Restaurants and food trucks.
Caddo Parish food-facility health permits run about $75–$150 annually, depending on size or sales volume. Confirm the exact amount with Louisiana Department of Health (LDH), Office of Public Health, Bureau of Sanitarian Services (Retail Food Program). Retail food permitting in Louisiana is STATE-administered by parish/regional sanitarians, not by Caddo Parish government. 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 Louisiana Department of Health (LDH), Office of Public Health, Bureau of Sanitarian Services (Retail Food Program). Retail food permitting in Louisiana is STATE-administered by parish/regional sanitarians, not by Caddo Parish government. issues the health permit.
What the local foodservice landscape looks like — useful whether you’re opening here or sizing up the competition.
▼ 1.5% change in establishments since 2022 (473 → 466).
The average foodservice wage here is $1,103 below the Louisiana average ($21,440); Louisiana has about 9,519 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.
Statewide statutory fee applies in all parishes including Caddo; A restaurant with additional permitted operations (e.g., separate food prep areas) pays the tiered per-permit rates
Louisiana Dept. of Health inspects on a risk schedule and cites critical/non-critical violations — no grade or score; reports on the LDH online dashboard.
The City of Shreveport / Shreveport-Caddo Metropolitan Planning Commission also requires a separate mobile food truck & vendor license
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 $225–$300 for Caddo Parish:
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 Caddo Parish and Louisiana. The Louisiana Department of Health's Eat Safe Louisiana portal provides statewide retail food inspection reports selectable by parish and city.
Louisiana 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 Louisiana State Plumbing Code (LAC Title 51, Part XIV), 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 trap or interceptor under the Louisiana State 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 Louisiana Department of Health (LDH), Office of Public Health, Bureau of Sanitarian Services (Retail Food Program). Retail food permitting in Louisiana is STATE-administered by parish/regional sanitarians, not by Caddo Parish government. (contact above).
Hood fire suppression (NFPA 101 (2015 Life Safety Code)): 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 NFPA 101 Life Safety Code, enforced by the Office of State Fire Marshal 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 | Nonitinerant retail food store (>=60% food sales), annual by gross revenue (RS 40:31.37): <$100k $75.00; $100k-$500k $112.50; $500,001-$1M $187.50; $1,000,001-$2.5M $375.00; $2,500,001-$5M $600.00; >$5M $750.00 | Stores with <60% food sales use a separate tiered schedule ($75-$750); New store initial temporary permit $112.50 |
| Temporary / seasonal event | Temporary/special event (fairs, festivals) $25.00 for the entire event; seasonal establishments $15.00 per month of operation (RS 40:31.37) | Statewide statutory fees |
| Pushcart / mobile vending | itinerant/mobile establishments are not priced separately in RS 40:31.37; they fall under the general schedule (first permit $150.00) | City of Shreveport / Shreveport-Caddo MPC also requires a separate mobile food truck & vendor license |
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 Caddo Parish with its neighbors.
This is a typical sequence — confirm the exact sequence with your authority having jurisdiction.
Official plan-check requirements: plan-check guide →