Fort Worth · Tarrant County · Restaurant & Café Build-Out
Restaurant & Café Build-Out Contractor in Fort Worth, 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 · Medical-dental 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 Fort Worth can go into older second-generation suites on the Near Southside and the Magnolia corridor, or newer shell and newer finish-outs at West 7th, Clearfork and along the Alliance corridor, 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 Fort Worth, the work we quote most includes restaurants, taprooms and cafe concepts.
Parts of Fort Worth sit inside design or historic overlay districts, where a review step comes before the building permit, so which overlay a suite falls in is the first thing we check. A restaurant usually wants a new storefront and signage, and those are exactly what the review looks at, so the submittal is prepared with the permit drawings rather than after them.
Published Rates
Restaurant & Café Build-Out pricing in Fort Worth
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 Fort Worth space. See the full restaurant & café build-out scope across DFW, or what a commercial remodel costs in Fort Worth.
Permitting in Fort Worth
Commercial tenant improvements in Fort Worth permit through the City of Fort Worth, with separate mechanical, electrical and plumbing permits depending on scope. Where a design or historic overlay applies, its review comes before the building permit, and it moves the schedule rather than the price.
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 Fort Worth inspection scheduling
- Overlay check on the walk, and the design review submittal where one applies
- One-year workmanship warranty
Restaurant & Café Build-Out in Fort Worth: common questions
What does a restaurant or café build-out cost in Fort Worth?
What makes a Fort Worth number land where it does is the building stock, which runs from century-old Near Southside space to new shell at Clearfork and Alliance, and whether the address sits inside a design overlay. 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 Fort Worth?
The City of Fort Worth 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 suite on the Near Southside or the Magnolia corridor compare with a newer space at West 7th, Clearfork or on the Alliance corridor for a restaurant or café build-out?
On the Near Southside and the Magnolia corridor, 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. At West 7th, Clearfork and along the Alliance corridor, a second-generation restaurant bay may carry a hood and interceptor that stay, or a bay that was never a kitchen needs both, plus gas and floor drains. We confirm which one you are looking at on the walk, before you budget.
Can you refresh only the front of house in Fort Worth?
Yes. A front-of-house refresh (paint, flooring, lighting and fixture swaps) prices on the cafe refresh range, $45 to $90/SF, and is sequenced around service hours, typically overnight or in one-day-closed weeks, so revenue keeps coming in.
Does a Fort Worth restaurant need design review before the building permit?
It depends on the overlay the address sits in, and that is the first thing we check rather than the last. Design and historic overlay districts add a review step ahead of the building permit. It costs schedule, not price, and it is the single most common reason a Fort Worth build-out misses a lease commencement date. Where it applies, the submittal and the back-and-forth with the city are ours.
Everything we do in Fort Worth
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Tell us the space, scope, and target start date. We'll visit your Fort Worth, TX site and send back a written scope within 5 business days, no deposit until you approve it.
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