This 16-foot food trailer was built for El Flavor, a 100% gluten-free Latin street food operation based in Aurora, Colorado. Everything about this build was planned around one idea: a fully celiac-safe kitchen on wheels. No shared equipment, no cross-contamination risks, no compromises. The whole trailer, from the cooking line to the cold storage to the prep surfaces, was set up clean from day one. We built it at our shop in Woodland Park, Colorado and shipped it out to the Denver metro area.
If you run a gluten-free or allergen-free food operation and you have been looking for a builder who understands what that actually means for layout and equipment, this build is a good example of how we approach it.
Why a Dedicated Gluten-Free Trailer Matters
For people with celiac disease, eating from a food truck is usually a gamble. Most trucks cook gluten-free items on the same griddles, in the same fryers, next to the same flour-dusted prep surfaces as everything else. That is not safe for someone with celiac. El Flavor wanted to take that problem off the table completely. Their entire menu is gluten-free, and the trailer is a dedicated celiac-safe kitchen. There is no wheat, no barley, no rye anywhere in the build. That is what their customers are paying for and that is what we built for them.
If you are someone with celiac disease or a serious gluten sensitivity and you have ever wished you could just eat street tacos from a food truck without worrying, this is the kind of operation that makes that possible. And if you are a business owner thinking about serving that market, this build shows what it takes to do it right.
Exterior and Construction
This is a seamless trailer, which means the exterior panels are not riveted or screwed together. They are bonded so the surface is completely smooth. That matters for two reasons. First, when the vinyl wrap goes on, it does not bubble or lift over rivet heads. Second, it holds up a lot longer because there are no fastener points where water can get in and cause problems over the years. El Flavor’s wrap is one of the better ones we have seen. It covers the entire trailer with their branding: “Bold Latin Street Food,” “100% Gluten Free Celiac Safe Kitchen,” photos of their empanadas, their social handles, phone number, and a QR code for Google reviews. The wrap was still being finished when we shot the walkthrough video.
At the tongue end of the trailer sit twin 40 lb propane tanks in a cage. The gas lines run under the floor of the trailer, not through the interior. That is a code requirement in most Colorado jurisdictions. The reason is simple: if a gas line develops a leak 10 or 15 years down the road, it leaks outside underneath the trailer, not inside the kitchen where people are working. It is one of those things that costs a little more to do right but could save lives decades later.
The exterior also has a shore power connection, a fresh water fill port, a grey water drain, and an outdoor-rated electrical outlet that the customer specifically requested. We also installed an electric jack at the tongue, another customer add-on. On the service side there is a 5-foot self-closing service window with an outside shelf, and two exterior LED lights.
The Cooking Line
This is where it gets packed. A 16-foot trailer does not sound huge, but we fit a serious amount of cooking equipment into this one. The menu required it. El Flavor serves tacos, empanadas, and other Latin street food, and they needed enough capacity to handle event crowds without falling behind.
The cooking line sits under a 12-foot exhaust hood. Any time a hood is longer than 10 feet, code requires two exhaust fans instead of one. This one has both, of course. Underneath the hood you have two 40 lb fryers set at different heights. One of the owners is tall and the other is not, so we adjusted the fryer stands to match. That is the kind of small detail that makes a difference when you are working a 10-hour day. Next to the fryers is a large flat griddle, which is essential for a Mexican cuisine menu. The griddle is also mounted taller than standard because the primary cook is on the taller side. Then there is a charbroiler and a four-burner stove. The stove sits right against the cooking wall, so it is wrapped in the same stainless steel panel as the rest of that section.
Underneath the stove is a chef base, which gives them cold storage right at the cooking line so they are not walking to the back of the trailer every time they need an ingredient. Every piece of equipment on this cooking line is bolted down to the floor with washers. Nothing is loose, nothing shifts when the trailer is rolling down the highway.
Cold Storage, Prep, and Service Equipment
Behind the cooking line there is a full-size refrigerator. It is not in the spot where we typically place it, but the customer wanted it there and it works for their flow. Next to that is a merchandiser refrigerator, the glass-front kind, for bottled drinks and grab-and-go items. There is also a sandwich prep unit for cold ingredients.
On the electric side, this trailer has a hot dog steamer, a rice cooker, two electric steam tables, and a microwave. All of those run on electric power, which is a big part of why this trailer has a large onboard generator. The generator is sized to power all of that equipment at the same time without tripping anything. The generator box is tucked into the trailer and the space is well used.
Electrical
The electrical system on this trailer is something we take seriously on every build, and it is worth explaining. All the wiring runs inside conduits that are mounted on the surface of the walls. We do not run wires inside the wall panels. The reason is that trailer walls flex when the trailer is moving. Over time that flexing can chafe through wire insulation and cause short circuits. With external conduits, the wiring is protected and accessible if anything ever needs service.
Every piece of equipment has its own dedicated breaker. If the steam table trips, it does not take out the sandwich prep or the microwave. The breaker panel is labeled so the operator knows exactly what each breaker controls. That kind of isolation matters when you are in the middle of a lunch rush and something goes wrong. You lose one piece of equipment, not the whole kitchen.
Fire Suppression and Safety
The fire suppression system uses a large bottle mounted behind the cooking equipment that covers the full length of the hood. There is also a K-class extinguisher for grease fires and an ABC extinguisher for general use. All fire suppression equipment was tagged and inspected before the trailer shipped. This is standard on every trailer we build, but it is especially important on a unit this packed with cooking equipment.
Plumbing
For sinks, the trailer has a hand wash sink with a splash guard and a three-compartment sink. Both are required by Aurora’s health department and by most jurisdictions in Colorado. There are soap and towel dispensers mounted on the wall above the hand wash station. Fresh water is stored in a 40-gallon tank and grey water goes to a 50-gallon tank, both mounted under the trailer for easy access. A water heater keeps hot water running to both sinks.
Interior Finishes
The cooking wall is stainless steel. The rest of the interior walls are finished with FRP (fiberglass reinforced panels), which is smooth, easy to clean, and approved for food service. Between every panel there are stainless steel trims. That is a detail that matters over time. Without the trims, grease gets into the seams between panels. Once grease gets into those crevices, it never comes back out. The trims seal everything off so the walls stay cleanable years into the operation.
The floor is aluminum diamond plate, which is durable and slip-resistant. The walls have 1 inch of insulation inside, with 9/16 inch plywood behind the finished panels. For trailers heading to colder climates like Montana we bump the insulation to 1.5 inches, but 1 inch is standard for Colorado. LED strip lighting runs the full length of the ceiling.
Equipment List
- 12ft exhaust hood with dual fans
- Large fire suppression system (tagged and inspected)
- K-class and ABC fire extinguishers
- (2) 40 lb propane fryers (set at different heights)
- Large flat griddle (raised for tall operator)
- Charbroiler
- 4-burner stove
- Chef base
- (2) Electric steam tables
- Hot dog steamer
- Rice cooker
- Microwave
- Full-size refrigerator
- Glass-front merchandiser refrigerator
- Sandwich prep unit
- Hand wash sink with splash guard
- 3-compartment sink
- 40-gallon fresh water tank
- 50-gallon grey water tank
- Water heater
- Twin 40 lb propane tanks
- Onboard generator
- 5ft self-closing service window with outside shelf
- Electric tongue jack
- Shore power connection
- Outdoor-rated electrical outlet
- Exterior LED lights
- Interior LED strip lighting
- Aluminum diamond plate flooring
- Stainless steel cooking wall
- FRP interior walls with stainless trims
- 1-inch wall insulation with 9/16″ plywood
- Full vinyl wrap
Notes on Building for Celiac-Safe and Allergen-Free Operations
Building a trailer for a dedicated gluten-free operation is not the same as building a standard food trailer and calling it allergen-friendly. The entire layout has to be planned so that cross-contamination is not possible. That means no shared fryers with gluten-containing items, no shared prep surfaces, no flour dust settling on equipment from a neighboring station. When the whole trailer is dedicated to one allergen-free menu, you can design the kitchen flow around that commitment from the start.
If you are thinking about starting a celiac-safe food truck or food trailer business, the market is real. There are roughly 3 million people in the US with celiac disease, and many more with non-celiac gluten sensitivity. Most of them have very few safe options at food festivals, farmers markets, and street food events. A dedicated gluten-free trailer with visible branding and clear allergen messaging, like what El Flavor has done, builds trust with that community fast.
We have built trailers for all kinds of dietary-specific operations and we are happy to talk through what yours would look like. If you are in the Aurora or Denver area, check out our Aurora, Colorado service area page and our guide to food truck inspection requirements in Aurora. And if you are ready to start a build, reach out to us. Every trailer we build is custom to the menu and the operation.