Okay, so the other weekend, we decided to have a small get-together. Nothing fancy, just some friends over. Cooking for a crowd? Nah, not feeling it. We thought, hey, let’s get one of those big Chinese food party trays. Easy, everyone loves it, right?
So, the first thing I did was grab my phone. Typed in exactly that: “chinese food party tray near me”. You know how it is, you just put it straight into the search bar.
Man, a bunch of places popped up. Some were familiar names, the usual spots we sometimes order from. Others were new, or places I hadn’t thought about for catering stuff. It was a bit overwhelming at first, scrolling through the list.
Sorting Through the Options
I started clicking around. Some places had actual ‘party tray’ sections on their menus online, which was super helpful. Others, you kinda had to guess if their large portions would be enough, or if they even did trays. I specifically looked for:
- What dishes they offered in trays (needed the classics: fried rice, chow mein, sweet and sour chicken, maybe some beef and broccoli).
- How many people each tray supposedly served. This was tricky, ’cause ‘serves 10-12’ can mean different things.
- Location, obviously. ‘Near me’ was key. Didn’t want to drive halfway across town.
- Reviews, but I take those with a grain of salt, you know? Looked for mentions of party orders specifically.
I narrowed it down to three places that looked promising. They seemed to have decent options and were reasonably close. One place looked a bit cheaper, but the pictures weren’t great. Another looked a bit fancier, maybe pricier. The third one seemed like a good middle ground.
Making the Call and Placing the Order
Next step, I actually picked up the phone. I find it’s always better to call for stuff like this. I called the ‘middle ground’ place first. Asked them straight up about their party trays, what sizes they had, and if I could mix and match certain dishes. The person on the phone was helpful enough, explained the options, told me the price. Sounded decent.
I asked about lead time – needed it for Saturday evening. They said ordering a day ahead was perfect. So, I went ahead and placed the order right then. Gave them my name, phone number, what trays I wanted (went with General Tso’s Chicken, Vegetable Lo Mein, Pork Fried Rice, and Beef with Broccoli), and confirmed the pickup time for Saturday around 5 PM.
Pickup and The Final Verdict
Saturday rolls around. I drove over to the restaurant about 10 minutes before 5. Went inside, gave my name. Had to wait maybe 5 minutes? Not bad. They brought out these big aluminum trays, all covered tightly with plastic wrap and foil lids. They were heavy and hot!
Got them home, set everything up. Honestly, opening those trays up, the smell was fantastic. Looked like plenty of food. We had about 8 people, and the trays (I think they were half-size trays) were more than enough. We actually had leftovers, which is always a bonus.
The food itself? Pretty good! It wasn’t gourmet or anything, but it was exactly what you expect and want from a neighborhood Chinese spot. The General Tso’s was crispy, the lo mein wasn’t too greasy, rice was good, beef was tender. Everyone seemed happy, digging in.
So yeah, the whole process worked out pretty smoothly. Just took a bit of searching and a phone call. Definitely easier than cooking for everyone. Would I do it again? For sure. Finding a decent spot ‘near me’ that does party trays just makes impromptu gatherings way less stressful.
