Holiday Office Catering in Miami: What to Order, How to Size It, and What It Costs

November in Miami means two things: the weather finally breaks, and office managers start booking holiday lunches. If you've never ordered catering for your office before — or if you've done it and the food showed up cold, wrong, or short — this guide covers how Cuban cafeteria catering works, what to order, and how far in advance to call.

Why Cuban food works for holiday office catering

The problem with ordering food for a diverse office is that something is always wrong. Someone can't eat spicy. Someone is vegetarian. Someone doesn't recognize half the menu. Cuban cafeteria food — the full tray version — sidesteps most of this.

A standard Cuban tray order gives you ropa vieja (braised shredded beef, mild, in sofrito), pollo asado (roasted chicken with garlic and citrus), rice and beans, sweet plantains, and a sandwich platter on the side. None of it is spicy. All of it is recognizable to someone who has never eaten Cuban food before. The proteins are familiar — beef, chicken. The sides are rice and plantains. The sauces are tomato-based and citrus-based.

It's also one of the most economical catering options in Miami. A full tray feeding 15–20 people costs significantly less than the equivalent from a restaurant catering operation — and the food was cooked this morning, not yesterday. For a guide on what a full order looks like from first call to drop-off, read: Office lunch delivery in Miami: how it works →

What a full Cuban catering order looks like

At Cafeteria Miami, a catering order for a holiday lunch typically includes:

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  Hot trays (main proteins): Ropa vieja, pollo asado, or bistec empanizado — usually two proteins for groups over 25 so there's a choice. Each tray serves 15–20 people as a main.
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  Rice and beans: White rice and black beans or congri, packed separately so they don't get mushy in transit. One rice tray, one beans tray per 20 people.
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  Sweet plantains (maduros): One side tray per 25 people. These reheat cleanly in the microwave if the meeting runs long.
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  Sandwich platter (optional): Mixed Cuban sandwiches, medianoche, or pan con bistec for offices that want a lighter option alongside the hot trays. Good for 30+ events where a percentage won't want a full plate.
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  Coladas for the room: A full colada thermos with thimble cups — the Miami way to close a holiday office lunch. One colada per 8–10 people.

We label every tray, pack each item in insulated bags, and provide serving utensils. All you need is a table and 10 minutes to set up.

How to size the order for your group

The most common catering mistake is ordering for the headcount without accounting for seconds and no-shows. Here's a practical sizing guide:

Always round up by one tray for holiday events — people eat more when it's a celebration. A leftover tray is a welcome problem. Running short means someone skips the meal.

One reliable anchor dish for any office holiday tray: ropa vieja. Mild, broadly appealing, holds temperature well in a tray, and reheats cleanly if the meeting goes long. It's the safest first tray for any office that hasn't ordered Cuban catering before.

What to order for Thanksgiving and December office events

Thanksgiving week in Miami is a mixed bag — some offices run skeleton crews on Wednesday, some do a big team lunch on Tuesday. The move is the Tuesday office lunch: full team, real meal, no one is rushed toward a holiday dinner commitment that night.

For Thanksgiving week, we recommend skipping anything that competes with the holiday dinner palette (nothing turkey-adjacent, nothing too heavy). The go-to Thanksgiving week order: ropa vieja or pollo asado trays with rice, beans, and plantains — familiar protein but clearly not turkey. Add a sandwich platter for variety and finish with a colada round. The team feels fed, it's visibly Cuban and festive, and nobody is eating a dry roast in a conference room pretending it's a Thanksgiving meal.

For December, the last two weeks before the holiday break are the peak booking window. Office parties, client lunches, end-of-year all-hands — all cluster between December 14 and December 20. If you're planning anything for that window, call by the last week of November. We book out for the largest December orders first.

Delivery lead time and logistics

For individual or small orders (under 10 people), online ordering works and most pickups are ready in under 10 minutes. For catering orders, call us directly: (786) 558-5374.

Standard catering lead time is 24–48 hours. For Q4 events — anything in November or December — give us 48–72 hours, especially for large group orders or delivery to Brickell, Doral, and airport-corridor offices. We deliver across Miami-Dade and into parts of Broward.

If you're near the airport corridor, Doral, or Downtown Miami, we can typically accommodate next-day catering orders even during the holiday season — but don't count on it in December. The rule is simple: the earlier you book, the more flexibility you have on time and menu mix.

We're located at 1150 NW 72nd Ave, Suite 160, Miami. Five minutes from MIA, ten from Doral, and we deliver to Brickell, Downtown Miami, Hialeah, and most of Miami-Dade.

Getting a quote for your Miami office

The fastest way to get a quote is to call: (786) 558-5374 or email catering@cafeteriamiami.com. Give us the date, the headcount, and whether you want delivery or pickup. We'll quote you within the hour.

If you want to understand the full range of catering options before you call, read our complete guide: Miami office catering — what to order, for how many, at what cost →

For offices that order regularly, we can set up a standing arrangement — same day of the week, same order, billed monthly. A few Doral and airport-corridor offices run this already. It's the most reliable way to handle the daily office lunch without the daily decision.