Restaurants and food trucks.
Calcasieu Parish food-facility health permits run about $50–$100 annually, depending on size or sales volume. Plan review runs about $100–$1,000. Confirm the exact amount with Louisiana Department of Health (LDH), Office of Public Health, Bureau of Sanitarian Services (state-administered) 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 (state-administered) issues the health permit.
What the local foodservice landscape looks like — useful whether you’re opening here or sizing up the competition.
▲ 3.3% change in establishments since 2022 (389 → 402).
The average foodservice wage here is $290 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.
State flat-rate schedule; Class 7 covers restaurants, bars, meat markets, seafood markets, etc; LDH permits are administered statewide; there is no separate Calcasieu Parish health-department permit
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.
A mobile unit permitted in one parish does not need another permit or additional fee to operate in another parish (the vehicle must still be inspected by the local sanitarian); Some cities/parishes may require an additional local occupational permit
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 $250–$1,200 for Calcasieu 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 Calcasieu 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 (state-administered) (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 |
|---|---|---|
| Caterer | $100 (1st permit; $75 for 2nd-5th, $50 for 6th+) | Permitted as a Class 7 food establishment (LDH statewide schedule) |
| Bakery / food processing | $100 (Class 7) if food is prepared on site | Permitted as a Class 7 restaurant if it prepares food; if all items are prepackaged it is permitted as a grocery (Class 1-6 by revenue) |
| Bar / limited food service | $100 (1st permit; $75 for 2nd-5th, $50 for 6th+) | Bars are expressly included in Class 7 |
| Grocery / market with deli | By gross food revenue; Class 1 $75 (<$500,000); Class 2 $125 ($500,000-$1,000,000); Class 3 $250 ($1,000,001-$2,500,000); Class 4 $400 ($2,500,001-$5,000,000); Class 5 $500 (>$5,000,000) | Applies when 60%+ of gross revenue is retail food sales; Non-grocery stores selling food (<60%) use Class 6 at the same revenue tiers, with additional permits at $75 (2nd-5th) and $50 (6th+) |
| Temporary / seasonal event | $25 flat (special event / temporary permit); Fair or Festival $25 flat to the sponsor (individual stands permitted at no fee); Seasonal $10 per month (minimum $10) | Seasonal example: 1 month $10, 2 months $20, 3 months $30, +$10 each additional month |
| Pushcart / mobile vending | $100 (Mobile Unit, same as Class 7) | A mobile unit permitted in one parish operates in other parishes with no additional fee after local inspection |
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 Calcasieu 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 →