How to set up a monthly office lunch program in one email

A monthly office lunch program sounds like a project, and it is not. It is one email with a date, a headcount and a budget, sent to a caterer who will remember you next month. I have set up a lot of these from my kitchen in Richardson, and the ones that last all started the same way: somebody decided to stop planning lunch from scratch every single time and wrote it down once.

The short answer: To start a monthly office lunch program, pick a recurring day, count the people who are usually in, set a per-person budget, and send one email to a caterer asking for a standing order with a single monthly invoice. At Maggie’s, two big tamales per person is a full lunch, so 30 people is five dozen at $60 per dozen, or $300 in total, confirmed a few days before each delivery.

Below is the email itself, the sizing math I use, and the handful of decisions that separate a program that runs for years from one that quietly dies after the third month.

Why one email beats a lunch committee

Every office I deliver to that has a lunch that works has one person who owns it. Not a committee, not a rotating volunteer, not a poll every month. One person, one caterer, one recurring calendar event. The poll is where lunch programs go to die: twelve people vote, nobody wins, and the office manager ends up ordering sandwiches again because it is Tuesday and the meeting is at noon.

A standing order fixes that in three ways. The caterer already knows your building, your suite, your loading dock and the name of the person at the front desk. The headcount only needs a nudge, not a rebuild. And the invoice shows up once, in the same format, so accounting stops asking questions. My office catering and Tamale Day page describes how I run it, but the mechanics are the same for any caterer worth keeping.

One office reviewer wrote that everyone there looks forward to tamale day. I did not pay for that sentence. It is simply what happens when lunch arrives on the same day every month and people can plan around it.

The email that sets it up

Here is the message I wish every office manager sent me. Copy it, change the numbers, and send it to whoever you want to feed you. It takes four minutes to write and it saves you an hour every month afterward.

Hi Maggie, we would like to set up a monthly lunch for our office in Plano. Here is what we are thinking.

Day: first Wednesday of each month, delivered between 11:30 and 11:45 AM.
Headcount: usually 28, sometimes 35 on all-hands days. We will confirm the Monday before.
Budget: about $10 per person, so two tamales each.
Split: half pork in red salsa, half chicken in green salsa to start.
Dietary: two people avoid gluten, one does not eat pork.
Delivery: Suite 210, ask for Dana at the front desk, visitor parking is on the north side.
Billing: one invoice per month to our accounts payable inbox, with our PO number on it.
Can you confirm the price and whether the first Wednesday works for you?

That is the entire program. Notice what the email does: it gives the caterer a day, a window, a number, a budget, a split, the exceptions and the billing path. Every question I would otherwise ask over three follow-up messages is answered in one. I wrote a longer piece on how to write a catering request that gets an accurate quote fast, and this email is that advice in its shortest form.

If your office avoids gluten in any real numbers, mention it in that first email too. My tamales are made with gluten-free corn masa, and knowing early lets me plan the split so nobody is left staring at the burrito tray.

How to size a monthly office lunch program

Two tamales per person is lunch. Mine are big; reviewers use the word huge, and they mean it. Three is dinner. One or two is right if you are adding burritos or someone is bringing a salad. I size every standing order at two per person, rounded up to whole dozens, because the extra few are what save you on the day three people bring a visitor.

The per-person cost lands at $10 for the tamales themselves, which is why this works as a monthly line item instead of a quarterly treat. If you want to check my math for a bigger or smaller group, the guide on how many tamales per person to order goes through offices, parties and the kids question. Burritos are priced on the quote and change the count a little, since some people take a burrito instead of a second tamal.

Pick a day and protect it

The first Wednesday of the month is my most requested day, and for a reason: attendance mid-week is the steadiest, it lands before the mid-month crunch, and nobody has a standing Wednesday dentist appointment. Payday Friday is the second favorite. The day of the monthly all-hands is the smartest, because people stay in the room after the meeting and the conversation you actually wanted happens over a plate.

Whichever day you pick, do three things. Put it on the shared calendar as a recurring event with the delivery window in the title. Tell remote staff, because they will plan office days around it; I have been told this by more than one office manager. And do not move it for a single busy month. A program that moves is a program that stops.

My kitchen delivers Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday between 9 AM and 2 PM, so a Thursday lunch program would need a different caterer. I would rather tell you that now than after you have printed the calendar.

Rotate the menu without breaking the routine

The routine is the day; the menu can move. The offices that keep a standing order for a long time change something small each month so it never feels like a rerun. A few ways I do that:

• Shift the split. Start half pork, half chicken. After two deliveries you will know your ratio. One accounting office near Plano is now most of the way to chicken; a construction office in Richardson is nearly all pork. Neither surprised me once I had met them.
• Add burritos every other month. Chicken or pork, foil-wrapped and labeled, for the people who want to eat at their desk with one hand. The piece on tamales versus burritos for the office explains how to serve both without doubling the order.
• Turn one month into the party. The delivery before the holidays becomes the office holiday lunch with the same order plus a few extra dozen, and the standing invoice covers it.
• Ask about other fillings for large orders. If you are at several dozen a month, ask me. Big standing orders get options that a one-time order does not.

Everything on the standard tamale menu stays at $5 per tamal at any quantity, so rotating never surprises accounting.

Invoices, headcount changes and the month you skip

Ask for one invoice per month from the start. A recurring office delivery from my kitchen comes with exactly that: one line, one date, one number, and the same format every time so nobody has to relearn it. If accounting wants a W-9 or a specific reference on the invoice, say so in the first email; the article on office catering receipts, invoices and W-9s lists what they usually ask for.

Headcount will change. The rule that works is a confirmation two or three business days before each delivery, from the same person, with a number. I read every request myself and I would rather adjust down by a dozen on Monday than have you throw food away on Wednesday. Small swings are absorbed by the rounding; big swings, like a company meeting that doubles the room, just need the earlier heads-up.

And yes, you can skip a month. A standing order is a plan, not a contract with penalties. Tell me the week before and we resume the next cycle. The weeks before Thanksgiving and Christmas fill first in my kitchen, so if your program lands in that stretch, confirm those two deliveries early rather than late.

Ready to start your monthly lunch?

Send me the email above with your real numbers, or just the day and the headcount if that is all you have, and I will reply with a menu and a price the same business day. Maggie’s delivers hot tamales and burritos to offices in Richardson, Plano, Frisco, Allen, McKinney and Dallas, labeled by filling, with salsas and serving spoons on request. Request a quote for your monthly office lunch and the first delivery can be on the calendar before your next all-hands.

Frequently asked questions

How do I start a monthly office lunch program?

Pick one recurring day, count the people usually in the office, decide a per-person budget, and send a caterer one email with the day, delivery window, headcount, budget, dietary exceptions, delivery instructions and billing contact. Ask for a standing order with one invoice per month. Confirm the headcount a few days before each delivery. That is the whole program; the first delivery tells you what to adjust.

How much does a monthly office lunch cost per person?

With tamales the food cost is easy to predict: $5 per tamal at any quantity, and two big tamales make a full lunch, so about $10 per person before burritos or extras. A 30-person office is five dozen, or $300 a month. Burritos are priced on the quote. Delivery is confirmed with the quote, so the number you approve is the number on the invoice.

What day of the month works best for an office lunch?

The first Wednesday is the most common request I get, because mid-week attendance is steady and it lands before the mid-month rush. Payday Friday is the next favorite, and the day of the monthly all-hands is the smartest choice since people stay and talk over the food. My kitchen delivers Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday between 9 AM and 2 PM, and is closed Thursday and Sunday.

Can the headcount change from month to month?

Yes, and it will. Confirm the number two or three business days before each delivery from the same contact person. Small swings are covered by rounding the order up to whole dozens; a big swing, like an all-hands that doubles the room, just needs the earlier heads-up. I read and price every request myself, so adjusting a standing order up or down is a quick reply, not a renegotiation.

Does a standing office lunch order come with one invoice?

At Maggie’s, yes. Recurring monthly office delivery is set up with a single invoice per cycle in the same format each time, which is what accounting departments ask for. If your team needs a W-9, a purchase order number or a particular reference line, say so in your first email and it goes on every invoice from then on. That keeps the program off the expense-report pile.

What if some of the office cannot eat gluten or pork?

Tell me in the first email and I plan the split around it. Every tamal I make uses gluten-free corn masa, though the kitchen is not a certified gluten-free facility and the burritos use flour tortillas. For people who skip pork, the chicken tamales in green tomatillo salsa are made with chicken breast. For very large standing orders, ask about other fillings and I will tell you what is possible.