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Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors in Louisiana (2026)

41 rules on the books across Louisiana, 17 cities and counties. Select a rule to read the full details.

Severity: Few Restrictions · Light Restrictions · Some Restrictions · Significant Restrictions · Heavy Restrictions

Food Truck Permits

Licenses and health permits required to operate a food truck, including fees, inspections, and renewal requirements.

Louisiana: statewide

StatewideSome Restrictions

Louisiana Department of Health requires all food trucks and mobile food units to obtain state retail food permits and…

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Jefferson Parish

Significant Restrictions

Mobile food and catering vehicles in Jefferson Parish need a Sheriff's Office registration before selling anywhere…

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Kenner

Significant Restrictions

Kenner does not license individual roadside food trucks; a Food Truck Park, defined as a business hosting multiple…

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Lake Charles

Significant Restrictions

Food trucks and mobile vendors working the Lakefront and Downtown Development District need both a citywide itinerant…

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New Orleans

Significant Restrictions

New Orleans caps mobile food truck permits at 100 citywide and requires Department of Finance approval plus sign-off…

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Vermilion Parish

Significant Restrictions

In unincorporated Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, no one can run a food truck without an annual Police Jury permit that…

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Ascension Parish

Some Restrictions

Food trucks and trailers operating in unincorporated Ascension Parish, on private property, parish land or in the…

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Bossier City

Some Restrictions

Bossier City requires every special event vendor, the code's term covering mobile food sellers and temporary stands, to…

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Caddo Parish

Some Restrictions

Food truck vendors operating on private or Parish-owned property, or in the right-of-way, need a Caddo Parish food…

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East Baton Rouge Parish

Some Restrictions

A "lunch wagon" or other mobile food operation counts as an eating and drinking establishment under City-Parish Code…

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Gretna

Some Restrictions

Gretna mobile food vendors must apply to the tax collector for a permit with a property lease, a parish health unit…

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Lafayette

Some Restrictions

Operating a food truck or trailer in Lafayette requires a $300 mobile food establishment permit from the City-Parish…

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Lafayette Parish

Some Restrictions

Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government requires a mobile food establishment permit to operate a food truck…

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Shreveport

Some Restrictions

Operating a food truck in Shreveport requires a food truck and trailer vendor's license from the Metropolitan Planning…

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Terrebonne Parish

Some Restrictions

Terrebonne Parish requires every mobile food unit to register annually for $100 with the Regulatory Division, plus a…

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Vending Zones

Designated areas where food trucks and mobile vendors can operate, including time limits, distance from restaurants, and residential area restrictions.

Shreveport

Heavy Restrictions

Shreveport food trucks may only operate where a permanent business already holds a certificate of occupancy, in zoning…

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Bossier Parish

Significant Restrictions

Bossier Parish's ban on itinerant meat and seafood vendors does not apply in incorporated areas or within five miles of…

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Gretna

Significant Restrictions

Gretna allows mobile food and merchandise vending only when the sale is conducted from privately owned property under a…

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Jefferson Parish

Significant Restrictions

Jefferson Parish blocks all mobile food and merchandise vending in Mixed Use Corridor Districts, Commercial Parkway…

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Kenner

Significant Restrictions

A Food Truck Park can only be sited in Kenner's C-2 General Commercial district, and even there it needs a conditional…

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New Orleans

Significant Restrictions

General transient-vendor permits for selling goods, wares or merchandise on New Orleans streets are void inside a…

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Rapides Parish

Significant Restrictions

Sec. 19-12 lets a vendor stop or park on a parish street only to make a delivery to occupants of a specific building or…

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Terrebonne Parish

Significant Restrictions

Mobile food vendors may operate in commercial, medical services or industrial zones and in unzoned parts of Terrebonne…

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Ascension Parish

Some Restrictions

Food trucks in unincorporated Ascension Parish may only park in zoning districts listed as allowable on the Unified…

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Caddo Parish

Some Restrictions

Caddo Parish food trucks may operate on private property or Parish-owned property, but only on an improved surface…

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Lafayette

Some Restrictions

Lafayette confines mobile food trucks to non-residential lots as an accessory use, bars them from the public…

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Lafayette Parish

Some Restrictions

Lafayette City-Parish law restricts mobile food trucks to accessory use on non-residential private property: they…

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St Tammany Parish

Some Restrictions

St. Tammany Parish allows mobile food trucks as a permitted temporary use in its commercial zoning districts, not by…

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Vermilion Parish

Some Restrictions

In unincorporated Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, the Police Jury grants food truck access to parish property, parking…

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Sidewalk & Mobile Vending

Permits and rules for sidewalk vendors and pushcarts, where vending is allowed, cart and equipment standards, and the distance and hours rules that come with a vendor permit.

Gretna

Heavy Restrictions

Gretna bars anyone from selling food, food products or other merchandise from a truck, cart, stand or table on any…

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Jefferson Parish

Heavy Restrictions

Jefferson Parish bars selling anything, food included, from a truck, cart, stand or table on any public right-of-way…

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Rapides Parish

Heavy Restrictions

Outside Alexandria's city limits, the Rapides Parish Police Jury bans using parish roads, streets or sidewalks as…

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St Tammany Parish

Heavy Restrictions

St. Tammany Parish's mobile food truck standard, UDC Sec. 400-8.BB, keeps every food truck, ice cream truck, and…

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Bossier City

Significant Restrictions

Bossier City bans itinerant vendors from selling fresh or frozen meats or fresh or frozen seafood from any vehicle…

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Bossier Parish

Significant Restrictions

Bossier Parish bars itinerant vendors from selling, offering for sale, exhibiting for sale, or taking orders for fresh…

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Lafayette Parish

Significant Restrictions

Lafayette requires an annual permit to sell food or beverages from a sidewalk pushcart, but the whole scheme, permits…

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New Orleans

Significant Restrictions

New Orleans caps mobile food truck permits at 100 citywide and requires a Department of Finance permit before a truck…

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Shreveport

Significant Restrictions

Selling from a sidewalk cart in Shreveport is legal only inside the B-4 central business district, and only with a…

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Vermilion Parish

Significant Restrictions

In unincorporated Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, a permitted food truck may not obstruct traffic or parking and may not…

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Ascension Parish

Some Restrictions

Food trucks working the public right-of-way in unincorporated Ascension Parish must carry $1 million in liability…

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Lafayette

Some Restrictions

Anyone peddling goods on Lafayette streets, sidewalks, or other outdoor public locations needs a city permit first…

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