San Francisco supervisors back home-kitchen permits for street vendors. What the $828 permit would allow, and what it would not

The Board of Supervisors voted 11-0 on Tuesday for a program that would let residents cook at home and sell up to 90 meals a week, but a final vote, a hiring plan and a start date are still ahead.

By Celia Marroquín

For the vendors who sell fruit, snacks and prepared food along Mission Street, the rule that mattered most this year was the one that sent them to commercial kitchens. Earlier in 2026, supervisors required street food vendors to cook in a certified commissary and use a washing station. Vendors told the board that commissary space can run about $1,000 a month, and they asked for another route.

On Tuesday, Nov. 10, the board voted 11-0 for that route: an ordinance creating Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operations, known as MEHKOs, under which a resident could cook in a home kitchen and sell the food from home or from a cart. The vote took less than two minutes, without discussion, Mission Local reported.

The measure, File No. 261052, was introduced on Sept. 22 by Supervisor Jackie Fielder of District 9, with Supervisors Myrna Melgar, Shamann Walton, Bilal Mahmood, Connie Chan, Chyanne Chen and Stephen Sherrill as co-sponsors. It was amended and recommended by the Budget and Finance Committee on Nov. 4. Ordinances in San Francisco require two votes; the city’s legislative record lists this one for final passage, after which it would go to Mayor Daniel Lurie, who has praised it.

What the permit would require

The rules are set largely by the state. California has allowed counties and cities to license home kitchens since 2018, and a local program may not conflict with the state’s Retail Food Code. San Francisco’s version, according to the revised legislative digest, would work this way:

• An annual license fee of $828, and a permit issued by the Director of Public Health after an inspection by the Department of Public Health.
• Written procedures describing the foods to be sold, how ingredients will be stored and how utensils and equipment will be kept clean, plus a food safety manager certification exam for the operator.
• A cap of 30 meals a day and 90 a week. An operator who also runs up to two small carts or stands could prepare as many as 80 meals a day and 200 a week.
• Annual sales limits of $100,000 for home operations and $200,000 for those supplying carts, according to Mission Local and The San Francisco Focal, with the figure adjusted for inflation.
• Renters, and owners subject to homeowners’ association rules, would have to confirm that their lease or covenants allow the business.

“This legislation will help break down barriers for aspiring food entrepreneurs, expand economic opportunities for immigrant-owned businesses and street vendors, and preserve the diverse culinary traditions that make San Francisco so special,” Ms. Fielder said.

Mr. Lurie said in a statement that the program “creates a pathway for homegrown businesses to get their start in San Francisco, build a customer base, and potentially grow into brick-and-mortar businesses that strengthen our neighborhoods and commercial corridors.” Nuestra Causa, which represents the Food Vendors Council of San Francisco, called the vote “a major step for our community’s beloved street vendors.”

What it would cost the city

The clearest public accounting comes from the Board’s Budget and Legislative Analyst, whose Nov. 3 report to Ms. Fielder put one-time start-up and outreach costs at about $360,000. If 50 home kitchens enroll, the analyst estimated first-year costs of $462,275 and an ongoing net cost of about $33,492 a year after fees. With 100 kitchens, first-year costs would be $564,551 and the ongoing net cost about $66,983.

The health department told the analyst that its environmental health staff has no spare capacity and that it would need two new senior inspectors, at a cost of $809,166 in the 2026-27 fiscal year. The analyst concluded that a program of 50 to 100 kitchens would not keep two full-time inspectors busy.

For scale, the analyst counted 68 permitted home kitchens in Alameda County, 79 in Contra Costa, 24 in San Mateo and 180 in Santa Clara. Their fees range from $597 in Los Angeles County to $1,460 in San Mateo County. Every county the analyst surveyed reported a relatively low volume of complaints, and several said they had received fewer than they expected.

What advocates say, and what is unresolved

The COOK Alliance, an advocacy group for home-based food businesses that has pushed for these programs statewide, answered The Inquirer’s questions in writing through a representative, Lauren. “Most MEHKO regulations are established at the state level through the California Retail Food Code, including food safety requirements and meal limits,” she wrote. “San Francisco’s approach is consistent with other jurisdictions that have opted in to allow MEHKOs.”

She pointed to research the group and the CAMEO Network commissioned from independent researchers on the program’s first five years. “The research found that 97% of MEHKOs had never received a complaint of any kind, including complaints related to food safety, noise, traffic, or parking,” she wrote. “Across nearly 900 permitted home kitchens, there were only two unverified reports of foodborne illness and no documented outbreaks.” The budget analyst cited the same study.

Her group’s priority now, she said, is access: “As the city moves into implementation, our biggest priority is ensuring that the program is accessible to the people it’s intended to serve. … Keeping permit fees affordable and making information and support available in multiple languages can also make a significant difference.”

Several questions remain open. The program has no launch date; Sasha Gaona, a legislative aide to Ms. Fielder, said the timeline had not been determined. The lease requirement may matter more in San Francisco than in suburban counties, since most residents rent; the analyst recommended that renters be required to show they have notified their landlords. And the $828 fee, though far below a year of commissary rent, is higher than the renewal fee in five of the six counties the analyst studied.

The Department of Public Health, Ms. Melgar’s office and the city’s Office of Small Business did not respond to questions sent Wednesday, when city offices were closed for Veterans Day.