Restaurants, commercial kitchens, and food trucks.
Confirm the authority for your exact address. Some cities run their own health division, and building, planning, fire, sewer/grease and business-license approvals are separate even when Lake County Health Department & Community Health Center (Population/Environmental Health Services) issues the health permit.
About 1,518 food & drinking establishments operate here, serving a population of about 708,760. (U.S. Census 2023 estimate; County Business Patterns 2022, NAICS 722)
Fees are risk-based (high/medium/low) and adjusted annually by the Lake County CPI; Exact dollar amounts are only published in the LCHD Fee Schedule PDF, which is a scanned/image document that could not be machine-read; call 847-377-8020 or email HealthEHS@lakecountyil.gov for current figures
Illinois Food Code risk-based inspection; result recorded as Pass, Pass with Conditions, or Fail (no score/letter grade). County health dept posts inspection reports online.
Mobile food unit requires plan review before licensing; temporary-event permit categories run roughly $22-$140 per event per an older LCHD temporary-event fee sheet (not current, not authoritative)
Fees/payment and forms are on the department site; application steps vary by concept — see the checklist below.
U.S. Census 2023 population; County Business Patterns 2022 (NAICS 722).
| Category | Annual fee | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| temporary/seasonal/special-event | 1-14 day: Category I $22, Category II $45 (certified mgr) / $84 (no cert mgr), Category III $67 (certified mgr) / $140 (no cert mgr); Seasonal/6-month: Category I $84, Category II $140. Farmers market: Category I $84, Category II $140. Not-for-profit with certified manager: $0. Late fee (application under 7 days before event): $33 | Temporary Food Service Event permit; A single permit covers up to 14 consecutive days at one location; a Farmers Market or Seasonal permit is valid six months; Menu risk drives Category: I = low risk (prepackaged, baked goods, popcorn, etc.), II = medium (hamburgers, cut fruit, etc.), III = high (BBQ, poultry, seafood/sushi, etc.); Fees are from the LCHD Temporary Food Service Event fee schedule (schedule shown is dated 2016; the county publishes food fees only through its permit forms, not a consolidated online schedule) |
| commissary/central kitchen | — | No standalone commissary permit fee published; A signed Commissary Agreement (valid for the calendar year) is required when a temporary-event or mobile operator prepares/stores food at a licensed commissary; the commissary itself must be a licensed food establishment |
| pushcart/limited operation | $0 (no separate permit) for farmers-market sampling with a valid IL Farmers Market Food Product Sampling Handler Certificate; certificate application fee $10 (with FSSMC) or $40 (without FSSMC) | Sampling-only vendors at farmers markets need no LHD permit if they hold the state Food Product Sampling Handler Certificate; selling (not just sampling) requires a temporary permit |
Health-department plan review looks for specific, code-compliant fixtures. Compare spec-filtered options, then confirm counts and sizes with your local requirements. See the full list in what equipment a commercial kitchen requires.
Permit costs and rules change at the county line — compare Lake County with its neighbors.
This is a typical sequence — confirm the exact sequence with your authority having jurisdiction.
Official plan-check requirements: plan-check guide →