# Catering f/200pp HELP!



## cjdigit (Jun 4, 2004)

I have a catering job for 200 people Sunday (church function 1-4)
It's a buffet, I'll be serving along with other volunteers. For some reason, I'm second guessing my quantities- what do you think?

London Broil 58lbs. (2 1/2 trays)
Grilled Chicken 50lbs. (120 pieces)
Tomato & Mozzarella (20lbs. cheese)
*above will/can be served on baguettes (6 doz. = approx. 300-350)

Chicken Tenders (90 - 4oz pieces)

Potato Salad - Broccoli Salad - Macaroni Salad - Fruit Salad (20lbs each)

3 large trays chopped antipasti salad

Am I off? Cutting it too close? On target?

Thanks in advance,
Cindy
Cyn-fully Delicious


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## headless chicken (Apr 28, 2003)

It sounds a bit much IMO but thats because my mind is in "sit down dinner" setup mode. I'd say your on target.


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## cjdigit (Jun 4, 2004)

The london broil & grilled chicken are pre-cooked weights.

The salads (excluding fruit salad) = 60lbs @ 1/4 lb. pp = 240 serv.

The antipasti trays can feed up to 40 pp each (IMO)

The chicken tenders are supposed to be for kids, but I've seen alot of adults into them as well.

I was figuring the baguettes cut down to 4 or 5 nice size sandwiches, so I should have enough for 1.5 pp

I've always had luck with my quantities, but last week I provided some additional meats for a pig roast f/ 80 pp. They had a 100lb. pig, then I provided a large tray each of Garlic Chicken, London Broil and Sausage P&O. They ran out of chicken and had very little of the other two left over. I guess it worked out right- but it always concerns me if someone runs so close and a caterers worst nightmare is for customers to run out. I guess we can't always figure on groups eating the "typical" amounts.

Thanks for your input.

Cindy


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## kuan (Jun 11, 2001)

You should have at least one piece of chicken per person IMO. Then again, this is lunch. Do people really eat Broccoli salad?

Kuan


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## cjdigit (Jun 4, 2004)

Kuan- you mentioned 1 piece chicken per person, but when you have 2 or 3 main entrees, you don't figure each person will have a full serving of each? Yes, people each broccoli salad- actually, it's broccoli & cauliflower with pieces of bacon in a coleslaw type dressing.


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## dano1 (Oct 23, 2003)

just to chime in  i'd go with Kuan on this-at least i piece per person. What parts are you using? Generally i will go with about 7oz combined proteins for buffet, add 10% and call it a day. To clarify i figure 3.5-4oz of each protein, most folks want to try a little of this and a little of that. It sounds like you might be a little high on your salads but you know your clientele better than we do. i go with a couple of ozs of each p/person. Sammies sound right there to me. As you said no party's ever the same..........good luck
danny


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## kuan (Jun 11, 2001)

I hope your brunch gig went well.

You know, to avoid this kind of problem, you should let the customer know exactly how much they're getting. "One serving" means one thing for church ladies and something else for farmers. Knowing what kind of group will be there makes things a lot easier, but in general, if you've been in the area a while you get to know the clientele. Still, there is nothing worse than a misunderstanding which cannot be fixed, and trust me, you're offsite, you don't want to have to try and "fix" anything. But you know that already.

I would specifically tell people, verbally and in the contract, that they would be getting one hotel pan of chicken with 48 pieces of 4oz half chicken breast; or something like that. Make sure they know what a 4oz half chicken breast looks like, tastes like, and feels like when it hits the bottom of their stomach. Makes life much easier.

Kuan


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## cjdigit (Jun 4, 2004)

Thanks for checking to see how the everything went. I was fine with amounts- however, I believe there were less than 200 people there and I had almost half left. I'm not sure if they used the 200 mark so they were sure they had enough food, but I'll be talking with them this week and see for sure. I did up the chicken a little bit, so I had 140 pieces and there were probably 60 left. I forget who it was that mentioned about telling my clients exact amounts so they're not shocked- that's probably a good idea. I usually only mention tray-wise how much they'll have (ex. 2 full trays chicken). Additionally, I usually tell them 1/2 pans feed 15-20, while most other caterers say 10-12- but that's a whole other question for another time.

Thanks again for all your input, it put me at ease. 

Cindy


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## fodigger (Jul 2, 2001)

In my experiances church folks generally eat you out of house and home. But thats my opinion.


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## lynan (Jul 6, 2004)

Fodigger, you have made my day!! :lol: It appears we have the same problem here downunder. Why IS it that church groups and pensioners all cry poverty?? Once was a time when my church people would all pull together and provide a sort of pot luck dinner by providing a dish each. Nowdays, it is a caterer who is expected to do a ' bread and fishes' thing. I dunno. Crazy. :crazy: We all have to make a $ after all.


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