We just sent off a 14ft bagel food trailer headed to Bozeman, Montana for the team behind Yard Sale Bagels. This is a full hot sandwich and coffee build, set up to handle a morning rush of bagel sandwiches and an afternoon coffee crowd without anybody on the line ever feeling crowded.
The wrap on this trailer is one of our favorites in a while. Brown background, bagel pattern all over, the Yard Sale Bagels logo front and center, and a clean menu callout on the side. It is going to look right at home in a brewery lot or at the front of a Saturday market.
Why a bagel trailer makes sense in Bozeman
Bozeman is one of the most exciting food markets in the Mountain West right now. The city itself is around 57,000 people, but the Gallatin County metro is well past 130,000 and growing fast. Montana State University adds another 16,000 students through the school year. On top of that, Bozeman is the airport and gateway for Big Sky, Bridger Bowl, and Yellowstone, which keeps a steady stream of out-of-town visitors moving through downtown every season.
For a bagel concept that does sandwiches and coffee, that mix is close to ideal. Morning bagel sandwiches sell to students, locals, and the early Yellowstone crowd. Afternoon coffee carries the slower hours. Weekends pick up at brewery lots, farmers markets, and event venues. A trailer that can run year-round can stack revenue across all of those channels.
The cooking line
The whole back wall behind the cooking line is stainless steel. That is what health inspectors want to see behind any high-heat equipment, and it stands up to grease and steam without staining or warping. Everywhere else inside the cabin we ran FRP wall panels, which give the operator a smooth, non-porous surface that wipes clean.
The cooking equipment is built around how a bagel operation actually flows. A 48 inch LP griddle handles eggs, breakfast meats, and smash sandwiches on one long cooking surface. A conveyor oven sits next to it for toasting and melting bagels at speed. The conveyor is the real workhorse for a sandwich shop like this. It puts out a consistent product without anybody having to babysit a salamander or a panini press through a rush.
Next to the cooking line, a 36 inch sandwich prep table gives the operator a refrigerated rail for cream cheese, meats, vegetables, and spreads at the line. Below it, the same unit holds bulk product cold. The merchandiser refrigerator handles cold drinks and any grab-and-go items the operator wants visible to customers from the window.
Floor, lighting, and finish work
Aluminum diamond plate runs across the full floor. It handles wet feet, dropped trays, and the daily mop without showing wear. We also wrapped the lower portion of the cooking station and the sink front in diamond plate to protect the high-traffic spots from kicks and scuffs.
LED strip lighting runs through the whole cabin so the operator has even, bright light at every station, plus exterior LED lighting along the trailer for night service at events. We also added a hood fan over the cooking line to keep steam, grease, and bagel smell moving out of the cabin.
Service window setup
The window is a 5 foot opening on the curbside, with a flip up awning door that doubles as overhead cover, self-closing inset doors below the awning, and a bug screen for warm-weather service. The placement keeps the cooking line and the prep table both within a step of the window, so one operator can run a full order from cooked bagel to handoff without crossing the cabin.
Plumbing and water
The plumbing setup is built for state and county health inspection. There is a hand wash sink with paper towel and soap dispensers, plus a three compartment sink for washing, rinsing, and sanitizing utensils. An 8 gallon water heater feeds both with hot water. The fresh water tank is 30 gallons and the grey tank is 40 gallons, both mounted underneath the trailer where they are easy to fill and drain at a commissary or rinse station.
For a deeper read on how to size water for a build like this, our guide on food truck electricity and water consumption walks through the math.
Power and heat
A 12 kW generator on board handles the cooking line, the conveyor oven, the merchandiser fridge, the lighting, and the water heater with headroom to spare. Generator sizing matters more than people expect on a hot food trailer. Our food truck generator size guide covers how we land on a number for each build.
The other big call on this trailer is a diesel heater. For Bozeman, that is the move. Average January lows hit around 12 degrees Fahrenheit, and the city sees stretches well below zero. A propane heater can work in shoulder seasons but burns through tanks fast in real winter weather. A diesel heater pulls from a small dedicated tank, runs dry and clean, and keeps the cabin comfortable for the operator and the cooking equipment without constant refills.
Why this build works year-round in Bozeman
The reason this trailer can earn twelve months a year in Bozeman comes down to three things. First, the diesel heater plus the sealed service window keeps the cabin warm enough to operate safely through the cold months. Second, the LP griddle and the conveyor oven combo means breakfast sandwiches sell fast and consistently no matter the temperature. Third, the wrap and the bagel concept itself match the Bozeman market, which over-indexes on local-feeling, well-branded food businesses. A Yard Sale Bagels trailer in front of Bridger Brewing on a Saturday in February is going to do business.
Full equipment list
- Stainless steel cooking wall behind the line
- FRP wall panels throughout the rest of the cabin
- Aluminum diamond plate flooring and kickplates
- LED lighting through the cabin and along the exterior
- 48 inch LP griddle
- Conveyor oven
- 36 inch refrigerated sandwich prep table
- Merchandiser refrigerator for grab and go
- Diesel heater for year-round operation
- 5 foot service window with awning door, self-closing inset doors, and bug screen
- Hand wash sink with soap and paper towel dispensers
- Three compartment sink
- 8 gallon water heater
- 30 gallon fresh water tank, undermount
- 40 gallon grey water tank, undermount
- Hood vent over the cooking line
- 12 kW generator
Walk-in tour
More recent builds
If you liked this one, take a look at a few of our other recent builds. The 12ft all electric food truck for Crumbl Cookie in Salt Lake City is another bakery-style concept. The funnel cake and ice cream trailer for Billings is our last Montana build. And the donut and coffee truck for Sedona is a closer cousin on the morning rush side of the menu.
For anybody just starting to think about a build, our 2026 guide to starting a food truck business is a good place to begin, and what equipment goes in a food truck covers how we think about laying out a kitchen.
Ready to build yours?
We have been building food trucks and trailers out of Woodland Park, Colorado for years and ship to operators across the Mountain West and beyond. If you are thinking about a bagel trailer, a breakfast concept, or any other build, give us a call at 719-722-2537 or head to our contact page to start the conversation.