harris County Public Health, Environmental Public Health Division (unincorporated Harris County) issues the health permit.
Cities with their own health department: Houston, Pasadena, Baytown, Deer Park. Food businesses inside these cities apply to the city health department (with its own fees and rules), not Harris County. Confirm which authority covers your exact address.
About 9,878 food & drinking establishments operate here, serving a population of about 4,835,125. (U.S. Census 2023 estimate; County Business Patterns 2022, NAICS 722)
City of Houston prior schedule cited a Food Dealer base permit of ~$1,059.50 plus a per-inspection fee ($112.57 or $225.14) and a ~$33.10 admin fee, annual renewal; left null; Unincorporated Harris County (HCPH) charges a non-refundable plan review fee plus a final permit; amounts are in HCPH's '2025 Food Fee Schedule' PDF, not published inline
Turnaround: Pre-opening inspection must be scheduled at least 14 business days in advance (Houston); HCPH runs a virtual (MS Teams) plan review conference before the pre-opening inspection
Houston Health Dept. uses a demerit-based inspection (0–100 scale); inspection reports searchable online by name, category and ZIP.
As of 2026-07-01 mobile food unit health permitting moved to the state (Texas DSHS); Local City of Houston / HCPH mobile permits are invalid on/after that date and are not grandfathered; DSHS application opened via Online Licensing Services in early June 2026. Local fire code, zoning and parking rules still apply on top of the state permit
Fees/payment and forms are on the department site; application steps vary by concept — see the checklist below.
U.S. Census 2023 population; County Business Patterns 2022 (NAICS 722).
A code-compliant kitchen in Harris County needs more than the health permit — these approvals are handled by separate offices. Confirm current requirements with each.
| Building / plans | City of Houston Permitting Center (Planning & Development) · 832-394-8880 |
| Fire marshal | Houston Fire Department - Fire Marshal's Office / Life Safety Bureau |
| Zoning / planning | City of Houston Planning & Development Dept. (Houston has NO zoning; development/land-use regs only) |
| Sewer / grease | Houston Public Works - grease trap / wastewater · 832-393-5740 |
| Business license | No general TX/city business license; Sales & Use Tax Permit via Texas Comptroller (food dealer permit via Houston Health Dept.) |
| Category | Annual fee | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| temporary/seasonal/special-event | $52 | Temporary Food Dealer permit, valid up to 14 consecutive days for a single event (new risk-based fee structure effective 2025-09-01) |
| frozen dessert | $258 | Frozen Dessert manufacturer permit (separate category in Houston Health Dept structure) |
Health-department plan review looks for specific, code-compliant fixtures. Compare spec-filtered options, then confirm counts and sizes with your local requirements. See the full list in what equipment a commercial kitchen requires.
Permit costs and rules change at the county line — compare Harris County with its neighbors.
This is a typical sequence — confirm the exact sequence with your authority having jurisdiction.
Official plan-check requirements: plan-check guide →