Did your department just hit an important sales milestone? Do you need to impress a client? Or, are you simply celebrating a co-worker’s birthday? There are several reasons to throw a work party and we’re here to give you the best tips on how to find the very best office catering for you and your colleagues.

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When it comes to planning the best party at work you want to make sure everyone not only enjoys the food, but also the experience. Just a quick scan on Yelp or Google and you can see many of the pitfalls might happen if things don’t go favorably well. Like this one, this one and this one. Ouch! Well, let’s try to avoid that and hopefully make your next occasion unforgettable … but for good reasons.

Here at SOHO TACO we have catered countless office parties that resulted in happy bellies, smiling palates and instant promotions at work. Ok, the 3rd might be a stretch, but let us at least help you with the first two.

Get a great recommendation or select by Word-Of-Mouth

Easily one of the best ways to find the best food and service is by the time honored technique of word-of-mouth. If you’ve had food delivered to the office before, ask around. See what worked the best the last time and, of course, what didn’t.

Colleagues are the absolute best source for catering referrals and that goes without question. If Sally from Accounting says she had a great experience from that pizza shop down the street, it’s probably a good idea to take her advice.

Of course, there are limits. What if you’re a new company and no one is sure who to refer? Or, what if all your company’s past experiences weren’t that great?

That’s where you might want to check out Yelp or even Google Maps, which just updated their mobile app to provide some of the most powerful recommendations out there.

From a valued colleague’s advice to the latest mobile phone app, you’re bound to get a good referral from one of those sources. If not, maybe you should get new colleagues. 😉

What time do you want lunch served?

Before you call any restaurant or catering company, be sure you know what time the first bite should take place. This is important because it’s different from the when the food actually arrives or when it’s supposed to be completely set up.

Often we get calls from client’s ask that food be delivered at noon, but in reality the meeting starts at 12PM. And, wouldn’t you know it? Everyone is starving but the food isn’t ready yet.

Now our deliveries at SOHO TACO stays pretty warm for quite sometime, often up to an hour later. So, we now and then we time our deliveries a bit earlier than expected. Don’t worry! The food should be able to maintain it’s temperatures. But, if our crew needs to tippy toe and stay quiet around an important presentation, please be sure to bring that up.

Bad timing happens quite often, so to prevent that make sure you know exactly when Jim from Marketing wants to start grubbing and from there your friendly rep should help you plan the best delivery time.

Logistics, logistics, logistics!

One of the common challenges our hard-working delivery team often faces is trying to find your office.

Are you on the 17th floor or the 7th? Can we use the regular elevator or do we have to use the service lift? Is there a parking fee? Are you even in the right building?

Once we had a large delivery order from a prominent law firm in Irvine looking to celebrate in important event on the rooftop of their building. No problem. However, to make sure the event took place without a hitch, we made sure to find out all the logistics possible. From parking validation to food placement, we needed to know everything.

Fortunately we received all the info on time and the event was an utter success. See?! Just this morsel of info on delivery logistics goes a long way. Be sure to have that info ready.

Service Charge vs Gratuity: Know The Difference

A service charge helps a business offset some of the expenses incurred before the food even hits your conference room table, such as contractor fees, insurance, health permits, etc.

And, gratuities (which are entirely optional and up to you) are what you would pay to the delivery person directly for exceptional service or anything performed above & beyond your expectations.

In fact, the IRS makes it very clear that they are two unique things and so they’re taxed quite differently.

So, the next time you see a service charge on your invoice or bill, remember it’s not a gratuity and hopefully this will prevent any surprises when you review your credit card statement.

Have a great lunch …. hope you get that promotion!

More and more folks are opting to have their office lunches catered. We should know, we have the great pleasure of seeing an increase in our demand every day.

But, having your next lunch meeting brought to you doesn’t have to be a disappointment. Just make sure you get the right recommendation, know when the first bite should take place, provide the most accurate logistics and know that’s on your invoice.

For more info and tips on your next special work place occasion, feel free to send us an email at info@sohotaco.com or call us at (714) 793-9392 and one of our friendly representatives would be delighted to help make sure it’s a success.

Buen provecho!

REMINDER: September Deliveries & To Go Orders Get 2 lbs of FREE Guacamole With Code

In case you haven’t heard, we’re running a special this month for all delivery & to go orders. Just mention the coupon code “SEPTGUAC” and enjoy 2 lbs of our creamy delicious salsa de guacamole for FREE! Hurry, offer is only good for newly booked deliveries and offer expires at the end of this month. Enjoy!

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