Arlington, TX Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Vending Zones (2026)

Health and Sanitation Chapter Article IV Sec. 4.20, adopted by Ordinance No. 25-063 effective September 1, 2025, sets the operating-location rules for every mobile food establishment in Arlington. Under Subsection A, an operator "shall not operate such establishment within one block of any block containing an elementary school, junior high school, or middle school." Subsection B bars entry into any City park that has a concession stand unless the Director of Parks and Recreation, or a designee, gives written permission first. Subsection C limits any stop to 30 minutes, but Subsection D lifts that cap when the truck is working a City-sponsored or Construction-Chapter-permitted event, or when it operates as an accessory use tied to a business holding a valid mobile food establishment certificate of occupancy. Subsection E requires food to be prepared and stored only at a licensed central preparation facility or on the truck itself, never in an unpermitted or residential kitchen, and Subsection F bars selling non-food merchandise, fireworks, or hazardous materials from the truck. Subsection G requires a current Texas Department of State Health Services or county permit to be displayed and the inspection report produced on request.

Separately, the Unified Development Code's zoning rule for a mobile food establishment as an accessory land use, Sec. 3.3.6.N as revised by Ordinance No. 26-019, confines that accessory use to the DT-FBZ-CMU, DT-FBZ-Core, and DT-FBZ-Gateway districts, and only where it runs alongside an underlying restaurant, bar, microbrewery/microdistillery/winery, or theatre certificate of occupancy; if that underlying business stops operating, the truck's certificate of occupancy expires automatically without formal City action.