Restaurant Lookup Start your 25 days free

For Utah fairs, festivals and one-time events

Your event booth, permitted and on record for the weekend.

The county permit two weeks ahead. Then the ice, the hand sink and the cooler readings your crew taps in between customers, ready if the inspector stops by the booth.

Start your 25 days free See it work

25 days free. Cancel anytime.

Saturday, 12:40 pm

Why does the booth
get away from you?

  • The permit

    Food for the public at a fair or festival, free or paid, needs a temporary permit from your county. Most departments charge more when you apply late.

  • The booth

    You are flipping burgers with one hand and taking cards with the other. The cooler thermometer under the ice and the water in the hand sink are the first things nobody looks at.

  • The point

    You came to feed a crowd, not to chase a clipboard across a field.

See it work

Watch a sample booth's day before you fill in a single form.

First things first

Which permit,
and how early?

Selling or giving food to the public at an event? You need a temporary food event permit from your local health department. Apply at least two weeks ahead, because late fees start closer to the event. Three questions give you the Utah list for a booth.

Free: the Utah inspection-ready checklist

Every rule an inspector can check, in plain words, with where it comes from. Print it. Tick what you have.

Pick your place, type your email, and the PDF downloads.

Read the events guide

The permit question comes first, and the answer costs nothing.

What the inspector checks at a booth

Which rules apply
under a tent?

Here are the rules behind a booth once the permit is on the table, hand sink first. Each one says where it comes from.

  • Handwashing

    Wash hands and forearms 20 seconds at a handwashing sink only; double wash after the restroom; sanitizer never replaces washing.

    Food Code 2-301.12, 2-301.14, 2-301.15, 2-301.16, 5-202.12; R392-102-14(4)–(8)

    How long should food workers wash their hands?

  • Hot and cold holding

    Hot 135°F or above and cold 41°F or below, except a whole roast cooked on the roast chart (130°F or above, not on a food truck), raw shell eggs (the air around them 45°F or below) and food marked under time control (Food Code 3-501.19, 4 hours, not on a food truck). Food carried to an event is probed at loading and on arrival.

    Food Code 3-501.16, 3-501.19; R392-102-12(6)

    What are the hot and cold holding temperatures?

  • Cooking temperatures

    Poultry 165°F, ground meat 155°F for 17 s (protocol 160°F), steaks/chops/fish 145°F, microwave 165°F and stand 2 minutes.

    Food Code 3-401.11, 3-401.12; R392-102-12(2)

    What are the minimum cooking temperatures for meat?

  • No bare-hand contact with ready-to-eat food

    Use tongs, deli tissue, waxed paper or gloves; single-use gloves for one task; bare-hand contact only with county approval and records.

    Food Code 3-301.11, 3-304.15, 2-401.13; R392-102-14(1)–(3) (trucks: no bare-hand variance)

    When do food handlers have to wear gloves?
What else can the inspector check? 4 more rules

  • Ice: drinking water, clean scoop, clean machine

    Ice is made from drinking water or bought bagged from a supplier that follows the law. The scoop is kept clean and protected (we say out of the ice, handle up, never a cup or glass). The ice machine and bin are cleaned at the maker's stated frequency; the Code sets no number of days.

    Food Code 3-202.16, 5-101.11, 3-201.11(A), 3-304.12(E), 4-602.11(E)(4); Utah R392-100-4; docs/source/research/menu-items.md IC1-IC7

  • Employee health: report, exclude, restrict

    Food workers report vomiting, diarrhea, jaundice, sore throat with fever, pus-filled sores, Big 6 diagnoses and exposures; the person in charge excludes or restricts.

    Food Code 2-201.11, 2-201.12, 2-201.13; R392-102-15(4)

    When does a sick food worker have to stay home?

  • Utah food handler permit

    Food handlers finish an approved course within 14 days of starting and get a county permit within 30 days. Valid 3 years.

    Utah Code 26B-7-413; R392-103; R392-102-4(14)

    Does your county differ? 3 of Utah's 13 health departments do

    Utah law: course by day 14, permit by day 30, valid statewide. Southwest Utah: their page says get the permit before handling food. Southwest Utah food page

    Utah law: a permit from any Utah health department is valid statewide. Summit County: check with them (their Code says they "may" accept another county's card). Summit County Code of Health §1-6-5(A)(3)

    Utah law: course by day 14, permit by day 30, valid statewide. Weber-Morgan: their regulation says have the permit before you start work. Weber-Morgan Food Service Sanitation Regulation §6.20 (2-103.12(B))

    Do you need a food handler permit in Utah?

  • Accurate thermometers

    Food thermometers accurate to ±2°F; calibrate by ice point (32°F); not boiling water in Utah.

    Food Code 4-203.11, 4-302.12; R392-102-8(15)–(16)

    How do you calibrate a food thermometer?

See it work

See the same rules as taps on the phone your crew carries.

When the ice melts

The cooler reads 45°F.
What now?

Ice melts in the sun. Press Warmer until the chicken cooler passes 41°F (Food Code 3-501.16). Then pick what you did, like adding ice or moving the chicken.

The screen asks what you did before it saves the reading. A reading counts the same whether it passes or not.

Start your 25 days free

Your first cooler reading is on the list the day you pick Event booth.

Chicken cooler

Cold holding is 41°F or below.

40°FIn range
41°F
Write down the fix
Examples:

Slide a reading above 41°F and it is Out of range. It will not save until you write down the fix. Fix it, and it is marked Caught early ✓

Slide the temperature past 41°F. On a keyboard, use the arrow keys.

The fix is on record: Caught early. Your crew does this on a phone between customers.

Start your 25 days free

Set up

How do I get my crew on it
before Saturday?

Three steps on Thursday night.

  1. Pick Event booth

    The app starts you with a grill menu (burgers and fries) and the temporary event permit as your first step, and you edit the list.

  2. Text your crew a link

    They open it in their phone's browser and check in before they touch food. Your phone sends the text. We don't.

  3. Every reading is saved

    Each cooler and grill reading has the time and who took it. The binder is one PDF.

Start your 25 days free

A booth is billed like a community kitchen: $19 a month for the location, any number of helpers. The 25 free days cover your first event.

A festival Saturday

What does the day
look like?

One crew, one tent, one phone.

  1. Check in

    Each person answers the health questions. The answer is OK to work or No food work today. Nobody with a stomach bug serves the crowd.

  2. Sink and ice

    Water, soap and towels at the hand sink; the thermometer in with the ice. The rule for each is printed beside it.

  3. Hold it right

    Hot at 135°F or above (roasts may hold at 130°F), cold at 41°F or below. Type the cooler reading; a warm one asks what you did before it saves.

  4. Close the day

    The last cooler reading. Today shows anything still open.

Start your 25 days free

Every line here is on your list from the first screen, and the permit step comes first.

The cost of a gap

What if the permit
comes late?

Apply at least two weeks ahead. Departments charge late fees closer to the event. Salt Lake County issues the permit in person, only to the person in charge of the booth.

A booth with the permit on the table and the cooler readings on the phone is a calm booth. A booth without them spends Saturday morning at the health department's tent.

After the weekend

Feed the crowd.
The readings are on your phone.

Try it on one event within the 25 days.

25 days free. Cancel anytime.

Questions? Call or text (415) 640-1667.

Start your 25 days free

Set up the booth on Thursday, run Saturday, and see the binder fill.

Questions

Before you
start.

Do I need a permit for a one-day event?

Yes, if the food is offered to the public, free or paid. It is a temporary food event permit from your local health department (Utah Code 26B-7-401 and your department's regulation). Every vendor at an event gets their own.

How early do I apply?

At least two weeks ahead. Departments charge late fees closer to the event. Davis County, for example, adds a late fee to applications under two business days before the event, as read on its page on 2026-09-29.

Does someone at the booth need a food handler card?

Salt Lake County says at least one person with a food handler card must be at the booth at all operating times. Statewide, food handlers finish an approved course within 14 days and hold a permit within 30 (Utah Code 26B-7-413). The app keeps each card on file.

Can I prep the food at home?

Salt Lake County's page says no food for the public may be prepared or stored in a private residence. Ask your own department where you may prep.

Will the app remind us to take the cooler reading?

Not by text. In a browser, yes, once you say yes when the app asks. Open the app and the list shows what is due and what is late.

What does a booth pay?

An event booth is billed like a church or community kitchen: $19 a month for the location, with any number of helpers. The 25 free days start when you add a card on Stripe's page. Cancel before they end and you pay nothing. 25 days free. Cancel anytime.

Your binder is ready when the inspector is.
Pick your place. Start with one shift.

Start your 25 days free See it work

25 days free. Cancel anytime.

Questions? Call or text (415) 640-1667