How far in advance should you order catering? Lead times by event type

Order catering as soon as you know the date. The practical answer, which is the one you came for, is that an office lunch is comfortable with a few days, a party is comfortable with a week or two, a wedding or quinceañera deserves a month or more, and a holiday order should go in as early as you can stand to think about it. Those are the windows where ordering stays easy and the day you want is still open.

The short answer: my comfortable catering lead times are a few days for an office lunch, one to two weeks for a birthday or backyard party, two to three weeks for a graduation, a month or more for a wedding or quinceañera, and as early as you can for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Shorter often still works: our online store takes orders for today or a date ahead.

I make every tamal fresh the morning it is delivered, from scratch, so my calendar is really a kitchen schedule. Here is how I think about lead time for each kind of event, why the numbers are what they are, and what to do if you are reading this the week of.

Why lead time matters in a scratch kitchen

A tamale kitchen does not have a freezer full of product waiting for orders. Each morning we mix masa, cook the pork in red chiles and the chicken breast in tomatillo salsa, spread, fill, roll, and steam. The number of tamales the kitchen can make in a day is real and finite. When you order early, your dozens are on the kitchen schedule before the day fills. When you order late, you are fitting in between other people’s parties, and sometimes there is room and sometimes there honestly is not.

Notice matters for the ingredients too. The chiles, the meats, the husks. I buy the best I can find in Texas, and a big order means a bigger shop. I would rather have the time to do it right.

So there is one firm rule and a list of comfortable windows. The rule: Next day orders must be received and confirmed by us before noon the previous day. Only confirmed orders will be delivered as requested. The windows are below, and if you are unsure, call or text (469) 888-8398 and I will tell you honestly what to expect.

Catering lead times by event type

Read the “comfortable” column as “the point where I have never had to say no.” Shorter than that is often still fine. Longer than that is never a problem.

Office lunches: the easiest call I get

An office order of two tamales per person is the kind of thing my kitchen does every day, so a few days of notice is usually plenty. What makes it even easier is a routine. Many of the offices I serve run a monthly or biweekly Tamale Day, described on the corporate catering page, and simply place the same order in our online store a few days before each one. One reviewer wrote that everyone in their office looks forward to tamale day, and I suspect part of that is that nobody has to plan it.

The exceptions are the office events that are really parties: a holiday lunch for the whole floor, a teacher appreciation week, a company anniversary. Treat those like a party and give me a week or two.

Parties: a week or two, and weekends go first

Birthdays, baby showers, and backyard get-togethers cluster on Saturdays, and Saturdays are where my calendar fills. If your party is on a weekend, a week or two of notice lets you order for the day you actually want before it gets busy. It also gives you time to get a real headcount, which matters more for the budget than almost anything else. The parties and celebrations page explains ordering for a group, and my guide to how many tamales per person turns the RSVP list into dozens.

Graduation season deserves its own line because every family in Richardson, Plano, and Allen throws the party the same two weekends. If you know the date in the spring, order in the spring.

Weddings and quinceañeras: give it a month

For a big celebration, lead time is less about whether I can cook the food and more about doing it well. A quinceañera for 150 people means a few real decisions: how many dozens, how much pork versus chicken, whether the tamales are delivered to the venue or picked up at our Plano kitchen, who receives them, and whether there is a late-night snack. A month or more means you can settle those without rushing. The weddings and quinceañeras page covers the details, including the late-night tamale snack that has become a Texas tradition of its own.

If you are further out than that, wonderful. Use the time to settle the count; the headcount is the last thing to lock, not the first, and the order goes in once you have it.

Holiday weeks: the earlier, the better, every single year

Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year are tamale season in Texas, and my kitchen runs at capacity for those weeks. Families order dozens for the table, offices order for their holiday lunch, and everybody wants the same three days. There is no trick to it: the orders placed early get the days they want, and the ones placed late get what is left. Día de los Muertos has grown into the same pattern on a smaller scale.

The holiday tamales page explains the season, and if you would rather have tamales in the freezer before the rush, our frozen tamales are made for exactly that. If you are the person in your family who is in charge of the tamales, be the one who orders first. I wrote more about why tamales and Christmas are tied together in Texas in why tamales mean Christmas here.

What to have ready when you order

You do not need everything figured out. But the more of this you have, the faster the order goes:

1. The date and the time you want the food on the table. You choose the day in the store; plan any reheating backward from the eating time.
2. A headcount, even a rough one. “Forty to fifty” is fine. Round up to whole dozens anyway.
3. The address and any access details. Loading dock, gate code, third floor with no elevator. Put them in the order with a phone number, or choose pickup at our Plano kitchen.
4. Sides or no sides. This changes the tamale count from three per person to two.
5. Anything about the guests. Kids who do not like spice, someone who is gluten-free (all our masa is), a table of teenagers who eat like a football team.

Then, in our online store, choose chicken or pork, a half dozen or a dozen, delivery or pickup and the date, and pay online; delivery fees are shown at checkout. If you want to see the whole process first, my walk-through of how tamales catering works in DFW covers it from the first count to the empty pans.

Calling late, or changing the count

If you are ordering late

It happens. The office lunch got approved this morning, the caterer you booked fell through, the party grew. Go to the online store, which takes orders for today or a date ahead, and keep the next-day rule in mind: orders for tomorrow must be received and confirmed by us before noon today. The kitchen is open Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 9 AM to 2 PM, and you can call or text with questions. Here is what helps your odds:

• Be flexible on the day, or on delivery versus pickup. Picking up at our Plano kitchen can be the simpler option on a busy day.
• Keep the plan simple. Tamales by the dozen, with your own chips and salsas, is the order that fits almost any day.
• Be ready to switch fillings. If the count you want in one filling is not possible that day, say yes to the other; both are big, and both are gluten-free.
• For very small orders, keep it to a half dozen or a dozen. The how-to-order page explains the online store, delivery and pickup.

And if you call and the honest answer that day is no, I will tell you quickly so you can make another plan. That is the least I can do.

Changing the headcount after you have ordered

Headcounts change. The simplest way to handle it is to order for the number you are confident about, and if the count goes up, place a second order in the store for the extra dozens, keeping the next-day rule in mind. If you have a question about an order you already placed, call or text (469) 888-8398. And if the count goes down, the extra tamales freeze beautifully.

Frequently asked questions

What are typical catering lead times for a party?

One to two weeks is comfortable for a birthday, shower, or backyard party, mostly because Saturdays fill first and you want a real headcount before you order. Shorter notice often still works: our online store takes orders for today or a date ahead. For graduation parties, which cluster on the same weekends, two to three weeks lets you order for the day you actually want.

How much notice does an office lunch need?

A few days is usually plenty for a standard office order of two tamales per person. The easiest routine is a monthly Tamale Day: place the same order in our online store a few days before each one. Office events that are really parties, like a holiday lunch for the whole floor, deserve a week or two like any other party.

When should I order tamales for Christmas or Thanksgiving?

As early as you can. Holiday weeks are the busiest of the year for a tamale kitchen in Texas, and orders placed early get the days they want. Order online the moment you know you are hosting, or keep frozen tamales on hand before the rush. Late orders compete with everyone else’s, and some years the week fills quickly.

Can I get catering on short notice in Dallas?

Often, yes. Our online store takes orders for today or a date ahead, for delivery or pickup. Next day orders must be received and confirmed by us before noon the previous day. Only confirmed orders will be delivered as requested. Keep the plan to tamales by the dozen, be flexible on the day or on pickup, and call or text (469) 888-8398 if you have a question.

What if my guest count changes after I place the order?

If the number goes up, place a second order in the online store for the extra dozens, keeping the next-day rule in mind. If you have a question about an order you already placed, call or text (469) 888-8398. If the count goes down, the extra tamales freeze well and make an easy dinner later.