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 Brazoria County Environmental Health Department issues the health permit.
What the local foodservice landscape looks like — useful whether you’re opening here or sizing up the competition.
▲ 4.7% change in establishments since 2022 (658 → 689).
The average foodservice wage here is $3,463 below 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.
Fees follow SB 1008 (capped at DSHS state maximum, $773); Permit required prior to operation and on ownership change; non-transferable; no grandfathering clause; Fees due only after documents reviewed, approved, and passing inspection
Texas (TFER) demerit-based inspection: score = 100 minus demerits, fail above 30 demerits; administered by the local health authority, reports public.
Texas moved mobile-food permitting to state DSHS eff; 2026-07-01; historically per city master fee schedule for permanent/temporary mobile units; Verify current route/fee with DSHS
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).
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 Brazoria County Environmental Health Department (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 |
|---|---|---|
| Annual Food Establishment Permit (retail food stores & food service) - priced by square footage | $200 (0-1000 sq ft) / $300 (over 1000 sq ft) | Published fee schedule prices fixed establishments by square footage, not named categories; Per the department's SB 1008 (Sept 2025) notice, fixed-establishment fees are being revised to the DSHS gross-sales-equivalent cap |
| Roadside / Mobile Vendor | $200 | Roadside grouped with mobile in published schedule |
| Temporary Food Establishment | $40 (one event, not to exceed 14 days); +$50 late fee | |
| Day Care Facility (13+ children) | $150 | DISCONTINUED under SB 1008 (Sept 2025); county no longer permits daycares/group homes as food establishments; still offered as a $150/yr sanitation inspection |
| Group Residences | $150 | DISCONTINUED as food-establishment permit under SB 1008 (Sept 2025) |
| School food service (voluntary inspection by request under SB 1008) | $150 per inspection; $300/yr for 2 inspections | Non-profits and schools no longer issued a retail food permit; voluntary Food Inspection by Request offered instead |
| Foster Home sanitation inspection | $50 every two years |
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 Brazoria 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 →