Food Inspections Program

The City of Gainesville's Food Inspection Program is responsible for the permitting and inspection of all permanent, mobile and temporary food service establishments located within the City of Gainesville by monitoring for compliance with local and state food safety regulations in all of those retail type food service facilities. All retail food operations - restaurants, public school cafeterias, licensed child care facilities, hotels, bars, grocery/convenience stores, farmers markets, foster care facilities, summer child nutrition feeding sites, assisted living facilities, mobile food units, licensed health care facilities, and temporary food events by law must must be inspected to obtain a permit and operate.

The goal of the City of Gainesville's Food Inspection Program is to ensure safe food service by: 

• Routine Random Inspection: This is a comprehensive, unannounced inspection during which the Department will evaluate food-borne illness risk factors, i.e. food temperatures, chemical sanitizer levels, food preparation equipment, employee hygiene, and other public health interventions to determine compliance with regulations.
• Complaint Inspection: An inspection conducted in response to a complaint. The specifics of the complaint will be evaluated and discussed with the person in charge.
• Follow-up Inspection: An inspection conducted for the specific purpose of re-inspecting items that were not in compliance at the time of the routine, or complaint inspection.
• Pre-Opening Inspection: A scheduled inspection conducted to approve the construction of a new or remodeled establishment or to evaluate an establishment prior to a change of ownership at the establishment. The pre-opening inspection process focused primarily on the physical structure of an establishment (e.g., the size, number and location of refrigerators/freezers, sinks, and food processing equipment)
• Food-Borne Illness Investigation: An inspection/ a food-borne illness investigation conducted in response to a report of a possible food-borne illness. Causes of Foodborne Illness

Food Permits

Food Establishments

Food Establishment Permit Application(PDF)

Applications and related documents can be mailed or brought to the Permit Office at 104 W Hird, Gainesville, TX 76240, or emailed to cs@cogtx.org. Fees are based on the current City of Gainesville fee schedule (available at the bottom of this page under Quick Links.)