San Francisco is considering whether to create a legal path for residents to sell tacos, barbecue and other prepared foods from their homes. Supervisor Jackie Fielder is introducing an ordinance this week to authorize a state program known as Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operations, or MEHKOs, with proposed limits of 90 meals a week and roughly $110,000 in gross annual earnings.
The proposal, reported by The San Francisco Standard, would offer a lower-cost alternative to renting a commissary kitchen, an expense that can deter small food businesses from seeking permits. Sasha Gaona, Fielder's chief of staff, said the legislation could change the face of San Francisco's food world. Operators would still need home inspections and food-handling certifications, and renters would have to confirm that selling food does not violate their leases.
A Different Set of Rules Than Street Vendors Follow
The proposed MEHKO system would be separate from San Francisco's existing cottage-food rules and its street-vending requirements. Under the city's current street-food ordinance, most vendors selling fresh or hot food must use a pushcart with a washing station and do most preparation in a licensed commissary kitchen, according to Mission Local. Because San Francisco has not created a MEHKO category, home-based operators currently face a different regulatory path from vendors in nearby counties.
The local gap dates to California Assembly Bill 626, which took effect in January 2019 and gave counties discretion to authorize MEHKOs. San Francisco did not opt in. As of May, 19 jurisdictions nationwide, including 17 counties and the cities of Berkeley and Long Beach, had authorized programs, according to an industry tracker cited by the Standard's reporting. Alameda, Santa Clara and San Mateo counties allow MEHKOs, and San Mateo and Santa Clara specifically permit home preparation without the expense of a commissary kitchen, per El Tecolote. Los Angeles County offers a more recent comparison: its Board of Supervisors authorized a MEHKO program in May 2024, and permitting began Nov. 1, 2024. The county program allows 90 meals a week and $100,000 in gross annual sales, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
Who Actually Runs These Kitchens
Research cited in the Standard's reporting depicts MEHKOs as a pathway used disproportionately by women and people of color: about 70% of operators are women and 79% are people of color. More than 70% said their home kitchen provides meaningful financial support for their household, while more than a third said they had used the operation as a proof of concept before launching a larger food business. Cook Alliance executive director Roya Bagheri said the model can support local small businesses while broadening access to different cuisines.
What the available evidence shows
The available research documents who is using MEHKOs and some early signs of business development, but it does not establish how many operators ultimately become restaurants, caterers or permitted mobile vendors. The finding that more than a third used their home operation as a proof of concept indicates that some view MEHKOs as a step toward expansion; the reported figures do not quantify those transitions. Los Angeles County provides a current comparison for the proposed San Francisco limits. Its program began accepting permits on Nov. 1, 2024, after authorization by the Board of Supervisors in May, and allows up to 90 meals per week and $100,000 in gross annual sales, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
Supporters also argue that authorization could bring existing but unpermitted home cooking into a regulated system. The research cited in the Standard's reporting found two foodborne-illness complaints among 898 permitted MEHKOs from 2019 through 2024, and found that 97% of those operations had not received a formal complaint of any kind. Those figures are cited by advocates as evidence for the model's safety, rather than as a guarantee about how a San Francisco program would perform.
One Pitmaster's Path From Layoff to Legal Sales
The affordability argument is illustrated by an East Bay operator profiled by the Standard. Kenyatta Robinson started Backyard SmokeMaster BBQ from his Clayton home last year after being laid off from a 22-year corporate career. Under the state's MEHKO framework, he was able to sell food legally using backyard smokers he already owned instead of first paying for a commissary kitchen.
If San Francisco adopts the framework, backers say it could serve both home cooks and existing street vendors or pop-ups looking for a lower-cost way to test a business before expanding. The ordinance's proposed 90-meal weekly cap and roughly $110,000 annual limit, along with its inspection and certification requirements, will be settled through the legislative process at City Hall.
