Real numbers, a worked example, and an honest explanation of what moves a catering quote up or down.
Most caterers will not put a price on a page. You fill out a form, wait two days, and get a number with no explanation attached. We would rather just tell you what it costs.
The numbers
The Cookout is $13 per person. That is your choice of hamburger, cheeseburger, grilled chicken or veggie burger, grilled on site, with a full condiments station and any two sides. The Block Party is $18 per person and adds a slider station and a drink station.
Both packages have a 40-guest minimum and a $500 food and beverage minimum. On top of the food there is a 20% service charge and 8.25% sales tax. Two hours of service is included in both.
A worked example
Say you are doing 50 guests on The Cookout. The food is 50 times $13, which is $650. The 20% service charge on that is $130, bringing you to $780. Sales tax at 8.25% is $64.35. Your all-in total is $844.35.
Here is the part that surprises people: the tax applies to the service charge too, not just the food. That is how it works in Texas, and it is why a quote that only shows you a per-person number is always going to be lower than the number on your invoice. We would rather you see the real total up front than find it at the end.
The same 50 guests on The Block Party works out to $50 times $18, or $900 in food, plus $180 service charge and $89.10 in tax, for $1,169.10 all in. Whether the slider station and drink station are worth the difference depends on your event. At a corporate picnic where people graze for two hours, usually yes. At a rehearsal dinner where everyone sits down and eats once, usually not.
What actually moves a quote
Guest count is the obvious one, and it moves in both directions. Under 40 guests we still need the $500 food and beverage minimum covered, so a 25-person event costs about the same as a 40-person one. That is not us being difficult. It is the cost of bringing a crew, a grill and a full setup out to you, and that cost does not shrink much with headcount.
Travel is the second one. Anywhere in the DFW metroplex is straightforward. We cater throughout Texas, but once you are well outside the metroplex, travel starts to affect the price. Tell us where you are and we will tell you plainly whether it changes anything.
Add-ons are the third. Hot dogs, all beef, are $2.50 per person. A build-your-own burger bar is $5.00. Premium toppings are $1.50. None of these are required and none of them are quietly added. You pick them or you do not.
Service time is the fourth, and it is the one people underestimate. Two hours is included. Beyond that it is $300 per hour per station. That is not a room-rental fee for leaving a warming tray behind. It is a fully staffed station still actively grilling, which is the only reason to extend in the first place. If your timeline is genuinely three hours, tell us when you book so we staff for it rather than improvising on the day.
Station count is the last one. We run one grill station per 75 guests. Most events are a single station. A 200-guest picnic needs three, and that is reflected in the quote.
What to watch for in other quotes
The pattern to look out for is a low headline number with everything stacked on at the end. Service charge appears after you have said yes. Tax gets left off the estimate. Setup, staffing, travel and disposables each get their own line. The per-person figure looked great in the email and the invoice is 40% higher.
Ask any caterer you are talking to for the all-in number for your specific headcount, including service charge and tax. If they will not give you one, that tells you something. If they will, you can actually compare quotes instead of comparing marketing.
One more thing worth asking: is the food cooked at the event or somewhere else? That difference does not show up on a price sheet, but it is the difference between a burger that has been sitting in a pan for an hour and one that came off the grill fifteen seconds ago.
Get your number
If you want your exact all-in total, fill out the order form with your date, headcount and location. We will come back with the real figure, food and service charge and tax included, with no surprises at the end.