Restaurants, commercial kitchens, and food trucks.
Cook County food-facility health permits run about $660–$1,650 annually, depending on size or sales volume. Confirm the exact amount with Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) Food Protection Program; business license issued by Dept. of Business Affairs & Consumer Protection (BACP) 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 Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) Food Protection Program; business license issued by Dept. of Business Affairs & Consumer Protection (BACP) issues the health permit.
Cities with their own health department: Chicago, Evanston, Skokie, Oak Park, Stickney. Food businesses inside these cities apply to the city health department (with its own fees and rules), not Cook County. Confirm which authority covers your exact address.
What the local foodservice landscape looks like — useful whether you’re opening here or sizing up the competition.
▲ 1.2% change in establishments since 2022 (12,106 → 12,246).
The average foodservice wage here is $4,507 above the Illinois average ($25,407); Illinois has about 28,496 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.
Issued via BACP; CDPH sets the health/inspection requirements; Fee tiers by sq ft; renewed on a 2-year cycle
Turnaround: Submit digital plans to CDPH before build; health inspection after build-out to approved plan
Illinois Food Code risk-based inspection; result is Pass, Pass with Conditions, or Fail (no score/letter grade). Chicago posts results weekly on its open data portal; suburbs via Cook County Dept of Public Health.
Vehicle plan review by CDPH required before licensing; Chicago's two license types depend on whether food is cooked/prepared on the vehicle
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 $1,360–$2,650 for Cook 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.
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.
A code-compliant kitchen in Cook County needs more than the health permit — these approvals are handled by separate offices. Confirm current requirements with each.
| Building / plans | City of Chicago Department of Buildings · 312-744-3449 |
| Fire marshal | Chicago Fire Department - Bureau of Fire Prevention |
| Zoning / planning | City of Chicago Zoning (Dept. of Planning & Development / BACP) · 312-744-6249 |
| Sewer / grease | Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) - grease/pretreatment (grease trap plumbing via Chicago plumbing code) |
| Business license | City of Chicago Dept. of Business Affairs & Consumer Protection (BACP) · 312-744-6249 |
Under Illinois Plumbing Code (77 Ill. Adm. Code 890, IDPH), food establishments here must control fats, oils & grease (FOG) with a grease interceptor or trap, and typically register with the local sewer/wastewater authority. Grease interceptors are required under the Illinois Plumbing Code, with FOG limits enforced by the local sewer district.
Size the interceptor with our grease-trap sizing calculator, compare units in the grease-trap catalog, and confirm the local FOG permit with Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) Food Protection Program; business license issued by Dept. of Business Affairs & Consumer Protection (BACP) (contact above).
Hood fire suppression (NFPA 101 Life Safety Code (2015 ed.)): 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 follows NFPA 96, with the Illinois State Fire Marshal enforcing the Life Safety Code statewide and local fire departments inspecting. See do I need a hood? and the hood CFM calculator.
Backflow prevention: Restaurants must install a testable backflow preventer (typically an RPZ) that is tested annually and reported to the local water utility. A certified backflow assembly (often an RPZ) on the water service, tested annually, is standard — confirm with your water utility.
| Category | Annual fee | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| food processing/wholesale | $1,320 (2-yr) | Wholesale Food Establishment license, issued by City of Chicago BACP |
| commissary/central kitchen | $330 (2-yr operator); user $75 short-term / $330 long-term | Licensed as 'Shared Kitchen'; Operator license, plus Shared Kitchen User (short-term $75) and Supplemental $330 |
| bakery | $660-$1,650 (2-yr, by sq ft) | No separate bakery license; covered under Retail Food Establishment license (0-1,000 sqft $660 up to over-10,000 sqft $1,650) |
| market/grocery with deli | $660-$1,650 (2-yr, by sq ft) | Grocery/market licensed as Retail Food Establishment, fee by square footage |
| caterer | — | No standalone caterer license; catering operates under a Retail Food Establishment or Shared Kitchen User 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 Cook 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 →