Bradenton, FL Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Vending Zones (2026)

Sec. 62-57, Vending on public roads; activities of ice cream trucks on roadways, adopts by reference chapter 2-19, subsections 2-19-21 through 2-19-24, of Manatee County Ordinance No. 07-74 and incorporates it into the Code of Ordinances of the City of Bradenton as if fully set forth. The regulations apply to all roads within the City of Bradenton designated as public roads, including surfaces paved and maintained for vehicular travel along with any curb or medium associated with such roads, and Ordinance No. 2880 applies throughout the city limits.

The permit comes from the county, not the city. No ice cream truck operator can undertake any vending activities unless and until the truck has obtained an operative permit from the Manatee County Administrator or his designee pursuant to Manatee County Ordinance No. 07-74, effective April 1, 2008. A copy of the adopted county sections is attached to Ordinance No. 2880.

Food safety and fire inspection rules for mobile units sit in Sec. 42-55, Mobile food dispensing vehicles. Mobile and temporary cooking operations must be inspected prior to operation at each event or location within the city. Cooking equipment in trucks, trailers and buses has to comply with NFPA 10, NFP 96, FFPC, and FAC 61C, and each vendor has to be licensed by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Division of Hotels and Restaurants, and/or the Florida Department of Agriculture, Division of Food Safety. The Bradenton Fire Department enforces the fire code side of that inspection.

Off the roads, the location rule is in Land Use Regulations § 4.3.12: street vending is prohibited on public lands or property unless city council authorizes it as part of a special event or revitalization initiative, and on private commercial property one vending cart is permitted within 20 feet of the primary building with a city use permit.