Restaurants and food trucks.
El Paso County food-facility health permits run about $338–$581 annually, depending on size or sales volume. Confirm the exact amount with El Paso County Public Health (EPCPH) - Environmental Health, Retail Food Program 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 El Paso County Public Health (EPCPH) - Environmental Health, Retail Food Program issues the health permit.
What the local foodservice landscape looks like — useful whether you’re opening here or sizing up the competition.
▲ 5.0% change in establishments since 2022 (1,422 → 1,493).
The average foodservice wage here is $3,617 below the Colorado average ($28,457); Colorado has about 13,675 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.
Colorado retail food license fees are set by state statute (SB25-285), effective for licenses issued on/after Sep 1, 2025, with further increases scheduled 2027-2028. EPCPH collects/issues under the state schedule
Colorado law bars local letter grades; inspection reports posted online.
EPCPH plan review required for new mobile units not previously licensed in El Paso County; City of Colorado Springs also issues a separate Mobile Food Vendor License (business/zoning); Exact mobile line-item under the 2026 state schedule not captured; range is approximate
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 $438–$881 for El Paso 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.
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 adopted 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 El Paso County Public Health (EPCPH) - Environmental Health, Retail Food Program (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 fire code adopted 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 |
|---|---|---|
| temporary/special-event | — | "Special Event License" in two tiers: Limited (funnel cakes, fries, frozen yogurt, freshly squeezed lemonade, etc.) and Full Menu (burgers, gyros, turkey legs, etc.); No fee amounts published on dept site; No separate caterer/commissary/bakery/market-deli/pushcart/food-processing/bar categories listed |
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 El Paso 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 →