Restaurants and food trucks.
Blount County food-facility health permits run about $80–$300 annually, depending on size or sales volume. Confirm the exact amount with Tennessee Dept. of Health (state-administered county) - Blount County Health Department, Environmental Health 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 Tennessee Dept. of Health (state-administered county) - Blount County Health Department, Environmental Health issues the health permit.
What the local foodservice landscape looks like — useful whether you’re opening here or sizing up the competition.
▲ 5.3% change in establishments since 2022 (208 → 219).
The average foodservice wage here is $1,394 below the Tennessee average ($23,218); Tennessee has about 13,712 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.
Seating count determines classification per Rule 1200-23-1. The $210 figure is the state fee documented on a TN county fee sheet ('STATE FEE: $210.00'); Tennessee's six home-rule metro counties add a local fee (e.g., Shelby +$150 = $360 total); Blount, as a state-administered county, is billed the state fee
Tennessee Dept. of Health scores food service on a 0–100 scale; most recent report posted at the establishment and searchable online.
Mobile food units must comply with Rule 1200-23-1-.02(12) and operate from an approved commissary
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 $80–$300 for Blount 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.
Check the health-inspection history and violation scores for any food establishment in Blount County and Tennessee. The Tennessee Department of Health operates a statewide portal where food service establishment inspection scores can be searched by name, county, or date.
Tennessee inspection lookup →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.
Under International Plumbing Code (IPC), 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 Tennessee Dept. of Health (state-administered county) - Blount County Health Department, Environmental Health (contact above).
Hood fire suppression (International Fire Code (IFC)): 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 state-adopted International Fire Code, enforced by the State Fire Marshal's Office and local fire officials. 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Grocery / market with deli | retail food stores are permitted and inspected by the TN Dept; of Agriculture (Retail Food Store Inspection Act, TCA Title 53 Ch; 8), not TDH; fee not published here | Deli/food-service areas inside a store may require a separate TDH food service establishment permit |
| Pushcart / mobile vending | permitted as a food service establishment (state fee); no separate TN state mobile-unit dollar figure published in reviewed sources | Mobile food units regulated under Rule 1200-23-1-.02(12) |
| Temporary / seasonal event | TN temporary food service establishment permit fee not separately published in reviewed sources | Temporary food establishment defined at Rule 1200-23-1-.01 |
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 Blount 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 →