Custom Burger Trailers
Custom burger and smashburger trailers built in Sacramento, carrying the California HCD insignia and laid out around a flat-top griddle and a double fryer line so you can run a real menu from day one.
A burger trailer lives and dies by its cook line. 916 Concession builds the whole unit around that reality: a heavy flat-top griddle sized for smashburgers, a fryer bank that keeps fries and rings moving through a rush, refrigerated prep right at the cook's hands, and a Type 1 hood that satisfies a California plan check. We weld and finish the shell, plumb the water system, wire the panel, and clad the interior in county-approved cleanable surfaces, then carry the unit through HCD insignia and CA DMV so the trailer is titled, tagged, and street-legal before it reaches you. You bring the menu, the recipes, and the lender conversation. 916 Concession brings the build. Every trailer is custom sized to your operation, and most burger operators land on a 7x14 shell because it fits a griddle, double fryers, and a full sink wall without crowding the cook.
A working burger trailer is built around the cook line. Expect a commercial flat-top griddle of 36 inches or more for smashing and searing, a double deep-fryer bank for fries and rings, and a refrigerated chef base feeding the griddle with patties and cheese, backed by an upright reach-in for stock. Above the hot side runs a Type 1 hood with sized make-up air and the fire-suppression that goes with it. The sanitation wall carries a three-compartment sink for warewashing, a separate handwash sink within reach of prep, and the fresh and gray water tanks that feed and drain them. Round it out with a prep table, a cold rail or condiment station near the window, dry and cold storage, a service window with a POS spot, and interior lighting. We finish all of it in county-approved cleanable cladding, never the cheap board, so the unit holds up to grease and scrubdowns.
Burger equipment is power and propane hungry, so we size the systems to the menu, not a minimum. Most builds run a 50-amp electrical service to cover refrigeration, lighting, the hood fans, HVAC, and the POS with margin; a heavy double-fryer build with electric cooking can push that to 80 or 100 amps, and 916 Concession spec's the panel to match. Gas griddles and fryers run on propane, and we size the regulator and piping to the total BTU load of every appliance so you are not starving the cook line mid-rush. On water, California code drives the plumbing: a fresh tank feeds the three-compartment sink and the handwash sink through an electric pump and a water heater for hot water, and the gray tank that catches it all is built larger than the fresh tank, per code, so you never out-drain your wastewater capacity in a shift. We plumb, wire, and pressure-check the whole system before the unit ships.
Why the burger trailer keeps printing money
Burgers travel better than almost any street food. The ingredient cost is low, the ticket times are fast once the griddle is dialed in, and a smashburger off a hot flat-top has a flavor people will line up for and pay a premium to get. That is why we see so many burger builds: first-time owners who want a proven, high-margin menu; established caterers adding a unit for festivals and brewery lots; and operators who already run a taco or BBQ trailer and want a second concept that shares the same commissary. A burger trailer is also forgiving to staff, since one or two cooks can run a tight griddle-and-fryer line through a heavy rush. 916 Concession builds for all of those buyers across California, from a single owner-operator unit to a fleet trailer that matches an existing wrap and layout.
Building around your menu: the griddle and fryer line
We start the design with your menu, not a stock floor plan. A smashburger program wants a thick, well-seasoned flat-top with the surface area to smash, sear, and hold at the same time, so we spec a 36-inch or larger griddle for most builds and go bigger when the volume calls for it. Under and beside it goes refrigerated prep: a refrigerated chef base for patties and cheese within arm's reach, plus an upright reach-in for backstock. For the fry side we lay in a double fryer bank so fries, rings, and tots never bottleneck behind one basket. Everything sits under a Type 1 hood with the make-up air sized to the cook line. On sizing, the 7x14 is our most-ordered burger shell because it carries that whole line plus the three-compartment sink, handwash sink, and a service window without crowding, but 916 Concession builds any size, longer for a fuller cook line or shorter for a tight commissary footprint.
Two separate approvals: the unit versus your health permit
This trips up a lot of first-time owners, so we keep it plain. There are two different approvals and they belong to two different parties. The first is the HCD insignia, the California Department of Housing and Community Development plate that says the trailer itself is built to Title 25 as a mobile food unit. That one is 916 Concession's job. We build to the standard, submit the unit, and the trailer leaves our yard carrying the HCD insignia. The second is the county health permit, the operating permit that lets you serve food in a given county. That one is yours. You apply to your local environmental health department, and because we build to county-ready blueprints with the right sinks, hood, and cleanable cladding, the unit is ready to pass that inspection. We hand you a unit built for the win; you carry it across the line in your county.
Timeline, registration, and getting it to your lot
A typical burger build runs about six weeks from locked specs, though that depends on inspection scheduling and any custom equipment with its own lead time, like a specialty hood. We will give you an honest window, not a sales-pitch date. While the unit is being built we handle CA DMV: California issues temporary tags first so you are legal to move and operate, then mails the permanent plates, and 916 Concession manages that whole registration step so you are not standing in a DMV line. When the trailer is finished and titled, we deliver it through in-house transport, a dedicated team we run with on every build rather than a load-board hauler, so the same crew that knows the unit puts it on your lot. On the money side, 916 Concession works with third-party lenders; we will connect you, but we do not set rates or carry the financing in-house.
Build your Burger Trailer
Tell us your menu and timeline. 916 Concession builds the unit, sets the California HCD insignia, and provides the county-ready blueprints.
Prefer to talk? Call 7758951064.