Restaurants and food trucks.
Bexar County food-facility health permits run about $175–$1,204 annually, depending on size or sales volume. Plan review runs about $250. Confirm the exact amount with San Antonio Metropolitan Health District (SAMHD), Food & Environmental Health Services (inside San Antonio city limits); Bexar County Environmental Services (unincorporated Bexar County) before you budget.
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 San Antonio Metropolitan Health District (SAMHD), Food & Environmental Health Services (inside San Antonio city limits); Bexar County Environmental Services (unincorporated Bexar County) issues the health permit.
Cities with their own health department: San Antonio. Food businesses inside these cities apply to the city health department (with its own fees and rules), not Bexar County. Confirm which authority covers your exact address.
What the local foodservice landscape looks like — useful whether you’re opening here or sizing up the competition.
▲ 4.0% change in establishments since 2022 (4,119 → 4,282).
The average foodservice wage here is $171 above the Texas average ($23,083); Texas has about 60,229 food & drink establishments statewide.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023 (NAICS 722, food services & drinking places) — establishments with paid employees. Some small-county payroll figures are withheld by Census for confidentiality.
Two authorities: restaurants inside San Antonio permit through SAMHD (fee scales with employee count/size); restaurants in unincorporated Bexar County permit through Bexar County Environmental Services; SAMHD full tier table not fully enumerated on the fetched page; figures shown are confirmed points from the fee schedule
Turnaround: SAMHD plan review approx 2-6 weeks
San Antonio Metro Health scores food establishments 0–100 under Texas TFER; inspection reports posted online.
CONFIRMED 2026-08-10: Effective July 1, 2026, mobile food units are permitted via a single statewide Texas DSHS Mobile Food Vendor license (HB 2844), replacing the former SAMHD Mobile Food Establishment permit and the Bexar County Mobile Food Unit permit; DSHS fees: Type I $309; Type II $618 (+$400 pre-licensing inspection); Type III $876 (+$500 pre-licensing inspection); San Antonio still requires a SAFD fire permit for gas units and a written approved-commissary agreement; zoning stays local
Fees/payment and forms are on the department site; application steps vary by concept — see the checklist below.
The government permit & plan-review fees below total roughly $734–$2,330 for Bexar County:
That’s the paperwork only. Add buildout, equipment, deposits and licenses with the cost-to-open calculator. Fees change — confirm current amounts with the department.
Comparison uses the lowest published annual restaurant-permit figure in each county; confirm your exact tier with the department.
U.S. Census 2023 population; County Business Patterns 2022 (NAICS 722).
Plus building, fire, and business-license fees that vary locally — use the cost calculators and the checklist below to budget the full stack.
A code-compliant kitchen in Bexar County needs more than the health permit — these approvals are handled by separate offices. Confirm current requirements with each.
Under 2015 UPC and 2015 IPC (state-adopted minimum; municipality selects), food establishments here must control fats, oils & grease (FOG) with a grease interceptor or trap, and typically register with the local sewer/wastewater authority. Restaurants must install an approved grease interceptor under the state-adopted plumbing code, with discharge governed by the local sewer authority's FOG program.
Size the interceptor with our grease-trap sizing calculator, compare units in the grease-trap catalog, and confirm the local FOG permit with San Antonio Metropolitan Health District (SAMHD), Food & Environmental Health Services (inside San Antonio city limits); Bexar County Environmental Services (unincorporated Bexar County) (contact above).
Hood fire suppression: commercial cooking under a Type I hood needs a wet-chemical suppression system to NFPA 96, permitted and inspected by the local fire marshal. Commercial kitchen hood suppression must meet NFPA 96 and the locally adopted International Fire Code, enforced by the local fire marshal (no single mandatory statewide edition). See do I need a hood? and the hood CFM calculator.
Backflow prevention: Backflow prevention assemblies (typically an RPZ) require annual testing by a certified tester through the local water utility's cross-connection control program. A certified backflow assembly (often an RPZ) on the water service, tested annually, is standard — confirm with your water utility.
| Category | Annual fee | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Catering operation | $310 (<$50k) / $618 ($50k-$149,999) / $928 ($150k+) | Covered under the unified Food Establishment (FE) permit; fee based on gross annual food sales (no separate caterer fee) |
| Market / retail food store | $310 / $618 / $928 by gross annual food sales | Also covered under the unified FE permit |
| Schools - for-profit contractor | $240 | Annual permit for school food operated by a for-profit contractor |
| Schools - ISD & non-profit contractor | $240 | Fee for 2 inspections per school year |
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 Bexar 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 →