The application goes in with its fee 30 days before opening, a new or remodeled kitchen goes through plan review, and the permit is issued after a satisfactory pre-opening inspection.
This guide from Maplewood Advances in Paragould, Arkansas describes the Arkansas Department of Health retail food establishment permit application and plan review packet (both revised in 2025) and how the permit fits around kitchen financing. Confirm every requirement with the department.
Who Needs a Retail Food Establishment Permit in Arkansas, by the Form Itself
The department's Retail Food Establishment Permit Application (form EHP-99) asks the operator to check one of: mobile unit or push cart, new, remodel, new ownership of an existing facility, or incubator or contract operator of an existing facility. It then lists categories, each with its fee on the form: restaurant, food store, kiosk, retail deli or bakery, food mobile, daycare, private school, food salvage and summer feeding or afterschool, with a separate line for public and charter schools.
The form also asks for the water source (municipal water or a well), sewage disposal (municipal sewer or a septic system), the owner and a contact person.
- Will the facility serve a highly susceptible population, such as young children, the elderly or the chronically ill?
- Will it use specialized processing, such as vacuum packaging, curing, canning or pickling, and if so is there a HACCP plan?
- Is there a policy to exclude or restrict sick workers?
- Do managers or workers complete food safety training?
- Does someone with supervisory authority hold a Certified Food Safety Manager certification?
Plan Review Before a New or Remodeled Kitchen in Greene County, AR
The department's plan review packet says plans are reviewed by appointment or may be mailed to Environmental Health Protection in Little Rock. It lists what to include to avoid delays:
- A project cost estimate worksheet and the fee.
- The establishment's name and street address.
- The water source and wastewater disposal, with the municipal system's name.
- A floor plan showing the location of all kitchen equipment.
- The menu.
- Proposed standard operating procedures.
The packet notes that the Food Service Section does not review plumbing plans; those go to the department's Protective Health Codes plumbing review. A kitchen on a septic system needs written approval from the county Environmental Health Specialist. Floor, wall and ceiling finishes are part of the review, and the packet encourages photographs of an existing facility.
Retail Food Establishment Permit Arkansas Timing: Thirty Days, Plan Review and a Pre-Opening Inspection
The application is to be submitted with the fees 30 days before opening. Plan review, where it applies, comes before construction, and the packet says a pre-operational inspection is required. The application's disclaimer adds that the operator must contact the department to schedule the pre-opening inspection, and that the permit is issued once that inspection is satisfactory.
Count back from the opening date: the inspection, the build-out, the plan approval, and the equipment delivery that the financing pays for. A kitchen loan that closes before plans are approved risks paying for equipment the reviewer asks to move or change.
A Change of Owner and the Retail Food Establishment Permit in Arkansas
The application's disclaimer states that permits are not transferable to new owners or new locations, that an annual fee is billed, and that all fees are non-refundable. A buyer of an existing restaurant applies under the "new ownership of existing facility" box rather than taking over the seller's permit.
Build the new permit into the purchase timeline. The buying a business in Arkansas guide covers the other filings a buyer makes, and a funding partner reviewing a restaurant purchase may ask where the permit stands.
Retail Food Establishment Permit Arkansas: Records Restaurant Owners Keep for a Lender
- The permit itself, displayed at the establishment as the form requires.
- The plan approval letter for a new or remodeled kitchen.
- Recent inspection reports.
- Equipment quotes with model numbers matching the approved floor plan.
- The city privilege license; in Paragould the city asks for a copy of any state certification with the license application.
These records show a partner that the kitchen can open on the date the request assumes, which matters when equipment financing is timed to an opening.
Retail Food Establishment Permit Arkansas for Food Trucks and Grocery Counters
A food truck or concession trailer uses the food mobile category on the application. The plan review packet adds requirements for mobile units: the size, location and construction material of the fresh water tank and the gray water tank, and a service area agreement with the commissary prep location.
A food store or grocery counter uses the food store category, and a deli or bakery inside a store its own category. Each permit covers one establishment, so a second counter or a truck added to a restaurant is its own application.
The food truck article works through a restaurant adding a trailer.
Official Sources for Retail Food Establishment Permit Arkansas (Greene County, AR)
- Arkansas Department of Health, Retail Food Establishment Permit Application (EHP-99, revised 2025).
- Arkansas Department of Health, Plan Review Guidelines and submission forms (EHP-PR1, revised 2025).
- The Greene County, AR local health unit, which the application asks whether you have contacted.
- City of Paragould, privilege license page.
Funding for the kitchen itself is on the restaurant page and the funding types page; local counts are on the Paragould, AR page, and other guides on the guides page.
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