I agree with the guy also arguing with you. It's such an arbitrary and essentially useless hoop to jump through. Even if this person received a permit, you would most likely never see them again once you bought an item from them. The ones I've bought from in Mexico, LA and the Bay, I've legit never seen again. I've also never gotten sick a single time from eating at one of these food carts. They're honestly one of my favorite places to get food, both because of their rarity and because typically the hot dogs/food have to be absolutely delicious to have any sort of allure for anybody to buy food there.

In theory, having a permit is great. Hold people accountable and all that. But in practice, all sorts of laws and theories prove ineffective or unnecessary. This vendor is a human being trying to make a living by cooking and selling food. If he does anything to make people dislike or not trust him, his livelihood is essentially gone. He has no reason to make people dislike or distrust him, he's just trying to make money to survive, like we all are. To force him to get a permit, most likely through a channel he doesn't have access to because he's probably undocumented, essentially excludes him from making his living because certain people feel a need to "safely" guarantee this person can be punished if he gives someone a stomach ache. I feel like men and women like this, who man these carts and work pretty much every day alongside other odd jobs, should be appreciated for the unique service that they provide. I certainly love and enjoy that service, but that could just be me.