party food other than pizza?

[Anonymous]

The thing with kid food, is that there is no “fail safe” foods for all kids. My picky eater wouldn’t eat falafel or dumplings, but would be fine with plain black bean tacos. The closest to universally kid friendly is pizza, nuggets, and cheese and crackers. That’s why parties default to those things. If you want to get creative, then get what your kid likes and make sure you include the menu on the invite so parents can plan around it. Just don’t surprise us with dim sum or spanakopita at lunchtime and then wonder why a few kids eat the entire bowl of goldfish or fruit platter. Why not overthink and just K.I.S.S.?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve done dim sum several times for kids parties and the kids gobble up the dumplings. Huge hit.

?? what??

Cava, dumplings, dim sum, etc way too messy, unappealing to most kids (except those with snowflakes), and hard to eat.

There's a reason pizza and nuggets are the go-to foods for kid parties.

What are you talking about? Dumplings are two bites. And at my kids parties we don’t stop the playing to sit and eat. The kids just go over and grab a dumpling or two when they want it. Not messy at all and everyone loves them. If they’re unappealing to YOU, then that’s something else. But who cares? The party is about kids, not adults.

I was birthed by a woman who speaks just like her.

Here’s the translation: “I don’t want to bother, so nobody should indirectly make my life harder.”

[Anonymous]

Señor Ramon has a sampler platter with fries, cheese quesadilla, nachos and fried corn. All things kids love. I wonder if someone in your neck of the woods has something like that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The thing with kid food, is that there is no “fail safe” foods for all kids. My picky eater wouldn’t eat falafel or dumplings, but would be fine with plain black bean tacos. The closest to universally kid friendly is pizza, nuggets, and cheese and crackers. That’s why parties default to those things. If you want to get creative, then get what your kid likes and make sure you include the menu on the invite so parents can plan around it. Just don’t surprise us with dim sum or spanakopita at lunchtime and then wonder why a few kids eat the entire bowl of goldfish or fruit platter. Why not overthink and just K.I.S.S.?

This. Just get the pizza. The only other option I would consider is the Jimmy John's slims. They are just the bread and meat (maybe one variety has cheese too). Get a variety, the cut into thirds arrange on a platter. I'm sure they could do a platter of these as well if you don't want to cut and arrange. Then put out some condiment, lettuce, tomato, etc.

The best parties I've been to have pizza out plus some better food for adults or kids that prefer something else.

[Anonymous]

^ plus some fresh fruit and vegetables. Always have these. I hate parties that only serve pizza and some garage snack food like cheetos and doritos, and coke.

[Anonymous]

I agree with PPs who say you should just get pizza and then interesting things as extras. But order lots of cheese pizza!! It’s amazing how many kids don’t like pepperoni but it’s the truth. And the kids who like other toppings will eat cheese, but it doesn’t go the other way around. Just assume all kids want cheese and then maybe get a pepperoni for fun.

[Anonymous]

Chick fila nuggets and mac and cheese are a huge hit - even for those who wring their hands at the morality.

Fruit and veggie platter and cheese and crackers too.

I think sub sandwiches are fine.

[Anonymous]

If you're up for grilling - hot dogs.

You can do regular, chicken, & veggie to hit all the bases. They cook super quickly on the grill or can be cooked ahead of time and kept warm.

They were a big hit at my son's baseball themed party over the summer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The thing with kid food, is that there is no “fail safe” foods for all kids. My picky eater wouldn’t eat falafel or dumplings, but would be fine with plain black bean tacos. The closest to universally kid friendly is pizza, nuggets, and cheese and crackers. That’s why parties default to those things. If you want to get creative, then get what your kid likes and make sure you include the menu on the invite so parents can plan around it. Just don’t surprise us with dim sum or spanakopita at lunchtime and then wonder why a few kids eat the entire bowl of goldfish or fruit platter. Why not overthink and just K.I.S.S.?

My kids are picky and prefer other things but if falafel and spanakopita were such big hits, it would have caught on my now. Not enough kids prefer them to make them party favorites. If you want to be different, then buy whatever you or your kids like and plan on having a lot of left overs as other kids skip the food and continue playing instead.

[Anonymous]

If you're willing to spend the money, Red Robin catering is done really well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve done dim sum several times for kids parties and the kids gobble up the dumplings. Huge hit.

?? what??

Cava, dumplings, dim sum, etc way too messy, unappealing to most kids (except those with snowflakes), and hard to eat.

There's a reason pizza and nuggets are the go-to foods for kid parties.

Wait, so a kid is a “snowflake” because they’ll eat a wider variety of food?

[Anonymous]

Where I live the default seems to be the following combo: empanadas, arroz con gandules, lasagna, and cheese pizza.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where I live the default seems to be the following combo: empanadas, arroz con gandules, lasagna, and cheese pizza.

I'm from the Southwest so some combination of Mexican food and fried food is always the default combo.

[Anonymous]

We ordered a couple of big Subway sandwiches and it worked out great.

[Anonymous]

If this is at home, grill burgers (and a few veggie burgers) and dogs. Get a fruit and/or veggie platter and a couple bags of chips. Easy.