How To Choose A Great Catering Company

If you are getting ready to plan a social event, you may want to think about adding a catering company to your plans. Instead of relying on everyone grabbing something to eat before they come, you could turn your event into a classier and more upscale one by including catering. You need to make sure that you do your homework when it comes to choosing any company for your event. You want your event to go off without a hitch so that your guests will enjoy themselves and are more likely to come back to any other events that you are coordinating in the future.

When it comes to choosing catering companies, you have to approach this task a bit differently than you would if you were looking for any other type of service. First, you need to find some restaurants or eating establishments that serve food that you would like served at your party. Before you get down to inquiring about the foods and specialties they can make for your party, you need to make sure that they are in complete compliance with the county and state's board of health. This means that they should not have any violations or re-inspections that are pending. This is very important to protect yourself as the party planner. The last thing that you want to occur is for any of your guests to become ill after eating something at your party. This could result in a potential lawsuit against you and put your reputation at risk.

After you have checked the health department's certifications and inspection certificates, you should then investigate the facilities. You want to choose a company that takes good care of its equipment. If you happen to be inside a restaurant and things are not too clean or kosher, you should take your business elsewhere. This is a good sign that they will not be very cleanly or hygienic while they are serving the guests at your party.

Look at some menus. If the company advertises that they cater and are willing to do custom requests as well, you may have struck gold. Make sure the particular restaurant that you want to provide food for your event is available and able to get things done on time. You don't want a company that does not start its preparation until the day of the event. You also don't want a company that prepares everything well in advance. You want your meals to be prepared fresh and delivered on time.

Check their references. This cannot be stressed enough. References will be able to tell you whether or not any catering company you are considering is worth your time. They will also save you a lot of time by helping you weed out some of the less desirable companies.

Inquire about their prices. You may be required to put down a certain percentage of your total balance as a deposit. This is to give the catering company faith and establish an agreement between both parties involved.