5 Holiday Party Menus Your Team Will Actually Eat

Office party food goes wrong in two predictable ways. Either it is so safe that nobody remembers it, or it is so ambitious that half the room picks at the salad. The menus below sit in between: each has one or two dishes people get excited about and enough familiar food that the cautious eaters are covered. Every menu uses the same tray sizes. A small tray serves 10–12 and a large tray serves 20–22.

1. The shawarma bar

Best for: teams of 20 to 60 that want a relaxed, build-your-own lunch.

Shawarma is sliced, marinated meat, slow-roasted and served with sauces and bread, so guests can make a plate or a wrap. Put the meat trays at one end, then rice, salad, hummus and bread, and finish with the sauces. Chicken shawarma comes with pickles and garlic sauce; beef comes with onion, tomatoes, parsley and tahini sauce. It is the easiest menu here to serve, because people help themselves at their own pace.

Qty	Item	Price
1	Chicken Shawarma, large tray	$120
1	Beef Shawarma, large tray	$200
1	Rice, large tray	$50
1	Rice, small tray	$35
1	Greek Salad, large tray	$65
1	Greek Salad, small tray	$45
1	Hummus, large tray	$60
1	Hummus, small tray	$40
3	Tandoori Bread, dozen	$48
1	Baklava, large tray	$90
1	Baklava, small tray	$50
	Food total	$803
	Per guest	about $26.77

Food only, at today's menu prices, before tax and delivery ($10 to $30 by distance). Trays are counted at the low end of each size's range.

Tip: add a 16 oz tub of extra garlic or spicy garlic sauce from the sauces section. Sauce is usually the first thing to run out.

2. The kabob feast

Best for: a sit-down team dinner or a client thank-you where the food should feel like an occasion.

Kabobs are sold by the skewer, and you can mix chicken, beef, lamb, kafta, shrimp, salmon and vegetable; the kabob minimum applies. A good mix for a group is mostly chicken, some kafta (seasoned ground meat), and a few beef or shrimp skewers for variety. Vegetable skewers give vegetarians a real main dish. Serve over rice with a fattoush salad and bread.

A worked kabob dinner for 30, mostly chicken with some kafta:

Qty	Item	Price
20	Chicken kabob skewers	$140
10	Kafta kabob skewers	$70
1	Rice, large tray	$50
1	Rice, small tray	$35
1	Fattoush Salad, large tray	$60
1	Fattoush Salad, small tray	$40
3	Tandoori Bread, dozen	$48
1	Baklava, large tray	$90
1	Baklava, small tray	$50
	Food total	$583
	Per guest	about $19.43

Food only, at today's menu prices, before tax and delivery ($10 to $30 by distance). Trays are counted at the low end of each size's range.

Grilled skewers look generous on the table, and people can take one of each to try. See the kabob and shawarma catering page for how the skewers are priced.

3. Mezze and pasta

Best for: an afternoon party with grazing rather than a single sit-down meal.

Mezze is a spread of small dishes: dips, pies and stuffed grape leaves that taste good at room temperature and are easy to eat standing. Add one hot pasta tray so the spread feels like a meal. This menu is also the most vegetarian-friendly of the five: hummus, baba ghannouge and falafel are marked vegan on our menu, and grape leaves, spinach pies and penne rosé are marked vegetarian.

Qty	Item	Price
1	Hummus, large tray	$60
1	Baba Ghannouge, large tray	$60
4	Grape Leaves, dozen	$72
4	Spinach Pies, dozen	$96
4	Falafel, dozen	$56
2	Penne Rosé, large tray	$160
2	Tabouleh Salad, large tray	$160
4	Tandoori Bread, dozen	$64
	Food total	$728
	Per guest	about $18.20

Food only, at today's menu prices, before tax and delivery ($10 to $30 by distance). Trays are counted at the low end of each size's range.

Tip: put out half of each dip and refill later. Dips look best fresh.

4. The mixed office crowd

Best for: a big company party where you do not know everyone's tastes, including families or kids.

This is the menu for the office that includes adventurous eaters and people who only want pasta. Pair a Mediterranean protein with a familiar pasta bake and a Caesar salad, so everyone has a full plate. Our regular restaurant menu covers Mediterranean, Greek, Lebanese and Egyptian dishes alongside pasta, so the two sides of the table come from the same kitchen in one order.

Qty	Item	Price
1	Chicken Shawarma, large tray	$120
1	Chicken Shawarma, small tray	$65
1	Meat Lasagna, large tray	$90
1	Fettuccine Alfredo, small tray	$50
3	Rice, large tray	$150
1	Caesar Salad, large tray	$55
1	Caesar Salad, small tray	$35
1	Greek Salad, large tray	$65
1	Greek Salad, small tray	$45
5	Tandoori Bread, dozen	$80
3	Baklava, large tray	$270
	Food total	$1,025
	Per guest	about $17.08

Food only, at today's menu prices, before tax and delivery ($10 to $30 by distance). Trays are counted at the low end of each size's range.

Tip: label the trays. "Vegetarian" on the fettuccine alfredo and Greek salad helps the people who need to know.

5. The dessert table

Best for: an afternoon break, an add-on to a potluck, or an end-of-year coffee hour.

Sometimes the team already has lunch covered, or the party is a mid-afternoon toast. A dessert table is the simplest catering order there is. Mix a tray of baklava (phyllo, nuts and syrup, cut into bite-size pieces) and kunafa (shredded phyllo with sweet cheese, soaked in syrup) with a whole cake or two: Italian lemon cake, strawberry cheesecake or tiramisu. Rice pudding and basbousa, a semolina cake, round it out.

Tip: baklava contains nuts. A small card next to it saves questions.

How to choose

If your party is…	Try
A relaxed lunch in the office	The shawarma bar
A dinner or client event	The kabob feast
An afternoon with lots of mingling	Mezze and pasta
Large, with unknown tastes	The mixed office crowd
Short, or lunch is already handled	The dessert table

The plans above use the headcount in each example. To size a menu for your own team, use the helper:

How many trays do I need?

Enter your headcount and pick a dish for each course. We size every course to feed everyone once, using the low end of each tray's range.

Guests

Serve it as

Buffet trays Boxed lunches

MainChicken ShawarmaGyroBeef ShawarmaChicken skewersKafta skewersBeef skewersVegetable skewersMeat LasagnaChicken Fettuccine AlfredoBéchamel Pasta Bake SideNoneRiceRoasted PotatoesMixed VegetablesKousharyPenne RoséFettuccine Alfredo SaladNoneGreek SaladFattoush SaladTabouleh SaladLebanese SaladMediterranean SaladCaesar Salad ExtraNoneHummusBaba GhannougeTandoori BreadFalafelGrape LeavesSpinach PiesKibbie DessertNoneBaklavaKunafaRice PuddingTiramisu

• 1× Chicken Shawarma, large tray $120
• 1× Chicken Shawarma, small tray $65
• 1× Rice, large tray $50
• 1× Rice, small tray $35
• 1× Greek Salad, large tray $65
• 1× Greek Salad, small tray $45
• 3× Tandoori Bread, dozen $48
• 1× Baklava, large tray $90
• 1× Baklava, small tray $50

Food total $568 about $22.72 per guest

Before tax and delivery ($10 to $30 by distance). Prices from our current menu.

Request a quote for this order

Before you order

Orders must be placed and confirmed at least 24 hours ahead, for parties of any size, and December weekdays fill up quickly for every caterer in town. We do not deliver catering on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day: Christmas Eve orders are pickup only, and we are closed on Christmas Day. For the full planning picture, including timelines and budgets, read our office holiday party catering guide, or see the holiday party catering page. Every tray and price is on the catering menu. When you have picked a menu, request a quote or call (540) 372-7755.