San Diego County, CA Food and Mobile Food License Guide (2026)

Important 2026 updates for San Diego County mobile food operators

County DEHQ fees changed in 2026. San Diego County says its FY 2026-27 cost-recovery fees became effective July 11, 2026. The current schedule has separate annual-permit and plan-review fees by mobile-food category.

County mobile-food documents were refreshed. Food Plan Check lists online plan-submission instructions and mobile/prepackaged templates updated in January 2026. The Mobile Food Facility Location of Operation form is revised March 2026.

California SB 635 took effect January 1, 2026. It changed parts of the enforcement and permit-application framework for sidewalk vendors and CMFOs. It did not eliminate California Retail Food Code health requirements.

AB 671 also took effect in 2026, but San Diego County says its restaurant tenant-improvement plan-review provisions do not apply to mobile food facilities.

San Diego County mobile food permit decision table

Food truck, cart, and compact mobile food operation are different categories

Do not select a permit only from the everyday phrase “food truck.” San Diego County separates several operating models.

San Diego County’s CMFO FAQ says a CMFO with 25 square feet or less of total food display/inventory area that sells only prepackaged nonpotentially hazardous food or whole uncooked produce can be exempt from the health-permit requirement. Open food, larger inventory, or limited preparation can put the operation on a permitted path.

Plan review, commissary, operating information, and inspections

County Food Plan Check reviews mobile food facilities such as vending vehicles and pushcarts. Ask whether plan review is required before ordering or altering the unit, especially before installing sinks, water tanks, refrigeration, cooking equipment, ventilation, propane, or generators.

The County Mobile Food Program provides commissary agreements, out-of-county commissary forms, SOP worksheets, startup and self-inspection checklists, construction guidance, and template plan packages. Use the current documents rather than another operator’s old packet.

Commissary/support requirements depend on the operation. An approved support facility can be needed for food/supply storage, food preparation, potable water, wastewater, cleaning, servicing, or other functions. Confirm the exact arrangement for your menu and unit.

Vehicle and construction approval can be a separate layer. County health plan review focuses on whether the mobile food facility meets food-safety and equipment requirements. California HCD also regulates certain mobile food units that qualify as special-purpose commercial modulars. Do not assume every truck or cart follows the same construction route. Before ordering a custom unit, ask County Food Plan Check whether the proposed build needs additional HCD documentation or insignia and use HCD’s current mobile food facility information for the state construction layer.

Operating-location information matters. The County’s March 2026 location form asks for the facility, vehicle, commissary, contact, route/site, days, and hours. Single-operating-site carts must be within 200 feet of approved toilet facilities. The form requires a renewed toilet-facility permission section for single operating sites and mobile vehicles stopping at one location longer than one hour, and says route or business-location changes must be reported within 30 days.

Renewal includes inspection. County Code section 61.112 requires an annual certification inspection for permitted mobile food facilities. A passing unit receives a certification sticker. Mobile facilities that prepare food can also be graded during inspection.

Training: the County Food Handler Program says food handlers need required food-safety training and at least one owner or employee at a food facility must hold approved food-safety manager certification. Food-handler cards are valid three years; manager certification is valid five years.

Where you store and sell can change the answer

Think of the health permit as approval of the food operation, not ownership of a vending location.

Unincorporated San Diego County

Use County PDS tools to confirm jurisdiction and zoning. The County Zoning Ordinance applies outside incorporated cities, and PDS provides zoning/property tools for unincorporated parcels.

Storage can have its own rules. The County’s CMFO home-storage sheet says an unincorporated-area CMFO cart stored at a private home may not be visible from the exterior and must be operated by an occupant of the home. The same handout lists different rules for incorporated cities.

Inside a city

Check that city’s business-license/business-tax and vending rules for streets, sidewalks, private lots, parks, and other locations. Ask about zoning, property-owner permission, parking/right-of-way, fire, and special-event approvals as applicable.

Serving several cities means repeating the local-location check. A County health permit can cover the food-safety layer, but it does not turn the county’s 18 incorporated cities into one vending jurisdiction. If your route includes San Diego one day and another incorporated city the next, keep a list of each regular stop and verify the business and vending rules for each city before treating the route as approved.

Fairs, markets, and temporary events

San Diego County has a separate Temporary Food Events program with organizer/vendor permit paths and an online submission process. Event or community-event approvals can also depend on whether the site is incorporated or unincorporated.

Business name, California tax, entity, and employer layers

These steps are separate from the County health permit.

Fictitious Business Name

The County Clerk says a person regularly doing business for profit under a qualifying fictitious name in San Diego County must file an FBN Statement within 40 days of first transacting business. New filings also have publication requirements. An FBN is a name filing, not permission to operate.

California tax and entity registration

Use CDTFA Online Services for seller/tax accounts. Food sales-tax treatment can depend on the product and transaction, so let CDTFA classify the account. If you form an LLC or corporation, use California bizfile. Effective August 1, 2026, web User Access is required for online Statement of Information filings.

If you hire

Use the California EDD employer registration path for payroll-tax accounts when the employer-registration rules apply. EDD says new or rehired California employees generally must be reported within 20 calendar days. If you need a federal EIN, obtain it free from the IRS.

See BLG’s California Business License Guide and Business License vs LLC vs DBA vs Seller’s Permit for the broader state and terminology layers.

Current San Diego County mobile-food fees

The figures below are County DEHQ fees in the current San Diego County Code/fee schedule as checked October 2, 2026. They are not a total startup cost. City licenses, site rent, commissary charges, equipment, fire work, DMV/HCD work, tax accounts, event fees, insurance, and other costs can be separate.

The County also lists separate categories for packaged lunch trucks, mobile support units, single-operating-site arrangements, template plan review, revisions, resubmittals, and other services. Use the current Food Facility Permit Fees and County Code section 65.107 for your exact category before paying.

Three San Diego County examples

Full-preparation truck based in a city

Start with County DEHQ plan review and health approval, then check that city’s business and vending/location rules. Crossing into another city can create another local-location check.

Very small prepackaged CMFO in an unincorporated area

First test the setup against the County’s 25-square-foot CMFO permit exemption. Even if health-permit exempt, confirm County zoning/site rules for where the cart is stored and sold.

Permitted cart at one regular site

Check the County location form, toilet-access requirements, storage/commissary arrangement, and local zoning. Report route or business-location changes as the County form requires.

About BusinessLicenseGuide.com

BusinessLicenseGuide.com is an independent plain-English information site, not a government agency or filing service. BLG’s role is to map the government layers and link readers to the official agencies that control the answer. For a broader self-check, use the License & Permit Pathfinder.