Expert: Teri Davis Newman - 6/17/2009

Question
I am planning a company picnic for 250 people (this includes adults and children).  We are serving hot dogs and burgers, with chips.  I am having a hard time figuring out how many gallons of Mayo, Ketchup, Mustard, Sweet relish, Dill pickle slices, BBQ Sauce, Onions, and Tomatoes I need.  

Then there is how many burger and hot dogs to serve and their serving sizes 1/4 lb, 1/2 lb etc? If I know how many burgers and dogs to serve, then I can figure out the amount of cheese and bread I will need.

I went to Gordons to get some ideas and it looks like most of the condiments come in 115-128 oz jugs. Onions come in 5# bags and I'm not sure how to by the tomatoes.  The chips come in 20 OZ bags.  The burgers range from 1/3 lb, 1/2 lb, 1/4 lb patties and i can't remember what serving sizes the dogs came in.

Lastly how many volunteers would we need to do the grilling for a group of this size?  I know thats a lot but this is my first time!! Thanks!

Answer
Here's the rule of catering as to how much you will need per adult and half the portion for a child person:
1 -6 oz burger and 1 dog per person
4 ounces of each side dish up to 3
3 ounces of salad greens
1 4 ounce dessert serving
6-8 appetizer bites per person
16 oz of non-alcoholic beverage
2 oz of chips per person
1 oz of dip per person
Multiply the ounces times the number of guests and then divide by 16 to give you pounds of food and the beverage by 128 to give you the number of gallons of beverage you will need.