Almost every barbecue catering mistake is the same mistake: ordering by instinct instead of by weight. This page gives you the portion arithmetic, the current per-head cost at every major chain, and a planning table you can read straight off for any group from ten to two hundred.
Prices at a glance
Every price on this page, collected up front. Prices vary by location and change without notice — confirm locally before ordering for a group.
| Package | Per person | 25 guests | 50 guests | 100 guests |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| One meat | $14.49 | $362 | $725 | $1,449 |
| Two meats | $16.49 | $412 | $825 | $1,649 |
| Three meats | $18.49 | $462 | $925 | $1,849 |
| Meat | City BBQ | Sonny's | Mission BBQ | Famous Dave's |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brisket | $22.79 | $23.99 | $27.38 | $16.69 |
| Pulled pork | $16.19 | $16.99 | $18.78 | $16.69 |
| Turkey | $17.39 | $16.99 | $19.98 | $16.69 |
| Pulled chicken | $16.19 | $16.99 | $17.98 | $16.69 |
| Sausage / hot link | $16.19 | $16.59 | $19.98 | $16.69 |
| Guests | Meat | Sides | Buns | Meat cost | Est. total | Per head |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 4 lb | 2 quarts | 15 | ~$68 | ~$105 | ~$10.50 |
| 15 | 6 lb | 3 quarts | 23 | ~$102 | ~$155 | ~$10.30 |
| 25 | 9.5 lb | 5 quarts | 38 | ~$165 | ~$250 | ~$10.00 |
| 40 | 15 lb | 8 quarts | 60 | ~$260 | ~$395 | ~$9.90 |
| 50 | 19 lb | 2 large + 4 quarts | 75 | ~$330 | ~$495 | ~$9.90 |
| 75 | 28 lb | 4 large | 115 | ~$485 | ~$730 | ~$9.75 |
| 100 | 38 lb | 5 large | 150 | ~$650 | ~$975 | ~$9.75 |
| 150 | 56 lb | 8 large | 225 | ~$965 | ~$1,450 | ~$9.65 |
| 200 | 75 lb | 10 large | 300 | ~$1,290 | ~$1,940 | ~$9.60 |
| Buy by the pound | Per-person package | Full-service caterer | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost per head (50 guests) | ~$10 | ~$16.50 | $28–$45 |
| Who collects it | You | You, or delivery | They arrive and set up |
| Serving equipment | You supply | Usually disposable trays | Chafing dishes, staff |
| Plates, cutlery, napkins | You supply | Sometimes included | Included |
| Clear-down | You | You | Them |
| Your time on the day | 2–3 hours | 1–2 hours | Near zero |
The only number you really need
Cooked barbecue, per adult:
| Situation | Meat per adult |
|---|---|
| Two or more meats, two or more sides, buns | ⅓ lb |
| Barbecue is the only main course | ½ lb |
| Barbecue alongside a full buffet of other food | ¼ lb |
| Heavy eaters / all-male group / long event | ½–⅔ lb |
| Children under 12 | Half an adult portion |
Two things people get wrong. First, these are cooked weights — if you are buying raw meat to cook yourself, brisket and pork shoulder lose 40 to 50 percent in the smoker, so 10 lb of cooked pulled pork needs about 18 lb raw. Second, add 10 to 15 percent. Barbecue is the one category where people eat more than they said they would.
Sides, buns and drinks
| Item | Per adult | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Sides (total across all) | 1 to 1½ cups | A pint feeds 3, a quart feeds 6, a large bulk side feeds ~15 |
| Buns / rolls | 1½ | Only if serving sandwiches |
| Sauce | 2 fl oz | A pint covers about 8 people |
| Pickles & onion | 2 oz | Cheap, and people always want more |
| Drinks | 2–3 servings | A gallon of tea serves about 10 |
| Dessert | 1 portion | Skip if the event is short |
What BBQ catering actually costs
Priced per person
Sonny's BBQ is the clearest of the chains because it publishes straightforward per-head pricing:
Going from one meat to three costs only $4.00 more per head. For any event where guests serve themselves, take three meats — the complaints you avoid are worth more than the four dollars.
Priced by the pound
Buying by weight and supplying your own sides is always cheaper. Current per-pound pricing across the chains:
Famous Dave's flat $16.69 per pound for any meat is the cheapest brisket by weight of the four by a wide margin — worth knowing, because it is the most expensive chain on almost everything else.
Full planning table
Assumes two meats, two sides, buns, and the ⅓ lb per adult rule with a 12% margin.
Note how flat the per-head figure is. Barbecue catering does not get dramatically cheaper at scale — buying by the pound gets you to roughly $9.60 to $10.50 a head and stays there. What changes at scale is that the per-person catering packages start to look expensive by comparison: at 100 guests, Sonny's two-meat package is $1,649 against roughly $975 doing it yourself.
Choosing the meats
For a mixed crowd, the reliable three-meat spread is:
- Pulled pork (40% of total weight) — cheapest, most forgiving, holds heat for hours, nearly universal appeal.
- Sliced or chopped brisket (35%) — the item people are impressed by. Chopped holds better than sliced over a long service.
- Smoked chicken or turkey (25%) — for guests avoiding red meat or pork.
Add sausage or hot links if the budget allows — they are cheap, they hold indefinitely, and they are the item that disappears first at an outdoor event.
Skip ribs for large groups. They are expensive per portion, they are messy, and they are almost impossible to keep at temperature across a two-hour service.
Sides that survive a buffet
| Holds well | Does not hold well |
|---|---|
| Baked beans | Fries and tots (soggy in 15 minutes) |
| Mac and cheese (in a chafing dish) | Green salad (wilts) |
| Coleslaw (cold, covered) | Corn bread (dries out uncovered) |
| Potato salad (cold, on ice) | Anything fried |
| Collard greens | Hush puppies |
| Green beans |
Two hot, one cold, plus bread is the standard buffet structure and it is standard because it works.
Timing and food safety
- Hot food must stay above 140°F. Chafing dishes with live fuel, not just insulated boxes, for anything over an hour.
- Cold sides must stay below 40°F. Half-pan on ice, refreshed every hour outdoors.
- Two-hour rule. Food out at room temperature should be discarded after two hours — one hour above 90°F.
- Order pickup for 30–45 minutes before service, not on the hour. Kitchens run late and hot barbecue holds better than cold guests wait.
- Book 5–7 days ahead for under 50 guests, 2–3 weeks for over 100. Whole briskets have to be started the night before.
Where the money goes wrong
- Ordering by plate instead of by pound. The single most expensive mistake. At 50 guests it can double the bill.
- Buying ribs for a crowd. Highest cost per portion, worst holding characteristics.
- Under-ordering sides. Sides are cheap and are what runs out first. Over-order these, not the meat.
- Forgetting buns. 1½ per person, and they are $4.99–$6.99 a dozen.
- Third-party delivery apps. They mark catering up 15–25%. Order direct from the restaurant.
- Ignoring the vegetarians. A large party salad ($29.99–$55.19) or a three-side plate solves it for almost nothing.
A worked example: 40 guests
Company summer party, barbecue as the only main, outdoor, two hours.
- Meat: 15 lb total — 6 lb pulled pork, 5 lb chopped brisket, 4 lb smoked chicken
- Sides: 8 quarts — 3 baked beans, 3 mac and cheese, 2 coleslaw
- Bread: 60 buns
- Sauce: 5 pints, at least two styles
- Drinks: 8 gallons of tea and lemonade
- Vegetarian: one large party salad
Buying by the pound at City BBQ pricing, that lands around $395 to $430 — roughly $10 a head. The equivalent per-person catering package would run $660 at $16.49 a head.
Catering it yourself vs paying a caterer
There are three ways to put barbecue in front of a group, and the right one depends far more on how much of your own time you are willing to spend than on the headline price.
The honest calculation: buying by the pound saves roughly $325 on a 50-person event compared with a per-person package, and costs you about two hours plus a car boot. Under 30 guests, that trade is usually worth it. Over 100, the logistics of transporting and holding that much hot food start to argue for letting someone else do it.
What you actually need to serve it
People underestimate this part and end up buying foil trays at a supermarket an hour before the event.
- Chafing dishes with fuel — one per hot item. Not just insulated boxes; food must stay above 140°F.
- Half-pans on ice for anything cold. Refresh the ice every hour outdoors.
- Serving utensils — tongs for sliced meat, a slotted spoon for pulled, ladles for beans. One per dish, not shared.
- A cutting board and a sharp knife if you are slicing brisket on site.
- Heavy-duty plates. Barbecue defeats a thin paper plate instantly. 9-inch coated or moulded fibre.
- Napkins — double what you think. Three per person minimum.
- Sauce squeeze bottles rather than open bowls. Faster, cleaner, less waste.
- A bin, and a second bin. Barbecue generates a remarkable volume of rubbish.
Menu templates by event type
Backyard party (20–40 guests)
Pulled pork and smoked sausage, baked beans, coleslaw, corn bread, buns, two sauces. Casual, cheap, everything holds for hours. Roughly $9–$10 a head.
Corporate lunch (30–80 guests)
Three meats — brisket, pulled pork, smoked turkey — with mac and cheese, green beans, coleslaw and a large salad. Turkey and the salad matter here: corporate groups reliably contain people avoiding red meat. Roughly $11–$13 a head.
Wedding or formal event (100+ guests)
Sliced brisket and pulled chicken as the headline, with mac and cheese, collard greens, potato salad and rolls. Sliced looks better on a plate than chopped, even though chopped holds better — so slice on site rather than in advance. Budget $14–$18 a head, and use a full-service caterer.
Game day / tailgate (15–30 guests)
Ribs and hot links, because appearance matters more than efficiency and people are standing up. Add chips and pickles rather than proper sides. Roughly $12–$14 a head.
Feeding the people who do not eat barbecue
Every group of twenty contains at least one. Solving it is cheap and forgetting it is conspicuous.
| Guest | Solution | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Vegetarian | Large party salad, or three-side plate | $29.99–$55.19 |
| Vegan | Plain slaw, corn bread (check for butter), grilled vegetables | Varies |
| Gluten-free | Most smoked meats are naturally GF — check rubs and sauces | — |
| No pork | Brisket, chicken, turkey. Beans and greens usually contain pork | — |
| Children | Pulled chicken, mac and cheese, plain buns | Half portions |
The trap worth repeating: at almost every barbecue restaurant, the baked beans contain brisket, the collard greens contain pork and the green beans are cooked with bacon. Ordering "a vegetarian side" without checking usually fails.
Tipping, service charges and the fine print
- Pickup orders: no tip expected, though $10–$20 for a large order that someone spent twenty minutes packing is a decent gesture.
- Delivery: 10–15% of the order value, or a flat delivery fee that the restaurant will state up front.
- Full-service with staff: 18–20%, often added automatically. Check whether it is already in the quote before adding more.
- Watch for: equipment rental, chafing fuel, disposable-ware charges, setup fees and mileage. These are commonly quoted separately and can add 15% to a headline price.
A last-minute checklist
- Confirm the headcount 48 hours out and adjust the order if it moved by more than 10%.
- Confirm the pickup or delivery time in writing, set 30–45 minutes before service.
- Check the fuel for the chafing dishes actually lights before guests arrive.
- Put the cold sides on ice the moment they arrive, not at service time.
- Slice brisket on site, immediately before serving. Sliced brisket dries out within the hour.
- Have containers ready for leftovers — cooked barbecue keeps three to four days refrigerated and freezes well.