Gary, IN Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Food Truck Permits (2026)

Gary's Municipal Code has no section labeled mobile food unit or food truck; the closest fit is the itinerant restaurant category defined at § 24-69, which the health department applies to temporary food operations, including mobile vendors, tied to a fair, carnival, circus, public exhibition, or similar gathering. Section 24-70(a) requires a permit from the health officer before operating either a permanent restaurant or an itinerant restaurant, and the permit must be posted conspicuously on-site. Unlike a standing restaurant's calendar-year permit, an itinerant restaurant's permit runs only for the term of the single continuous operation, such as one fair or carnival.

Subsection (b) makes the health officer issue the permit only after an inspection confirms compliance with the division's requirements, and bars denying or revoking a permit on arbitrary or capricious grounds. Beyond the health permit, § 24-71 requires a separate annual license from the city controller, obtained by presenting the health officer's permit along with the fee set in Chapter 20; a separate license is required for each itinerant restaurant operated. Certain nonprofit and religious or educational organizations selling food at a benefit event are exempt from these requirements under § 24-71(c) and (d), for events of no more than 30 days a year, though the exemption drops away for a restaurant or cafeteria with an extensive prepared-food menu.

Once operating, § 24-73 requires the health commissioner to inspect every itinerant restaurant at least once every 48 hours, a much tighter cycle than the six-month inspection interval for standing restaurants, and a failure to correct a violation lets the health commissioner summarily revoke the permit on the spot, automatically voiding the license too.