Running a food truck, cart or small food brand

Commissaries: where trucks resupply

Every permitted truck and cart in California works out of an approved commissary: a licensed depot where it parks overnight, takes on fresh water and supplies, dumps wastewater and grease, and gets cleaned. Operators sign a commissary agreement before they can get a health permit, and inspectors check the commissary along with the truck. Commissaries are clustered in the industrial strips of Rosemead, Sun Valley, East LA and South LA. Paleta and ice cream trucks use their own set of commissaries.

These are LA County Environmental Health's published lists, last revised in January 2021 (trucks) and January 2023 (ice cream). Some may have changed hands or closed, so call before you go. Trucks permitted in Pasadena use these same depots.

Original lists from LA County: food truck commissaries (PDF) · ice cream commissaries (PDF)

Food truck commissaries

Ice cream and paleta commissaries

Getting a health permit

Which office depends on where you sell. Pasadena, Long Beach and Vernon run their own health departments. Everywhere else in LA County, including the rest of the San Gabriel Valley, Glendale and Burbank, permits come from LA County Environmental Health. Selling in both Pasadena and the county means a permit from each.

LA County: the steps for a new truck

1. Plan check. Before you build or convert a truck, send the Plan Check Program a health permit application, a plan check request, the truck's plans, a standard operating procedure with your menu, your commissary contract, proof of ownership and the plan check fee.
2. Route and food handler cards. Submit where the truck will operate, plus food handler cards from an ANSI-accredited provider.
3. Build to the approved plans, then book an inspection of the truck and your commissary.
4. Pass and pay. When the truck passes, you get an approval letter and can start right away; the annual permit fee is due then.

Pasadena

Plan check is required for every new food truck and cart. Printed plans go in person to Environmental Health at 1845 N Fair Oaks Ave, with the review fee; first review takes up to 20 business days and resubmittals up to 10. Don't build until plans are approved. Health permit applications are filed online through the city's permit portal, by the business owner, with formation documents and the owner's driver's license. Call (626) 744-6004 to confirm hours before going in.

Other paperwork

• A business license from each city where you sell.
• A California seller's permit from the CDTFA for sales tax.
• Food handler cards for everyone who handles food.
• Cities may require their own vending, parking or fire permits, especially for propane and events; check with each city first.

Buying a used truck

• A health permit doesn't come with the truck. In LA County, a new owner applies for a new permit, pays the permit fee plus a site evaluation fee, books a “change of ownership” inspection, and submits route information and food handler cards. If the truck passes, the new permit sticker is issued on the spot.
• Ask for the approved plans and the latest inspection report. A truck that was built and permitted in LA County is the easiest to re-permit; one built elsewhere, or changed since approval, may need a full plan check.
• Line up a commissary before you buy. You'll need the agreement to apply.
• Check where you plan to sell. Pasadena and the county permit separately, and some cities limit where and when trucks can park.

Street vendors and carts

Since California's SB 972 took effect in 2023, carts can be permitted as compact mobile food operations, with simpler equipment rules and lower fees than trucks (see the county fees above). Carts still need a commissary or approved kitchen and a health permit.

• In Pasadena, sidewalk vendors also need a sidewalk vending permit from Public Works (Municipal Code chapter 12.10). The permit takes a Pasadena health permit for food, a business license and insurance, and lasts 12 months. Vending isn't allowed in Old Pasadena, South Lake or the Playhouse district, on Walnut or Union streets, near farmers markets and special events, or within 100 feet of a school or another vendor. Hours run dawn to dusk in residential areas and 7 am to 10 pm elsewhere; stationary carts can't set up in residential-only zones.
• In unincorporated LA County (Altadena, East Pasadena, unincorporated Arcadia and other pockets), vendors register with the county's Department of Economic Opportunity. It also subsidizes cart and home kitchen (MEHKO) health permits and runs a free cart program: in January 2026 the county and the City of LA announced at least 281 health-code-compliant carts, given by monthly lottery to self-employed vendors who make under $75,000 a year from vending.
• In the City of LA, vending permits come from the city's own program.

Bottling, canning and private label

For a sauce, salsa, jam or spice blend you want to sell in jars, whether off the truck, at farmers markets or in shops: a co-packer makes and packs your recipe under your label in a licensed plant, and private label means putting your brand on a product the maker already produces. Either way, the plant handles the state food processing paperwork that home kitchens and truck permits don't cover.

Making it yourself

• Home kitchen (cottage food): California lets you make foods on the state's approved list at home, such as jams and jellies, baked goods and dried mixes, after registering with your local health department and taking a short training. Class A sells directly to customers, up to $75,000 a year; Class B can also sell through shops and restaurants, up to $150,000. Most sauces, salsas and anything that needs refrigeration aren't on the list. Pasadena residents register with the City of Pasadena; elsewhere it's LA County.
• Shared commercial kitchens rent by the hour or month, and can also serve as the approved kitchen behind a catering business or cart. Several are listed in Pasadena.

Who to call