Restaurants, commercial kitchens, and food trucks.
Cass County food-facility health permits run about $200–$400 annually, depending on size or sales volume. Plan review runs about $150. Confirm the exact amount with Fargo Cass Public Health (FCPH) - Environmental Health (local public health unit; licenses and inspects food establishments and mobile food units in Fargo, West Fargo & Cass County under NDCC 23-09 / FDA Food Code 2017) 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 Fargo Cass Public Health (FCPH) - Environmental Health (local public health unit; licenses and inspects food establishments and mobile food units in Fargo, West Fargo & Cass County under NDCC 23-09 / FDA Food Code 2017) issues the health permit.
What the local foodservice landscape looks like — useful whether you’re opening here or sizing up the competition.
— 0.0% change in establishments since 2022 (413 → 413).
The average foodservice wage here is $672 above the North Dakota average ($21,862); North Dakota has about 1,811 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.
Tiers are assigned by risk/complexity; Amounts are from the FCPH Food License Application fee schedule; alcohol service adds $150 (with a physical bar) or $50 (no physical bar); soft-serve ice cream adds $100
Turnaround: FCPH allows up to 30 calendar days for plan review
Fargo Cass Public Health inspects under the ND Food Code (risk-based); no letter grade or score. ND HHS provides an online public inspection search; recent reports available.
Establishments providing catering or delivery service must also apply for the Mobile Food License; A licensed commissary is required if food prep is not completed in the self-contained unit
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 $375–$750 for Cass 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 Cass County and North Dakota. North Dakota Health and Human Services provides a statewide search of the two most recent inspection reports for licensed food and lodging establishments.
North Dakota 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.
food establishments here must control fats, oils & grease (FOG) with a grease interceptor or trap, and typically register with the local sewer/wastewater authority. A grease interceptor sized to the North Dakota state plumbing code is required, with a municipal sewer-authority FOG discharge permit.
Size the interceptor with our grease-trap sizing calculator, compare units in the grease-trap catalog, and confirm the local FOG permit with Fargo Cass Public Health (FCPH) - Environmental Health (local public health unit; licenses and inspects food establishments and mobile food units in Fargo, West Fargo & Cass County under NDCC 23-09 / FDA Food Code 2017) (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. Type I hood fire suppression must meet NFPA 96 and the applicable fire code enforced by the local fire authority. See do I need a hood? and the hood CFM calculator.
Backflow prevention: An approved backflow preventer with a certified annual test is required by the local water purveyor. 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 | Mobile Food License required for catering: Tier 1 $100 / Tier 2 $150 / Tier 3 $200 (+ $25 commissary fee if no brick-and-mortar) | FCPH requires establishments providing catering (or delivery) service to apply for the Mobile Food License |
| Commissary / central preparation kitchen | $25 commissary fee for mobile food (vendors without a brick-and-mortar); a commissary itself is licensed as a Food Establishment (Tier 1 $200 / Tier 2 $300 / Tier 3 $400) | Commissary fee applies to mobile vendors lacking a fixed location; the commissary facility is licensed on the food establishment tiers |
| Bakery / food processing | Grocery, bakery or retail meat: Tier 1 $100 / Tier 2 $150 / Tier 3 $175 (annual) | Retail bakeries fall under the grocery/bakery/retail-meat tier on the FCPH schedule |
| Bar / limited food service | Food establishment tiers (Tier 1 $200 / Tier 2 $300 / Tier 3 $400); alcohol service +$150 (with physical bar) or +$50 (no physical bar) | A bar serving food is licensed on the food establishment tiers plus the alcohol-service add-on |
| Grocery / market with deli | Grocery, bakery or retail meat: Tier 1 $100 / Tier 2 $150 / Tier 3 $175 (annual) | Grocery/market permitted on the grocery/bakery/retail-meat tier; a deli/food-prep area may add a food establishment tier |
| Temporary / seasonal event | Concession (Seasonal): Tier 1 $50 / Tier 2 $75 / Tier 3 $100. Concession (Year Round): Tier 1 $100 / Tier 2 $150 / Tier 3 $175 | FCPH prices event/concession operations on seasonal vs year-round concession tiers |
| Pushcart / mobile vending | Mobile food unit Vendor: Tier 1 $100 / Tier 2 $150 / Tier 3 $200 (+ $25 commissary fee if no brick-and-mortar) | Mobile/pushcart licensed on the mobile food unit vendor tiers; commissary required if prep is not done in the self-contained unit |
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 Cass 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 →