Company Party BBQ Catering Checklist

We have created a Company Party BBQ Catering Checklist to help organize your corporate event. We have bbq catered many company parties and found that having a checklist to go through helps quite a bit.

• Serving Tables
  • Think about how your team will be getting the food. Think about the flow. Sometimes setting up a table in the middle of the room is best so that your team can move around the table while dishing up. Think about the flow of serving food.
• Servers
  • Is your event large enough to require someone to serve the food for you or do you want your team to serve themselves? Most bbq caterers have staff that can come onsite and serve food for your corporate event. These folks can also help set up and tear down. There’s some cost involved, but man it makes life SO much easier.
• Table Clothes
  • If you are having the
• Eating utensils
  • Most offices already have plastic forks, knifes and spoons, but make sure there are enough for your event. When placing them out, put them at the end of the serving line as no one wants to hold them while scooping piles of ribs and brisket on their plate.
• Plates
  • During BBQ events you will find some of the largest loads piled up on plates you have ever seen. Make sure that you get sturdy plates and lots of them. Sometimes folks like to use multiple plates and often come back for seconds and thirds.
• Serving utensils
  • This is one of the most overlooked items. One thing that offices do not typically have is serving utensils.
• Dining Tables
  • Most of the time, corporate bbq catered events means brining the team together to celebrate or communicate. Having a place where folks can sit together and chat while eating really helps with collaboration and networking. If you are having your company party off-site, remember to think about where folks are going to be sitting.
• Drinks
  • Most caterers can provide drinks, soda, water, sweet tea. Always ask your caterer if they have sweet tea. If they do, also ask how it is served. Do they have pitchers? Is it in a cooler?
• Glasses/Cups
  • Depending on the event, you might need some cups and glasses. Often overlooked when getting punch or sweet tea.
• Chafing pans
  • Here is where it gets complicated. BBQ caterers will deliver the food hot, however sometimes it takes a while before it can be served or the event requires the food to be out for a while. This is why sometimes it’s good to get some chafing pans. It will require the caterer to come back to pick them up, but it’s worth it to keep the food warm.
• Cooling pans
  • Keeping the potato salad and broccolislaw cold on hot days is important. Ask your caterer how you are supposed to keep the cold food cold. Many times getting a larger bowl, filling it with ice and setting the cold food (in its own bowl) in it.
• Food signage
  • BBQ is pretty self-explanatory, but when you are organizing a bbq catering event for your team, not everyone understand American bbq. Especially when you are organizing events for folks outside of the US.
• Vegetarian Options
  • Going along with food signage, don’t forget your team might have folks that do not eat meat. This can be tricky because only a professional bbq caterer has thought of this. So, vegie burgers, portabella mushroom dishes and other things can be ordered. Just don’t forget about the veggie folks.
• Bbq sauce
  • A good bbq caterer delivers meat that does NOT have bbq sauce on the meat. Good bbq caterers let the meat do the talking, in fact GOOD bbq does not require bbq sauce at all. However, it’s traditional to have bbq sauce available. Make sure you get enough for your party. We suggest getting a mild and spicy flavor.
• Honey, butter for Cornbread
  • Cornbread is a must at any bbq catered event. Having butter and honey available is a nice touch for your company party. However, GOOD cornbread needs no butter or honey and should stand on its own.
• Napkins
  • Sounds silly, but people forget napkins all the time. Good bbq is messy. Make sure you have enough for your corporate party.
• Garbage cans
  • If your company party is at your workplace, you should already have garbage cans onsite, but if you are planning on having the bbq event offsite or outside, you will need some garbage cans for all the mess.
• Cleanup
  • Cleaning up after the event
• Salt and Pepper
  • Rarely needed, but there is ALWAYS someone who asks… sigh.
• Layout design