MEHKO in California: how a home kitchen restaurant gets a permit

What a MEHKO is and the rules at a glance

A MEHKO, short for microenterprise home kitchen operation, is a food facility run by a resident in a private home, where food is stored, prepared and served to customers or picked up by them. California created it with Assembly Bill (AB) 626, effective January 1, 2019. The meal and sales limits were last raised by AB 1325, effective July 21, 2023.

Unlike cottage food, a MEHKO can cook full meals, including foods that need refrigeration, because the food is eaten the same day. The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) sets out the program, but the permit comes from the county or city environmental health agency. The table lists the state rules every MEHKO follows.

Which California counties and cities allow MEHKOs

State law gives each city or county full discretion to allow MEHKOs. A city, county or city and county that runs its own environmental health agency opts in by ordinance or resolution. Until it does, MEHKOs will not be able to be issued a health permit to operate. When a county opts in, the permission is applicable to all cities within a county, even if a city inside it has not voted on it.

The list of counties that have opted in changes as boards pass new ordinances, so this page does not reproduce it. CDPH keeps a list of every environmental health jurisdiction with a link to its MEHKO ordinance or resolution, and tells applicants to contact your local environmental health agency to confirm the current status. Two large examples, read on the county pages:

• Los Angeles County: the Board of Supervisors authorized MEHKOs in May of 2024, and permitting began November 1, 2024. The county health department issues the permits except in Pasadena, Long Beach, and Vernon, which run their own health departments.
• San Diego County: a permanent MEHKO program took effect January 5, 2024.

Some cities run their own environmental health department, and there that city's department handles MEHKO permits instead of the county. In Los Angeles County these are Pasadena, Long Beach, and Vernon. Check which agency inspects restaurants at your address, since that is the one that would issue your permit.

What food a MEHKO can sell

A MEHKO can sell prepared meals. State law defines a meal as the food intended to be consumed by one customer in one sitting, which can include a main dish, appetizers, sides, drinks, baked goods and desserts. Meal components sold separately count toward the limit at their approximate meal equivalent.

The law rules out a short list of foods and processes:

• Any food whose preparation involves processes that require a HACCP plan.
• The production, service or sale of raw milk or raw milk products.
• Raw oysters: the service and sale of raw oysters is prohibited.
• Making dairy products in the kitchen, including cheese, ice cream, yogurt, sour cream, and butter.
• Food held over to another day: everything is prepared, cooked, and served on the same day.

A MEHKO may also cook on an open-air barbecue or outdoor wood-burning oven, under the outdoor cooking rules of the retail food code. The food types you plan to make go into the written standard operating procedures you file with your permit application.

MEHKO meal and revenue caps

Two caps apply at the same time. The meal cap is 30 individual meals per day and no more than 90 individual meals a week. A county cannot raise it, but may decrease the limit based on how much your kitchen can safely handle.

The revenue cap in the statute is $100,000 in verifiable gross annual sales, adjusted every year by the California Consumer Price Index (CPI). CDPH publishes the adjusted figure: $107,121 for 2025 and $110,442 from January 1, 2026. The cap counts verifiable gross sales, so keep records of every sale.

Example: a cook who sells a $25 dinner plate would reach the weekly meal cap at 90 plates, or $2,250 a week. Over 52 weeks that is $117,000, which is above the 2026 sales cap, so the sales cap, not the meal cap, would limit that operation. The figures are an illustration, not a forecast.

How to get a MEHKO permit

The state sets the minimum steps. Each county adds its own forms and fees, so treat this as the outline and use your county's checklist for the details.

1. Confirm your city or county allows MEHKOs

   Contact your local environmental health agency or use the CDPH list of jurisdictions with MEHKO ordinances. If your area has not opted in, MEHKOs will not be able to be issued a health permit to operate.

2. Pass a food safety manager exam

   The operator must pass an approved and accredited food safety certification examination. Anyone else who prepares, stores or serves food is subject to the food handler card requirements.

3. Write your standard operating procedures

   The application includes written standard operating procedures: the foods you will make, how you prepare them, your cleaning schedule, how you keep food at safe temperatures for pickup or delivery, and the days and times you expect to operate.

4. Submit the permit application and fee

   Apply to the county or city agency. In San Diego County the application includes the permit form, procedures and Food Safety Manager Certificate. State law says the fee does not exceed the reasonable administrative costs of issuing it; Los Angeles County charges an initial review fee of $597, and offers a subsidy for eligible applicants through December 31, 2026.

5. Pass the initial inspection

   The agency issues the permit after an initial inspection confirms the kitchen and your methods meet the MEHKO chapter. Keep the permit onsite and displayed at all times while you operate.

6. Renew as your county requires

   A county renew its permit annually. The permit is nontransferable and covers only the person and address on it.

Inspections, kitchen rules and zoning

A MEHKO is subject to only three following types of inspections: a routine inspection, an investigation when the agency has just cause such as consumer complaints, and an emergency inspection for a serious hazard to public health. A MEHKO shall not be subject to more than one routine inspection within 12 months, and the agency must give notice and hold it at a mutually agreeable date and time. A county may not require food safety rules beyond the state chapter: it cannot impose food safety requirements that are different from, or in addition to, the requirements of this chapter.

A home kitchen does not need restaurant equipment. The law exempts MEHKOs from many commercial rules, including the sink and warewashing rules, as long as utensils and equipment can be cleaned and sanitized and the kitchen sink has hot and cold water and is fully operable. The separate handwashing rules are waived if a handwashing sink is supplied with warm water and located in the toilet room. Pets must be handled so that all animals are kept outside of the kitchen during food service and preparation.

For zoning, a MEHKO is a permitted use of residential property, and a city or county cannot require a rezone of the property or require a zoning permit for it, as long as you Abstain from posting signage or other outdoor displays and follow applicable local noise ordinances. Your lease, homeowners association rules and city business license or tax registration still apply separately.

Pickup, delivery and selling through apps

Customers can eat at your home or take food away if it is picked up by the consumer or delivered within a safe time period. A person delivering for you must be an employee of the microenterprise home kitchen operation or a family member or household member of the permitholder. Food shall not be delivered by a third-party delivery service, except to a customer with a physical or mental condition that is a disability that limits their access to the food.

You can take orders through a website or app. A sale through a registered internet food service intermediary is a direct sale to consumers, so it fits the direct-sales rule. Those platforms need a registration from the California Department of Public Health – Food and Drug Branch before they can list MEHKOs, so check that an app is registered before you join it.

MEHKO vs cottage food operation (Class A and B)

California has two home food programs, and the law keeps them apart: a MEHKO does not include A catering operation or a cottage food operation. A cottage food operation (CFO) makes non-potentially hazardous foods from the CDPH approved cottage food list, foods that keep without refrigeration. A MEHKO cooks perishable meals for same-day service.

If you want to sell baked goods or jam by mail, cottage food is the program to use. If you want to cook dinners for neighbors, only a MEHKO allows it, and only where your county has opted in.

Where Nation fits

Questions about MEHKO permits