Running a food truck in Boston: permits, sites and the city schedule

Key takeaways

• The City of Boston charges a $500 annual application fee for its Food Truck Permit, according to boston.gov as checked on November 13, 2026.
• Before the Office of Small Business takes a Food Truck Permit application, a truck needs a health permit from the Inspectional Services Department ($100 a year) and a Boston Fire Department inspection ($150).
• Each worker who handles money on a Boston food truck needs a Massachusetts hawker and peddler license from the state Division of Standards, which costs $62 a year.
• Boston awards all public food truck sites by lottery. The 2026 lottery was held online on April 7, 2026 and covered 23 sites.
• Public-site vending in Boston runs from April 1 through October 31. Trucks on private property are the exception and can keep selling after October 31.

This guide is for owners who want to sell food from a truck inside the City of Boston. A Boston food truck is a mobile food business that holds the city’s annual Food Truck Permit and sells at a public site won in the city lottery or on private land with the owner’s permission. The permit costs $500 a year, and the city will not take an application until the truck has its health and fire permits, a state hawker and peddler license and four other documents.

The sections below cover each permit and its fee, the application, the site lottery, the city schedule and season, and the state tax on meals. Brookline, Cambridge and Somerville are separate municipalities with their own rules.

What permits does a Boston food truck need?

A Boston food truck needs the city’s annual Food Truck Permit, plus six documents that the Office of Small Business asks for before you can apply. The city’s How to Get a Food Truck Permit page lists them:

• permits from the Inspectional Services Department (health) and the Boston Fire Department
• a hawker and peddler license, issued by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
• a Business Certificate, filed with the Boston City Clerk if the business is based in Boston
• a Certificate of Liability Insurance
• a business plan
• a written agreement from your commissary

A commissary is the licensed food establishment where you prepare and store food. Boston says a truck reports to its commissary twice a day.

The city’s food truck business plan page asks for a sample menu with at least one healthy meal option and an operation plan for each site. The operation plan must keep four feet of sidewalk clear.

How do you get the health and fire permits for a Boston food truck?

Health and fire permits for a Boston food truck come from two city departments that inspect the truck at the same address, 1010 Massachusetts Avenue. The Inspectional Services Department (ISD) issues the health permit and the Boston Fire Department’s Fire Prevention division issues the fire permit. The city’s health and fire permit page gives the steps.

1. Before you build, call ISD at 617-961-3293 to schedule a plan review. Bring equipment plans, the plan review form, a health permit application and a sample menu.
2. After the truck is built, call the Fire Department at 617-343-3447 to schedule the fire inspection.
3. Bring the truck to ISD for the health inspection, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. No appointment is needed.

At the health inspection ISD asks for the sample menu, a commissary letter from the kitchen’s owner, proof that at least one person on the truck is a Certified Food Manager, an allergen certificate and the Food Truck Permit application.

Boston also requires an Open Burning and Cooking Operations permit, renewed every year, if you use anything but an inline generator for cooking or to power the truck.

Who needs a hawker and peddler license on a food truck?

A hawker and peddler license is required for each worker who handles money on a food truck, according to the City of Boston. The Division of Standards in the Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation issues it to individuals and does not issue it to a group or a business.

The state’s hawker and peddler application page puts the fee at $62 per person, and the license lasts one year from the date of issue. Applicants need a Certificate of Character signed by the chief of police in the city or town where they live. Since March 1, 2026, a photo of the applicant is also required.

Boston’s own hawker and peddler page adds that the Boston Police charge $50 for the fingerprint check behind the Certificate of Character. You only have to show one hawker and peddler license when you apply for the Food Truck Permit.

How much does a Boston food truck permit cost?

A Boston food truck permit costs $500 a year in application fees, paid by check to the City of Boston. The application form states that $500 is the permit fee only. The posted fees, as checked on November 13, 2026, are below.

Item	Issued by	Fee
Food Truck Permit application	City of Boston, Office of Small Business	$500 a year
Health permit	City of Boston, Inspectional Services Department	$100 a year
Fire permit inspection	Boston Fire Department	$150
Hawker and peddler license	Massachusetts Division of Standards	$62 per person a year
Fingerprint check for the Certificate of Character	Boston Police Department	$50
Business Certificate	Boston City Clerk	$65, renewed every four years

The table leaves out insurance, commissary rent and the charge for most public sites, which the city does not post. The only site rate printed on the 2026 lottery page is $100 a day for the Summer Street late night site. The Business Certificate page lists the extra papers the City Clerk wants from food truck vendors.

How do you apply for the Boston food truck permit?

You apply for the Boston Food Truck Permit online, in person or by email once every supporting document is in hand:

• Online: register and file through the city’s food truck online application.
• In person: bring the application, documents and payment to the Office of Small Business, Food Truck Coordinator, 43 Hawkins Street, Boston, MA 02114.
• By email: send the application and documents to foodtrucks@boston.gov, then mail or carry the $500 check to 43 Hawkins Street.

Boston asks for two weeks to approve a permit. Approved permits are picked up at Public Works, 1 City Hall Square, Room 714. The paper Food Truck Permit Application also carries a signature line consenting to the city’s use of data from a GPS unit on the truck. The current how-to page does not list a GPS contract among the required documents, so ask the Food Truck Coordinator what the city expects.

How does the Boston food truck site lottery work?

The Boston food truck site lottery is the annual drawing the city uses to award every public vending site. According to the city’s Food Truck Lottery page, one lottery is held before each vending season. The 2026 lottery took place online on April 7, 2026, at 1 p.m..

Winners keep their lottery sites through the year unless they drop them. Trucks can drop a site without penalty by sending the city’s drop form before each quarter’s deadline. New vendors do not have to wait for the next lottery: the Office of Small Business takes applications on a rolling basis and awards sites as they come open.

Where can food trucks park in Boston, and when?

Food trucks in Boston can park at public sites assigned by the city or on private property with the owner’s permission. The 2026 lottery listed 23 public sites, among them Clarendon Street in the Back Bay, Pearl and Franklin streets downtown, District Hall at 62 Northern Avenue in the Seaport, Maverick Square in East Boston and Nubian Square in Roxbury.

Shifts on the 2026 list were lunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., dinner from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. and late night ending at 3 a.m. The Office of Economic Opportunity and Inclusion posts the resulting schedule by neighborhood on its Food Trucks page, which counts more than 95 trucks.

All vending in the City of Boston ends on October 31 and can resume on April 1. Private property is the exception. For a private site, ISD asks for a Use of Premises Permit, and the Food Truck Permit application asks for a lease or landlord letter and a site plan for each private location.

What rules apply once a food truck has a public site?

Rules for a public food truck site in Boston start with attendance: the city expects you to vend at your lottery site for every shift. The lottery page adds these:

• Absences: in an emergency, notify the Mobile Enterprises Manager (617-635-3534) and your customers on social media. More than three missed shifts in one year can mean removal from the location and suspension from future lotteries.
• Blocked sites: if a car is parked in your site, call the Boston Police Department at 617-343-4911 and give the license plate number.
• No permit: vending without an Annual Food Truck Permit means immediate removal and a possible fine.

Does a Boston food truck collect meals tax?

A Boston food truck collects Massachusetts sales tax on the meals it sells. The Department of Revenue’s sales tax on meals guide, updated June 26, 2026, sets the state tax at 6.25% of the sales price and counts mobile sellers such as canteen trucks and street wagons as restaurants. Cities and towns can add a 0.75% local excise, and the City of Boston’s fiscal year 2027 budget lists one, for a combined 7%. Vendors register with the Department of Revenue, and returns are due monthly, on or before the 30th day after the month covered.

What should you recheck before you act?

Every figure here was read on the agency’s own page on November 13, 2026. These can change:

• The $500 Food Truck Permit fee, $100 health permit fee and $150 fire inspection fee: confirm with the Office of Small Business at 617-635-0355.
• The 2027 lottery date, registration deadline and site list: none were posted as of November 13, 2026. Call 617-635-3534.
• Public site charges: ask the Office of Small Business.
• The $62 hawker and peddler fee and the photo rule: confirm with the Division of Standards on mass.gov.
• The $65 Business Certificate fee: confirm with the Boston City Clerk at 617-635-4601.
• The 6.25% and 0.75% meals rates and the filing dates: confirm with the Department of Revenue.

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice. Rules and fees change; confirm the current requirements with the agency named before you file or pay.

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