Food Stations: A Trendy Alternative to Buffets

The 228 patio with buffet set up along the wall of the building

When planning an event, you can choose from all sorts of alternatives for food service. You need not choose between a seated dinner and a standard buffet meal. One alternative that’s trendy is to use food stations. You can offer multiple food stations to provide an entire meal. You could also combine a seated meal with either snack, hors-d’oeuvre, drink, or dessert food stations.

Potential Benefits

Caterers keep food stations open for much longer than your typical buffet. Because people often serve themselves, they need fewer staff people than a sit-down meal. These stations also help keep lines to a minimum, as people offer several stations spread out throughout the venue. You can separate foods based on the category of food, such as salads, sides, and entrees. Some people also use a theme for their food stations. An around-the-world theme might include stations for Japan, Mexico, and Italy, for example. Food stations can offer a lot of variety and allow guests to interact more with each other.

Potential Considerations

If you have multiple food stations, you may need more space. It also requires more chefs sometimes, depending on the station. Cook-to-order and interactive stations will each need chefs, while a grazing table won’t. Include plenty of staff to clear away used dishes people leave around the venue as they finish eating.