Restaurants and food trucks.
Grayson County food-facility health permits run about $30–$300 annually, depending on size or sales volume. Plan review runs about $200. Confirm the exact amount with Grayson County Health Department, Environmental Health Division (county-administered under the Texas Food Establishment Rules) 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 Grayson County Health Department, Environmental Health Division (county-administered under the Texas Food Establishment Rules) issues the health permit.
What the local foodservice landscape looks like — useful whether you’re opening here or sizing up the competition.
▼ 0.9% change in establishments since 2022 (230 → 228).
The average foodservice wage here is $1,009 below the Texas average ($23,083); Texas has about 60,229 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.
Effective September 1, 2025 Grayson County adopted new food establishment permit and fee changes (per SB 1008); the county's fee schedule is filed with the Texas DSHS Local Ordinance Registry; The employee-count tiers above are from the Grayson County Retail Food Establishment Permit Application; contact Environmental Health at (903) 465-2878 / (903) 813-4200 to confirm current post-9/1/2025 amounts
Texas (TFER) demerit-based inspection: score = 100 minus demerits, fail above 30 demerits; administered by the local/DSHS health authority, reports public.
IMPORTANT: under Texas HB 2844, beginning July 1, 2026 all mobile food units must be permitted directly by the Texas DSHS statewide Mobile Food Vendor License; local city/county mobile permits will no longer be valid and none are grandfathered (DSHS registration opened June 4, 2026); Grayson County directs mobile vendors to TX DSHS
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 $430–$750 for Grayson 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.
Under 2015 UPC and 2015 IPC (state-adopted minimum; municipality selects), 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 Grayson County Health Department, Environmental Health Division (county-administered under the Texas Food Establishment Rules) (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. Commercial kitchen hood suppression must meet NFPA 96 and the locally adopted International Fire Code, enforced by the local fire marshal (no single mandatory statewide edition). 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Grocery / market with deli | permitted as a Retail Food Establishment; fee is by total employee count ($200 for 0-5 employees, $300 for 6+), not a distinct grocery fee | Grocery/convenience store is a listed operation type on the county retail food permit application |
| Temporary / seasonal event | Grayson County issues Temporary Establishment, Farmers Market, and Trade Days permits but does not publish the dollar fees online | Applications available via the Grayson County Environmental Health resources page |
| Pushcart / mobile vending | $250 annual Mobile Food Unit permit plus a $200 initial (pre-opening) inspection fee | Under Texas HB 2844, mobile units must move to the statewide TX DSHS Mobile Food Vendor License beginning July 1, 2026 |
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 Grayson 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 →