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 whether you need a small order or a real catering order, count your guests, then send the caterer five facts: date, delivery time, address, headcount and what kind of meal. A quote comes back, you approve it, and food arrives hot in an agreed window. With my kitchen, small orders go through DoorDash and everything else goes through a quote form or a phone call, priced the same business day.

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. You do not need a quote. From my kitchen those go through DoorDash during kitchen hours, same day, and they show up like any delivery. The menu is short: three big tamales ($15), six ($30) or twelve ($60), pork in red salsa or chicken in green.
• A catering order is anything where you are feeding a group at a set time: an office lunch, a party, a shower, a holiday table. It needs a quote because it needs a delivery window, labeled pans, and usually sides, salsas and serving spoons. 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 lays out both paths side by side. When in doubt, call; I will tell you which one 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. I round up to whole dozens at $60 each, which is $5 per tamal at any quantity.

Sides, salsas and burritos are priced on the quote, so the table shows the tamales only. 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: send a request a caterer can price

This is the step first-timers agonize over, and it is the easiest. A caterer needs five facts to give you a real price, 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.

That is a four-line email or a two-minute phone call. You do not have to know the difference between a buffet and drop-off, or which salsa to pick. A good caterer will ask the questions that matter and skip the ones that do not. If you want a template you can copy, read how to write a catering request that gets you an accurate quote.

Step four: what comes back, and how to read it

A quote is a menu with numbers on it. From me it arrives usually the same business day, because I read and price every request myself. It lists the tamales by filling and count, the sides and salsas if you asked for them, the delivery window, the total, and the terms: what holds the date, when the balance is due, and how a headcount change is handled. Those terms are confirmed on the quote for your specific order rather than pulled from a general rule.

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, reply and say so; a quote is a conversation, not a contract you have to accept as written. 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: confirm, and set the delivery window

You reply “yes,” settle whatever the quote says holds the date, and the order is on the calendar. The one thing left to decide together is the delivery window. For a lunch at noon, I aim to have the pans on your table with time to set up but not so early that they sit. For a party, the window lands before guests do. Give the caterer a number that will be answered on the day, and tell them where the food should go inside the building. I wrote about the timing side in scheduling a delivery window that lands on time.

If the headcount changes between confirming and the date, say so as soon as you know. Going down a little is easy. Going up depends on the kitchen that day, and earlier is better. That is a change, not a problem, and it happens on most orders.

Step six: the day of

Our team delivers hot, in the window we agreed, with every pan labeled by filling. Salsas, crema, utensils and serving spoons come along if you asked for them on the quote. Your job is about ten minutes: meet the driver, count the pans against the order, move them to where people will eat, keep the lids on until the line forms, and open the 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 calling. Call with a range. The date is the scarce thing, and it can be held while the number settles. 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. Ask for them on the quote. They are free to ask for and 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 pork in red, chicken in green, burritos for lunch, and the sides that go with them, and there is a reason for that.
• Not saying where you are. We deliver across Richardson, Plano, Frisco, Allen, McKinney and Dallas, and the service areas page shows the full map. Mention the city in your request so the window is realistic.

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 caterer needs. Send me the date, the eating time, the address, the headcount and the kind of meal, and I will send back a menu and a price from Maggie’s the same business day, with the terms written plainly on it. First-timers are welcome; most of the offices I feed every month started with one nervous email. Request a catering quote or call, and I will walk you through the rest.

Frequently asked questions

How do I order catering for the first time?

Decide whether you need a small order or a group order with a delivery window, count your guests, then send the caterer the date, the eating time, the address, the headcount and the kind of meal. A quote comes back, you approve it and settle whatever holds the date, and the food arrives hot in the agreed window. With Maggie’s the quote usually comes the same business day.

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 book those as early as you can. If you are late, call rather than fill in a form and be flexible on delivery time; the kitchen can often still say yes.

What information does a caterer need to give a quote?

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. That is enough for an accurate price; a good caterer asks the rest.

How much does catering cost per person for tamales?

From my menu, tamales are $5 each at any quantity, so a lunch at two per person is $10 a head for the tamales, and a dinner at three per person is $15 a head. Rice, beans, salsas and burritos are priced on the quote. A dozen is $60 and I round each order up to whole dozens so nobody runs short.

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

Everything from Maggie’s is delivered. We are a catering and delivery kitchen in Richardson, not a restaurant, so there is no dine-in and no counter. Small orders arrive through DoorDash during kitchen hours, and catering orders are brought hot by our own team in an agreed window, labeled by filling, across Richardson, Plano, Frisco, Allen, McKinney and Dallas.

Can I change my catering order after I confirm it?

Yes, within reason. Lowering the headcount a little with notice simply reduces the dozens and the bill. Raising it is usually fine when the kitchen has room that day, and the earlier you say so the more likely the answer is yes. Swapping pork for chicken or adding sides is easy. The exact terms for changes on your order are written on your quote.