Appleton, WI Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Food Truck Permits (2026)

Section 9-627 of the Appleton Municipal Code defines a mobile food establishment as 'a restaurant or retail food establishment where food is served or sold from a movable vehicle, push cart, or trailer which periodically or continuously changes location and requires a service base to accommodate the unit for servicing, cleaning, inspection and maintenance,' expressly excluding vehicles that only transport or deliver food. Section 9-630(b) requires anyone running one of these units to first get a Mobile Food Service License from the Department of Health, which also tells the operator which mobile sidewalk/amenity strip locations are open; the operator then files a Street Occupancy Permit/License Application with the Department of Public Works describing the foodstuffs to be sold and every covered employee, and pays an application fee to the Director of Finance.

Section 9-631 gives the Chief of Police and the City Sealer of Weights and Measures up to seven working days to investigate the applicant before Public Works issues the license. If the investigation raises concerns, Section 9-632 lets the City require a $500 bond, and Section 9-629 requires at least $1,000,000 in liability insurance naming the City as an additional insured before any Street Occupancy Permit issues. Licenses run the calendar year, January 1 through December 31 (Section 9-633(a)). A mobile food establishment operating an on-street unit does not get a separate Street Occupancy Permit at all; instead Section 9-633(c) requires a license under the same article, charged the identical fee as the Street Occupancy Permit it replaces.