Memphis, TN Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Sidewalk & Mobile Vending (2026)

Chapter 9-52 of the Memphis Code, administered by the health officer and the Shelby County Health Department, treats pedestrian vendors and push cart vendors as a distinct class of food establishment. Section 9-52-83 requires a permit before anyone 'engage[s] in the business as a pedestrian vendor or push cart vendor,' issued only after a pre-operational inspection is approved and the permit fee is paid. The permitted vendor must secure the written permission of the agent, manager, superintendent, or director in charge of whatever mall, pedestrian mall, shopping center, commercial business, historical district, or city park the cart will operate in, and that person becomes directly responsible for the vendor's activities at that site.

Push carts specifically must be tied to a commissary licensed by the state department of health or agriculture, where food is prepared and stored between operating hours and cleaning facilities are available, and perishable food must be kept below 41°F or above 135°F. Every cart must be identified with the business name and permit number in letters at least three inches tall (Sec. L). Under Section 9-52-3, the underlying food permit runs July 1 through June 30 each year; renewing more than 30 days late adds a penalty equal to half the permit fee, and a bounced check triggers a similar additional charge.

gov/health and reviewed every two years. A push cart is defined separately from a 'pedestrian vendor', the former is a non-motorized mobile unit, the latter dispenses only non-potentially hazardous or non-perishable packaged food, but both fall under the Section 9-52-83 permit requirement and both must operate inside an authorized mall, park, shopping center, or historic district rather than an unrestricted public sidewalk.