State file · checked October 19, 2026

Food truck permits in Texas: who issues yours, and whether it travels

Who issues the permit

One state license: Texas DSHS (Health & Safety Code ch. 437B)

Every mobile food vendor in Texas now holds ONE license, issued by the Texas Department of State Health Services under Health and Safety Code chapter 437B — one license per vehicle, renewed every year. Cities and counties no longer issue mobile food permits at all.

Source: Texas DSHS, HB 2844 overview + Mobile Food Vendor Guide (25 TAC ch. 226) — verified against it on October 19, 2026.

Does it travel?

One license, statewide

Since July 1, 2026 (HB 2844), the DSHS license is the permit everywhere in Texas. A city or county may not require its own mobile food permit, and local rules that conflict with chapter 437B are preempted.

Commissary rule: Required

Type II and Type III vendors must document a Central Preparation Facility (a commissary) for servicing, water, and waste; for Type I it is required only in some cases (25 TAC ch. 226).

Fees — verified only

DSHS schedule: Type I $309 application. Type II $618 + $400 pre-licensing inspection. Type III $876 + $500 pre-licensing inspection. Renewals $300–$850 a year; routine/complaint inspections $300–$500.

Deep coverage in Texas

Austin

The trap in Austin is not the permit anymore — it is the spot.

Dallas

Dallas is the proof of why this site date-stamps everything: months after the law changed, the city's pages still taught the abolished process.

Houston

Houston's freedom is real but it is about land, not licenses: with no zoning, your constraint is property permission and fire checks, not the permit that HB 2844 already settled..

San Antonio

San Antonio event season is the metro's real second permit system — the DSHS license gets you legal, the event applications get you placed..

Fort Worth

The Fort Worth–Dallas pair is exactly what HB 2844 was built for: one metroplex, one license, finally.

El Paso

El Paso operators who also work Las Cruces live the two-state life: Texas is now one license, New Mexico is a different office entirely.

Next steps: run your exact move in the free checker, then compare regimes in the full table.

Included in the $29 FoodTruckCleared Kit

  • Permit Path sheets for all 51 jurisdictions: who issues your permit, the step sequence, the commissary rule, and the local layer that survives — one printable sheet per state
  • The Texas HB 2844 transition guide: DSHS license types and fees, the inspection-queue playbook, and the exact answer to give a city still demanding its retired permit
  • Reciprocity playbooks for Colorado, Utah, and Oklahoma: the document packet, the 14-day clocks, and the copy-delivery errand, state by state
  • The commissary agreement template: a fill-in agreement with the sections health departments look for, plus how to find and negotiate a commissary in a new city
  • Inspection checklists: the health walk-through and the fire walk-through, in the order inspectors actually move around the truck
  • The event and temporary-permit pack: an application tracker, the questions to ask an organizer before you pay a booth fee, and the mass-gathering notice rules
  • Fee worksheets and a renewal calendar: what you paid, to whom, and when it expires — so no permit ever lapses silently

Get the FoodTruckCleared Kit — $29

One payment of $29. No subscription. The kit is a web page you can return to and print — Permit Path sheets for all 51 jurisdictions, the Texas transition guide, reciprocity playbooks, the commissary agreement template, inspection checklists, the event pack, and fee worksheets.