Carrollton, TX Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Sidewalk & Mobile Vending (2026)

Section 116.83(A) of the Restaurants and Food Establishments chapter draws a hard line: farmers market food vendors follow the farmers market permit rules in §§ 116.80 through 116.88, while any other outdoor retail sale or promotion, including informal sidewalk food sales, "must adhere to chapter 113, peddlers and solicitors, of this Code." That cross-reference pulls in § 113.04(C), which makes it unlawful to block, obstruct, or hinder the free passage of a person on a sidewalk, parkway, or hike-and-bike trail, to block traffic in a street or alley, or to impede right-of-way access required under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Chapter 113's time restrictions apply too: no solicitation, including offering food for sale, before 9:00 a.m. or after sunset (capped at 8:00 p.m.) on weekdays, before 10:00 a.m. on weekends, or at all on federal holidays, under § 113.04(A). The 25-foot no-solicitation buffer around ATMs, bank entrances, transit stops, and fuel pumps in § 113.04(B) also applies to sidewalk food sellers working those locations. Because Chapter 113 defines "solicitation" to include selling or offering to sell goods and services at a location other than the seller's regular place of business, a food cart or table set up on a public sidewalk falls squarely within it, and there is no separate sidewalk-vending license to obtain.