frustrations in BBQ catering

The sweatpants and hunter jacket wearing pit-master in the picture didn’t help, nor did the website.

I am thisclose to saying eff it, we will do it ourselves … and that means I’m really desperate because I *know* I don’t want to be cooking for 85 people. I know this.

Sigh. Maybe I can talk FH’s cousins and family into manning the grills.

This is really just a picnic to get together after the DW. It doesn’t HAVE to be fancy. It’s just my modicum of self-respect that is saying it must be catered. I’m already working on lighting and décor – again, not expecting to turn it into a dance hall, but just make it a little bit nicer.

Humbug.

We are doing a sit down dinner and my caterer is charging us $4500 so i would say that the $5000 is too high. i know that he does BBQ style events and i think he charges around $20.00 pp. That's all i really have for this. $2000 doesn't seem that bad, have you met with that guy yet? it may just be that he is really bad at spelling or was trying to write you back on his phone ( i know that always messes me up) Good luck!

What about like Famous Dave's or Carolina BBQ or whatever? They do off site catering

Surfergirl, how may people?

we're getting a range of 15-20 pp which is fine depending on what it comes with. Also, there is travel involved and it makes me nervous doing a delivery of food (one wedding I went to the caterer literally ran out of food)

JK, I'm not familiar with either Famous Dave's or Carolina BBQ? I have Dinosaur BBQ in syracuse, but I think they started at like $25 pp plus travel.

it's just walking a fine line between making it fussy and making it fancy. I'm ready to just do potluck. :p

@enya wish you were having it in Texas bc then I could set you up with my BBQ caterer.

Idk what your budget is but my only suggestion would be to go with whoever has the best BBQ! Make sure you taste it. I'd hate for you to go with the cheapest and their food be terrible. Good luck!

I would recommend asking your venue. In my area, I know of 2 BBQ places that are excellent, and yes $5000 is high. For about 85 people with sides and stuff...my area is between 12-15 per person. Famous Daves is not good, but they are mostly in the Midwest area of the states.

I am betting your vendors could be of help to you...I wish you luck!

We gave our caterer a head count of 97 which i think is actually where we ended up being for the guest list. ( that's for our seated meal price i gave)

i looked at his list and $20 pp is for 50 people for the BBQ, he has 4 different packages and for 51-100 people the two higher priced ones are $19.00 pp.

FYI i am in south eastern Massachusetts, i don't know where you are.

Try looking for caterers and then see if they offer BBQ, they may have lower prices than searching specifically for BBQ caterers.

Yup, try looking up a chain bbq place. Many times they are way under 15 pp. I know kentucky fried chicken, chipotle, even applebes cater for vey reasonable. Dont laugh cuz a friend of mine had kfc and it was da bomb. I mean who doesnt like a plate of greasy chicken and mashed taters. Ohh thats right Im from the midwest. Lol seriously tho in upstate new york you should be able to find a good restaurant chain. Have you considered Itialain food? I knows upstate NY has its share of Italians (my italian family lives in and around Saratoga) :-)

We are also doing BBQ from our favorite restaurant and it is only costing us $419.69 for 30 people . It includes 2 meats, 3 sides, bread, sweet tea, and all the fixins.

We are having Dickey's BBQ cater. It is $12 pp for 2 meats, 3 sides, bread, and the sauces and such. For (I think it was) an extra $1 pp they are also bringing sweet tea, lemonade, and water. They provide all the serving materials (including plates and plasticware).

Many restaurants will do drop-off catering where they prepare steamer pans of food, and drop it off at your place (no servers, etc). Perhaps you can find a local BBQ restaurant that does this.

You'll need to find out if they will also rent you the steamer pan holders and sterno (the gel underneath to keep the trays hot). If not, any party rental place can rent them to you, and you can buy sterno usually at restaurant supply places like Smart & Final or Cash & Carry, which are open to the public. The rental place might also sell them.

I'd suggest hiring someone to help with the food - making sure hot food stays hot and cold food stays cold so that no one gets sick. They can also keep things tidy, replenish, and pack it up for you.

Here's an article I wrote about food safety and how to keep hot things hot and cold things cold and how long food can safely be out on display to eat (I have been trained in food safety as a Master Food Preserver and write a weekly newspaper column):

http://cecentralsierra.ucanr.edu/files/168440.pdf

Best wishes!

There is one BBQ place in the town where we're having the reception. I've sent them an email but they are closed for the season so we'll see - they don't offer catering but I figured it was worth a shot.

I'm going to get in touch with Dinosaur as well. For $30 pp they're do the pit on site. Its way out of budget, but at least I know that pretty much everyone going loves Dinosaur - even the more herbivore leaning of the group. Just means scaling something else back. Sigh.

ETA: also, the guy I was talking about? Its not his phone. He used the word "prolly" instead of probably. I don't think I'm being ridiculous when I say that is just horribly unprofessional.

We are doing Hawaiian BBQ and got a fully catered huge buffet spread for around $2k for 120 people. The food was so good, my mouth is watering right now.

My original idea was BBQ catering. I looked at a lot of the chain places in my area and nothing really seemed like a good deal. It just seemed like such a hassle with renting or buying all the utensils and plates and sternos and everything. Not to mention having someone actually deal with the food once they dropped it off. Sometimes the simplest meal can be the most complicated to plan haha.

It sounds like you may have figured it out, but if you're not stuck on BBQ I would suggest looking into Italian or other types of restaurants in the area. My mom had a Coney Island (a Michigan favorite) cater my sister's morning after brunch for her wedding--basically just chili dogs, chicken fingers, and a few types of salad. It was crazy cheap. I was surprised at how many restaurants will do drop off catering for reasonable prices.

Well I bit the bullet. Dinosaur BBQ ended up being competitive price-wise but the best part? They will cook it on site rather than just do a drop off.

Huge freaking relief there. I think that pretty much takes care of all the big ticket things ... aside from decor. Which I am probably going to be totally scaling back now. Whatever. I know we love the food already, any tastings will just be a bonus.

I love Dinosaur BBQ!!!

The FH is *thrilled* and I'm pretty sure everyone invited will now definitely be there. Good grief!

I'm glad to hear you found a solution. I know how much of pain that is. We are using a local smokehouse here for our catering and they have been awesome. I'm not sure what your end quote was, but we have the works for 86 people for $2700. That includes my bartender, setup/cleanup, cake cutting, coffee, and the list goes on.

I would give the second vendor a break. Rednecks usually cook some REALLY good BBQ and do not necessarily have the best spelling and grammar You could always request they wear something specific at your reception- like blue jeans and a black shirt, for example. They would already have that but it would look nicer than camo

I am getting my bbq from a butcher house that does there own meat. Maybe see if you can find a butcher house in your area that cooks that near or does catering.