Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors in Cambridge, MA (2026)
2 verified food trucks & mobile vendors rules for Cambridge, Massachusetts, sourced directly from the municipal code and official government pages.
Verified from official government sources
Vending Zones
Cambridge bans hawking, peddling or giving away goods within a large downtown loop bounded by Memorial Drive, Mount Auburn Street, Harvard Square and the surrounding streets, unless the Chief of Police issues a permit. Municipal Code § 5.36.060 exempts newspaper sales but reaches every other kind of street selling, including food.
Cambridge Harvard Square Vending Restriction
Significant RestrictionsCambridge Municipal Code § 5.36.060
No person shall, within the limits of Memorial Drive on the south from the Western Avenue Bridge to Hawthorn Street, to Mount Auburn Street, to Ash Street, to Mason Street, to Garden Street, to Chauncy Street, to Everett Street, to Oxford Street, to Kirkland Street, to Trowbridge Street, to Putnam Square to Putnam Avenue, to Western Avenue and return to Memorial Drive at the Western Avenue Brid...
Sidewalk & Mobile Vending
Cambridge lets only city residents hawk meats, butter, cheese, fish and fresh fruit or vegetables on the street, and only after the Board of License Commissioners issues a ten-dollar license. Chapter 5.36 also bans crying wares before eight a.m. or after nine p.m. and requires scales used for those sales to be officially stamped.
Cambridge Sidewalk Food Peddling License
Significant RestrictionsCambridge Municipal Code § 5.36.020
The Board of License Commissioners may grant a license to hawk and peddle meats, butter, cheese, fish and fresh fruits or vegetables to a resident of the City who is of good repute as to morals and integrity. The fee for such license shall be ten dollars. This section shall not apply to any person who is not a resident of the City and who now holds a license.