Open a food truck on public streets

Check that your food truck meets standards after construction is complete.

View construction requirements for mobile food facilities.

List of Mobile Food Facility Manufacturers

Tips for a successful inspection

Food safety rules for mobile food facilities

You will need to store your food truck at an approved location. Find a commissary kitchen in San Francisco.

To apply for a health permit to operate, you will need:

• Two sets of scaled drawings of the food truck, showing equipment, surfaces, and materials. Construction requirements for mobile food facilities
• Photos of the inside and outside of the food truck
• A copy of the menu, including where, when, and how each item is prepared and cooked

Review the Mobile Food Facility (MFF) Application Checklist and What to include when you submit your mobile food plan for review

Apply for your health permit Click Food Applications -> Mobile Food Facility Application

Location guidelines

• Trucks/trailers must:
  • be on the street in a legal parking space
  • not be parked against the flow of traffic
  • occupy parallel parking stalls
• Sidewalks must be a minimum of 10ft wide to accommodate a food truck.
• Trucks/trailers must keep minimum clearances of:
  • 75’ from existing restaurant primary entrances            
  • 8’ from Street Artists            
  • 5’ from Curb Returns                                                        
  • 6’ Path of Travel
  • 6’ from Street Furniture                                                     
  • 7’ from Fire Hydrants 
  • 12’ from Bus Zones                                                             
  • 12’ from Blue Zones
  • 500' from public middle or junior high schools between 7:00 AM and 5:00 PM, Monday through Friday
  • 1000 feet from most public high schools between 7:00 AM and 5:00 PM, Monday through Friday
  • See DPW Order 182,101 for more complete list of requirements.

View a map of existing food truck locations.

Note that Department of Public Health requires Restroom Verification (a property owner/business within 200’ of the food truck must consent in writing to use of restroom facilities for your employees).

You will need to submit the following:

• Completed Public Works Mobile Food Facility application
• Two (2) photographs of the permit applicant(s) for ID cards (i.e. passport size)
• Site plan
• A sample menu or itemized list

Site plan details

• Make a drawing of the proposed location showing everything around the food truck, including distance dimensions. See Sample Drawing.
  • The drawing is not required to be drafted by a computer or to scale but must be with a ruler and legible.
  • Give dimensions between the food truck and trees, newspaper racks, bike racks signs, parking meters, hydrants, payphones, lights, etc.
• Show the length and width of the food truck.
• Show the width of the sidewalk.
• Include property line, street names, North arrow.

After your food truck application is reviewed, you will need to post a notice at the proposed location for 10 days and notify nearby community members. The public will have 30 days to submit comments.

Confirm that you have done proper notification

If anyone objects to your proposal and it can't be resolved, you will need to attend a public hearing. A hearing officer will listen to the facts about your application and make a recommendation to the Director of Public Works. The Director will either Approve or Deny the hearing officer’s recommendation.

If there are no concerns and/or objections, you will be issued a 90-day tentative approval.