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 Metro Public Health Department (Nashville/Davidson County) - Food Protection & Public Facilities Division issues the health permit.
Cities with their own health department: Goodlettsville, Belle Meade, Berry Hill, Forest Hills, Oak Hill. Food businesses inside these cities apply to the city health department (with its own fees and rules), not Davidson 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.
▲ 3.1% change in establishments since 2022 (2,193 → 2,262).
The average foodservice wage here is $7,393 above the Tennessee average ($23,218); Tennessee has about 13,712 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.
Exact food service establishment permit fee NOT published online; Tennessee food service establishment permit fees are set under state rule (TN Dept of Health, rule 1200-23-01) and administered by Metro Public Health as a delegated metro health department; Online payment portal adds a 2.3% convenience fee; Contact 615-340-5616 / Lentz Public Health Center, 2500 Charlotte Ave
Metro Nashville/Davidson food protection scores establishments 0–100; reports posted on site and available online.
All mobile food units operating in Davidson County must allow a green 'sign compliance' tag to be affixed to the exterior; Mobile unit plan review required
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 $210 for Davidson 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 Davidson County and Tennessee. The Tennessee Department of Health operates a statewide portal where food service establishment inspection scores can be searched by name, county, or date.
Tennessee inspection lookup →U.S. Census 2023 population; County Business Patterns 2022 (NAICS 722).
A code-compliant kitchen in Davidson County needs more than the health permit — these approvals are handled by separate offices. Confirm current requirements with each.
Under International Plumbing Code (IPC), 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 Metro Public Health Department (Nashville/Davidson County) - Food Protection & Public Facilities Division (contact above).
Hood fire suppression (International Fire Code (IFC)): 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 International Fire Code, enforced by the State Fire Marshal's Office 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.
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 Davidson 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 →