What Food Truck Catering Costs
Catering quotes are hard to compare because two numbers that look alike can cover very different things. One includes travel and staff. One adds both later. The useful question is which of them is the figure you will actually pay.
We quote per event, based on your guest count, which service format you pick and how many entrees you want on the menu. What follows is what that number already contains, so you can hold it against anything else you are looking at.
What the number includes
- Travel. Folded in. There is no mileage line, no fuel surcharge and no travel minimum that appears once you name your venue. A site an hour away is priced when you are quoted, not afterwards.
- All you can eat. Guests can come back. The window stays open after the main service for exactly that, and seconds are not counted or charged.
- Staff. The people cooking and serving are in the price. There is no separate service charge and no per-server hourly rate bolted on at the end.
- The trailer and the equipment. No setup fee, no equipment rental, no delivery charge.
- Biodegradable bowls. The food is served in them and they are included.
- A written contract. What was agreed, in writing, before the day.
What is a choice rather than an assumption
Plates and utensils. We can supply them for a fee, or you can supply your own. You pick which at booking, and the quote reflects the one you picked. Plenty of venues already stock them, and plenty of hosts would rather buy their own, so quietly including them and charging for them would be charging some people twice.
Extra entrees. Four come as standard. More than four is priced per head, and it is a small step rather than a new tier.
Salads and dessert. Available and priced separately, so an event that does not want them is not paying for them.
Paying
Checks carry no processing fee. Card payments carry one, and it is stated before you book rather than added to the final invoice. Nobody should discover a payment charge after the event is over.
Why there is no price list on this page
Because a per-head figure on a web page is a number without its conditions, and the conditions are what make it true. Guest count changes it. Service format changes it. How many entrees you want changes it. Publishing one number would mean publishing the wrong number for most of the people reading it.
Send the date, the town and a rough headcount and you get a real figure the same way everyone else does. It takes one message.
The charges worth asking any caterer about
Whoever you end up booking, these are the lines that most often arrive late:
- Travel, mileage or a fuel surcharge, and whether there is a distance beyond which it changes.
- A service charge or gratuity added as a percentage.
- Staffing billed by the hour, and what happens if your event runs long.
- Rentals: chafing dishes, tables, linens, plates.
- Whether seconds are included or the quantity is fixed per head.
- What happens to the deposit if your guest count drops.
There is a fuller version of that list, covering the questions that are not about money at all, in questions to ask a caterer.
Getting a figure
Four things get you a real number: the date, the town, roughly how many people, and what time you want food going out. Call 931-271-7455 or email nicholas@itsloaded.com.
What the three service formats involve is on the catering page, guest numbers are covered in how many guests we can serve, and if you are planning a wedding specifically, start with wedding catering.