Texas City, TX Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Food Truck Permits (2026)

Subchapter 115.085 to 115.090 was adopted by Ord. 20-47 on November 4, 2020. A MOBILE FOOD UNIT is a vehicle mounted, self-contained food service operation, designed to be readily movable, including catering trucks, trailers, push carts and roadside vendors. It must keep its mobility at all times and does not include a stand or a booth. To qualify, the unit must be permitted by and meet all requirements of the Galveston County Health District. The subchapter applies to vendors that operate on city roads and streets and travel throughout the city, and to units that are stationary at a single location on private or public land (§ 115.087).

Traveling units must meet the peddler permit requirements of § 115.001 and following: $25 for three consecutive days or $500 for a calendar year, proof of liability insurance, a sales tax number and Police Department fingerprinting. Stationary units operating for terms of several hours, days, weeks or months must obtain and maintain an annual city MFU Stationary permit at $250, with an exception when the city sponsors the event, and a Galveston County Health District permit or, for a city event with multiple units, the district's special event permit.

The unit needs a tax ID noting an address in Texas City, Texas. Location approval comes from the Planning Commission and applies only to that particular unit; it does not run with the land or the owner (§ 115.088(B)(4)). The Commission weighs impact on other businesses, need for additional food service, number of similar units, appearance and construction quality, parking, landscaping and seating, and fit with adjoining businesses (§ 115.089). Each unit supplies its own trash receptacle, cleans a minimum of 20 feet around the sales location, mounts signs flat against the unit and shields lighting from residential use.