4 Most Popular Catering Styles

Buffet Style

This is the most popular of the four types of catering services used to serve groups. Food is arranged and presented on buffet tables and guests select their meal from the platters, bowls and chafers (food warmers) on the buffet table. Beverages and desserts can be part of that presentation or, set up on their own tables, depending on the size of the room and the flow needed to move guests through the buffet area and the amount of time allotted for guests to eat. 

Catered Food Stations

Growing in popularity, food stations offer guests the chance to mix and mingle while gathering their food. These also entertain if you provide a professionally manned station like a carving station, pasta station, or omelet station. The food is typically prepared in front of the guest, with the selections the guest has made, and the waiter prepares and presents it to the guest.  These stations will require more time to serve everyone but are a great way to add variety to what would typically be one standard menu item for all.

Family Style Catering

Family style catering falls right between a buffet and a plated meal.  Family style offers a “buffet” type service with platters, bowls and plates of enough food for each individual table of guests. For example, if you were offering a chicken dish, potatoes and vegetable medley, and there were eight guests per table, one platter with 8 portions of chicken, one bowl of potatoes with enough for 8 and one bowl of vegetables with enough food for 8 would be placed on the table and guests then help themselves from those offerings, similar to a holiday meal you’d serve your family at home. 

Plated and Served Catered Meals

The most formal of all catering services is the plated meal. Individual meals are pre-plated in the kitchen and then brought out and served to each guest. Due to the additional staff needed to make sure all guests are served promptly, typically, there would be an additional cost as well.

Mix and Match Catering Services

You can mix and match services depending on the event. Cocktail hour can be food stations with appetizers placed throughout the venue allowing guests to mingle and nibble at the same time. This will allow guests to maneuver around easily if the food is small and bite-sized. 

For dinner, you can present your menu as a buffet, allowing guests to serve themselves, or with wait staff assisting behind the buffet. Again, you will need enough time to allow all guests to get through the line and get seated for eating.  Dessert can be either plated or offered family style. We can help you plan for how many buffet lines will be needed based on your menu, the guest count and the time scheduled for dining. 

 Ask us to assist you in designing just the right catering service for your next successful event.