Norwalk, CT Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Food Truck Permits (2026)

Chapter 45's definition of a food establishment covers a fixed location and by its own terms 'does not include mobile restaurants, food trucks, vending machines,' so a truck's health licensing lives outside Norwalk's local code. What the code does regulate is the act of vending from a vehicle in a public place: § 77-1 defines 'peddler or street vendor' to include selling goods, wares or merchandise 'either on foot or from a vehicle, basket, stand, container or similar equipment,' and § 77-2 requires that vendor to obtain a City Clerk license before vending anywhere in the city, displaying a nonremovable photo on the license and a numbered tag on the vehicle at all times.

Section 77-3 exempts only narrow categories, such as itinerant vendors under state law, farm produce sales, and delivery of milk, teas, coffee, spices, groceries, meats and bakery goods, none of which covers a truck selling prepared meals on-site. Getting licensed requires a sworn application to the City Clerk under § 77-4 (identity, vehicle description, goods vended, criminal history), a $1,000,000 certificate of insurance naming the City as additional insured under § 77-5, and a $200 fee under § 77-6, which the Health, Welfare and Public Safety Committee can revise with Council concurrence after a public hearing.

The license runs for the calendar year and is non-transferable under § 77-7, and § 77-13 makes clear it doesn't substitute for any other license required by the state.