Austin Coffee Shop with Patio and Beer/Wine: 14 Permits Still Needed, Critical Path Is the City-Certified TABC Permit

Executive Summary

Read as: you are opening a coffee shop with outdoor seating and on-site beer and wine sales at a leased space in the City of Austin, Texas, with the LLC and EIN done and no sales tax permit yet. I assumed the site is inside Austin city limits and that the patio is on or next to the leased premises. Both assumptions are listed under open questions.

I count 14 items still needed (LLC and EIN are done), and the critical-path item is the TABC Wine and Malt Beverage Retailer's Permit (BG): it needs a City Clerk signature that only follows an Austin zoning review, and TABC says a new license can take 30 to 35 days from a complete application. The building-side chain (change of use, health plan review, certificate of occupancy, health permit) runs in parallel and decides your opening date.

This is not legal advice; confirm each item with the issuing agency. Fees below are the published amounts I found, with their dates. Where I found no current figure, the table says Unknown.

Checklist: what you need, by level

#	Item	Level	Agency	Rule / basis	Needed when	Fee	Typical time	Status	Link
1	LLC formation	State	Secretary of State	Not re-verified	Done	n/a	n/a	have	n/a
2	EIN	National	IRS	Not re-verified	Done	n/a	n/a	have	n/a
3	Texas sales and use tax permit	State	Comptroller of Public Accounts	Comptroller permit FAQ: required if you sell tangible personal property or taxable services	Before first sale	No fee, but a security bond may be required	Unknown	needed	Permit FAQ
4	Unemployment tax account	State	Texas Workforce Commission	TWC liability rules: register within ten days of becoming liable	If you pay wages (liable at $1,500 gross wages in a quarter or one employee in 20 weeks)	Unknown	Unknown	needed (if hiring)	TWC liability page
5	TABC Wine and Malt Beverage Retailer's Permit (BG)	Regulator	Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission	BG authorizes wine and malt beverage sales for on- and off-premise consumption	Before any alcohol is sold	$903 listed for "all other counties" in TABC's Sept. 2021 fee notice; current fee not confirmed	30 to 35 days from a complete application	needed	TABC new licenses
6	City of Austin alcohol certification (City Clerk signature on TABC application)	City	Austin Development Services / City Clerk	Certification follows an Austin zoning review	After AIMS filing, before TABC issues	New Zoning Review fees start Oct. 1, 2026; amount not stated on that page; a line "TABC Permission (TX Alcoholic Beverage Commission)" at $481.73 appears in the city's fee document, which I infer may be this fee (unconfirmed)	Unknown	needed	Austin alcohol permits
7	Zoning and distance check for alcohol	City	Austin Development Services	No sales within 300 feet of a church, school or public hospital; no on-site sales without a food and beverage certificate within 300 feet of a daycare	Before signing off the TABC filing	Included in item 6	Unknown	needed	Austin alcohol permits
8	Change of use / Certificate of Occupancy	City	Austin Development Services	Change of Use may be needed to update the Certificate of Occupancy	Before opening, if prior use differs	Unknown	Reviews cut from 11 disciplines to three on Oct. 1, 2025, typically about two weeks instead of two months	needed (if use changes)	Small business permitting
9	Commercial building permit (if you build out)	City	Austin Development Services	Required to construct, alter or repair a building	Before any buildout	Unknown	Unknown	needed (if buildout)	Commercial plan review
10	Food Enterprise plan review	City	Development Services, with Austin Public Health	Required for new construction and remodels	Before buildout	Remodel under 2,500 sq ft $221; new construction $312	Unknown	needed	Fixed food establishments
11	Pre-opening health inspection	City	Austin Public Health	Required for all new establishments; must pass before a permit issues	After buildout, before opening	$178 (FY2025-26 schedule)	Unknown	needed	Fixed food establishments
12	Food Enterprise operating permit (annual)	City	Austin Public Health	Issued after pre-opening approval; renew annually	Before opening; renew annually	$309 under $50,000 annual food sales, $618 for $50,000 to $149,999.99, $927 for $150,000 or more (FY2025-26)	Unknown	needed	Fixed food establishments
13	Fire plan review and patio inspection	City	Austin Fire Department	Fire Marshal's Office does plan review and fire inspections under the 2024 IFC with local amendments	Before opening; patio before use	Unknown	Unknown	needed	Fire Marshal's Office
14	Patio authorization (only if patio is in a parking lot)	City	Development Services (Entertainment and Permitting Services), AFD	Parking Lot Patio Permit: one-year term, balustrades or planters required if serving alcohol, no tents or permanent structures	Before opening the patio	Unknown (city says to ask staff)	Unknown	needed (if applicable)	Parking Lot Patio Permit
15	TABC temporary modification of licensed premises	Regulator	TABC	City recommends completing it before modifying a patio where alcohol is served	Before building the patio, if alcohol is served there	Unknown	Unknown	needed (if applicable)	TABC licenses
16	Seller/server certification for staff	Regulator	TABC	Strongly recommended, not stated as mandatory; may protect the employer under the Safe Harbor law	Before staff sell beer or wine	Unknown (school-set)	About two hours online	needed (recommended)	TABC certification

The table has 16 rows, including the two completed items, which leaves 14 to do. Rows 9, 14 and 15 depend on facts I do not have (see open questions), so the real count may be lower.

KEY TAKEAWAY: The alcohol chain (items 5 to 7) and the building chain (items 8 to 13) are independent, and your opening date is whichever finishes last.

Order of operations

Sales tax permit (item 3). It has no fee and no dependency beyond your existing EIN and LLC, so file it first.
Confirm zoning and the 300-foot rule (item 7). Do this before spending on buildout, because a failed distance test blocks the alcohol permit. Austin's Land Use Assistance appointments are the city's route for zoning questions.
Change of use and plan reviews (items 8, 9, 10, 13). Submit through Development Services. Health plan review is filed there for sites inside the city, per the health department page.
TABC application in AIMS (item 5), then call the City Clerk (item 6). The city's process is: file in AIMS, then call the Clerk's office to start approval and signature. Item 6 depends on item 7.
Patio steps (items 14, 15). Get TABC premises approval before building a patio where alcohol will be served.
Buildout, then pre-opening health inspection and fire final inspection (items 11, 13), then operating permit (item 12) and certificate of occupancy. The health page says the pre-opening inspection is required to obtain a Certificate of Occupancy.
Staff certification and unemployment tax account (items 16, 4) before the first shift.

Open questions and conditional triggers

Is the address inside Austin city limits? The health department routes plan review by jurisdiction: City of Austin sites go through Development Services, unincorporated Travis County through Austin Public Health. A county or other-city address changes items 6 to 14.
Is the patio inside your lease line, on a sidewalk, or in a parking lot? Only a parking-lot patio is covered by the Parking Lot Patio Permit. I did not find the sidewalk or right-of-way permit rules, so that case is unmapped.
Will food be 51% or more of gross income? Austin defines a restaurant that may serve alcohol as one deriving at least 51% of gross income from prepared food. A coffee-and-pastry shop with beer and wine should check which use category it falls in.
Do you want to serve between midnight and 2 a.m.? That needs a Late-hours Permit from TABC. I assumed no.
Is the space already a restaurant use? If yes, the change-of-use step (item 8) may fall away. Unknown until you check the existing certificate of occupancy.
Will you hire? Item 4 triggers on the TWC thresholds.
Amplified music on the patio? The city requires an Outdoor Music Venue permit for amplified sound on a parking-lot patio.
Will you sell packaged coffee, merchandise or food? All are covered by the sales tax permit once you sell taxable goods or services, per the Comptroller.

Recent changes that affect timing and cost

1 October 2026: New Zoning Review fees for alcoholic beverage applications and a new web-form application take effect. The amount is not stated on that page.
1 October 2025: Austin cut change-of-use reviews from 11 disciplines to three.
10 July 2025: Austin adopted the 2024 International Fire Code with local amendments, and the 2012 Fire Protection Criteria Manual remains interim guidance while it is revised.
Enforcement: I did not find a dated TABC or Austin enforcement action specific to coffee shops in the last 24 months, so I list none.

Do next

File the Comptroller sales tax permit application this week.
Book a Land Use Assistance appointment to confirm zoning, the 300-foot test, and whether change of use is needed.
Ask Entertainment and Permitting Services (512-974-2686, per the patio page) about the patio type and fees.
Open your AIMS account and prepare the BG application, then call the City Clerk (512-974-2210) once it is filed.
Confirm the current BG fee with TABC, because the only figure I found is from 2021.

Coverage note

I did not verify federal items (for example I-9 and federal payroll deposits), Texas franchise tax, local sales tax rates, the Austin sidewalk/right-of-way patio rules, signage, or the TABC fee chart's current amounts (the chart page links only to a PDF, and the one I could read is dated 2021). Health fees are from the FY2025-26 schedule; a FY2026-27 city schedule takes effect 1 October 2026 and I could not read its health-fee lines. Confirm each item with the issuing agency; this is not legal advice.