Houston Temporary Food Permit: How to Apply, What It Costs and the 14-Day Rule (2026)

A Houston temporary food permit (the city calls it a temporary food dealer's permit) costs $52 per event, covers 1 to 14 consecutive days at one address, and must reach the Houston Health Department at least 14 days before the event or it will not be reviewed. You apply by email with a four-page application and a property owner's authorization, then pay an emailed invoice. It is for booths, tents, tables and stands: since July 1, 2026, food trucks no longer get one and need a state licence instead.

Who needs a temporary food permit in Houston

You need one if you sell or give away food or drinks to the public at an event inside the City of Houston limits from a booth, tent, table or stand. The Houston Health Department says a permit is generally required when the event is open to the public, outsiders can attend, it is publicly advertised, or you serve open food or open-container drinks.

The permit only exists for an "event or celebration" as the FDA Food Code defines it in section 1-201.10(B): a food establishment operating for no more than 14 consecutive days in conjunction with a single event. The January 2026 version of the form asks you to tick one of six event types (festival, bazaar, carnival, circus, public exhibition, sporting event) and attach a flyer or website link if yours is not obviously one of them. A booth on its own, with no event around it, will not be approved. For how the same permit works in other cities and states, see our national guide to the temporary food permit; this page goes field by field through Houston's. Finding the events in the first place is covered in our guide to vendor opportunities for food trucks.

Three groups are outside this permit:

• Food trucks and pushcarts. Houston stopped issuing temporary food dealer's permits to mobile food units after June 30, 2026 (more below).
• Cottage food vendors selling only packaged home-kitchen goods allowed under Texas law. They are exempt, with an optional free waiver.
• Events outside city limits. Those go to Harris County Public Health or another city's health department, not to Houston. The application makes you initial that you have checked the event address is inside Houston city limits.

Houston, Harris County or the state: which office issues it

The issuer depends on the event address, not on where your business is based. The three you will meet in the Houston area work differently:

Harris County's fee schedule also lists a $200 multiple-event permit, but marks it as not currently in effect, so budget $50 per event in the county. The county inspects every temporary booth, profit and non-profit, at least once during the event, and violations that cannot be fixed on the spot close the booth. It also exempts booths that sell only prepackaged, single-serving non-TCS food (candy, chips, frozen novelties) or unopened canned or bottled drinks. TCS food, short for time/temperature control for safety, is food that has to be held hot or cold to stay safe, such as cooked meat, rice or cut melon.

If you are unsure which side of the line an address falls on, HCPH links a jurisdiction map from its food permits page. Ask the event coordinator too: they have to register the event with whichever office covers it.

The City of Houston application, section by section

The form linked from the city's permit page is a four-page fillable PDF, the Application for a Temporary Food Dealers Permit, last saved in August 2026. It says in bold that a permit "cannot be issued unless all pages are complete." Fill it in black or blue ink if you print it; illegible forms are not accepted.

Section 1, applicant information. Booth or stand name, applicant name, mailing address, phone, email, and the name of the person responsible on site. Choose permit pickup or mail. Non-profits attach their IRS 501(c)(3) letter for the exemption; the form says an EIN or a W-9 is not acceptable.

Section 2, event information and type of food. Start and end dates, start, end and vendor set-up times, event name and address, indoor or outdoor, and booth type. Tick each food type you will serve: open TCS, open non-TCS, packaged TCS, packaged non-TCS. Say whether you will use LP gas. Give the event coordinator's name, phone and email.

Section 3, property management. The property owner or management company's name, address, phone and email. You also attach their signed authorization (see the attachments below).

Section 4, food service details. Your full food and drink list, then the name and address of each supplier. Food must come from a licensed commercial source, and if a supplier is outside Houston you attach proof of its permit or inspection. List what you prepare on site and what you prepare off site, entering "NA" where nothing applies. Off-site prep must happen in a licensed commercial kitchen, "not a residential kitchen", with its name and address. A commissary or rented commercial kitchen is the usual answer.

Section 5, FOG disposal. If you handle unpackaged food, explain how you will collect wastewater containing fats, oils or grease (FOG) and where it will be disposed of: a City of Houston-licensed facility (the January 2026 form gives a restaurant, supermarket or mobile food commissary as examples). If the property owner or coordinator provides disposal, that detail goes on their authorization form instead. Dumping wastewater into a storm drain is prohibited, and you initial that you understand this.

Section 6, guidelines and terms. You initial eleven terms, including the 14-day deadline, the no-refund rule, one booth per application under one person's control, posting the original permit (or your online payment receipt) in public view, and that you have read the food-handling guidelines.

Page 4, layout sheet. A drawing of your booth that labels the food prep area, warewashing area, handwashing station and service area, or a photo of the set-up. The health department also publishes an example layout.

What to attach so it is not sent back

The checklist on page 3 of the form splits attachments into two groups.

With every application:

• Government-issued photo ID (a driver's licence) for the person in charge on site.
• Property authorization. On private property, a signed authorization from the owner or management company. The application asks for a letter on company letterhead stating that "permission is granted for the proposed use of the property", with the signer's name, title and contact details. The city also publishes a two-page Property Owner/Agent Authorization form that asks the owner for the permission dates, the estimated number of food vendors and who is responsible for wastewater and trash, plus an event site plan if there are more than five food vendors. On a City of Houston park or other city property, you need an authorization from the Mayor's Office of Special Events (832-393-0868) or the Houston Parks and Recreation Department (832-394-8804 or 832-394-8805) instead. The coordinator usually supplies it.
• The booth layout drawing.

With most applications:

• A food manager's or food handler's certificate for the person in charge, if open food is handled. The form says a handler's certificate is enough. Our guide to food manager certification covers the difference.
• Invoices or receipts from suppliers outside Houston, and proof of permit for any off-site prep kitchen outside Houston.
• The 501(c)(3) letter, for non-profits.

Two things trip up repeat vendors. First, an older January 2026 version of the application ("Version 25 Rev 01/2026") still turns up in search results. It asks for different things, including a copy of your Texas Sales and Use Tax Permit, so download the form fresh from the city's page for each season. Second, the owner authorization can be reused: a regular vendor at the same address can submit one signed form with each application, up to the expiration date the owner enters on it. The form's instructions still mention a 31 December 2025 cutoff, so check with the department before relying on an old one.

How to submit, pay and get the permit

Email the application, the owner authorization and every attachment to TempFoodPermit@houstontx.gov. The form's rules:

1. Attach PDFs. Files must be attached, not embedded, and links to cloud storage are not accepted.
2. Use the subject line format. The permit start date and booth name, following the form's example: 07_04_26_BoothName_EventName.
3. One email per location or date block. Applications for several locations, or for dates that are not consecutive, go in separate emails. A weekly market is a new application each time.
4. Wait for the invoice. If approved, the department emails an invoice to the applicant email on the form. If not, it returns a list of revisions; you then resubmit the whole application with every attachment and that list, not just the corrections.
5. Pay online. The January 2026 instructions say online payment is processed immediately and the permit is mailed the next business day, so allow 7 days for post. Your payment receipt counts as proof of permit for 14 days from the payment date. If the permit has not arrived by the start date, collect it before 3:00 PM on a weekday at the Environmental Permits Office, 8000 N. Stadium Drive. The office will not email or fax copies.

The department will not process an application if you owe fees on an earlier temporary permit. One permit covers one booth under one person's control, so a second booth, or a section of your booth run by someone else, needs its own permit.

Event coordinators with 15 or more food vendors should contact the department ahead of time and email the full vendor list and event date to chs@houstontx.gov, so it can set up a review folder and assign a supervisor.

What the booth must have on event day

Houston applies the temporary food establishment rules in the Texas Food Establishment Rules, 25 TAC §228.222, and its compliance sheet, its checklist and the guidelines printed in the January 2026 form spell them out. An inspector can suspend the permit on the spot under the city's food ordinance. The essentials:

Food prepared or stored at home is prohibited (cottage food is the exception), and so is anything that needs a HACCP plan, a variance or a consumer advisory. Our food truck health inspection checklist walks through the same checks for a truck.

Propane. Any booth or event using propane or other LP gas needs a permit from the Houston Fire Marshal's Office (832-394-8811), and LP-gas equipment must be certified by that office. The form adds that enclosed trailers need a fire suppression system over cooking equipment, approved by the Fire Marshal.

Food trucks at Houston events since HB 2844

A food truck cannot get a Houston temporary food permit any more. Texas House Bill 2844 moved mobile food unit permitting to the Texas Department of State Health Services, and the Houston Health Department has not issued temporary permits to food trucks, pushcarts or other mobile units since June 30, 2026. Harris County Public Health says the same: it is no longer the permitting authority for mobile food units, though it still inspects them for DSHS under a collaborative agreement.

What a truck needs to work an event in Houston now:

• The DSHS mobile food vendor licence, one per vehicle, Type I, II or III depending on the menu. Our Texas mobile food vendor application guide walks through it, and our Texas HB 2844 overview explains the operating-location notice the state now requires.
• A Houston Fire Marshal's LP-gas permit if you use propane, for cooking or for anything else. A truck that regularly operates at an address inside the city holds the annual L1 permit. A truck that does not normally work in Houston but is coming in for an event applies for the temporary L3 permit. The process starts with registering through DSHS and creating a food truck account, after which the Fire Marshal's Office emails a notice to begin.
• The Fire Marshal's basics, which apply to every food truck operating in the city: a Type ABC 3A:40BC extinguisher, a Type K 2A:K extinguisher if you deep-fry, a Type 1 ventilation hood and kitchen suppression system if cooking makes grease-laden vapour, all fire equipment tagged and current, and 10 feet from buildings and 25 feet from other LP-gas trucks.

Local fire, zoning, parking and event rules still apply where they do not conflict with the state law. Costs and timelines for the state licence and the fire permit are on our Houston food truck permit page.

Cottage food vendors

Cottage food vendors do not need a temporary food permit in Houston if they sell only packaged foods allowed under Texas cottage food law, made in their own home kitchen. Where the cottage food exemption ends, and how the Texas rules compare with other states, is covered in our guide to the food vendor permit. The Houston-specific points:

• The waiver is free and optional. The city offers a Temporary Food Permit Waiver for Cottage Food, recommended before each event so problems surface in advance. Some coordinators ask for it. The waiver form linked from the page in October 2026 is the 2025 edition, marked "do not use after 12/31/2025", so email the department to confirm which version it wants.
• No food service. The department's cottage food FAQ (revised 20 August 2026) says cottage food operators cannot provide onsite food service, hot-hold food in chafing dishes, or portion and serve per order. The FAQ calls those activities food service, not cottage food, so plan on the regular $52 permit if your booth does any of them.
• Training and labels. You need a food handler card (a food manager certificate can substitute), and every product must be labelled.

Paperwork that repeats every event

A Houston booth files a new application, a new owner authorization and a new layout for every event and every non-consecutive date block, and most of the fields are identical each time: booth name, legal name, address, person in charge, menu, suppliers, prep kitchen and FOG disposal site. The permit checklist lists what each of our 47 cities wants on file.

Sources: Houston Health Department — Temporary Food Permits (page last reviewed 14 September 2026) · Houston — Application for a Temporary Food Dealers Permit (current form) · Houston — Application for a 2026 Temporary Food Dealers Permit, Version 25 Rev 01/2026 · Houston — Property Owner/Agent Authorization, Version 3 Rev 1/2026 · Houston — Temporary Food Establishment Compliance Requirements, Rev. 5/8/26 · Houston — Temporary Food Establishment Checklist · Houston — Cottage Food Temporary Permit Waiver Application · Houston — Texas Cottage Food Production FAQ, revised 20 August 2026 · Houston Fire Marshal's Office — Food Trucks and its basic-information and LP-gas permit sheets · Harris County Public Health — Food Permits, its Temporary Food Permit Handout (revised 21 August 2025), Temporary Food Establishment Operational Requirements (revised 21 November 2023) and Food Establishment Permit Fee Schedule (9/1/2025) · Texas DSHS — Permits for Retail Food Establishments · Texas DSHS — Mobile Food Vendors · 25 TAC §228.222 · FDA Food Code 2022 · Texas HB 2844 bill analysis · AutoFill PDFs verified permit data for 47 US cities. All accessed 23 October 2026. Fees and forms change, so confirm with the issuing office before you apply.