How to order catering for a company meeting, step by step

Ordering catering for a company meeting should take one order and one confirmation, not a week of back-and-forth about forks. It usually takes longer because the person ordering is missing a detail, and every missing detail becomes another email around the office. I have made enough meeting lunches for offices in Richardson, Plano and Dallas to know exactly which details those are, so here is the whole process in the order I wish everyone did it.

The short answer: gather four facts before you write anything: the date, the time people will actually eat, the room, and the headcount. Choose food that can be eaten in a chair, order it in our online store with a delivery or pickup time about thirty minutes before people eat, pay online, and have a counter clear when the food arrives. For a meeting lunch, two big tamales per person at $10 a head is the whole order.

What follows is the version I would hand a new office manager on their first day, with the reasons behind each step so you can bend it when your meeting is unusual.

Step 1: pin down the four facts before you write

Every snag in a meeting order comes from one of these four being missing or vague. Get them right and the rest of the process is a formality.

• The date. Obvious, but check it against the kitchen’s days. I am closed Sundays, Mondays and Thursdays, so a Thursday board meeting needs a different plan or a different day.
• The time people eat. Not the time the meeting starts. If the meeting runs ten to two and lunch is at twelve-thirty, plan the food for twelve-thirty. Hot food arriving at ten sits for two and a half hours.
• The room. Building, suite, floor, and whether there is a counter or table for pans. A conference room with no surface changes the order from pans to individual portions.
• The headcount. Confirmed people plus a small margin for the ones who show up because there is food. For a meeting, ten percent extra is plenty.

Add two more if you have them: any allergies or strict preferences in the group, and who the on-site contact is with a cell number. Whoever brings the food needs a person to call at the loading dock, not a front desk that transfers them twice.

Step 2: choose catering that survives a company meeting

Meeting food is eaten in a chair, often with a laptop open, sometimes while someone is talking. That rules out anything that needs two hands, a flat plate, a sauce decision or a second trip. It rules in anything hot, handheld and finished when it arrives.

This is why tamales became the meeting lunch for so many of my office clients. Each one comes in its own husk, which is a handle and a plate at the same time. Pork in red salsa and chicken breast in green tomatillo salsa cover the room with two pans. Two per person is a full lunch, three for a crew that skipped breakfast, and at $60 a dozen, or $30 a half dozen, the math stays honest at any size. Every tamal is big and made from scratch with gluten-free corn masa, which usually answers the dietary question before it is asked.

For a bigger spread, let the tamales be the main and have the office add its own chips, salsa or a salad, plus plates and forks from the supply closet. The menu page lists both tamales with the half-dozen and dozen prices. If you are choosing between pans on a counter and portions handed through a door, that decision has its own guide in boxed lunches or a buffet for the office.

Step 3: place the order in one sitting

One list, everything on it. Have it in front of you when you open our online store, and the order takes a few minutes. The order page explains how ordering works.

1. Company name, building address with suite and floor, and the on-site contact with a cell number, or the person who will pick up at our Plano kitchen.
2. Date and the time people will eat.
3. Headcount, and whether it is confirmed or an estimate.
4. Tamales: how many per person, rounded to half dozens and dozens, and the pork and chicken split.
5. Service: who brings the plates, forks, napkins and a serving spoon, since the office sets its own table.
6. Allergies or requests, and any building rules such as a loading dock, a badge, or a front desk that holds deliveries.
7. Who pays, and whether this might become a recurring order.

That is it. In the store you pick chicken or pork, a half dozen or a dozen, delivery or pickup, and the day, then pay online; the delivery fee is shown at checkout. If you need to collect those details from colleagues first, I wrote a fill-in template with example wording in how to write a catering request.

How far ahead to order depends on the size of the meeting and the season. One rule never changes: Next day orders must be received and confirmed by us before noon the previous day. Only confirmed orders will be delivered as requested.

Step 4: check the order before you pay

Before you pay, read three things. First, the total, and check that it matches the dozens you need at $60 a dozen or $30 a half dozen, plus the delivery fee shown at checkout if you chose delivery. Second, the time, which should land about thirty minutes before people eat, not before the meeting starts. Third, the payment: whose card it goes on, and what your accounting team will need to see on the paperwork afterward.

If something looks off after you have paid, call or text me at (469) 888-8398 right away. If the meeting might repeat, keep the order confirmation as your template; the corporate and office catering page explains how offices order the dozens again and again. I went into what finance usually wants on the paperwork in office catering receipts and invoices.

Timing a delivery has a few traps, especially in buildings with a security desk or a dock that closes at lunch. The details are in how to schedule a catering delivery window. The short version: make sure your on-site contact knows every gate between the street and your counter.

Step 5: prepare the room

Thirty minutes before the food is due, clear a counter or table near the back of the meeting room, or in the break room if the meeting room has no surface. Put a trash can by the door. If people will eat at the table during the meeting, lay a napkin at each seat so nobody has to get up for one.

When the tamales arrive, keep the pork and the chicken in separate pans and mark which is which. Set them out in the order people move: plates first, then pork, then chicken, then any salsa the office is serving, then forks at the end. Leave the lids beside the pans and put them back on between the first wave and the stragglers. A covered pan of tamales in husks stays hot well past an hour without a chafer. My checklist for those first ten minutes is in what to do when catering arrives.

Set a plate aside for whoever is presenting or running the room before the line opens. They always eat last otherwise, and by then the room has moved on.

Step 6: handle the changes that always happen

Headcounts move. Someone adds a visiting team on Monday, three people call in sick on Wednesday, and the meeting gets pushed an hour on the morning of. None of that is a problem if you plan for it. If the count grows, add a half dozen or a dozen with a second order in our online store; for a next-day delivery it has to be received and confirmed before noon the previous day. If you need to change an order you already placed, call or text me at (469) 888-8398 as soon as you know.

The safest hedge is the margin from step one. Ten percent over the confirmed count, rounded up to whole dozens, covers almost every last-minute addition, and the spares go home with someone. If the count drops, the leftovers become the next day’s lunch for whoever gets in first. The details of what can move and when are in what to do when your catering headcount changes.

Step 7: after the meeting

Put the lids on, keep the labels, and move the pans to the fridge. Tamales reheat well the next day, so leftovers are worth keeping rather than tossing. Forward the order confirmation to whoever reconciles the card while you still remember the purchase order number. Then, if the room liked it, write down the pork and chicken split and the delivery time that worked, because the next meeting will ask you the same questions and you will have the answers ready.

If the meeting is going to repeat, this is the moment to turn it into a routine rather than a fresh decision every month. Keep the same dozens, the same split and the same time, and placing the next order in the online store takes two minutes. Offices in Dallas and across the northern suburbs run it that way.

Ready to order lunch for your company meeting?

Gather the four facts, the date, the time people eat, the room and the headcount, along with any allergies, and the order takes a few minutes. Choose chicken or pork, a half dozen or a dozen, delivery or pickup from Maggie’s kitchen in Plano, and pay online. Two big tamales per person is the meeting lunch that needs no follow-up email. Order online for your company meeting, or call or text (469) 888-8398 with any questions.

Frequently asked questions

How do I order catering for a company meeting for the first time?

Collect the date, the time people will eat, the room and the headcount, plus any allergies and an on-site contact. Then order in our online store: choose chicken or pork, a half dozen or a dozen, delivery or pickup, and the day, and pay online. Two big tamales per person, split between pork and chicken, is a full meeting lunch. Questions? Call or text (469) 888-8398.

How far in advance should I order catering for a meeting?

In our online store you can order for today or for a date ahead. Next day orders must be received and confirmed by us before noon the previous day. Only confirmed orders will be delivered as requested. A team meeting is comfortable with a few days, an all-hands of thirty or more with about a week, and anything near Thanksgiving or Christmas should be ordered two weeks out or more, because those weeks fill first.

What information does a caterer need for a meeting lunch?

The address with suite and floor, an on-site contact with a cell number, the date, the time people eat, the headcount, and the pork and chicken split. Add any allergies, and any building rules such as a loading dock or a badge so the person meeting the delivery is ready. With those in hand, the order in our online store takes a few minutes.

How much does catering for a company meeting cost per person?

From my kitchen, two big tamales per person is $10 a head, because a dozen is $60 and a half dozen is $30, which works out to $5 a tamal. Three per person, for a hungry crew, is one dozen for every four people. The delivery fee is shown at checkout in our online store, and pickup at our Plano kitchen is the other option.

Can the delivery be timed for the middle of a meeting?

Yes. Choose a time about thirty minutes before people will eat, rather than the meeting start, so the tamales are on the counter and still hot when the break begins. Make sure your on-site contact knows about any front desk, dock or badge between the street and your room, and keeps a cell phone handy to meet the delivery.

What if the headcount changes after I order?

If the count grows, add a half dozen or a dozen with a second order in our online store, keeping in mind that next day orders must be received and confirmed before noon the previous day. To change an order you already placed, call or text (469) 888-8398 as soon as you know. Ordering ten percent over the confirmed count, rounded up to whole dozens, covers most late additions, and if the count drops the spares reheat well for the next day.