# catering license?



## renee (May 11, 2006)

hey ya'll! just wandering if anyone knows what licenses are needed
to start a catering business in Texas, and who to contact. thanks!!


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## aprilb (Feb 4, 2006)

I don't know about Texas, but I think your first call should be to the State Dept of Health and find out about what types of food handling/sanitation permits you need. Kitchen if you own or are renting. 

Obviously business licenses, insurance. 

I don't know of any State (except in rare instances for baked goods MAYBE in NH) that allows out of home catering, but that doesn't discount personal chefs or private in-home catering (meaning you use the client's kitchen for parties and such. 

Hope this helps.

April


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## panini (Jul 28, 2001)

Renee,
Where's Burnet?
No disagreeing with April, but I would start with your local health department. You can work from your home as long as you have a seperate kitchen detached from you regular kitchen and is inspected.
Spelunking? anywhere around big D.
Panini


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## jamieloo (May 23, 2006)

From what I understand (and I'm near Dallas), if you operate out of your home -it is true, you must have a separate commerical kitchen -detached from your "home" kitchen. If you do not have that, I've heard of people renting a kitchen 2 or 3 days a week from local churches or restaurants. 
I'm just not sure of insurance issues. A lot has changed from the olden days where you could just open your home to people and serve food without 30 inspections. Good luck!


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