MEHKO tracker — California
Status: Pilot adopted — permits not yet open. Three-year pilot adopted by the Board of Supervisors on Sept. 29, 2026; permitting begins Mar. 1, 2027, capped at 100 permits/year. Application/review fee $725 and annual permit fee $414 reported in county/news sources opened (permit_fee records the $725 application fee); fee waivers reserved for a third of permits for low-income communities.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Program status | pilot — ordinance 2026-09-29 |
| Permit / review fee | $725 |
| Meal caps | 30 meals/day, 90/week (statutory MEHKO limits) |
| Sales cap | $110,442 |
Hot meals cooked to order, a small number of diners eating at your home, and a real restaurant menu — under a county permit and a home inspection. What it does not allow: third-party delivery-app sales (the statute keeps delivery in your own hands) and catering-scale volume.
Don't read the table — run your verdict. Pick California + your county to see the MEHKO line inside your verdict.
← The full MEHKO county tracker · California home-food page
Included in the $49 Opening Pack: the filled templates, trackers, calendars and worksheets for this door — built from the same dated datasets as the free checker above.
Sources: California Department of Public Health MEHKO materials + Marin County environmental health program. Dataset checked October 23, 2026. Where a fee or rule is set by a county or city, this page says so instead of guessing a number.