If you’re pricing out a restaurant build-out contractor in Atlanta, the honest answer is: it depends more on your shell condition and your kitchen equipment list than on square footage alone. Below are the cost ranges published across the industry, what moves a project up or down in that range, what a per-square-foot number doesn’t include, and the permitting and timeline questions that actually determine when you open.
What Drives the Price of a Restaurant Build-Out
Two things decide the number more than anything else: what condition the space is in when you sign the lease, and how much kitchen you need.
Shell Condition Sets the Floor
Landlords hand over space in a few different states, and each one changes your starting cost:
- Cold dark shell — bare concrete, no HVAC, no plumbing stubbed, sometimes no exterior walls finished. You’re building everything.
- Warm vanilla shell — HVAC and utilities roughed to the space, restrooms may exist, floor is finished. Less demo, faster permitting.
- Second-generation restaurant — a space that was already a restaurant. Grease trap, hood, and some equipment may already be in place. Cheapest path if the layout works for your concept, expensive fast if it doesn’t.
Kitchen Equipment and Hoods Move the Number Most
A back-of-house with a Type I hood, ansul suppression, walk-in cooler, grease interceptor, and gas line work can cost more than the entire dining room build-out. A coffee shop with no hood and a warming line is a different project than a full-service kitchen running a fryer line and a flat top. Every Type I hood also needs a make-up air unit sized to replace what it exhausts, plus ansul suppression tied to a monitored fire alarm — leave that out of an early budget and the number you were quoted isn’t real yet.
Metro Atlanta Cost Ranges by Project Type
These are general market ranges published across the restaurant construction industry — not a quote from Integrity CRR, and not tied to any specific project. Every space needs its own estimate.
| Concept type | Typical range (per sq ft) |
|---|---|
| Second-gen restaurant conversion (existing hood/grease trap) | $100 – $225 |
| Quick-service / fast casual, new build-out | $200 – $350 |
| Full-service sit-down restaurant | $250 – $450 |
| Full bar with liquor license buildout | $300 – $500+ |
A 2,500 sq ft full-service restaurant landing in the middle of that range works out to roughly $750,000 in construction cost before FF&E, permitting, and design fees. A second-gen conversion of the same size could land closer to $300,000–$400,000 if the existing kitchen infrastructure is usable.
What the Per-Square-Foot Number Doesn’t Include
The ranges above are hard construction cost — walls, MEP, kitchen rough-in, finishes. Three costs regularly get left out of an early budget and then surprise owners later:
- FF&E (furniture, fixtures and equipment) — tables, chairs, POS system, smallwares, and often the cooking equipment itself if it isn’t part of the hood package. Industry estimates commonly add another $50-150/sq ft on top of construction.
- Design and architect fees — a restaurant needs stamped drawings to pull a permit, plus a kitchen equipment layout the health department reviews separately. Published ranges for restaurant design and engineering commonly run 6-10% of construction cost.
- TI allowance — most retail leases include a landlord-funded tenant improvement allowance, often quoted as a flat dollar amount per square foot. It offsets construction cost dollar for dollar but rarely covers a full kitchen build. Read the lease’s TI language before assuming it covers your hood and grease trap.
What Pushes a Project to the Top or Bottom of the Range
Pushes cost up:
- New hood and make-up air unit instead of reusing an existing one
- Grease interceptor installation where none exists (this often means cutting the parking lot or sidewalk)
- Upgraded electrical service for the kitchen load
- ADA restroom work triggered by the scope of the permit
- A liquor license buildout requiring a separate bar structure and additional plumbing
Pulls cost down:
- Reusing an existing hood, grease trap, and walk-in in a second-gen space
- A simpler menu that doesn’t need a full hot line (limited-service concepts)
- Landlord tenant improvement (TI) allowance covering part of the shell work
- Standard finish packages instead of custom millwork and specialty lighting
Permitting and Inspections in Atlanta
Restaurant build-outs carry more inspection layers than a typical office TI: building permit, health department plan review, fire marshal sign-off on the hood and suppression system, and often a separate plumbing permit for the grease interceptor. Which department reviews your plans depends on where the space sits — City of Atlanta, unincorporated Fulton, DeKalb, Cobb, and Gwinnett each run their own building and health department review on their own timeline. We work across metro Atlanta markets, and the permitting sequence is one of the first things we check before giving you a schedule. Plan review alone can run 4-8 weeks before a permit is even issued, and that’s before construction starts — budgeting for that lead time up front avoids a lease clock running against an empty space.
How Long a Restaurant Build-Out Takes
Cost is only half the planning problem — the timeline from signed lease to opening night usually runs longer than owners expect. A rough sequence for a full-service restaurant from a cold or warm shell:
- Design and permit-ready drawings: 4-8 weeks, longer if the kitchen equipment layout changes mid-design
- Plan review and permit issuance: 4-8 weeks, ideally running in parallel with equipment ordering
- Long-lead kitchen equipment (hoods, walk-ins, custom fabrication): 6-12 weeks from order to delivery
- Construction: 12-20 weeks for a full-service build-out, less for a second-gen conversion, more for a full bar or a cold dark shell
Stack those up and a full-service restaurant commonly runs 6-9 months from cold shell to opening day. A second-gen conversion with a usable hood and grease trap can move meaningfully faster if equipment lead time isn’t the bottleneck.
If your concept needs a liquor license, start that application the same week you sign the lease. Georgia liquor licensing runs on two separate tracks, state and local, and the local track alone commonly takes 60-90 days. It doesn’t wait on construction, but a licensing delay can hold up your opening just as easily as a permit delay.
Choosing a Restaurant Build-Out Contractor in Atlanta
A restaurant is one of the least forgiving build-out types to get wrong — a missed hood clearance or an undersized grease interceptor means a failed health inspection and a delayed opening. Look for a contractor who has actually pulled hood and suppression permits in the jurisdiction you’re building in, not just general commercial experience. Integrity CRR is a general contractor — we manage the subs (electrical, plumbing, hood/suppression, mechanical) and put a principal on every job, we don’t self-perform the trade work ourselves. That matters on a restaurant job because coordinating six trades around a health department and fire marshal timeline is the actual job, not swinging a hammer.
We’re based in Atlanta and licensed as a commercial GC in Georgia (#GCCO009212) and Florida (#CGC1539499). If you want to see the kind of commercial work we’ve delivered, our project gallery has examples, and you can read more about the company on our about page.
Get an Estimate
Every restaurant space is different — the only way to get a real number is a walkthrough of your specific shell and equipment list. Call us at (833) 423-6255 or reach out through our contact page and we’ll scope it with you.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a restaurant build-out cost per square foot in Atlanta?
Published industry ranges run from about $100-225/sq ft for a second-generation conversion with existing kitchen infrastructure, up to $250-500+/sq ft for a full-service restaurant or bar built from a cold shell. The biggest swing factor is whether you’re installing a new hood, suppression system, and grease interceptor or reusing what’s already there. Those ranges cover hard construction cost only — FF&E and design fees are separate.
Is it cheaper to build out a second-generation restaurant space?
Usually, yes — if the existing hood, grease trap, and walk-in cooler match your concept. If they don’t (say you’re putting a full hot line into a space that was previously a coffee shop), you can end up paying for demo and new equipment on top of the lease, which erases the savings.
What permits does a restaurant build-out need in metro Atlanta?
At minimum: a building permit, health department plan review and inspection, a fire marshal review of the hood and ansul suppression system, and typically a separate plumbing permit for the grease interceptor. Plan review alone can take 4-8 weeks depending on the jurisdiction, so it needs to be built into your opening timeline.
What’s the most expensive part of a restaurant build-out?
The kitchen, almost always. A Type I exhaust hood with make-up air, ansul fire suppression, a grease interceptor, and the gas and electrical work to support commercial cooking equipment routinely costs more than the entire front-of-house finish. Dining room build-out is comparatively predictable; kitchen infrastructure is where budgets get surprised.
How long does a restaurant build-out take from lease signing to opening?
For a full-service restaurant from a cold or warm shell, plan on roughly 6-9 months once design, permitting, long-lead kitchen equipment, and construction are stacked together. A second-gen conversion with a usable hood and grease trap can move meaningfully faster if equipment lead time isn’t holding up the schedule.
Do I need an architect for a restaurant build-out?
Yes. Metro Atlanta jurisdictions require stamped drawings to issue a building permit, and the health department separately reviews the kitchen equipment layout before sign-off. Skipping that step, or using drawings that weren’t built for the jurisdiction reviewing them, is one of the most common causes of permit delays on a restaurant project.