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

Sec. 4.1 of the Portage County Code puts the county's Health and Human Services Department in charge of licensing restaurants, taverns and retail food establishments throughout Portage County under authority delegated by Wis. Stats. § 254.69. Sec. 4.1.3(7) defines a mobile restaurant as one operating from a movable vehicle, pushcart, trailer or boat which periodically or continuously changes location, excluding delivery vehicles that only carry pre-ordered meals from a licensed restaurant. Sec. 4.1.5(3) makes it unlawful to run a mobile restaurant, or its associated service base, without a Department permit; permits run on a fiscal cycle and expire every June 30, with a mid-year grace period for units first licensed between April 1 and June 30 that pushes expiration to the following June 30.

New operators must clear a pre-inspection before a permit issues (Sec. 4.1.5(4)), and at least one on-site manager needs a Department-approved food service training certificate, renewed every five years, unless the unit serves only pre-packaged food (Sec. 4.1.5(5)). Permits are non-transferable to a new owner, though a mobile restaurant permit may move with the unit to a new location, unlike a fixed restaurant permit. The Health Officer sets fees through the Health and Human Services Board and may suspend or revoke a permit after a hearing before the county Appeals Board on ten days' notice (Sec. 4.1.9).