Wauwatosa, WI Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Sidewalk & Mobile Vending (2026)

160, adopted by Ord. O-16-05 pt. I on April 5, 2016, treats commercial use of public streets for food vending as a privilege the city can prohibit or closely regulate, and it delegates licensing and permitting authority to the Board of Public Works while the health department handles inspections and enforcement of food-safety rules. 36 and a mobile food establishment license from the city clerk, approved by the Board of Public Works; the license fee is nonrefundable, covers one vehicle at a time, and runs annually from July 1 through June 30.

Every unit must maintain a licensed service base, an enclosed building sized for servicing, cleaning, inspection and maintenance, and must return there at least once every twenty-four hours; the service base does not have to sit inside Wauwatosa. Units must be removed from any site at day's end unless the permit specifically approves otherwise, cannot be used for living, sleeping or non-food purposes, and cannot allow non-employees aboard. In residentially zoned districts, a vending vehicle cannot park for vending purposes longer than five minutes, and amplified chimes, bells or recordings are barred there entirely; in nonresidential districts, vending is allowed but a unit must stay at least fifty feet from the main public entrance of a restaurant, keep sight lines clear, and not block pedestrian, bicycle or vehicle routes.

A Fourth of July parade carve-out lifts the parking limit within 150 feet of North Avenue for a window spanning two hours before through one hour after the parade. Operators using public property may be required to carry liability insurance naming the city as an additional insured, and operating hours cannot run later than nearby businesses' hours.