How to order catering for the first time: a no-stress walkthrough

If you are looking up how to order catering, you have probably just been handed a job: the office lunch, your daughter’s graduation party, the family gathering that somehow landed at your house. You have never called a caterer, you do not know what they will ask, and you would like to not sound lost. Good news. It is a short conversation, and I am going to give you the whole script.

The short answer: decide what you are feeding and when, count your guests, then gather five facts: date, eating time, address, headcount and what kind of meal. A full-service caterer turns those into a written estimate; with my kitchen you skip that step, because every order, from a half dozen to many dozens, goes through our online store: pick chicken or pork, a half dozen or a dozen, delivery or pickup, and pay online.

Here is each of those steps in plain language, with the numbers from my own menu so you can see what a real order looks like from the outside.

Step one: figure out which kind of order you have

The first question is not “which caterer” but “is this even a catering order.” There are two paths, and picking the right one saves everybody time.

• A small order is dinner for the family, a dozen for a potluck, lunch for four or five coworkers. From my kitchen you order it in our online store, for today or a date ahead, delivery or pickup, and pay online. The menu is short: a half dozen big tamales ($30) or a dozen ($60), pork in red salsa or chicken in green.
• A group order is anything where you are feeding a group at a set time: an office lunch, a party, a shower, a holiday table. Many caterers handle that with a written estimate, a delivery window and a list of sides. With my kitchen it is the same online store, just more dozens and a time chosen around when people will eat. That is the path this article is about.

The line between them is roughly a couple of dozen tamales, or any order where “when will it arrive” matters. The how-to-order page explains how ordering works. When in doubt, call or text (469) 888-8398; I will tell you what fits in about ten seconds.

Step two: count your guests, then do the tamale math

You do not need a precise number. You need a number you would not be embarrassed by. Count the invite list, subtract the people who never come, and add a couple. Then turn it into food.

Our tamales are big, so the rule is two per person for a lunch with rice and beans, three for a dinner where tamales are the whole show, and one to two when there is other food on the table. Round up to whole dozens at $60 each, or add a half dozen at $30, which works out to $5 per tamal.

The table shows the tamales only; rice, beans and anything else on the table are up to you. If you want to go deeper, my guide to how many tamales per person covers kids, mixed menus and the difference between a lunch and a party.

Step three: gather the five facts

This is the step first-timers agonize over, and it is the easiest. Any caterer needs five facts to get a group order right, and a sixth if you have it.

1. The date.
2. The time the food should be on the table. Not the delivery time; the eating time. The kitchen works backward from it.
3. The address, plus anything a driver should know: suite number, gate code, loading dock, third floor.
4. The headcount, or a range like “thirty to forty.”
5. What kind of meal. Office lunch with sides, party where tamales are the main dish, or tamales alongside other food.
6. Anything about the guests, if you know it. Someone gluten-free (all our masa is), kids who avoid spice, a table of teenagers.

With a full-service caterer that is a four-line email. With my kitchen it is a few minutes in our online store: you choose the tamales, delivery or pickup, and the day, and pay online. You do not have to know the difference between a buffet and drop-off, or which salsa to pick. If you are collecting the details from other people first, read how to write a catering request for a template you can copy.

Step four: read the order before you pay

From a full-service caterer, what comes back is a written estimate: a menu with numbers on it, a delivery window, the total and the terms. From my kitchen, the order summary in the online store does that job before you pay. It shows the tamales by filling and count, delivery or pickup, the day, the delivery fee if you chose delivery, and the total.

Read it the way you would read any estimate. Check the date and the time. Check the count against your list. Check that the address is right, because that is the line that most often has a typo. If something is off after you have paid, call or text (469) 888-8398 right away. My article on deposits, invoices and payment explains what the money side usually looks like from any caterer.

If you want a second opinion before you commit, the Google reviews are the honest version of how it goes. People mention the size of the tamales, the meat, the little kick, and the drivers by name, which tells you more than I could.

Step five: pay, and pick the time

You pay online and the order is placed. The one thing to get right is the time. For a lunch at noon, aim to have the tamales on your table with time to set out but not so early that they sit. For a party, the food lands before guests do. Give a phone number that will be answered on the day, and know where the food should go inside the building. If you are ordering for tomorrow: Next day orders must be received and confirmed by us before noon the previous day. Only confirmed orders will be delivered as requested. I wrote about the timing side in scheduling a delivery window that lands on time.

If the headcount grows after you order, add a half dozen or a dozen with a second order in the online store, and for anything else call or text (469) 888-8398 as soon as you know. That is a change, not a problem, and it happens on most orders.

Step six: the day of

With delivery, the tamales come to the address you gave at the time you chose; with pickup, the address and pickup time come with your order confirmation. Your job is about ten minutes: meet the driver or make the pickup, count the tamales against the order, move them to where people will eat, keep the lids on until the line forms, and set out your own salsas last. Then eat. I wrote that routine out step by step in what to do in the first ten minutes after catering arrives, and it applies to any drop-off caterer, not just mine.

Leftovers are not a failure. Tamales are better the next day and freeze for months in the husk, so a few extra dozen is the cheapest insurance you will buy.

How to order catering without the first-timer mistakes

• Waiting for a perfect headcount before ordering. Order for the count you are sure of, and add a half dozen or a dozen later if the list grows. My piece on how far in advance to order catering has the comfortable lead times for each kind of event.
• Giving the delivery time instead of the eating time. Tell the caterer when people will eat, and let the kitchen set the drop-off.
• Ordering exactly the count. Someone brings a plus-one, someone comes back for thirds. Round up.
• Forgetting the serving spoons. Put them on your own list, with plates and napkins. They cost nothing to remember and are very annoying to lack.
• Choosing by menu length. A caterer with a short menu they make every morning will usually beat one with a long menu they make occasionally. Mine is two big tamales, pork in red and chicken in green, and there is a reason for that.
• Not saying where you are. We deliver across Allen, McKinney, Fairview, Frisco, The Colony, Plano, Murphy, Carrollton, Addison, Richardson and Far North Dallas, and the service areas page shows the full map. Check that your city is on the list before you order; the delivery fee is shown at checkout.

Ready to place your first order?

If you are feeding an office, a party or a family table anywhere in north Dallas, you now know everything the order needs. Open our online store, choose chicken or pork, a half dozen or a dozen, delivery or pickup and the day, and pay online. First-timers are welcome; most of the offices I feed every month started with one nervous first order. Order online or call or text (469) 888-8398, and I will walk you through the rest.

Frequently asked questions

How do I order catering for the first time?

Decide what you are feeding and when, count your guests, then gather the date, the eating time, the address, the headcount and the kind of meal. A full-service caterer turns those into a written estimate. With Maggie’s there is no estimate step: you order in our online store, choose chicken or pork, a half dozen or a dozen, delivery or pickup and the day, and pay online.

How far in advance should a first-time catering order be placed?

An office lunch is comfortable with a few days, a party with one to two weeks, and a wedding or quinceañera with a month or more. Holiday weeks fill first, so order those as early as you can. Our online store also takes orders for today. Next day orders must be received and confirmed by us before noon the previous day. Only confirmed orders will be delivered as requested.

What information do I need before I order catering?

Five things: the date, the time the food should be on the table, the delivery address with any access details, the headcount or a range, and what kind of meal it is. Add anything about the guests, like gluten-free or no-spice, if you know it. With those in hand, an order in our online store takes a few minutes.

How much does catering cost per person for tamales?

From my menu, a half dozen is $30 and a dozen is $60, which works out to $5 a tamal, so a lunch at two per person is $10 a head for the tamales. A dinner at three per person is one dozen for every four guests. Round each order up to whole dozens so nobody runs short; the delivery fee is shown at checkout.

Do I need to pick up the food or is it delivered?

Either works. In our online store you choose delivery or pickup. Pickup is at our commercial kitchen in Plano, and the address and pickup time come with your order confirmation; we are a kitchen, not a restaurant, so there is no dine-in or walk-in counter. We deliver across Allen, McKinney, Fairview, Frisco, The Colony, Plano, Murphy, Carrollton, Addison, Richardson and Far North Dallas, and the delivery fee is shown at checkout.

Can I change my catering order after I place it?

Call or text (469) 888-8398 as soon as you know. If the headcount grows, the simplest fix is a second order in our online store for the extra half dozens or dozens. Next day orders must be received and confirmed by us before noon the previous day. Only confirmed orders will be delivered as requested.