B'Mitzvah Planning - Reasonable Food Budget

[Anonymous]

I am planning a b'mitzvah celebration and curious what is a reasonable budget for food that is geared towards kids (not adults). We would like to have a casual dance party for about 70 kids. Already have a venue but starting to contact vendors. Thanks in advance.

[Anonymous]

I would think at least $50 a kid.

The cost will be for food, servers, equipment and beverages.

Depends on how much and how extravagant you want to be.

[Anonymous]

It's going to be about $100 a head here for kids. $130+ for adults. This is for anywhere halfway decent.

[Anonymous]

$50/head for buffet/family style with apps/main/dessert.
More for individual plated meals.

[Anonymous]

California Tortilla or Uncle Julios catering are great for mostly kid bar mitzvah events. They might be like $20 pp for a taco bar but then remember you’ll need drinks, some employees to restock the buffet, etc. All in all still much cheaper than the prices quoted above.

[Anonymous]

Do not do plated event. Buffet is better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do not do plated event. Buffet is better.

And more expensive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do not do plated event. Buffet is better.

And more expensive.

I suppose it depends on the buffet items, but kids crap is cheaper than a salad and an steak and bread rolls all served individually.

[Anonymous]

Did coffee-infused everything, from coffee-rubbed brisket to coffee-glazed cakes. $25/person

[Anonymous]

I think it depends what you want and how full service. Like Maggiano’s would be a cheaper option the kids would like. I would look at restaurants rather than dedicated caterers.

[Anonymous]

I booked my middle son’s bar mitzvah today. I think $50 per person is good estimate to have in mind.

The place we are doing is $42 pp for lunch but that doesn’t include cocktails and a few extras we want to include, so we will likely be around $50 pp plus alcohol. And, it was about $10 more or so pp for dinner.

We are thinking of just wine and beer and no hard alcohol at lunch but a few signature mocktails for the kids. Lmk if no hard alcohol gives you heart burn. We had DS1’s bar mitzvah at a winery so only wine for the alcohol, which as far as I know, everyone was fine with.

[Anonymous]

Also I just looked it up because I wanted to know for myself but we paid appx $50 pp for my older son’s as well.

But then you also have to pay tax and tip. They usually include 20% for the servers on top of the food.

For both we are aiming for lunch and entertainment but less than a wedding. $15K is our basic budget for both.

[Anonymous]

Both bar mitzvahs I mean

[Anonymous]

Get some donut holes in the playground cheapskate.