How Gustavo’s Keeps a 50-Person Fajita Bar Tasting Like the Restaurant

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Feeding 50 people the same plate you would serve to four is the whole job of catering, and most of it is decided before anyone turns on a burner. Here is how Gustavo’s Mexican Grill keeps large orders consistent, and how we size one so the last person through the line eats as well as the first.

One set of recipes, five kitchens

Gustavo opened the first Gustavo’s in Crestwood in 2010. Every location that followed, LaGrange, Prospect Village, Norton Commons and Hurstbourne, cooks from the same recipes with the same suppliers. That matters for catering because your order is cooked by the location nearest your event, not by a separate catering operation, and it has to taste like the Tacos Al Pastor a regular ordered at that same counter the night before. Gustavo still eats at his own restaurants, so the fastest way to hear about a batch that drifted is to serve it to him.

Made that morning, not that week

Salsa and queso are made in house every morning at every location. We buy meat and produce fresh rather than holding it. This is also why we ask for at least 24 hours of notice on catering: a large order gets prepped alongside the day’s regular service, in a kitchen that is already doing exactly this work, instead of being pulled from a freezer somewhere. A cheese dip that was made at 7 am and delivered at noon is a different product from one that was made on Monday for a Friday.

How we size a large order

Consistency for a crowd is mostly arithmetic. The catering menu gives you the serving counts, so you do not have to guess.

  • Guacamole and Cheese Dip are sold by the quart at $22.99, and a quart serves about 12. For 50 people, four quarts of each is the comfortable number.
  • Gustavo’s Botana comes in a $22 size that serves 10 and a $38 size that serves 20.
  • Gustavo’s Wings are 30 for $29.99 or 50 for $49.99. Mummy-Wrapped Shrimp are 30 for $39.99 or 50 for $59.99.
  • Chicharron is $15 for a half pan or $20.99 for a full pan. Tomatillo, jalapeno sauce and sour cream are $12.99 per quart.
  • Main dishes are per person: Taco Bar $13.99 (minimum 10), Build Your Own Protein Bowl $15.99, Fajita Bar and Carnitas $16.99, Mole Bar and Pozole Bar $17.99, Taquiza al pastor or asada $19.99.
  • Churros and Mexican Flan are $5.99 per person.

A sample order for 50

A company picnic or a big birthday, 50 guests, delivered within 10 miles of our Prospect Village location on US Highway 42.

  • Fajita Bar for 50 at $16.99 per person: $849.50. Steak, chicken or mixed.
  • Four quarts of Guacamole: $91.96. Four quarts of Cheese Dip: $91.96.
  • Churros for 50 at $5.99 per person: $299.50.
  • Delivery: $25.

That is $1,357.92 before tax, about $27 a head with dessert, and the 30 percent deposit that reserves the date is roughly $407. Swap the Fajita Bar for the Taco Bar and the food line drops to $699.50. Add shrimp to the fajitas for $1.50 per person and it goes up $75, which is the cheapest way we know to make 50 people think you spent a lot more.

Buffet or plated for a crowd

For groups this size we offer buffet style or individually plated meals. Buffet lets people build their own plate, which is how a Taco Bar is meant to work. Plated is better when the room has assigned seating or a tight schedule, because it takes the line out of the equation. Our team handles delivery, setup and presentation on either, with disposable or reusable tableware, and can clean up afterward. Ask about service staff for the largest events.

Dietary requests at scale

Plan for them in the order rather than at the table. Vegetarian and gluten-free options are on the catering menu. Corn tortillas on the Taco Bar, the Protein Bowl with black or pinto beans, and the House Salad or Spinach Salad with Avocado and Orange ($7.99 and $8.99 per person) handle most of it. Give us counts, not descriptions. Eight vegetarians is an instruction. Some vegetarians is a guess.

Timing for a large group

Twenty-four hours is the minimum notice. For 50 or more, give us several days so the kitchen can order in what it needs. Tell us the time people will eat and we will set the arrival time. On the day, have someone at the venue who can answer the phone and show the driver where the table is. Hot food does not get more consistent while it waits in a lobby for the person with the key.

Tastings, and what to do if something is off

For weddings, annual events or anything where the menu is a committee decision, book a tasting session and settle it with a fork. And if anything arrives that is not right, call the location that cooked it while the event is still going. A manager can fix a problem at noon. Nobody can fix it in a review on Thursday.

Placing the order

Our online catering payment is temporarily down, so call the nearest location and a manager will take your order and the deposit by phone or in person: Crestwood (502) 243-6950, LaGrange (502) 610-2403, Prospect Village (502) 434-7266, Norton Commons (502) 690-7070, Hurstbourne (502) 420-1100.