Home-based restaurants and takeout spots legal on November 1, for <$500 to open. This is huge.
Home-based restaurants and takeout spots legal on November 1, for <$500 to open. This is huge.
by LAhomemade
18 Comments
LAhomemade
**tl;dr: On 11/1/24, LA County is accepting permits for home-based restaurants, i.e. selling homecooked food literally out of your house or apartment. They’re waiving the application fee right now. I think all of this is a huge deal.**
More info- This program already exists in a few other CA counties (San Diego most prominently) but it hasn’t taken hold. I think LA is going to be totally different. It’s the largest county in the US and the top food destination in the country, to boot. The county is expecting over 1,000 applications this year and the kickoff event has literally sold out.
This could seriously alter the food landscape here. Hundreds to thousands more food options in residential areas. Buying dinner or meal plans from your neighbor. Obscure international cuisines that can’t sustain a brick and mortar. Literally any food entrepreneur who’s dreamed of owning a restaurant.
The startup costs have gone from $100,000+ to literally <$1,000 (assuming a normally-stocked home kitchen).
I’ve become super passionate about this because I’m going to open my own MEHKO. I’ve also decide to create a Yelp-type webpage for homemade food here AND hopefully a Doordash-type marketplace for online ordering. I have no intention to make any money on this, I just want to spread the word (and I want to eat all the food).
Message me if you’re interested in possibly being involved in the project, it’s just me right now and my WordPress site in progress lol
Mattandjunk
I have my doubts this will take off…but if it does I’ll be happy! We’ve already ordered from a couple of these places on insta and gotten some great food. Having access to someone’s mom or grandma making a home cooked meal from their country or culture would definitely be awesome.
dooinit00
The scoop; Get food manager certified, submit application to city, pay some fees to apply, complete documentation, go thru kitchen inspection/approval process. One can serve up to 90 meals per week, no 3rd party deliveries, annual kitchen inspections and fees. Any menu changes require approval. You may also need a business license.
drum_code88
With that now people that were not paying taxes now will
401kisfun
Parking is still going to suck
Prior_Piano9940
My only concern is that this can severely negatively impact a neighborhood. Parking is already a pain. If I have to contend with strangers taking up any available free spot on the street just so they can order food from my neighbor then I’ll be pissed.
I already have to sort of deal with this. A taco spot near me would sell from their home and the cars would park on red to go get tacos. Kinda hard to explain but basically cars parking on red means I can’t see incoming traffic when I have to make a left. I pass through there every day to get home and it’s always a pain.
(I think they might’ve gotten in trouble because now they park their food truck there instead and sell from the truck but still use their yard to set up tables for people to sit and eat)
Impressive_Delay_452
So what happens if they get sick after they eat the food you prepared?
protossaccount
This will probably turn many homes into epic take out places.
TBearRyder
Does anyone know if juicers can apply for this permit since we are pressing food into a juice form? I’m actually excited for this bc I wanted to vend but I’d rather do it from my home and deliver in my area.
Here’s the list it looks like juice falls under extract?! 🤔
They have been doing this for many years in some communities it’s a good way for ppl share their amazing cooking. Not every dish works well . Works best when you bring your own pot for pick up and as a subscription service.
nbury33
Oooooo I might be able to finally get some Puerto Rican food in LA now!
TimmyTimeify
I think LA’s overall decriminalization of street food and home cooking will prove to be a shining quality in the years a come, something that will be on par with the Hollywood Sign and the Santa Monica Pier as vestiges of what makes LA LA.
That being said, for the folks concerned about the zoning aspects of this law: the ideal situation is that these businesses make most of their money and have most of their customers come from walking distance. Like, as much as Brother’s Cousins Tacos dominate West LA, most people just go to the nearest taco stand in the area.
norse_noise
I imagine that the restaurants can’t have pets in their homes, right?
Also, how do we find out about these places? Yelp? Google? Or will there be a specific platform for them?
GLFR_59
Hope the county hired a bunch of health inspectors too. This is the type of idea that in theory sounds great, but the bad will out weight the good.
Hyphylife
The side hustle I’ve been looking for…
ChiggaOG
Does this mean home bakery is now possible?
DayDrinkingDiva
I get great tamales from someone in a beat to shit minivan in the home Depot parking lot.
I’m thinking I’ll stick to the parking lot and not going to someone’s apartment.
brentjk1
This will fail massively as none will adhere to health codes, and there isn’t enough health code inspectors to actually get to the kitchens in time to inspect. I will refuse to buy from any kind of ghost kitchen going forward for this very reason.
18 Comments
**tl;dr: On 11/1/24, LA County is accepting permits for home-based restaurants, i.e. selling homecooked food literally out of your house or apartment. They’re waiving the application fee right now. I think all of this is a huge deal.**
More info- This program already exists in a few other CA counties (San Diego most prominently) but it hasn’t taken hold. I think LA is going to be totally different. It’s the largest county in the US and the top food destination in the country, to boot. The county is expecting over 1,000 applications this year and the kickoff event has literally sold out.
This could seriously alter the food landscape here. Hundreds to thousands more food options in residential areas. Buying dinner or meal plans from your neighbor. Obscure international cuisines that can’t sustain a brick and mortar. Literally any food entrepreneur who’s dreamed of owning a restaurant.
The startup costs have gone from $100,000+ to literally <$1,000 (assuming a normally-stocked home kitchen).
I’ve become super passionate about this because I’m going to open my own MEHKO. I’ve also decide to create a Yelp-type webpage for homemade food here AND hopefully a Doordash-type marketplace for online ordering. I have no intention to make any money on this, I just want to spread the word (and I want to eat all the food).
Message me if you’re interested in possibly being involved in the project, it’s just me right now and my WordPress site in progress lol
I have my doubts this will take off…but if it does I’ll be happy! We’ve already ordered from a couple of these places on insta and gotten some great food. Having access to someone’s mom or grandma making a home cooked meal from their country or culture would definitely be awesome.
The scoop; Get food manager certified, submit application to city, pay some fees to apply, complete documentation, go thru kitchen inspection/approval process. One can serve up to 90 meals per week, no 3rd party deliveries, annual kitchen inspections and fees. Any menu changes require approval. You may also need a business license.
With that now people that were not paying taxes now will
Parking is still going to suck
My only concern is that this can severely negatively impact a neighborhood. Parking is already a pain. If I have to contend with strangers taking up any available free spot on the street just so they can order food from my neighbor then I’ll be pissed.
I already have to sort of deal with this. A taco spot near me would sell from their home and the cars would park on red to go get tacos. Kinda hard to explain but basically cars parking on red means I can’t see incoming traffic when I have to make a left. I pass through there every day to get home and it’s always a pain.
(I think they might’ve gotten in trouble because now they park their food truck there instead and sell from the truck but still use their yard to set up tables for people to sit and eat)
So what happens if they get sick after they eat the food you prepared?
This will probably turn many homes into epic take out places.
Does anyone know if juicers can apply for this permit since we are pressing food into a juice form? I’m actually excited for this bc I wanted to vend but I’d rather do it from my home and deliver in my area.
Here’s the list it looks like juice falls under extract?! 🤔
https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CEH/DFDCS/CDPH%20Document%20Library/FDB/FoodSafetyProgram/CottageFood/ApprovedCottageFoodsList.pdf
They have been doing this for many years in some communities it’s a good way for ppl share their amazing cooking. Not every dish works well . Works best when you bring your own pot for pick up and as a subscription service.
Oooooo I might be able to finally get some Puerto Rican food in LA now!
I think LA’s overall decriminalization of street food and home cooking will prove to be a shining quality in the years a come, something that will be on par with the Hollywood Sign and the Santa Monica Pier as vestiges of what makes LA LA.
That being said, for the folks concerned about the zoning aspects of this law: the ideal situation is that these businesses make most of their money and have most of their customers come from walking distance. Like, as much as Brother’s Cousins Tacos dominate West LA, most people just go to the nearest taco stand in the area.
I imagine that the restaurants can’t have pets in their homes, right?
Also, how do we find out about these places? Yelp? Google? Or will there be a specific platform for them?
Hope the county hired a bunch of health inspectors too. This is the type of idea that in theory sounds great, but the bad will out weight the good.
The side hustle I’ve been looking for…
Does this mean home bakery is now possible?
I get great tamales from someone in a beat to shit minivan in the home
Depot parking lot.
I’m thinking I’ll stick to the parking lot and not going to someone’s apartment.
This will fail massively as none will adhere to health codes, and there isn’t enough health code inspectors to actually get to the kitchens in time to inspect. I will refuse to buy from any kind of ghost kitchen going forward for this very reason.
It will kill people.