Dallas · Dallas County · Restaurant & Café Build-Out
Restaurant & Café Build-Out Contractor in Dallas, TX
Written scope and locked price before any deposit. Permits and inspections handled.
Priced per project after a site walk · One-year workmanship warranty
Free site visit · written scope · lump-sum price
Rated 5.0 on Google$1M GL + $1M Umbrella1-year workmanship warranty
Delivered work · Office reception · DFW
Get a written estimate
Four fields. We call back within one business day to set up the site visit.
A restaurant or café in Dallas can go into service retail and restaurant space on Lower Greenville, in Bishop Arts and in Oak Lawn, or second-generation suites in Deep Ellum and the Design District, and which one you sign changes the budget more than the concept does. The single largest factor is whether the hood, the grease interceptor and the gas are already in the space and can stay. A second-generation kitchen that keeps them is a remodel; a shell without them is a build. In Dallas, the work we quote most includes restaurants, cafes and bar concepts.
Dallas review runs longer than the suburbs around it, so the schedule risk on a Dallas job sits in the review queue rather than in the field. A restaurant carries two reviews rather than one: the building permit and the health authority's plan review. Both are filed in the first week and run together.
Published Rates
Restaurant & Café Build-Out pricing in Dallas
All-in pricing covering labor, materials, permits, inspections, and project management. Brand signage, FF&E, and IT/AV cabling are separate line items called out in the written scope.
| Scope band | Rate | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Cafe or coffee refresh, second-generation food space | $45 to $90/SF | Cosmetic and finish refresh where the core systems already exist. |
| Cafe or bakery in a vanilla shell, no Type I hood | $140 to $200/SF | Cafe or bakery inside a landlord-delivered shell. No Type I hood. |
| Full-service restaurant, second-generation remodel | $100 to $160/SF | Remodel of existing restaurant infrastructure. |
| Full-service restaurant build-out from shell | $265 to $380/SF | Full kitchen and dining room from shell, front and back of house. |
Final number depends on the specifics of your Dallas space. See the full restaurant & café build-out scope across DFW, or what a commercial remodel costs in Dallas.
Permitting in Dallas
Commercial tenant improvements in Dallas permit through the City of Dallas, with separate mechanical, electrical and plumbing permits depending on scope. Dallas review runs at the long end of the three to four weeks we see across our markets, or past it, so we pre-file and quote the schedule with the queue in it.
What the price includes
- Type I hood system priced at $45,000 to $75,000 and exterior grease interceptor at $20,000 to $45,000 where the menu needs them
- Health review and city inspections sequenced together, not one after the other
- Permit filing and City of Dallas inspection scheduling
- Freight elevator, loading dock and after-hours access booked with building management
- One-year workmanship warranty
Restaurant & Café Build-Out in Dallas: common questions
What does a restaurant or café build-out cost in Dallas?
The rate does not change between Dallas and the suburbs. What changes is the building and the queue. Cafe or coffee refresh, second-generation food space runs $45 to $90/SF, Cafe or bakery in a vanilla shell, no Type I hood runs $140 to $200/SF, Full-service restaurant, second-generation remodel runs $100 to $160/SF, and Full-service restaurant build-out from shell runs $265 to $380/SF. These are budgeting ranges, not a quote: scope moves the number more than square footage does, and every job is scoped and priced per project after a site walk. Permits and standard city inspections are in the price. FF&E, design and engineering, landlord fees and the category adders are priced separately and named in the written scope.
Who permits a restaurant or café build-out in Dallas?
The City of Dallas issues the building permit, and the trade permits follow the scope. A food concept goes through the health authority's plan review as well as the building permit, and the two run together rather than in sequence. A build-out that clears the building permit and fails health review is a six-week problem.
How does a storefront on Lower Greenville, in Bishop Arts or in Oak Lawn compare with a suite in Deep Ellum or the Design District for a restaurant or café build-out?
On Lower Greenville, in Bishop Arts and in Oak Lawn, older storefront kitchens raise the questions that are most expensive to answer late: grease waste routing, make-up air, and how much of the existing kitchen can be kept. In Deep Ellum and the Design District, a second-generation restaurant remodel runs $100 to $160/SF when the hood, interceptor and gas are in place and stay. We confirm which one you are looking at on the walk, before you budget.
Can a Dallas café avoid a Type I hood?
Sometimes, and it is worth settling early because a Type I hood system runs $45,000 to $75,000 on the published card. A hood is required for appliances that produce grease vapor and are not UL 710B listed or ventless. If the menu works with electric ovens and espresso and nothing that renders fat, a café can build without one, but that decision has to be made before the equipment schedule is set.
When does a Dallas restaurant or café build-out need a TDLR accessibility review?
When construction cost passes $50,000. At that point the project is registered with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation and reviewed against the Texas Accessibility Standards by a registered accessibility specialist, and the registration goes in before the permit application. It is a common reason a Dallas job quoted at four weeks of field work takes three months start to finish, and it is in the written scope when it applies.
Everything we do in Dallas
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Prefer to give us the details now?
Tell us the space, scope, and target start date. We'll visit your Dallas, TX site and send back a written scope within 5 business days, no deposit until you approve it.
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