Every fall, somebody in every office across the Metroplex gets handed the same job: “Can you figure out the Christmas party?” No budget line yet, no venue, and a group chat already arguing about ugly sweaters. If that’s you, here’s some advice from people who’ve fed a lot of these parties: figure out the food first. Everything else gets easier once you have.
That’s not us being biased because we smoke brisket for a living. It’s how these parties actually go. The food sets the time, the room, the budget and the mood. A party with a great spread and a boring playlist is still a good party. A party with a great playlist and sad sandwich trays is the one people talk about in January for the wrong reasons.
Book the date before you pick the theme
Here’s the part nobody tells the new party planner. December doesn’t have many good dates, and every company in Dallas–Fort Worth wants the same ones. The Fridays and weekends before the holidays go first. By the time the office has voted on a theme, the caterer you wanted can already be booked.
So lock in the date and the food, then have the fun conversations. A rough headcount is all you need to start. You can tighten it up later. We only ask for a final number a few days out on our corporate catering jobs, because plans change and somebody always forgets to RSVP.
A few questions worth answering early:
- Lunch or evening? A long holiday lunch in the office gets almost everyone there. An evening party feels bigger, but you’ll lose the folks with a long drive home.
- At the office or somewhere else? A break room or conference room keeps costs down. An outside venue feels more like an event but adds rental, parking and a second set of rules.
- Families or staff only? This one question can double your headcount. Decide it before you get a quote.
Why barbecue works for office parties
Holiday parties are awkward to feed. People show up at different times. A few are vegetarian, a few only want dessert, and the sales team eats like it’s their last meal. Plated dinners fight all of that. A barbecue buffet handles it.
Smoked meat holds well. Brisket, sausage and pulled pork taste the same at plate one as they do at plate sixty, as long as they’re kept warm properly. That matters when the CEO’s toast runs long and nobody eats for twenty minutes. And a buffet lets people build their own plate. More brisket, no coleslaw, a second pass for banana pudding. Nobody has to ask.
It also just feels like Texas. If you’ve got out-of-state coworkers or visiting clients coming for the party, real pit-smoked brisket beats another chicken piccata.
How much food to order (without guessing)
The honest answer is that it depends on the crowd, but you don’t need a spreadsheet. Our catering packages are built around how many meats you want, one, two or three, and every package includes two sides. That covers most of the math for you. You can see how it’s laid out on our pick-your-meats packages page.
A few rules of thumb from the pit:
- Two meats is the sweet spot for most offices. Brisket plus one more (sausage, chicken or pulled pork) covers the big eaters and the lighter ones.
- Evening parties eat more than lunches. People come hungry after work and hang around longer, so lean a little generous.
- Count your vegetarians separately and tell your caterer early. Sides like green beans, mac and cheese and grilled corn carry a lot of weight when they’re made right.
- Don’t forget drinks. Tea and lemonade by the gallon are the easiest way to keep a room happy, and one less thing somebody has to run to the store for.
For what it’s worth, most of the corporate orders we cater land somewhere between 25 and 75 people. That’s the range where a barbecue spread really shines. It’s big enough to feel like a feast and small enough that nothing sits around too long.
Drop-off or full service?
This is the decision that changes your day the most, so be honest about how much you want to be on your feet.
Drop-off is what it sounds like. We deliver the food with the plates, flatware, condiments and sauces, and you run it from there. It works well for a relaxed office lunch where the team can serve themselves and the party planner can still sit down to eat.
Full service means we deliver it hot, set up the buffet, serve your people, then tear down and clean up. That’s usually the right call for an evening party, a room full of clients, or any event where the person organizing it would actually like to enjoy it. The mess leaves with us.
If you want to go all in, some hosts bring the smoker trailer on site so guests can watch (and smell) the meat come off the pit. It’s a fun centerpiece for an outdoor party. Be realistic about the weather, though. North Texas in December can be sunny and mild one day and blowing cold the next, so have an indoor fallback for serving even if the cooking happens outside.
Office parties by neighborhood
Where your office sits shapes the party more than people think. Downtown Dallas and Uptown towers usually mean elevator loading, loading-dock rules and a conference room with limited outlets, so tell your caterer how the building works before event day. Suburban office parks from Plano to Arlington usually have easier parking and more room to spread out, and sometimes a patio that makes an outdoor buffet possible.
Las Colinas deserves its own mention. It’s full of corporate campuses and regional offices, and plenty of those teams bring in coworkers from out of town for the holidays. That’s the kind of room our BBQ catering in Irving is built for. Wherever you are, the question to ask your building manager early is the same: where can food be set up, and how does it get from the curb to the room?
Party ideas that actually work with a barbecue spread
Once the food’s handled, the fun stuff is easy to hang on it. A few ideas that pair naturally with barbecue:
- A “Texas Christmas” theme. Boots, jeans and a festive shirt instead of cocktail attire. It’s cheaper for your team and suits the food.
- Awards after the meal, not during. Let people eat while it’s hot, then do the funny superlatives once plates are cleared.
- A dessert moment. Put out the banana pudding a little later so the party gets a second wind instead of a slow fade.
- A family day instead of a night out. A weekend afternoon with spouses and kids can mean more than another happy hour, and barbecue is about the most kid-friendly food there is.
Not every holiday party is a work party, of course. If you’re hosting family or friends at home this December, the same planning applies, and we handle those too through our holiday and private party catering.
A simple timeline to follow
- Now through October: set the budget, pick the date, choose lunch or evening, decide on families. Book the food.
- Early November: lock the venue or room, send the save-the-date, start collecting dietary needs.
- Two weeks out: confirm the menu, the service style and the setup details for your building.
- A few days out: send the final headcount. Then stop worrying about the food.
The best office parties don’t feel planned, but they are. Get the date and the food locked in while December still has room. If you’d like a hand with the food side, request a quote with your guest count and date, or call us at (817) 204-8170. We’ll help you build a spread your team will still be talking about at next year’s party.