A food booth is generally a temporary structure used to prepare and sell food to the general public, usually where large groups of people are situated outdoors in a park, at a parade, near a stadium or otherwise. Sometimes the term also refers to the business operations and vendors that operate from such booths.

Background

There is evidence to suggest that certain foods have either originated from, or gained in popularity through food booths. For example, the popularity of the ice cream cone

Ice cream cone

An ice cream cone, poke or cornet is a dry, cone-shaped pastry, usually made of a wafer similar in texture to a waffle, allowing ice cream to be eaten without a bowl or spoon...

 in North America is attributed to the St. Louis World's Fair

Louisiana Purchase Exposition

The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the Saint Louis World's Fair, was an international exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States in 1904.- Background :...

 in 1904. According to legend, an ice cream seller had run out of clean dishes, and could not sell any more ice cream. Next door to the ice cream booth was the waffle

Waffle

A waffle is a batter- or dough-based cake cooked in a waffle iron patterned to give a distinctive and characteristic shape. There are many variations based on the type and shape of the iron and the recipe used....

 booth, unsuccessful due to intense heat. The waffle maker offered to make cones by rolling up his waffles and the new product sold well, and was subsequently copied by other vendors.

Operations

A common practice is for modern food booths to operate as concession stand

Concession stand

A concession stand , snack kiosk or snack bar is the term used to refer to a place where patrons can purchase snacks or food at a cinema, fair, stadium, or other entertainment venue. Some events or venues contract out the right to sell food to third parties...

s at various kinds of special events. These may be operated by small independent vendors, catering companies, or by established restaurant

Restaurant

A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...

s offering a subset of items featured from a more comprehensive menu. Alternatively, some food booths may be operated by local nonprofit organization

Nonprofit organization

Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

s as a means of fundraising

Fundraising

Fundraising or fund raising is the process of soliciting and gathering voluntary contributions as money or other resources, by requesting donations from individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies...

. In some situations, nonprofit orgs may face slightly lower processing fees, or less stringent regulations and contractual requirements, making such operations relatively more advantageous.

Regulations

Depending on the jurisdiction, and local customs, operators of such booths ordinarily require a temporary food sales permit and government-issued license

License

The verb license or grant licence means to give permission. The noun license or licence refers to that permission as well as to the document recording that permission.A license may be granted by a party to another party as an element of an agreement...

s. Typically operators also must demonstrate compliance with various regulations for sanitation

Sanitation

Sanitation is the hygienic means of promoting health through prevention of human contact with the hazards of wastes. Hazards can be either physical, microbiological, biological or chemical agents of disease. Wastes that can cause health problems are human and animal feces, solid wastes, domestic...

, public health

Public health

Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" . It is concerned with threats to health based on population health...

 and food safety

Food safety

Food safety is a scientific discipline describing handling, preparation, and storage of food in ways that prevent foodborne illness. This includes a number of routines that should be followed to avoid potentially severe health hazards....

.

Such regulations include, for example:

• structural requirements for the construction and placement of booths
• requirements or limitations regarding the hours and number of days of continuous operation
• restrictions on the handling and preparation of ingredients
• restrictions on the storage, transport and placement of ingredients
• rules regarding availability and proximity of waste disposal facilities and toilets
• rules governing conduct and cleanliness of operators
• rules governing animals and the use of pest control measures
• provisions imposing additional requirements if deemed necessary by an authorized on-site health inspector

On-site inspection

To oversee compliance with applicable regulations, many municipalities hire and deploy health inspector

Health inspector

A health inspector is a public employee who investigates health hazards in a wide variety of locations, then will take action to mitigate or eliminate the hazards...

s, or provide general guidelines for inspection, in order to ensure food booths do not present an unreasonable risk of harm to customers. Hired inspectors are usually permitted to make unscheduled inspections of facilities with little or no advance notice to the proprietors. The rules regarding the frequency, scope and extent of routine on-site inspections vary depending on the jurisdiction. Also, some jurisdictions may establish priorities based on the type of food served, the type of organization involved, and other ancillary factors, such as any prior history of customer complaints.

See also

• Fast food
  Fast food
  Fast food is the term given to food that can be prepared and served very quickly. While any meal with low preparation time can be considered to be fast food, typically the term refers to food sold in a restaurant or store with preheated or precooked ingredients, and served to the customer in a...
  
  
• Food truck
  Food truck
  A food truck, mobile kitchen, mobile canteen, or catering truck is a mobile venue that sells food. Some, including ice cream trucks, sell mostly frozen or prepackaged food; others are more like restaurants-on-wheels...
  
  
• Funfair
  Funfair
  A funfair or simply "fair" is a small to medium sized travelling show primarily composed of stalls and other amusements. Larger fairs such as the permanent fairs of cities and seaside resorts might be called a fairground, although technically this should refer to the land where a fair is...
  
  
• Kiosk
  Kiosk
  Kiosk is a small, separated garden pavilion open on some or all sides. Kiosks were common in Persia, India, Pakistan, and in the Ottoman Empire from the 13th century onward...
  
  
• Local food
  Local food
  Local food or the local food movement is a "collaborative effort to build more locally based, self-reliant food economies - one in which sustainable food production, processing, distribution, and consumption is integrated to enhance the economic, environmental and social health of a particular...
  
  
• Street food
  Street food
  Street food is ready-to-eat food or drink sold in a street or other public place, such as a market or fair, by a hawker or vendor, often from a portable stall. While some street foods are regional, many are not, having spread beyond their region of origin. Most street food are both finger and fast...
  
  
• Take-out
  Take-out
  Take-out or takeout , carry-out , take-away , parcel , or tapau , is food purchased at a...