Who to call, what permitting actually costs, and a free checklist to work through before the inspector shows up.
Requirements reviewed 2026-07-28 against Texas DSHS Mobile Food Vendors licensing page; HB 2844, effective 1 July 2026.
Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS)
This changed on 1 July 2026. Under House Bill 2844, DSHS now issues a single statewide Mobile Food Vendor License, and it replaces the separate city and county health permits Texas operators used to collect for every jurisdiction they traded in.
DSHS Mobile Food Vendors →The order matters — several of these are expensive to do out of sequence.
DSHS grades the licence by what you actually do onboard. Type I covers non-TCS foods, Type II covers limited prep and prepackaged TCS foods, and Type III covers full prep and cooking. The type sets both the fee and whether you need a pre-licensing inspection.
Applications moved online for this licence. There is one application for the whole state rather than one per jurisdiction.
Both are due at application. Type I is $309 with no inspection fee. Type II is $618 plus a $400 pre-licensing inspection. Type III is $876 plus a $500 pre-licensing inspection.
Type II and Type III units are inspected by DSHS before the licence is issued. Type I does not carry an inspection fee.
A successful inspection produces a one-year licence valid statewide, rather than a stack of jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction permits.
Fees are fixed statewide and known up front, which is new for Texas. A cooking truck (Type III) pays $876 plus a $500 pre-licensing inspection, so $1,376 to get licensed. A limited-prep unit (Type II) pays $618 plus $400. A non-TCS unit (Type I) pays $309 with no inspection fee. The licence then runs for one year. Against the old model of paying a separate permit in every city you traded in, a truck working several metros is usually better off.
DSHS. Since 1 July 2026 local governments cannot require their own duplicate health permit or charge a local food health licensing fee on top of the state licence. What cities do still control is everything that is not food safety — fire inspections, LP gas sign-off, parking, zoning, and event permits. A valid DSHS licence is not permission to park anywhere you like.
No. From 1 July 2026 the DSHS Mobile Food Vendor License replaces the requirement to hold separate health permits from local health departments in each jurisdiction. Cities keep their fire, parking, and zoning requirements, which are not health permits.
It depends on the licence type. Type I, for non-TCS foods, is $309. Type II, for limited prep and prepackaged TCS foods, is $618 plus a $400 pre-licensing inspection. Type III, for full prep and cooking, is $876 plus a $500 pre-licensing inspection.
The statewide licence is the route going forward, and local health permits are no longer the mechanism. Check directly with DSHS on how your existing local permits are treated during the transition rather than assuming they roll over.
Texas sets statewide food truck rules and regulations through DSHS under the Texas Food Establishment Rules, and since 2026 the state licence travels across cities. Cities still control zoning, parking, and fire code, so check each city's rules even though the health licence is statewide.
The $9 prep pack adds a print-ready checklist, a commissary letter template, an inspection log, and a temperature reference card.
Get the Pack — $9