Birthday catering

Birthday parties from twenty to two hundred.

Backyard birthdays, milestone parties, kid parties with grown-ups doing the eating. Drop-off or on-site with a pitmaster, two-week lead time for most weekends.

Get a quote in 24 hours→See the recommended package FAQ

20 – 200

headcount we'll quote

2 – 4 weeks (8 weeks for milestone parties on prime Saturdays)

typical lead time

BBQ Basics

recommended package

24 hr

quote turnaround, weekdays

What you get

The dishes most-ordered for this kind of event.

Most birthday parties under 80 land on BBQ Basics with a meat upgrade or dessert add-on. Milestone birthdays (40th, 50th, 60th) often step up to the Pitmaster Spread.

See the full menu→

Signature

The 14-Hour Brisket

$16

Post-oak smoked. Brioche, pickles, slaw, a stripe of Carolina Gold. The one we'd order.

Pulled Pork

$14

12-hour shoulder, pulled to order. Slaw on top, sauce on the side, pickles in the basket. Available as a $18 plate.

Signature

Burnt-End Mac

$15

Brisket burnt ends, scallion, pickled jalapeño, breadcrumb crust. The default.

Eve's Slaw

$4 / $7

Apple-cider dressed, no mayo. Bright and sharp.

Smoked Beans

$4 / $7

Burnt ends + molasses + bourbon + black pepper.

Cornbread

$3 / $6

Sweet, dense, honey-butter on the side.

Detail · 01

Backyard birthday catering — keep it loose.

For a backyard birthday under 60 people, BBQ Basics is what you want: one meat (pulled pork is the most-ordered birthday meat — kid-friendly, slider-friendly, doesn't dry out), two sides (slaw and beans is the default, swap in mac for the kids), brioche buns, pickles, three sauces. We drop off in chafers, set the line on a table you point us at, walk you through it, leave. You run it. Most backyard birthdays land in the 30 – 50 range and budget cleanly under what an equivalent caterer would charge for pizza-and-wings catering. Brisket as the meat upgrade adds a few dollars per person but is what we'd order for our own birthday. Sauces stay on the side so the kid plates aren't sauced and the adult plates can build their own.

Detail · 02

Milestone parties — 40th, 50th, 60th — when to step up.

Milestone birthdays where you've actually invited people who aren't your kid's friends' parents — 40th, 50th, 60th, 70th — usually land on the Pitmaster Spread. Two meats (brisket plus pulled pork is the default; brisket plus ribs if it's a Saturday because we run ribs Saturday only at the carts but can run them any day for catering), three sides, dessert station (peach cobbler), real platters, full sauce flight. If the milestone is at a venue with a coordinator and the headcount is over 100, step up to Full Smokehouse and put a pitmaster on-site carving brisket per-plate. Photos of a pitmaster slicing 14-hour brisket at the head of the buffet are the thing every milestone birthday wants and most birthday caterers can't provide.

Detail · 03

Kid parties where the grown-ups need to eat too.

Kid birthday parties (4-year-old, 8-year-old, 12-year-old) where the grown-ups are also going to eat: BBQ Basics with pulled pork and mac as the two sides, and we'll throw in a kid plate count at no upcharge — pulled pork sliders on slider buns, just-the-mac in a kid-portion bowl, and a chicken-tender option (three tenders, House sauce, no spicy stuff) for the kids who won't touch the smoke. Most kid parties under 30 grown-ups + kids land cleanly inside BBQ Basics. Tell us the kid count at quote and we'll size the slider buns and the kid-portion bowls accordingly. Sauce on the side, always. Cake is your problem (or your bakery's), not ours.

Detail · 04

Lead time, deposits, and the inside-a-week birthday call.

Most birthday parties book 2 – 4 weeks out. Inside a week we can usually still help with a drop-off under 50 people — call us, we'll check the smoker calendar, and quote within a few hours on weekdays. Milestone parties on prime Saturdays (May – October) book 8 weeks out, same as weddings, because the smoker can only be in one place at a time. 25% deposit holds the date; refundable outside 14 days. Inside 14 days the deposit applies to a future event within 12 months — useful for the inevitable kid-with-strep cancel and reschedule.

Recommended package

BBQ Basics — the birthday catering default.

Custom builds quoted line-by-line. The recommended package is the starting point — most clients adjust at the menu-lock conversation.

Recommended

BBQ Basics

The classic spread. Office lunches, casual receptions, family reunions.

$14

per person · 20 minimum

One smoked meat (brisket, pulled pork, or chicken)
Two sides (mac, slaw, beans, cornbread, greens)
Brioche buns, pickles, three sauces
Disposable serving ware + utensils
Delivery within 30 mi of Colorado Springs

Start with this→

Pitmaster Spread

The wedding default. Two meats, real sides, dessert included.

$22

per person · 30 minimum

Two smoked meats from a list of five
Three sides + cornbread + buns + pickles
Eve's sauce flight — all five sauces
Dessert: peach cobbler or banana pudding
Real serving platters + setup
Coordinator check-in 7 days before event

Start with this→

The Full Smokehouse

Show. Stop. Three meats, four sides, a pitmaster on-site running the line.

$32

per person · 50 minimum

Three smoked meats — whole brisket option
Four sides + cornbread + buns + pickles + slaw
Two desserts + late-night burnt-end taco bar
On-site pitmaster carving + replating
Linens, real platters, chafers, table runners
Dedicated coordinator + day-of point of contact

Start with this→

Step one

Tell us about your event.

Five questions, two minutes. We’ll come back within 24 hours with a real quote — not a brochure.

Get a quote→Browse the menu first

Before you ask

Birthday BBQ Catering FAQ.

Can you cater a backyard party where I don't have tables set up yet?

Yes — we bring our own folding tables and chafers and set the buffet line wherever you point. We don't bring guest seating tables; that's on you or the rental company.

What about a kid count under 8?

Under 8 people total, we'd point you at ordering directly from one of the carts and picking up. The 20-person minimum on drop-off catering is what makes the smoke math work — below that, just come to The Cantina.

Can we get cake from you too?

We don't do cakes — peach cobbler and banana pudding are the desserts on the catering deck. Cobbler in a 9x13 pan feeds 18; banana pudding in the same feeds 24.

Do you do surprise parties — can you arrive without a sign on the truck?

Yes. Tell us at quote it's a surprise; we'll park around the corner, walk the chafers in unbranded, and the smoker stays out of sight until the reveal is done.

Are sauces really always on the side?

Always. Brisket gets a stripe of Carolina Gold on the sandwich, pork gets nothing on the meat itself. Five sauces on the table. Kids who don't want sauce don't get sauce. That's the whole point.

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