Palm Beach Gardens, FL Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Food Truck Permits (2026)

Section 78-196 splits mobile food trucks into two classes. Class I Mobile Kitchens cook, prepare, and assemble a full menu on board and may also sell the items allowed for Class II. Class II Canteen Trucks sell only pre-cooked or pre-packaged food and drinks, plus incidental frozen dairy, frozen water-based products, fruits, and vegetables, with open flame or grease-laden-vapor cooking strictly prohibited; canteen trucks parked fifteen minutes or less are exempt from the section entirely. The city administers the program through Standard Operating Procedures kept on file with the city clerk and open to public inspection.

Before setting up, a vendor needs the property owner's consent. Class I vendors must pass a mobile food truck fire safety inspection performed by Palm Beach Gardens Fire Rescue, renewed annually, and must display the resulting sticker prominently; the inspection is free to the vendor. Operators must also carry current approvals from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, the Florida Department of Health, and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Day-to-day, vendors must remove waste and trash before leaving, may never dump grease or waste into the stormwater system, must log pest-control treatments for city inspection, and must keep food equipment clean and in good repair.

Code enforcement, building, fire, and police officers may inspect any truck at any time. One A-frame or sandwich menu sign is allowed under section 78-285, displayed only during operating hours. Only the vendor or an authorized employee may run the truck, and it must stay self-contained with attached trash or recycling receptacles that don't block movement.