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 San Francisco Department of Public Health - Environmental Health Branch issues the health permit.
What the local foodservice landscape looks like — useful whether you’re opening here or sizing up the competition.
▲ 0.5% change in establishments since 2022 (3,900 → 3,920).
The average foodservice wage here is $7,269 above the California average ($28,902); California has about 88,778 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.
Per SFDPH EHB Fee Schedule (FY27, revised 7/1/2026; license rates effective 7/1/26-6/30/27), the annual license/permit fee is $0 for Restaurants (Under 1,000 sq ft; 1,000-2,000 sq ft; Over 2,000 sq ft), Bars/Taverns (with or without food prep), Take-Outs, Caterers, and Mobile Food Facilities; SF eliminated these annual permit license fees; Non-zero food fees remain for some categories (e.g., Boarding Houses $365, Supermarkets $1,593-$1,991, Retail Markets, Cottage Food Tier A $172/Tier B $599)
Look up City and County of San Francisco restaurant inspection scores →
Annual Mobile Food Facility Low/High Risk permit license fee = $0. Plan check fees still apply: Mobile Food Facility Low Risk Plan Check $414, High Risk $690
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 $276–$2,207 for City and County of San Francisco:
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.
U.S. Census 2023 population; County Business Patterns 2022 (NAICS 722).
A code-compliant kitchen in City and County of San Francisco needs more than the health permit — these approvals are handled by separate offices. Confirm current requirements with each.
| Building / plans | San Francisco Department of Building Inspection (DBI) · 628-652-3450 |
| Fire marshal | San Francisco Fire Department - Permit Center / Bureau of Fire Prevention · 628-652-3472 |
| Zoning / planning | San Francisco Planning Department · 415-558-6377 |
| Sewer / grease | San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) - FOG Control (Pretreatment Program) |
| Business license | SF Office of the Treasurer & Tax Collector - Business Registration · 311 |
Under UPC, 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 California 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 San Francisco Department of Public Health - Environmental Health Branch (contact above).
Hood fire suppression (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. Type I hood fire suppression must meet NFPA 96 and the California 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.
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 City and County of San Francisco with its neighbors.
This is a typical sequence — confirm the exact sequence with your authority having jurisdiction.