4 Advantages of Catered Food Rather Than Restaurant Food at Your Event
4 Advantages of Catered Food Rather Than Restaurant Food at Your Event
It’s not uncommon for many popular restaurants to offer catering services for events, and the appeal of hiring a renowned food establishment to cater for your event can feel too good of an offer to turn down. After all, what better way is there to impress your guests than some premium quality food catered by one of your favorite restaurants?
However, it’s important to be aware of the possible disadvantages of hiring a restaurant for catering rather than a full-service catering company, as the latter are often better prepared and experienced to handle catering at events.
Let’s take a closer look at some of the main advantages of having catered food rather than restaurant food at your event:
1. Adaptability
A catering company knows how to adapt their system to suit different environments. They’ve worked at countless different locations, catering for events of every scope and size, so it’s safe to say that they will be ready and prepared to cater at your event no matter the challenges it may present.
Kitchens can be set up almost anywhere whether inside or outside, and the staff will be ready to handle any issues that might arise, from unexpected weather problems to quickly dealing with issues with cooking equipment.
Restaurants are used to preparing their food in more comfortable environments and don’t always plan for the unexpected when catering events. Versatility is important when catering an event, and catering professionals usually have the advantage in this regard.
2. Experienced Staff
Waiting on patrons at a restaurant is a whole different game to catering massive events, which is why the experience that catering staff have is so invaluable. They know how to properly set up buffets, when refills need to be made, and how to efficiently clear tables of dirty dishes, usually doing all of this at one time!
Restaurant staff know how to put food out and cater to guests, yet the nuances of catering events can often be lost. Even small things like knowing when chafers need refilling and how to best keep food stations clean and fully stocked can get overlooked, and this will have a large impact on the overall quality of the event.
3. Food Prep
Prepping food for a catered event is a skill in its own and one that full-service companies are much better prepared for. As they are specialists in bulk food preparation and serving, they will know how to best prepare the food for the event, ensuring everything remains fresh and identifying the right time to start serving.
This is more difficult than most anticipate, as even the slightest adjustment to the prepping process can set everything off course, so having a skilled team that know exactly how to prep food in any circumstances is a big advantage.
4. The Full Service
As their name suggests, full-service catering companies provide everything that is required for the event, from the food and the equipment its cooked in to all the dishes, linens, utensils and decorations.
Their staff will load and unload everything, set up the cooking and serving areas, serve the food and drinks, and clean up afterwards before finally packing everything away. It’s a long and tedious process, so having a dedicated team that can handle all aspects of the catering allows the host to worry about their guests and nothing else.
While restaurants can provide a good level of service, everything is based out of the restaurant itself, so they are often limited to what they can provide compared to a full service catering company.
