Home Cooks Can Soon Run 'Mini Restaurants' In LA County

LOS ANGELES, CA — Home cooks who serve food to the public will soon be able to get permits as part of a new program launched in Los Angeles County on Monday.

The county's Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operation, or MEHKO, program, allows residents to operate food facilities from their homes or other private cooking spaces creating what county officials say is like a "mini restaurant."

Permits, which are open for application as of Monday, are expected to be issued starting Nov. 1. Once permitted, a resident will be able to store, handle, prepare and serve food at their homes, as allowed by the California Health and Safety Code.

"MEHKOs represent an important economic vehicle for entrepreneurial county residents — especially women, immigrants, and communities of color — to create new opportunities in the formal economy," Supervisor Hilda L. Solis said in a statement. "The MEHKO program is a groundbreaking step towards allowing home-based kitchens to operate legally and safely, enabling countless individuals to turn their culinary passions into thriving businesses.

The Board of Supervisors in May passed legislation establishing the program, which requires business owners pay an application fee of $597 and an annual health permit fee of $347.

The program includes a number of rules:

• Businesses can only have one full-time equivalent employee, not including family members or household members.
• Operators need a Certified Food Protection Manager certificate.
• Anyone involved in the business must have a Food Handler Card Certificate.
• Food needs to be prepared, cooked and served or delivered on the same day it is made.
• Businesses can sell no more than 30 meals per day or 90 meals per week, with a total revenue of $100,000 annually.
• Reselling food to other facilities is not allowed.
• Businesses may not use third-party delivery apps like Uber Eats, except as provided in the California Health & Safety Code.
• Businesses may not serve alcohol or food that contains alcohol without an appropriate license.
• Businesses are not authorized to run a catering business.

The board also approved a $600,000 subsidy program that will offer up to 1,000 eligible applicants a one-time 100 percent subsidy on the initial application fee of $597. The eligibility will be limited to new applicant MEHKOs with annual net revenues less than $50,000.

The ordinance will affect businesses across the county, except for those in Long Beach, Pasadena and Vernon, which are overseen by those cities' individual health departments.

Under the ordinance, a MEHKO can also be approved to serve as a commissary for up to two food carts, or Compact Mobile Food Operations. In such cases, the kitchens will be limited to 80 meals per day and no more than 200 meals per week. The gross sales for a MEHKO operating as a commissary will be $150,000.

"Our Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operations ordinance allows L.A. County to align with the state in creating a pathway for unregulated chefs to become permitted and builds on our efforts to provide guardrails that protect residents and brick and mortar businesses, while helping thousands of sidewalk vendors and home cooks benefit from our local economy," Supervisor Holly Mitchell said in a statement.

The Department of Public Health's Environmental Health Division will authorize permits and conduct annual inspections and complaint-based investigations.

"Through the growth of MEHKOs, we strive to empower food business owners with the skill and tools necessary to increase the knowledge of food safety practices when serving the public," Barbara Ferrer, director of DPH, said in a statement.

Applications are available online.

City News Service contributed to this report.