A lot of people will do the simpler or less messy things at home, and they'll come to us for the more time consuming things. The industry standards for ordering food includes a quarter of a pound of salad per person and a quarter of a pound of meat per person, unless it's cooked meat such as a roast. Then the standard is a half a pound per person, noted Gramz. She recommended choosing a variety of two or three different types of meats and two or three different types of salads. If you have a greater variety, people will get confused by all the choices, and it will hold up the buffet line.
Caterers usually offer food in portion sizes of small, medium, large and extra large.
But, Gramz noted, if you're having 25 people and offering four different kinds of salads, you might not need all four in a large size. Mediums might suffice since you're offering many choices. Gramz's final word of advice is to make sure the hot foods stay hot, and the cold foods stay cold. She advised against keeping food out for longer than a couple of hours. Keep it hot, and turn and mix the meats to keep it from drying out.