How to open a restaurant or café in Austin
Seven stages from idea to opening day, in the order most owners work through them, with links to the agencies involved.
Concept and numbers
Test the idea and the budget before you commit.
Draft your startup budget and break-even
Use your own numbers to see how much you need and what sales cover your costs. Revisit it as quotes come in.
Check that your name is available
Search Texas business name records and the free federal trademark search before you print signs. This is research, not legal clearance.
Get free small business coaching from the City of Austin
Start with a free BizAid orientation, then eligible Austin businesses can get no-cost, confidential one-on-one coaching on business plans, financial readiness, and management.
Austin Economic Development Department, Small Business Division ↗
Business setup
Register the business and its taxes.
Form your LLC or corporation with the Secretary of State
If you're setting up an LLC, corporation, or limited partnership, you form it by filing a certificate of formation with the Texas Secretary of State. You can file online through SOSPortal.
File an assumed name (DBA) with the Travis County Clerk
If you operate under a business name as an individual or unincorporated business, file an assumed name certificate with the Travis County Clerk online or by mail. Corporations and LLCs register assumed names with the Texas Secretary of State instead.
Get a federal EIN if you need one
An EIN is needed if you hire employees or operate as a corporation or partnership. It is free from the IRS; be wary of sites that charge for one.
Get a Texas sales and use tax permit
If you sell taxable items in Texas, you need a sales and use tax permit from the Comptroller. You can apply online through eSystems; the Comptroller says to allow 2–3 weeks to receive it.
Understand mixed beverage taxes if you'll serve alcohol
With a mixed beverage permit, your alcohol sales are subject to mixed beverage gross receipts tax and mixed beverage sales tax, and you still need a sales tax permit. Wine-and-beer or beer-only on-premise holders owe only sales tax on those sales.
Your site
Find a location where your business is allowed.
Check zoning and the space's certificate of occupancy
Before you sign, ask Development Services for the property's existing certificate of occupancy. If your restaurant is a different use, you may need the Change of Use process for an updated CO; you can book a Land Use Assistance appointment with zoning questions.
Review your lease before you sign
Confirm the lease allows a restaurant and check who pays for build-out and upgrades. Consider having a lawyer review it; OpeningIQ can’t give legal advice.
Plan for accessibility
Businesses open to the public must follow the ADA. New construction and alterations must be accessible, and barriers in existing spaces must be removed where that’s readily achievable. Small businesses may qualify for a tax credit.
Plans, permits and build-out
Get the approvals to build out and prepare the space.
Get a commercial building permit for your build-out
Remodels, tenant finish-outs, and changes of use need a commercial building permit. Apply through the Austin Build + Connect (AB+C) portal; reviews can include building, electrical, mechanical, plumbing, fire, and health.
Get Austin Public Health food plan review
Austin Public Health must review your food establishment plans against health and safety rules. Inside the City of Austin, you apply online through Austin Development Services.
Austin Public Health, Environmental Health Services Division ↗
Install a grease interceptor approved by Austin Water
Food preparation businesses in Austin must have a grease interceptor approved by Austin Water. Places serving only pre-packaged food or drinks may request a variance.
Pass Austin Fire construction inspections
Austin Fire inspects new construction and remodels, and these inspections must be passed before you can occupy the space. Request inspections online; the Fire Marshal's Office requires payment in advance through the AB+C portal.
Pass the Austin Public Health pre-opening inspection
After new or remodeled construction, you need a health pre-opening inspection to get a certificate of occupancy. It checks that approved plans were followed and equipment works.
Austin Public Health, Environmental Health Services Division ↗
Get your certificate of occupancy
Development Services issues a certificate of occupancy after a successful final inspection for new construction or significant renovations. A temporary certificate may let you occupy before the final one.
Get a sidewalk café permit for outdoor seating
To put seating on the sidewalk or in parking spaces in front of your restaurant, apply for a right-of-way sidewalk café permit in the AB+C portal. If you serve alcohol there, you need $1,000,000 liquor liability insurance and a copy of your TABC permit.
Austin Transportation and Public Works, Right-of-Way Division ↗
Get a sign permit for outdoor signs
Austin requires a sign permit for outdoor signage; some signs are exempt. Apply in the AB+C portal; illuminated signs need a registered electrical sign contractor and inspection, and permits renew annually.
Licenses
Get the licenses that let you open.
Have a certified food manager on site at all times
Austin requires at least one Certified Food Manager on site during all operating hours, with the certificate posted prominently. Food-handling employees need an accredited food handler certificate within 30 days of hire.
Austin Public Health, Environmental Health Services Division ↗
Apply for a TABC permit or license to serve alcohol
Apply through TABC's AIMS system for the right on-premise permit (e.g., Mixed Beverage, Wine and Malt Beverage Retailer's, or Beer On-Premise). Complete the public notice, publisher's affidavit, and city, county, and state certificates; TABC says issuing can take 30–35 days after a complete application.
Choose the right TABC on-premise permit type
A Mixed Beverage permit (MB) covers spirits, wine, and beer on-premise; a Wine and Malt Beverage Retailer's permit (BG) covers wine and beer; a Retail Dealer's On-Premise license (BE) covers beer. Restaurants may also qualify for a Food and Beverage Certificate.
Post TABC's 60-Day Sign at a new location
If your location wasn't licensed by TABC for on-premises consumption in the prior two years, you must post the 60-Day Sign outdoors, visible to the public, for 60 days before TABC can issue your permit. You may post it before you apply.
Get your Austin Public Health operational food permit
You need an Operational Permit from Austin Public Health to legally operate a food business. Apply online through My Health Department, in person, or by mail; the fee depends on your gross annual sales.
Austin Public Health, Environmental Health Services Division ↗
Get City of Austin sign-off on your TABC application
To sell alcohol in Austin, your TABC application needs City certification: call the City Clerk's Office for a tracking number, pass a Development Services zoning review, then get the Clerk's signature. Sales are generally barred within 300 feet of churches, schools, and public hospitals.
Register with TTB before you sell alcohol
Businesses that sell alcohol must register with the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau before they start, for each location, and keep records of the alcohol they buy.
Get ready to open
Cover people, insurance and suppliers.
Make sure food employees finish food handler training
Texas rules say all food employees must complete an accredited food handler training course within 30 days of employment. Accredited food handler cards are recognized statewide.
Register with TWC for state unemployment tax
Once you pay $1,500 or more in gross wages in a calendar quarter, or have at least one employee in 20 different weeks of a year, you're a liable employer and must register with TWC within ten days, using its Unemployment Tax Registration (UTR) system.
Decide on workers' comp — and notify if you opt out
Most Texas private employers can choose not to carry workers' comp. If you don't, file a notice of no coverage with DWC after hiring your first employee and yearly (Feb 1–Apr 30), post a no-coverage notice for employees, and give new hires written notice.
Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers' Compensation ↗
If you’ll hire, set up federal payroll taxes
Withhold federal income tax using each employee’s Form W-4, pay Social Security and Medicare taxes, and pay federal unemployment (FUTA) tax, which isn’t withheld from pay.
Complete Form I-9 for every hire
Employers verify each new employee’s identity and authorization to work on Form I-9 and keep it on file.
Report new hires to your state
Report each new employee to your state’s new hire directory within 20 days of hiring; some states require it sooner.
Put up required workplace posters
Which federal posters you need depends on the laws that cover you; the Labor Department’s free Poster Advisor tells you. States have their own posters too.
Arrange business insurance
Ask an insurance broker what coverage your lease, lender and licenses call for. This is an OpeningIQ suggestion, not an agency requirement.
Line up equipment, POS and food suppliers
Get quotes early and compare delivery, payment and support terms. Your budget should guide the choices.
Check every approval is in hand
Gather your permits, licenses, certificate of occupancy and certificates in one place, and confirm each matches your address and business name.
Open and stay current
Keep licenses, permits and filings current.
Renew permits and keep up inspections and grease pumping
Your health permit expires one year after issue; the city mails a renewal notice 45 days before. Have a city-permitted hauler pump your grease trap at least every 90 days and keep manifests for three years; kitchen hood systems need 6-month reports.
Austin Public Health, Environmental Health Services Division ↗
Track these steps in a free private plan
Save your progress, notes and target dates, and see your next step at a glance. Your plan stays private and is never shared with suppliers.