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 City of St. Louis Department of Health, Food & Beverage Control Program issues the health permit.
What the local foodservice landscape looks like — useful whether you’re opening here or sizing up the competition.
▲ 2.3% change in establishments since 2022 (979 → 1,002).
The average foodservice wage here is $2,819 above the Missouri average ($22,153); Missouri has about 12,481 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.
Annual permanent food permit fee not published on the city website; applicant pays fees by business/cashier's check or money order at application; City Food Code updated by Ordinance 71324, which introduced reduced permit-fee options plus free food-safety training funded by application fees; Contact Dept of Health, 1520 Market St, Suite 4051 (314-622-4800) for the current fee schedule
Mobile/temporary permits administered by Food & Beverage Control; temporary food permit is $50 per day per vendor (max 14 days/calendar year), plus a $10 late fee if applied for fewer than 2 business days before the event; Annual mobile fee not published online
Fees/payment and forms are on the department site; application steps vary by concept — see the checklist below.
U.S. Census 2023 population; County Business Patterns 2022 (NAICS 722).
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 by locally adopted plumbing codes and municipal FOG programs, as Missouri has no statewide plumbing code.
Size the interceptor with our grease-trap sizing calculator, compare units in the grease-trap catalog, and confirm the local FOG permit with City of St. Louis Department of Health, Food & Beverage Control 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. Commercial kitchen hood suppression follows NFPA 96 and locally adopted fire codes, as Missouri has no statewide fire code. 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.
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 St. Louis City with its neighbors.
This is a typical sequence — confirm the exact sequence with your authority having jurisdiction.