Checklist · last compiled 2026-09-24
Texas HB 2844 / DSHS MFV readiness checklist for food trucks (2026)
StallReady is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. This checklist is not a permit, license, or inspection. Rules and fees change. Confirm every item with the issuing agency before you sell.
Statewide health permission and permission to sell at a curb are not the same thing.
Texas HB 2844 moves the health permit for mobile food vendors toward a Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) license, with a transition date of July 1, 2026. The point of the law was the old stack: a different health permit in every city and county. Fire, zoning, propane, and many temporary-event rules stay with the city that is actually hosting you.
This file is a readiness worksheet for that split. The field note on the July 1 license, the grace posture, and the Houston medallion cutoff is Statewide on July 1. Still Dark on Saturday.. This worksheet does not retell it. It is compiled from public agency pages and one news report, last checked 2026-09-24. It is not a DSHS form, not a city application, and not legal advice.
The full worksheet has:
- A state-health checklist (permit, handlers, menu and equipment match)
- Commissary / central preparation facility items, including the inspection copy DSHS tells operators to keep on the vehicle
- The local layer HB 2844 does not take over (fire, LP-gas, city vendor rules, events, insurance)
- Short Austin, Houston, and Dallas-Fort Worth notes with the citations we used
Start from the DSHS page, not from a screenshot in a group chat: Mobile food vendors.