Question 1

How far do you travel?

Accepted Answer

If your party or event is big enough, we’ve been known to travel some pretty far distances. We’ve gone down to the Jersey shore, southern Maryland, and as west as Harrisburg, for example. For locations over an hour commute from our 19380 zip code location, we’d require a higher minimum headcount of at least 125 or an “all in” budget of at least $3500.

Question 2

Do you have a headcount minimum?

Accepted Answer

We do have a 40 adult minimum for all on-site caters. We can certainly accommodate lower priced kids meal options for children 12 and under, but the child count needs to be in addition to the 40 adult minimum. The meats we smoke fresh take hours to prepare, taking the same amount of time to cook for 30 people as it does for 300. It is simply not feasible for us to dedicate the time and labor to smaller headcount, on-site catering events. We do offer a la carte, and “Party Pack” pickup options on our website for headcounts of 20-39 to accommodate your smaller party or corporate event.

Question 3

If we want our event catered “food truck style”, will there be a long line of guests waiting to be served?

Accepted Answer

Each guest would be served in about 10-15 seconds from the time they make their selections at the serving window. When most people think of “food truck”, they immediately think “long lines”. The reason for this very valid, understandable concern is because the places they see food trucks are most often at fairs and festivals, with thousands of people in attendance, ordering from trucks with numerous fried items on the menu, which can take 3-5 minutes to prepare. We are in the smoking business, not the fried business though. For caters with headcounts over 125, we serve from two lines simultaneously on either end of the 9 foot serving window on one of our trucks, which further expedites service.

Question 4

Do you require a deposit and is it refundable?

Accepted Answer

We require a 50% deposit upon booking to reserve a date for all caters. For weddings, the deposit is fully
reimbursable from the date of receiving until 3 months before the wedding cater date listed on the invoice. If occurring after a complimentary tasting we provide, a fee of $100 per person attending the tasting will be deducted from the deposit before returning. The tasting is complimentary for up to 4 people if we ultimately cater the wedding. Cancellations within 3 months of catering date forfeits deposit. For non-wedding events, we allow full refund up to two weeks before the cater date. Events can be rescheduled up until 48 hours from the serve start time of invoiced cater date for a future date based on caterers available at the time of re-schedule. Caterer will hold the full deposit in escrow during this time. Please understand that after receiving your deposit, we begin turning down other requests for the same date as we continue holding it for you. We need time to try and fill a canceled event with another one on the same date.

Question 5

Can we try your food before committing to a deposit?

Accepted Answer

Because we are a private caterer, we do not stock and prepare everything on our menu on a weekly basis like a restaurant might. We do not have dine in or same day take out service. We order fresh ingredients each week based on the various items included in the custom menus chosen each week by our customers for their respective events. We simply don’t have surplus inventory week to week to sell or serve. We do have a pickup order option on our website, but need 7 day advance order placement. For weddings, we do provide a complimentary tasting that is scheduled as soon as possible after receiving a refundable deposit.

Question 6

We want our event catered, and not served from the food truck. What’s the difference?

Accepted Answer

“Catering”, to us, is an umbrella term that encompasses the three ways in which we cater events. These
include: “food truck style”, sit down plated, and full service buffet. We like to think of our 3 mobile units not as “food trucks”, but rather as commercial kitchens on wheels that can drive to and serve from any location, regardless of access to water, electricity, refrigeration, or a freezer. What’s included in these three services are outlined under the “Services” tab on our website.

Question 7

I'm a business or event planner, and would like to invite Southbound BBQ Company to attend a vending event we are planning, selling food to the public in the form of individual transactions. Is this something you do?

Accepted Answer

Although we do occasionally sell food to the public, we limit those occurrences to large scale vending events like fairs and festivals with thousands in attendance, where selling out is all but guaranteed. Examples include: The Chester County Restaurant Festival, Downingtown Fall Fest, Phoenixville Food Truck Festival, and the Kennett Brewfest. Smaller vending like serving at breweries and wineries occur during the winter when we are slower, catering wise. The reason we have transitioned to primarily catering over the years stems from the time and labor intensive cuisine we offer. Unlike a pizza or taco truck, for example, that can simply refrigerate and reuse unsold ingredients after potentially lackluster sales at a vending event, what we prepare fresh in advance that day has to be sold or served, or it gets ditched, since we do not sell or serve leftovers. With smaller scale vending, with unknown attendance and being weather dependent, it’s just too unpredictable and challenging to gauge expected sales and the needed food quantities to bring on-site.

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CONTACT

OUR STORY SERVICES MENUS WEDDINGS GALLERY PICK-UP ORDERS FAQ CONTACT

OUR STORY
SERVICES
MENUS
WEDDINGS
GALLERY
PICK-UP ORDERS
FAQ
CONTACT