What Is A Mobile Bar?

We take a look at the different types of mobile bar, when and how to hire a mobile bar, how to build a mobile bar and how to start a mobile bar business.

Mobile bars are taking over!

If you’re hosting an event and plan on serving drinks, food, sweet treats, snacks or even cigars, then you should consider hiring a bar on wheels.

Not only do mobile bars look amazing, but they also take the hassle out of event catering by bringing the good times to you, wherever you’re located.

Mobile bars come in many shapes and sizes.

Looking for a vintage vehicle that pours beer and wine?

Rent a converted 60’s trailer or a stylish VW van turned mobile tap truck.

Opting for a rustic vibe at your wedding?

A horse trailer bar brings the country charm as well as craft cocktails.

Does your venue require something smaller?

Choose a mobile coffee stand, Piaggio Ape prosecco bar or a cute ice cream cart.

They work indoors or out, don’t take up much room and still look wonderful.

On the hunt for a larger showstopper?

Pick an American icon in the form of a classic Airstream cocktail bar.

You don’t get much more memorable than that!

A shiny Airstream mobile bar with serving window open
Make bar service unforgettable with an American classic

What events can a mobile bar be hired for?

Whether you’re keeping it high-end and classy, or cheap and cheerful, there aren’t many occasions that a mobile bar doesn’t improve.  

No matter if you're offering alcohol, mocktails, or hot cocoa, it’s how the beverages are served that folks will remember best!

Mobile bars for your wedding

Every wedding needs a bar.

Make yours unique with drinks service of the mobile variety.

Rustic, boho, fairytale, modern, whimsical – there’s a mobile bar for every theme.

And when your guests need a pick-me-up the morning after your big day, have a coffee cart on hand to serve them a delicious espresso to go.

See mobile bar ideas for your wedding here.

Bride and groom standing in front of white camping trailer mobile bar
Choose a bar service that looks as good as the bride & groom on their wedding day

Mobile bars for your corporate event

Building brand recognition with your customers or rewarding your team for a job well done?

A mobile bar gets people talking in a positive way.

Promote your business with a dazzling Airstream wrapped in your company logo.

Branding doesn’t get much more memorable than that.

Say thank you to your employees with afternoon coffee and snacks served from an Instagram-worthy bar on wheels.

It means a lot more to your workforce than the usual morning coffee run – trust us!

Some bars are even big enough to host meetings or planning sessions from inside.

The ultimate in off-grid working!

Check out mobile bar ideas for your corporate event here.

A white trailer bakery on wheels decorated with balloon garland
Treat your employees with tasty treats with a twist

Mobile bars for your birthday

Sure, you could meet your friends at the same dive bar as you have for the last five years, OR you could bring the bar to your own back yard.

A vintage camping trailer serving signature cocktails?

You just outshone Steve and his lame 40th costume party.

Cheers!

Start planning your birthday mobile bar package here.

Lady spraying champagne bottle in front of teardrop trailer mobile bar

Mobile bars for your bridal shower

You’ve managed to find the one weekend of the year that most of the girls are free to celebrate the bride-to-be.

Time to really treat the gang with mixed drinks, Champagne service and a beautiful bar to pose in front of.

Sorry Sandra, you should have rescheduled that yoga retreat.

See mobile bar ideas for your bridal shower here.

Two small mobile bars decorated with flowers in a summer theme
Planning a bridal shower? Choose an option to complement your bride's style

Stationary mobile bars for your business

Breweries, vineyards, coffee shops, stadiums, shopping malls, airports, amusement parks and many other venues with large, captive audiences in search of a drink or a snack can elevate their catering with an eye-catching mobile bar.

Make your food and beverage service hard to miss and build social media buzz with something out of the ordinary.

Elevate company catering with these mobile bar options

A branded mobile bar advertising a drinks brand
Stationary bars like this example from Hudson Trailer Co. can be eye-catching branding for your event space

How and where to rent a mobile bar

By our calculations, there are upwards of 1000 mobile bars in business across the US & Canada.

Add coffee carts, sweet trucks, cycle-powered catering and vintage photo booths into the mix and you have a very large, and fast-growing industry of businesses on wheels.

But, for some reason, this burgeoning sector of the events industry is yet to go mainstream.

Roll To is on a mission to change that by bringing together all those caterers who wander and pinning them down in one (digital) place.

You can browse mobile bars by location, category, and event type on the Roll To platform.

Take a look through the listings, compare services and reach out to request a quote from your favorites.

Types of Mobile Bar

Horse Trailer Bar

An increasingly popular category of mobile bar is the Horse Trailer Bar.

Chosen by owners for their size (plenty of room to make and serve drinks from), ease of transportation (move horses is what they were originally designed to do of course), and striking appearance (selfie magnets), the horse trailer bar is a solid choice for launching your mobile business.

Often converted from old, disused one- or two-horse trailers, these travelling taverns bring the rustic, nostalgic vibe.

Some are kept rusty and true to their original exteriors, whilst others are completely overhauled to include all mod cons, tiled interior walls, mosaic or cheetah print roof tops and updated, shiny body work.

Next time you see a horse trailer rolling down the road, it may well have swapped its equine cargo for alcohol kegs and ice boxes.

A horse trailer bar serving drinks at the back of a wedding reception
Horse trailer bars look great for any occasion and can easily be upgraded with accessories

Inside a Horse Trailer Bar

So, we all know what the outside of a horse trailer looks like, but what does the inside of a horse trailer bar consist of?

As you can see from the images below, these trailers are pretty roomy.

Perfect for a team of two or three to mix, pour, open and serve all types of tasty drinks and treats.

Found as standard inside a horse trailer mobile bar will be ice boxes, shelving, barware, plus room for kegs and taps if you’re serving alcohol or drinks on draft.

A horse trailer coffee bar will include everything a barista needs to brew the perfect hot beverage.

Extra personalization across individual mobile bars comes in the form of custom neon signs, tile backsplashes, quirky roof art, lighting and floral accessories.

Large windows cut from the side of the horse trailer allow customers to take a look inside and get served easily, even at larger functions.

Get ideas and inspiration from existing horse trailer bars.

A horse trailer mobile bar with open roof and intricate roof tile design
A look inside one of the horse trailer bar builds that Hudson Trailer Co. produce

How to turn a horse trailer into a mobile bar?

There are a few approaches to starting a horse trailer mobile bar business.

The first is to buy an old horse trailer and get to work on converting the vehicle yourself.

The benefits of a DIY horse trailer bar conversion include saving money, as well as the sweet satisfaction of building something yourself.

Documenting your progress on social media is also a great way of promoting your business to customers early on.

People love to see and support the folks behind the business and this is a great way to show how hard you're working on producing something special.

Drawbacks include the extra time it may take you to complete such a project yourself, the problems you may encounter if you don’t have experience with such a build and the general maintenance conundrums that come with working on rusty sheet metal, rotting wood and broken tires.

If you’re looking for a faster route to market, you could consider heading straight to a seasoned mobile bar builder for your horse trailer bar conversion.

Professional outfits like Hudson Trailer Company have been building horse trailer bars for years and know exactly what they’re doing.

It may cost a little extra, but you’ll receive a fully functioning, ready to roll horse trailer bar.

Given their experience with launching mobile bars, experienced builders are also be on hand to give you advice on launching the business itself.

Not a bad package deal!

Get your creative juices flowing with plenty of horse trailer bar inspiration here.

Profile view of a horse trailer mobile bar with roof open
Another angle of a Hudson Trailer horse bar

Airstream Bar

Now, if you’re searching for a mobile bar that is seriously eye-catching, you may want to hire a vehicle that is large, iconic and shiny.

An Airstream bar certainly fits the bill.

Originally manufactured in the 1930s as travel trailers to explore the great outdoors with, these legends of the American automotive industry are enjoying new leases of life as mobile bar trailers.

And for good reason.

What’s not to love about a huge hunk of polished steel serving up drinks, food and a healthy dose of nostalgia?

Perfect for big budget brand activations, outdoor weddings and large-scale corporate events, Airstream bar trailers have multiple use cases.

With a huge interior, these mobile bars also have the added capability of being able to let guests inside!

That means as well as serving drinks, Airstream bars can be deployed as mobile photobooths, green rooms, lounges or just generally as areas for guests to hang out and have a drink.

A shiny Airstream turned mobile bar
Extremely hard to miss and oh so iconic, the Airstream mobile bar

Airstream bar conversion

So where to start with your very own Airstream bar conversion?

Well, these vehicles aren’t necessarily cheap, with some models reaching over $100,000 in price!

Given their previous lives as luxurious mobile homes and camping status symbols, Airstreams can often be found in very good condition.

Whilst that’s good for the structural integrity of your new business, it means that buying one can be a lot pricier than the broken-down horse trailer that's sitting in the back of the barn over the road.

You can see examples of Airstream bars for sale on our Classifieds page.

For more Airstream mobile bar inspiration, check out our Airstream category page and rent your own for your next event.

A smaller convertedAirstream bar
Airstream bars come in all shapes and sizes

How to build an Airstream trailer bar

In need of a ready-made Airstream mobile bar for sale?

You may want to approach a professional mobile bar builder such as Hudson Trailer Co. or Custom Built USA.

These guys have the technical and manufacturing knowhow to bring your shiny Airstream bar dreams to reality.

Again, their services come with a heftier price tag than ‘doing it yourself’, but if you want a professional job completed to the highest of standards, these are the folks to turn to.

You can also explore, contact and rent Airstream mobile bars from the Roll To platform.

Piaggio Ape Bar

Another style of mobile bar that is very popular is the converted Piaggio Ape Bar.

Favored for their nimble maneuverability and European style, Piaggio Ape (pronounced "ah-peh" and Italian for 'bee') bars are often still able to be driven!

Whilst you’re unlikely to see one cruising city streets, they can certainly still motor into an event space and begin setting up catering service.

Due to their size, Piaggio Ape bars can be deployed inside or out, and are far easier to position than a larger camper or horse trailer bar.

A classic look and easy to manage size make Apes super versatile.

Opt for a classy pour of bubbly with a Piaggio Ape Prosecco bar, keep your guests dancing with a Piaggio Ape espresso bar or bring them to life again the morning after your big day with a Piaggio Ape coffee bar.

They are also the perfect canvas to display cakes, cookies and chocolate treats.

Add a touch of Italian class to your wedding, brunch, or store opening with a Piaggio Ape bar.

Check out examples of more beautiful Piaggio Ape bars.

A Piaggio Ape bar serving cakes and sweet treats
Serve your guests in style with a vintage European classic

Mobile Bar Trailers

Another hugely popular mobile bar category is the converted trailer.

Clever entrepreneurs are increasingly turning to vintage campers for the base model of their mobile bar.

Shastas, Aladdins, Teardrops, Bolers, VW buses and Winnebagos are all being given a new lease of life whipping up cocktails and looking damn good in the process.

Repaired, repurposed and revitalized, vintage mobile bar trailers bring a sense of nostalgia to proceedings.

They're also super-practival with plenty of room available to design the bar interior of your dreams.

Explore the mobile bar trailer category here

A converted trailer bar decorated with flowers and ready to serve guests at a wedding
Converted trailers are an excellent choice no matter your event aesthetic

Mobile Bar Carts

Sometimes bigger doesn’t always mean better, and if you’re looking for a bar option that is tiny but mighty, you might want to consider a mobile bar cart.

Easy to station inside or out, these diminutive and easy to maneuver carts are perfect for smaller gatherings and intimate events.

Wrapped in company branding, mobile bar carts can also be deployed at corporate events such as in-store promotions, open houses and trade fairs.

Sunken ice boxes allow drinks to stay cool or ice creams to remain frozen making outdoor summer events a piece of cake too.

Find mobile bar carts for hire on Roll To

A mobile coffee cart on wheels being used at an in-store promotion
Mobile coffee carts are an awesome choice for intimate events and in-store branding

Mobile Bar Trucks

Buoyed by the resurgence of vintage vehicles, many are now being transformed into attention-grabbing mobile saloons.

Mobile Bar Trucks are typically converted from America’s classic trucks with brands like Ford, Dodge and Chevrolet getting the makeover treatment.

Antique trucks of 50 or 60+ years old now carry kegs and taps rather than work tools and materials.

Who could resist being served from a gleaming slice of automative Americana?

Explore mobile bar truck listings and book yours here

A Ford Econoline truck converted into a mobile bar
Classic trucks are being converted to bring the drinks and the nostalgic vibes

Mobile cycle bars

For the more environmentally conscious, pedal power can also be utilized for some mobile bars.

Coffee carts, espresso bars, ice cream trikes and beer bikes are an awesome option when you need the goods brought to you.

Able to fit into the smallest of venues, easy to dress up, and cool enough to draw in the crowds, a mobile cycle bar is a great option.

And just imagine the calves you’ll have after 6 months of owning a leg-powered bar on two wheels!

A cycle powered coffee cart serving hot beverages
Pedal powered mobile bars are great for smaller pop-up events

Mobile Photo Booths

Put a spin on event photography by allowing guests to capture the moment from within a mobile photo booth trailer.

Even the most camera shy of attendees will gravitate towards a prop-filled 60s camper.

There are many vintage trailers now being repurposed to allow groups to climb inside, pose with props and capture the good times that they’re having.

Polaroids are often printed on the spot and can be customized with your event details or company branding.

The perfect way to commemorate a night of fun.

If you’re someone who appreciates the exterior of these vintage vehicles more than the interior, there are also plenty of mobile trailers who are happy to provide the perfect backdrop to your family’s seasonal photoshoot.

There's a trailer for every occasion and celebration that needs documenting!

Check out the Roll To Mobile Photo Booths category here.

A mobile trailer photo booth covered in fun props to take photos with
Capturing the moment has also gone mobile with trailers converted into traveling photo booths

Building a marketplace to find, message and hire mobile bars

Thanks for reading our deep-dive into the mobile bar industry.

We’re passionate about putting mobile bar businesses in front of consumers.

If you’re planning an event, check out our mobile bar listings page.

Filter by category and location to find the perfect mobile bar for your celebration.

If you’re a mobile bar owner, or thinking of launching a mobile bar business, than we think you’ll enjoy the following features that we’ve put together with help from the community.

- How to Start a Mobile Bar Business

- How to Market a Mobile Bar Business

- 7 Amazing Accessories To Add To Your Mobile Bar & Wow Your Guests

- 9 Essential Items of Mobile Bar Equipment That Real Owners Say They Can’t Live Without

And if you have any questions, would like to join the Roll To community or just want to say hi, we'd love to hear from you.

Contact us here!

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