When the Christmas and New Year’s holidays are closing in, it’s time to think of not just gifts and invite lists, but also the food! But what kind of food catering should you select for your festive holiday event? Would Italian be appropriate? The answer is: Absolutely!
For over 50 years, Stancato’s catering has been providing the families of Greater Cleveland with the warm, comforting foods that bring families together during our seasons of sharing and caring. From tantalizing appetizers and hearty entrées to decadent desserts, your entire holiday catering for Christmas and New Year’s is here!
How Much Food Should I Order for My Christmas or New Year’s Party?
To ensure you order the right amount of food, be sure to consider your total guest count and the per-person count for each dish you order. Italian cuisine is renowned for its generous portions and shareability—while Stancato’s does offer dishes made to serve an individual, many of our dishes are made to serve multiple people per order.
At Stancato’s, some of our catering categories such as our Antipasti, offer sizes like Half Pans and Full Pans. In this case, Half Pans serve 10-15 people per order, and Full Pans are cooked to serve 25-30 people.
Meanwhile, for the Platters that we offer, they come in Medium and Large sizes, where Medium serves 30 people and Large serves 50.
Want to give your guests the freedom of choice in what’s on their plate? Stancato’s can also help you assemble a buffet of various dishes for guests to self-serve!
What Kind of Buffet Setups Can Stancato’s Do for Christmas and the New Year’s?
When it comes to buffet setups for the holidays, your imagination’s the limit. Want an antipasti grazing table along with another table holding the Pasta Bar? Done! Or maybe you’d like to have entrées on one table and a variety of bread and salad on another? Sure thing! And what about a dessert station? Perfect!
Whether you’re planning to create your own buffet spread or you’d like Stancato’s own professional staff to set up, manage, and clean up after your Christmas or New Year buffet catering event, our catering services can make it happen.
Whether you want your catering served at a buffet table or on each individual table at your event, Stancato’s makes both ideas excellent because of how comforting Italian cuisine can really be. But what if you can’t decide?
Is a Plated Experience Better for Holiday Events or a Buffet?
A Christmas or New Year’s event is perfect for either a plated or buffet experience, but if you’re having trouble deciding, there are some questions you can ask yourself to determine which may be better:
How Formal Is the Atmosphere I Wish to Create?
Plated experiences present a more elegant and formal appearance to an event compared to a buffet. Buffets are more casual and flexible, encouraging guests to leave their seats to self-serve and to mingle with all the guests.
How Much Space Do I Have at My Venue?
The amount of space you have will also help determine which type of catering experience you CAN have. Buffets will require tables for setup, and flow space for guests to reach the buffet and navigate around. Meanwhile, a plated experience still requires space for guest tables but is less demanding for space for guest movement.
What’s My Guest Count?
Your guest count will also have an impact on speed of service. Having a buffet is greater for larger groups because the service is faster, guests can serve themselves when they want to.
Plated services are more manageable for small or medium-sized events. The larger the event, the longer it takes for catering staff to serve the plated meals to every guest.
What’s My Budget Per Guest?
Your budget will also determine whether you are limited to one or the other.
Plated experiences may cost more because of the need for professional staff, and the additional rentals of equipment and utensils.
Buffets may cost relatively the same if you wish to have professional catering staff help with setup, managing, and cleaning, but it could be cheaper if you’re doing the setting up and cleanup yourself (such as if you’re picking up the food from Stancato’s restaurant, or you’re having the food simply delivered to your venue).
What’s the Most Popular Italian Catering Dishes for Holidays?
What makes Stancato’s catering so perfect for the Christmas and New Year’s holidays is how naturally shareable Italian dishes have always been. Our chefs and traditional recipes bring the flavors that families love on the holidays and give them an Italian twist.
Here’s just some of the most popular catering dishes we serve during Christmas and New Year’s.
Broasted Chicken entrée
Bone-in pieces of chicken seasoned with garlic, pepper, and onion batter.
Italian Baked Chicken entrée
Bone-in pieces of chicken seasoned with vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, onion, paprika, and Italian seasonings
Meatballs (2 oz) entrée
Meatballs made with beef and pork, Italian herbs, and flavored with our Sunday Premier sauce
Naples Marinara pasta dish
With imported Italian tomatoes, olive oil, fresh garlic, basil, and rigatoni pasta
Basil Cream pasta dish
With Genovese basil, Aged Parmesan, imported Italian tomatoes, olive oil, and rigatoni pasta
Along with your appetizers and main courses, don’t forget to end the holiday festivities with something sweet!
Does Italian Catering Include Desserts?
Absolutely! What is an Italian holiday meal without the sweet ending of dessert? Stancato’s offers a variety of dessert selections that work well for either buffet or plated catering experience.
Need an easy dessert idea for Christmas? Treat your guests to a large Chocolate Chip Cookie Platter or a variety-rich Gourmet Cookie Platter (no need to save any for Santa!)
Want to celebrate the start of a New Year with an explosion of rich indulgence? Stancato’s also offers decorated and specialty cakes with crowd-favorites like Stancato’s Red Velvet, Harvest Carrot, and Chocolate Truffle cakes.
The next important question would be HOW you’d like to have your catering done?
What Catering Packages Are Available for Holiday Catering?
Stancato’s offers three catering packages for your holiday catering: Pickup, Delivery, and Full Service.
- Pickup: Come on down to our Stancato’s Italian Restaurant and pick up your food. With the pickup option, you can also order last minute.
- Delivery: We can deliver your ordered food straight to your venue.
- Full Service: Stancato’s own professional staff can deliver the food to your venue, set up everything, serve plates and manage buffets, and perform clean up at the end.
Whether it’s Christmas or New Year’s, you can have your banquet your way with Stancato’s Italian catering!
Give Your Guests the Gift of Food this Christmas or New Years’ with Stancato’s Catering
Since 1971, families around Greater Cleveland have been counting on Stancato’s for their Christmas catering and New Years’ catering. We’ve carefully preserved our traditional recipes, ensuring that everyone can enjoy real delicious Italian cuisine.
It is important to plan out your catering sooner than later—as the holidays approach, be sure to reserve your catering with Stancato’s! Our catering consultants are happy to give you a free consultation and help you design a festive menu that’s sure to keep the holiday cheer going!