Food Truck Leaves Dade Due To Health Department Fees
By LYDIA BERGLAR
News Editor
Photo by Lydia Berglar – Gabriel Stitt serves food to Southeast Lineman Training Center students in May 2025 when his food truck was set up by the Dade County Sports Complex.
G’z Dawg House is no longer setting up in Dade County after deciding that paying the health department fees aren’t worth the limited earnings from sales in Dade.
Gabriel Stitt (chef/owner) reported that shortly after the food truck moved to Jenkins Park, he received a message from Rachel Adams at the Dade County Health Department that he needed a Georgia health inspection and commissary.
Adams explained that the timeline was unrelated to the move from the Dade County Sports Complex to Jenkins; rather, the department had seen Stitt’s advertising and then contacted him.
The annual fee for a mobile food service permit in Dade is $250. Stitt is paying $210 every six months ($420 annually) for his Hamilton County permit.
Georgia does not accept out-of-state permits, but Stitt was under the impression that his Tennessee permit from Hamilton County would allow him to operate in Georgia since the two counties are so close to each other and (as he said) health inspection standards are the same across the United States.
According to Stitt, the Hamilton County Health Department told him that the Tennessee inspection was good across the nation, so when he began operating in Dade County, he thought he was good to go.
However, while each state does have federal standards they must follow, they also have their own varying requirements. Still, Stitt’s sentiment is understandable: G’z Dawg House has been inspected and approved just up the road from us, yet he must pay again for a very similar inspection in Georgia.
The only other mobile food vending option in Georgia is a 14-day permit, but vendors can only obtain these twice a year. However, for events that are sponsored by the government (like the 1945 Fair which is sponsored by the City of Trenton), vendors do not need a permit.
Further adding to Stitt’s financial burden, mobile food vendors must have a brick-and-mortar base of operations in Georgia. Food trucks can rent a space to cook their food, and this space, called a “commissary,” can be inspected as part of fulfilling the health department’s requirements.
Stitt is paying $350 a month for his commissary in Tennessee. Adam Moore’s commissary at his food court by Jenkins Park costs $800 a month, but it is not a fully equipped commissary.
Stitt’s Chattanooga health department and commissary costs total $4,620 a year, but in Dade, he would have to pay another $9,850 to meet both of these requirements. The Chattanooga market has proven much more profitable than the Dade market, so Stitt chose not to continue in Dade.
He said, “We honestly just thought that bringing some good food to a beautiful small town would not only benefit the community but allow us to see some sort of livelihood of our own. Unfortunately, what the state is requiring is impossible for anyone just starting a mobile food service.”
However, he is continuing to look for investors so he can establish a restaurant. Stitt is interested in purchasing or renting the old Huddle House building in Trenton and asks any interested investors or people with connections to the building to contact him, saying, “Let’s not let the Georgia health department stop the community from getting quality food and quality service.”
To find out when and where the food truck will be set up in Chattanooga, find G’z Dawg House on Instagram and Facebook, email gzdawghouse@yahoo.com, or call 678-848-9629.
Stitt reported that he will deliver in Dade if he receives five or more orders to deliver at one time. This is allowed by the health department, which he pointed out is a contradiction: He’s allowed to deliver his food that is prepared in Tennessee under a Tennessee health inspection to Georgia, yet he is not allowed to prepare and serve that same food in Georgia even though his operation has been inspected in Tennessee.
Stitt shared his frustrations, saying, “It’s all about money. It’s not about keeping the community safe, because I have the health inspection in Chattanooga. I’m not right-wing or left-wing, but we have a president in office who said he’d be for the small businessman. Where’s the change we talked about for the small business owners? I want the right government officials and representatives in the state to know that law enforcement can go up to 50 miles into another state in pursuit of a criminal, but a person that has paid for inspections can’t go 15 minutes down the road to run a legal business.”
(Without getting into the details of each individual state’s laws, this last statement is somewhat correct, at least in Georgia. See the Official Code of Georgia (O.C.G.A) 35-1-15 for specific details about “fresh pursuit” by law enforcement.)
The Sentinel asked Adams what the $250 permit fee is used for. She said that the inspections are biannual (one every six months), and the fee pays for the employees’ expertise and time. The Sentinel asked Stitt how long health inspections usually take. In his experience, they only take about ten minutes. Therefore, a ten-minute inspection (plus health department employees’ travel and documentation time) costs $125.
Stitt reported that he is determined to keep serving great food to good people wherever possible.
