Chicago, Illinois — building for clients nationwide
Chicago food truck & trailer builder
JC Installation fabricates and outfits mobile kitchens — food trucks, food trailers and commercial kitchen build-outs — out of Chicago, for owners across the United States. First unit? We'll walk you through permits, design and financing so you launch instead of stalling.
(773) 786-7775
Who builds it
We build the units, we advise on the permits, and we help you work out how to pay for it. Being in one shop means the whole build happens under one roof; working nationwide means where you operate is a logistics question, not a dealbreaker.
The work itself is fabrication and outfitting. A truck or trailer comes in as a shell or gets sourced, and it leaves as a working kitchen — cooking line, ventilation and fire suppression, water and waste, electrical, interior finishes, service window and exterior wrap, spec'd around the menu you intend to sell.
Alongside that we do commercial kitchen build-outs for brick-and-mortar restaurants, and we advise first-time owners on permits and design. The advisory side exists because it is the part that most often stops a launch — the fabrication is rarely what runs a new owner aground.
What we build
Every build is custom, so every quote starts with a conversation about your menu, your service model and the code you have to satisfy. Pick the closest fit — if you are not sure yet, that is a normal place to start.
Built to pass
The difference between a truck that opens on schedule and one that sits is almost never the paint. It is the hood, the water capacity, the sink count, the fire suppression and the electrical load — the things a health or fire inspector measures with a tape and a checklist.
So we plan those first. Your menu sets the equipment, the equipment sets the ventilation and the power, and the layout gets drawn around both. It is a slower conversation up front and a much shorter one at inspection.
What you cook decides your hood, your make-up air and your fire suppression. We size that around the menu rather than fitting a hood to whatever is left over.
Fresh and gray water capacity, hand sink and wash sink placement, and the drainage to go with them — laid out to the requirements you will actually be held to.
Generator, shore power or both, wired for the load you pull on your busiest service, not the load you pull on a quiet Tuesday.
Service window, prep space and traffic flow arranged around how you and your crew actually move during a rush.
Before and after
A build starts stripped back to framing on the shop floor and it is not done until it holds up through a real service. Both of these are our work.
How it works
A build is a big purchase from a shop you may not have met. Here is the shape of it, so you know what happens next at every point.
You tell us what you want to sell, where you want to sell it and what you are starting from — a truck you own, nothing yet, or somewhere in between. We ask a lot of questions at this stage on purpose. This is also when to raise financing, because it changes the shape of everything downstream.
We work out the equipment schedule and the layout around your menu, and check it against what your jurisdiction expects. Then you get a written quote for that build. No published price list, no ballpark that quietly moves — a quote for the unit we just designed with you.
Fabrication and outfitting in the Chicago shop: framing and subfloor, the cooking line and its ventilation, water and waste, electrical, interior finishes, service window and exterior wrap. If you are local, come and see it on the floor — we would rather you did.
The unit is built to the health and fire standard from stage two onward, so this stage is about readiness rather than rescue: making sure what was drawn is what is installed, and that you know what your inspector will be looking at.
You take the unit. Local clients collect from the shop; out-of-state clients get a delivery arrangement worked out during the quote, so it is settled long before the build is finished.
Permits & design
Plan review, layout drawings, the equipment schedule and the inspection sequence — the paperwork side is where most first-time owners lose months. It is part of what we do, not an add-on you have to chase.
Permits & design consulting
Financing
Almost nobody funds a first build out of pocket. Tell us on your quote request that you are looking for financing help and we will go through the options with you before the spec is locked.
About financing helpOur work
JC Installation built the Delicias Tacos food trucks working in Chicago — a pink taco truck and a purple churro truck. Project photography from current builds is being added as each one is documented.
Shop progress, fabrication and finished units go up on @jc_installation as they happen. It is the fastest way to see what is on the floor right now.
Start here
Send over your concept, your timeline and where you're located. We'll come back to you with questions, a layout direction and a written quote — no price guessing, no pressure.
