Choosing Better Restaurants

4 Things You Need To Know To Narrow Down Your Choice Of Party Caterer

Choosing the perfect catering service for your party shouldn't become the most difficult decision ever. Unfortunately, many people become overwhelmed by the sheer amount of restaurants and other places that offer catering services. Here are a few tips for narrowing down your options to the best one.

1. Know Your Budget

You should already know the important details of your party and approximately how much everything will cost. This should leave you with how much you have left to allocate to catering services. Some catering services are definitely more suitable to a larger budget than others are.

Knowing approximately how much you have to dedicate to a catering service will allow you to immediately eliminate all of those services that start outside of your price range. That in turn will keep you from wasting your time haggling with, researching, or interviewing with those services.

2. Know the Kind of Atmosphere You're Going For

There's a world of difference between a formal social event and a raging kegger. No matter what, you need a catering service that can match the atmosphere you're going for. At the very least, the caterer should have experience maneuvering and serving in the kind of environment you describe to them.

3. Know Your Guests

Who's coming to the party? Will you have an overabundance of vegans or a preponderance of hamburger lovers? Is there a large amount of religious folk with dietary restrictions that you need to consider?

Knowing your guests will allow you to narrow your catering choices even further. If your guests are mostly vegetarian, then you can choose catering services that offer vegetarian meals. Even better, you can look specifically for catering services that specialize in such meals.

4. Know How Much or How Little You Want the Service to Do

Some caterers are full-service. They will plan the meals, serve the meals, and even develop a full theme for you. Some catering services will only show up with the food, set it out, and leave the rest to you.

There are a lot of different ways to utilize catering services, so it helps for you to know what you need from them beforehand. For example, if your cousin will tend bar and your siblings plan to actually serve the food, then you don't need a catering service that charges you to do such things.

Once You Narrow Down Your Choices

Now that you have your choices narrowed down to a few, you can start looking at things that make the difference. In most cases, experience is the next thing to look for. Experience usually means the restaurant

  • knows how to cater to individual needs,
  • doesn't balk at sudden changes,
  • and values dependability and reliability.

At this point, you should conduct interviews with the catering services that appeal to you the most. It may sound like a lot, but keep in mind the right catering service will make everything that follows far easier for you.

For professional catering, try a restaurant such as The Great Wall Restaurant.


Share