CATERING SUCCESS

How to maximize revenue from your catering operation

Getting Started

Catering is a natural extension of business for most Mexican restaurants. A regular customer who loves the food asks for a large order for a birthday party or similar event — and the catering business is born.

With a little planning (deciding the menu items to offer, how much to charge, and how to accurately determine day-ofevent needs), it can become a significant part of the business.

WHAT’S ON THE MENU?

Fajitas and taco and nacho bars are the most popular items Mexican restaurants cater, el Restaurante’s survey says.

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Catering is an essential component of business for many Mexican restaurants. Those that cater earn an average of 29 percent of their income from that service, according to a January 2023 el Restaurante survey.

“Catering is a must to keep hitting the big numbers,” says John Mayes, vice president of operations and pastor at El Toro Mexican Restaurant, which has six locations in Texas. “To me it is the easiest way to grow your business and be more profitable.”

“The key for me and other caterers in Mexican food is that you run an operation that is marginal, meaning your own kitchen is used and your own people do the work,” adds Carlos Rodriguez, owner of La Cazuela in Atlanta, Georgia. You don’t need a special kitchen or special people — you don’t pay extra rent. You have zero extra overhead.”

“Ninety-nine percent of the time our catering customers want mixed fajitas,” says Tom Darmstadter II, managing partner of Pablo’s Mexican Kitchen in Richmond, Texas.

Other items are feasible as long as they stay hot and fresh during delivery and for the duration of service.

Rene Miranda, manager of Los Chamacos Mexican Cuisine in Arlington, Virginia, says mini-burritos, fried taquitos, mini-chimichangas, and gorditas are among his most popular catering items. Their size makes them ideal for casual parties or events in which attendees are walking around, while their size and texture help them stay hot and flavorful.

HOW MUCH TO CHARGE?

Once you determine the items to include, pricing comes into play. Your food costs likely will be the same as they are for in-house dishes, but your labor costs probably will be less because food won’t have to be plated in the kitchen. el Restaurante’s analysis of 45 Mexican restaurants’ catering menus revealed how those businesses charge:

• Per person (33 percent)

• Per tray, per pan, or per pound of food (18 percent)

• Package deal — a full meal for a set number of people (16 percent)

• By individual item (6 percent)

• A combination of the above (27 percent)

“The main thing you need to think about is giving peace of mind to the customer,” Rodriguez says. “If the customer says, ‘I need food for 28 people tomorrow,’ I tell them, ‘Don’t worry, if you order from me, I’ll bring everything.’”

Many owners base catering prices on their regular menu prices. Often, but not always, the restaurant’s costs for catering are lower than those for in-restaurant service, so the catering menu prices are adjusted down.

Charges for service and delivery depend on what your customer wants. Most food catered from Mexican restaurants is set up buffet style, so the only service required is delivery, set-up, and clean-up. According to the el Restaurante menu analysis, prices vary widely.

• The most common delivery charge is $35, but many offer free delivery and some charge as much as $250. In some cases that includes set-up; in other cases, it’s just delivery.

• Five of the 45 menus analyzed showed a service charge ranging from 10 percent to 25 percent of food cost.

• Three menus specified an hourly service charge for staff members to remain on-site. The lowest was $20 per hour, the highest $45 per hour, per staffer.

Taking Orders

Knowing the date, time, and place of an event; the number of attendees; the kind of food and level of service desired; and any special requests is a must before you can properly prepare a catering order.

Most of Pablo’s Mexican Kitchen’s catering orders come via their website. Darmstadter tries to respond within 10 minutes. If he has questions, he follows up, gets the information he needs, then prepares and emails a formal quote to the customer. That quote, with any revisions, becomes the order.

“By that time, it is descriptive enough that there are no questions,” Darmstadter says. “It comes out as an Adobe PDF that has every instruction on it. If I happened to be out of picture on the day of the event, the kitchen manager would know everything needed — time, contact info, special requests right down to the silverware.”

Estimating the quantity of food for per-person orders is another part of the process — one that can be challenging since not everyone eats the same amount. That’s why it’s important to ask exactly who will be at an event.

“You have to make sure you have enough food,” advises Tim Castaneda, owner of Zumba Grill in Birmingham, Michigan. “Kids under 10 generally eat half as much as an adult. Older kids and teenagers will almost always take more food than they will eat by double. And if you’re feeding a high school football team or firefighters, etc., they will eat 1.5 times more than average.”

So, should the per-person rate for football players or firefighters be higher than one for 9-year-olds?

“We don’t charge differently, because the food is not the biggest thing. I just don’t want to disappoint my customers,” Rodriguez says. “If I know we’re going to feed a group of landscapers, I’ll give them a little more of something at the same price. I don’t want somebody to call me later and say, ‘Carlos, we ran out of beans.’”

Time of day and type of event are also important when estimating the amount of food needed.

“The number one question I ask is, ‘What time of day?’” Darmstadter says. “If the event is at 3 in the afternoon and it’s light appetizers, we treat that differently than if it’s an event at 7 p.m. on Friday evening.”

Whatever the estimate, it is typical to require a deposit, or at least to have a credit card approved in advance.

The Big Day

You’ve ordered ingredients and told kitchen staff about the event; next up is packing the food so it will stay hot, with steam release if necessary. Remember your reputation is on the line, so if a customer is ordering a simple drop-off, make sure they know how to keep the food hot and fresh.

When should you arrive? If you have been asked to set up, your timing will be different than if you are just delivering food.

“If they require us to put on tablecloths and nothing has been set up, we plan to arrive at least two or three hours in advance,” Miranda says.

“The worst thing you can do for a customer is to be late,” Rodriguez stresses. “If you get there and 40 people are already waiting for their food, they’ll be super mad…That lady will not call you again.”

Whether your staff remain on-site also depends on the customer’s request.

Darmstadter advises having a server on-site to monitor portion control for events with more than 60 attendees. “If not, people in line might put too much on their plates and throw it away,” he says. “If we’re not going to be there, I tell them they should put somebody on the line to watch.”

Also remember that every event can potentially lead to more business down the line.

“I want to make sure that the guests get the same experience that they would have if they came to the restaurant,” Darmstadter says. “One catering sale doesn’t really do much, but if someone goes, ‘This is awesome!’ and comes to the restaurant, the event was a success.”

That kind of response is what Chris Miller, culinary director of Chicago’s Big Star, believes is the best promotion for any catering operation. The popular taco-themed restaurant, with locations in the city’s Wicker Park and Wrigleyville neighborhoods, is working hard to build its catering business back to pre-pandemic levels by reminding people via social media, sales calls and emails that Big Star catering is all about quality and hospitality.

“But the best promotion is crushing an event and wowing the guests,” Miller stresses. “The guests who get to see our warm hospitality and amazing food go back and talk about us for months. They get a DIY/Build It At Home package. They book us for a birthday. The best promotion is doing the best job we can!”

For more in-depth information about catering, read our special Catering Success supplement available at www.elrestaurante.com.

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