How Much It Costs to Open a Restaurant in Texas in 2026

Those are the real planning numbers, and they’re wide for a reason. A 1,200-square-foot donut shop moving into a former sandwich space and a 4,000-square-foot sushi bar cut from a bare shell are both “opening a restaurant,” and they’re $500,000 apart. This guide breaks the number into the pieces a lender or landlord will ask about, with Dallas-Fort Worth figures where they differ from the national ones.

Restaurant Headquarters has designed, fabricated, and built more than 1,000 restaurants across DFW since 1992, and we sell the equipment that goes into them. The figures below come from published 2026 cost data, city and state fee schedules, and what our own projects have run.

Restaurant Startup Costs by Line Item

The all-in number is the sum of nine buckets, and the build-out and the kitchen are usually more than half of it. Here’s the range for each, with the Dallas-Fort Worth figure where it differs from the national one.

Sources: RestaurantOwner.com survey of independent restaurant owners, 2026 Dallas-Fort Worth contractor pricing, the City of Dallas fee schedule, and the TABC license and permit fee chart.

Restaurant Build-Out Cost in Dallas-Fort Worth

A restaurant build-out in Dallas-Fort Worth costs about $225 per square foot for a light refresh of a former restaurant and $475 per square foot for a standard build-out of raw retail space, with heavy and high-end work reaching $650 to $800. The condition of the space you lease matters more than any finish choice you’ll make.

Tiers reflect 2026 Dallas-Fort Worth contractor pricing. Published Texas-wide averages of $200 to $375 per square foot sit inside the same range.

Why second-generation space saves six figures

A Type 1 hood, a grease interceptor, floor drains, and the gas and electrical service a kitchen needs are the expensive, invisible half of a build-out. When the previous tenant was a restaurant, much of that’s already in the walls and the floor, and it’s the difference between the $225 and $475 lines above. Even when a new concept changes everything the guest sees, starting from restaurant space helps. Our Zumi Modern Sushi project in Southlake took over a former fast-casual salad restaurant: the lighting, finishes, and kitchen layout were all replaced and both bars were built from scratch, but the project started from a space already zoned and plumbed as a restaurant.

What per-square-foot numbers leave out

Hard-cost figures cover construction. They don’t include kitchen equipment, furniture and fixtures, design and engineering fees, or the permits themselves, which is why two builders can quote the same square footage and land $150,000 apart. Ask any estimate whether equipment and FF&E are inside the number. At RHQ they are, because the same team designs the space, fabricates the millwork and stainless, and supplies the equipment, so the quote is one number rather than four.

Commercial Kitchen Equipment Budgets

Kitchen equipment for a new restaurant runs $40,000 to $150,000 for most independent concepts and passes $200,000 for full-service kitchens with more than one cook line. Ventilation is the line that surprises first-time owners: a Type 1 hood with fire suppression and make-up air adds $20,000 to $60,000 before the first piece of cooking equipment arrives.

• Ventilation and fire suppression: $20,000 to $60,000. Sized to the cook line, so settle the menu first.
• Refrigeration: $10,000 to $40,000. Walk-in cooler, reach-ins, and prep tables. See our commercial refrigeration range.
• Cook line: $15,000 to $60,000. Ranges, fryers, griddles, ovens. Gas usually costs less to run; electric can cost less to install where gas service is limited. Browse cooking equipment.
• Ice, beverage, dish: $8,000 to $30,000. An ice machine sized to the seat count, a dish machine, and beverage stations. Start with commercial ice machines.
• Stainless and prep: $5,000 to $25,000. Tables, sinks, shelving, and custom stainless that RHQ fabricates in-house.

Two Texas-specific notes. Combined sales tax in Dallas is 8.25%, so a $100,000 equipment order carries $8,250 in tax that most national calculators skip. And equipment can be financed separately from the build, which is how many operators keep the opening budget inside the lease timeline; see restaurant equipment financing. Our commercial kitchen design team lays out the line, the hood, and the walk-in together so the equipment list and the ventilation are sized once.

Texas and Dallas Permits, Licenses, and Fees

Permits and licenses for a restaurant in Dallas run about $3,000 to $15,000 before alcohol once insurance is included, and a Texas Mixed Beverage Permit adds $5,300. The fees themselves are small next to the build; the cost is in the time they take, which is why they belong in the schedule from day one.

Fees from Dallas Consumer Health, the Dallas Development Services fee schedule, the TABC fee chart in effect since September 2021, and the Texas Comptroller. Suburbs such as Plano, Garland, and Southlake set their own health and permit fees.

Three Worked Examples

The fastest way to see where your project lands is to price a few common DFW scenarios with the ranges above. These are planning ranges built from published 2026 cost data, not quotes.

Franchise donut shop, 1,200 sq ft, second-generation space

• Build-out at $225 to $325 per sq ft: $270,000 to $390,000
• Soft costs at 12% to 20%: $32,000 to $78,000
• Kitchen equipment and stainless: $60,000 to $110,000
• Furniture, fixtures, signage: $50,000 to $100,000
• Permits, insurance, POS, opening inventory: $20,000 to $45,000
• Working capital, three months: $60,000 to $90,000

Planning total: about $490,000 to $815,000, with the franchise fee on top. Our Shipley Do-Nuts build-out in Garland was this kind of project, delivered in six weeks against a typical twelve to sixteen.

Fast-casual, 2,200 sq ft, former retail shell

• Build-out at $475 per sq ft: about $1,045,000
• Soft costs: $125,000 to $210,000
• Kitchen equipment with new hood and grease interceptor: $110,000 to $180,000
• Furniture, fixtures, decor: $90,000 to $175,000
• Permits, insurance, POS, inventory: $25,000 to $55,000
• Working capital, four months: $120,000 to $180,000

Planning total: about $1.5 million to $1.85 million. The shell conversion is what moves this one; the same concept in second-generation space drops the build-out line by roughly half.

Full-service sushi and bar, 3,800 sq ft, second-generation remodel

• Build-out at $325 to $650 per sq ft: $1,235,000 to $2,470,000
• Soft costs: $150,000 to $490,000
• Kitchen, sushi bar, wet bar equipment: $150,000 to $260,000
• Furniture, fixtures, custom millwork, lighting: $150,000 to $450,000
• TABC Mixed Beverage Permit, other permits, insurance, POS, inventory: $40,000 to $80,000
• Working capital, six months: $300,000 to $450,000

Planning total: about $2 million to $4.2 million. The spread is the finish level. Custom waterjet panels, a lighting design pass, and two bars built from scratch, as in the Zumi project, sit in the upper half of the build-out range. Zumi holds a 4.8-star Google rating.

Most of these totals are financeable in pieces. Equipment is the easiest line to finance because the equipment is the collateral, which leaves the cash for the build and the working capital. See financing options before you set the budget.

How Long the Build Takes

A typical restaurant build-out in Dallas-Fort Worth takes twelve to sixteen weeks from the first day on site to keys, after permits are in hand, and permits can add four to twelve weeks in front of that. Every week the schedule slips costs a month of rent without revenue, so timeline is a cost line, not a footnote.

Two things shorten it. Second-generation space cuts the permit scope and the MEP work. And in-house fabrication removes the vendor queue: when the millwork, stainless, and waterjet pieces are built in the same shop that’s running the site, they’re produced while the space is being prepped instead of after. That’s how our Shipley Do-Nuts location opened in six weeks and how Sweet Hut’s interior and exterior redesign in Plano finished in four months.

Where the Budget Stretches

The budget stretches furthest on the decisions made before construction starts, not on finish substitutions made during it. These are the ones that move six figures.

• Lease second-generation space if the concept allows it. The hood, grease trap, and utilities are the most expensive things you’ll never see.
• Settle the menu before the kitchen is designed. The hood is sized to the cook line; changing the line after the hood is ordered is a redesign, not an edit.
• Price the build and the equipment together. Separate contractors and separate suppliers each carry their own margin and their own schedule. One quote removes the handoffs.
• Finance the equipment so the opening budget covers the build and the working capital.
• Hold 10% to 20% in contingency and three to six months of operating cash. Running short of cash in the first year is a more common reason for closing than construction cost.
• Plan the permit path in week one. Health plan review, building permit, certificate of occupancy, and TABC each run on their own clock, and the slowest one sets your opening date.

Frequently Asked Questions

Price the Whole Project With One Team

The number that matters is the one that includes the build, the kitchen, the furniture, and the schedule. Restaurant Headquarters designs the space, fabricates the millwork and stainless in-house, supplies the equipment, and builds it, across Dallas, Plano, Garland, McKinney, Southlake, and the rest of DFW. Request a free quote with your floor plan or address, or call (972) 487-8888, and we’ll tell you where your project lands and what changes it.