The News: On behalf of a Milwaukee food truck owner, the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) filed a lawsuit seeking to block a newly approved food truck curfew. The City of Milwaukee ordinance bans food trucks after 10:00 p.m. in the downtown area and after 11:00 p.m. near Burnham Park. The new law is unconstitutional, violating the right to earn a living and the guarantee of equal treatment. WILL is seeking an emergency stay of the law, which takes effect at 10:00 p.m. on Saturday.
The Quote: WILL Associate Counsel, Kirsten Atanasoff, stated, “The City of Milwaukee’s ordinance is an unlawful attack on good, honest small businesses like those run by Abdallah Ismail, owner of the beloved Fatty Patty food trucks. By aggressively limiting hours of sale while simultaneously keeping brick and mortar restaurants open, the city is violating the rights of our client. WILL is proud to help this small business owner oppose the city’s senseless policy.”
WILL Client, Abdallah Ismail, stated, “This ordinance is going to shut down small businesses and provide less affordable food options to workers and residents of our city. Food truck owners create good food and provide a real service, but the city has made us into scapegoats for violence and crime. This cannot stand.”
Milwaukee Makes Excuses: The stated rationale for this ordinance is equally as absurd as expecting patrons to eat their post-bar meal before 10:00 p.m.: that the food trucks are to blame for downtown Milwaukee’s violent crime problem. But using food trucks as a scapegoat for Milwaukee’s crime problem is a thinly veiled pretext for economic protectionism. The ordinance author and one of its main public sponsors both revealed their true intention, which is the protection of brick-and-mortar restaurants from competition. But that is an illegitimate reason to interfere with food truck owners’ right to earn a living.
The Argument: We advance two primary legal arguments:
- The Ordinance violates Article I, Section 1 of the Wisconsin Constitution by interfering with Mr. Ismail’s right to earn a living.
- The Ordinance violates Article I, Section 1 of the Wisconsin Constitution by arbitrarily treating food trucks on Water Street differently than bars and restaurants on Water Street, thereby denying them equal protection under the law.
Our Client: Plaintiff Abdallah Ismail owns and operates Fatty Patty. Fatty Patty serves gourmet, made-to-order burgers across five locations in the greater Milwaukee area. One of those locations is a food truck on Water Street. With lower barriers to entry than traditional brick-and-mortar restaurants and more flexibility to go to where customers are, the food truck business offers an attractive option for individuals looking to share their specialty cuisine with their communities and to serve a diverse clientele.
Read more:
- Complaint, May 2026
- Motion in Support of Temporary Restraining Order, May 2026
