As the person responsible for catering, most of what you order sits inside a predictable window. A weekday lunch. A Tuesday morning meeting. Then a deadline pushes a project team into Saturday, or a client flight gets in at seven in the morning, and an order that was supposed to take place when the office was open now has to be rescheduled at a time when it's closed.
Metro's standard pricing and delivery run Monday through Friday, 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. This post covers what shifts when your delivery falls outside that window: how the minimum and the delivery charge change, the deadline you're really working against, and what to order when no one from the kitchen is coming to set it up. You'll know what to confirm before you commit to a date, and you'll have a straight answer when someone asks whether Saturday breakfast is possible.
If you have to move the event to an off-hours time, Metro builds the delivery around your date rather than running it on the standard weekday route. For early morning, late day and evening, weekend, and holiday orders, you speak with a catering professional rather than checking out online, and two numbers get set in that conversation:
That's the piece worth planning around, because it means you can't settle an off-hours date at eleven o'clock the night before.
For a weekend event, Metro needs your event information by 3:00 p.m. on Friday.
The office takes calls Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and next-day orders close at 3:00 p.m. the day before. Saturday, Sunday, and an early Monday start all come back to that same Friday afternoon. Before you hang up, confirm:
Book the date as soon as the meeting is on the calendar, even if the headcount is still soft. You can adjust the menu inside that window. You can't adjust a date nobody booked.
A weekend or early-morning delivery reaches a thinner floor than a weekday lunch does. Nobody is restocking a buffet first thing in the morning, and nobody wants to break down chafing racks at the end of a Saturday push.
Individually packed boxes solve most of that. Metro prices them per person with an eight-person minimum, and each one arrives sealed, so a late arrival gets a full portion instead of the end of a tray.
If your team wants hot food, ask about set-up before you order. Hot items arrive in aluminum pans on wire racks with gel-flame heating elements as standard, and plenty of Midtown buildings don't permit an open flame. On a weekend there's rarely a facilities contact to ask.
Metro sells a flameless set-up for those floors (a wire rack, pan, and insert with two flameless heating elements in place of the gel flames) at $15.00 each with a four-unit minimum. Disposable plates, napkins, cups, and serving utensils come with every order.
The Summer BBQ menu runs through September 11 and Summer Seasonal through October 2, so an August weekend still has both to draw from. If a date outside weekday hours is anywhere on your calendar this month, call Metro's catering specialists before Friday at 3:00 p.m. and get the minimum, the delivery charge, and the delivery window set in one conversation. The standing weekday orders run themselves. The off-hours dates need a person, and Friday afternoon is when you reach one.
Author
Chris Zamfotis
Managing Partner, Metro Catering
Chris Zamfotis is the Managing Partner at Metro Catering, a New York City catering company serving corporate offices, private events, and businesses across Manhattan. With a focus on reliable service, thoughtful menu planning, and polished presentation, Chris helps lead Metro Catering’s approach to modern corporate catering, from daily office lunches to executive meetings, happy hours, and large-scale events.
Metro Catering has been NYC’s trusted corporate catering provider since 1981, offering fresh, high-quality meals for office lunches, corporate events, and workplace dining—delivered on time, every time.
