Catering at Buddy's Bar-B-Q is unusually simple, because the chain gives you almost nothing to decide between: two family packs, a catering desk at each restaurant, and no published by-the-pound sheet. At roughly $7 to $8 a head the family packs are among the cheapest group barbecue in America, and the arithmetic that follows is short.
Buddy's Bar-B-Q prices at a glance
The prices referenced on this page, collected up front. They vary by location and change without notice.
| Pack | Price | Per person |
|---|---|---|
| Feed 5 Family Pack | $34.99 – $39.99 | ~$7.00 – $8.00 |
| Feed 10 Family Pack | $69.99 – $79.99 | ~$7.00 – $8.00 |
| Approach | What you order | Cost (10 people) | Per head |
|---|---|---|---|
| Individual dinners | 10 × Pork Dinner | $109.90 | $10.99 |
| Individual sandwiches | 10 × pork sandwich + hushpuppies | $74.85 | $7.49 |
| Feed 10 Family Pack | 1 pack | $69.99 | $7.00 |
The two packs
The first thing to notice is that the Feed 10 is exactly double the Feed 5. There is no volume discount for going bigger, which is rare and genuinely useful: you can order whichever combination matches your headcount without doing any optimization. For fifteen people, a Feed 10 plus a Feed 5 costs the same per head as anything else you could construct.
The second thing is the price range. Buddy's publishes ranges rather than fixed prices because the Knoxville restaurants charge less than the Sevierville and Pigeon Forge locations in the Smokies tourist corridor. Same pack, up to five dollars apart. If you are booking near the park and have a Knoxville-area location within reach, that gap is worth a phone call.
Packs versus ordering individually
The pack wins on money and wins harder on logistics — one order and one bag rather than ten tickets. The crossover point is around three people: below that, two Hawg Backs and a shared order of hushpuppies is fine; above it, the Feed 5 is already cheaper than what you would otherwise assemble.
What Buddy's does not offer
Be clear on this before you plan a wedding around it. Buddy's does not publish a standard by-the-pound catering sheet the way Dickey's or City BBQ do, so there is no cheap route for a very large order beyond stacking family packs or talking to the catering desk at an individual restaurant. There are no printed drop-off tiers, no rental equipment list and no chain-wide event minimums published online. What each restaurant can actually do for 80 people varies, and the honest instruction is to call the location rather than trust a national page. General portion planning that applies anywhere is in the BBQ catering guide.
What travels well
- Chopped pork. Buddy's hickory-smoked shoulder is chopped rather than pulled, and chopped meat holds heat and moisture better than sliced anything. It is the reason the packs are built around it.
- Beef brisket. Fine, cheap at $12.99 for a dinner, but it firms up faster in a warmer than the pork does.
- Hushpuppies ($3.99 for ten). Excellent for twenty minutes, disappointing after an hour. Order them for a party at the restaurant, not for a drive across the county.
- Gallon of Sweet Tea ($5.99). The correct group drink in East Tennessee, and by far the cheapest way to hydrate a table.
- Meringue pies ($3.49 a slice). They travel badly in a hot car — the meringue weeps. Buy them the day of, transport them flat.
How far in advance
Because this is a fifteen-restaurant regional chain rather than a national operation with a central catering system, lead time is set locally. A next-day family pack is routine; a hundred-person order in the middle of a Smokies tourist weekend is not something to spring on a kitchen. Give a large order several days and confirm by phone.
What to order
For most groups: family packs sized to headcount, a couple of gallons of sweet tea, and hushpuppies only if people are eating on site. If someone in the group needs to know what is in each item, check the Buddy's allergen notes first, and the full menu with current prices has everything else.