CARTHAGEKITCHEN

By event

Birthday Party catering in Los Angeles.

Birthday party catering in Los Angeles — taco bars, buffets & grazing tables from $26/guest. Chef-led, halal · zabiha-sourced, serving LA & Orange County.

$26
Per guest, from
1–3 weeks typical
Typical lead time
On request
Custom spreads
Birthday Party Catering
BIRTHDAYS
50+Events catered
20+Years in hospitality
40Catering services & programs
22Menus, one kitchen

The occasion

Birthdays catering in Los Angeles & Orange County

What it takes to cater birthdays well — the logistics, the timing, and how we make it work.

Birthdays are the widest brief in catering — a first birthday in a backyard and a fortieth in a rented loft are the same word and completely different events. We start by asking two things: how many people, and how hands-off do you want to be. From there it's either a drop-off spread set and labeled for a casual party, or a staffed service with a chef on site for a milestone dinner — same kitchen, same standard, sized to the night.

The food follows the crowd. A kids' party wants crowd-pleasers that travel; an adult milestone wants a live station or a plated dinner that makes the night feel like an occasion. Everything is halal · zabiha-sourced by default with vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free labeled, so a mixed table — friends, family, kids, elders — all eat from the same menu with no separate tray off to the side.

What actually decides the shape of a birthday is the venue, and the venue is usually a home. That means a kitchen someone else is using, a fridge with no room in it, and a dining table that has to double as the buffet — so we bring what the room does not have and build around what it does, rather than assuming service space that is not there. Timing bends around the cake: the food needs to be done and cleared enough that the moment happens cleanly, and then a second wave almost always wants feeding an hour later, which is worth planning for rather than discovering. Headcounts move on a party like this, so we plan a little generously and price per guest rather than per tray. Drop-off arrives set, labeled and ready to eat; staffed service puts someone there to keep the table looking full, run the clearing, and leave the kitchen better than we found it.

Why Carthage

Why Carthage for birthdays

What you get with us for birthdays specifically — not a generic catering pitch.

  • Sized to the night

    A casual backyard party and a milestone dinner run differently — we scale from labeled drop-off to a staffed service with a chef on site, same kitchen either way.

  • Crowd-pleasers or a centerpiece

    Trays and grazing for a relaxed party, or a live station and plated courses when the birthday deserves a moment — you pick the energy, we cook it.

  • One menu for a mixed table

    Kids, friends, family, and elders fed from the same spread — halal · zabiha-sourced by default, vegan/vegetarian/gluten-free labeled, no separate apology tray.

  • Hands-off if you want it

    Delivery, setup, and cleanup handled so the host is a guest at their own party — as light or as full-service as the night calls for.

Menus & packages

Birthdays catering, by cuisine

$26–$72 per guest across cuisines. Each cuisine, built into per-person packages for this occasion. Open one for its package tiers, pricing, and proof — the full dish list lives on each menu.

Mexican

Mexican

Mexican Birthday Catering

Mexican Birthday catering in Los Angeles — three per-guest packages, halal by default, sized to your guest count.

$37 per guest, from3 packages
Vegan Birthday Catering

vegan

Vegan Birthday Catering

Vegan Birthday catering in Los Angeles — three per-guest packages, halal by default, sized to your guest count.

$29 per guest, from3 packages
American

American

American Birthday Catering

American birthday catering in Los Angeles — sliders, grilled favorites and shareable sides, three per-guest packages, halal throughout.

$32 per guest, from3 packages
BBQ

BBQ

BBQ Birthday Catering

BBQ birthday party catering in Los Angeles — charcoal-grilled halal kebabs, ribs and California sides, three per-guest packages sized to your crowd.

$26 per guest, from3 packages
Italian

Italian

Italian Birthday Catering

Italian birthday catering in Los Angeles — pastas, wood-fired mains and antipasti, three per-guest packages, halal by default.

$27 per guest, from3 packages
Korean

Korean

Korean Birthday Catering

Korean Birthday catering in Los Angeles — three per-guest packages, halal by default, sized to your guest count.

$26 per guest, from3 packages
Salvadoran

Salvadoran

Salvadoran Birthday Catering

Salvadoran Birthday catering in Los Angeles — three per-guest packages, halal by default, sized to your guest count.

$26 per guest, from3 packages
Taco Al-Shawarma for Birthdays

taco-al-shawarma

Taco Al-Shawarma for Birthdays

The shawarma spit meets the taqueria — a build-your-own spread that feeds a mixed crowd of all ages without anyone negotiating over the menu.

$29 per guest, from3 packages

Birthdays catering runs about $26$72 per guest for food. Multiplied out, that is what a spread costs at the counts people usually ask about.

Estimated birthdays catering cost by guest count — food only
GuestsEstimated food costPer guest
25$650 – $1,800$26 – $72
50$1,300 – $3,600$26 – $72
100$2,600 – $7,200$26 – $72
150$3,900 – $10,800$26 – $72

Food only. Staffing, rentals, delivery, setup and breakdown are separate lines, and a mandatory service charge and California sales tax apply on top — so the invoice for a staffed event runs meaningfully above the food figure. Smaller counts sit at the top of the band: setup and delivery cost the same at 25 guests as at 100. Every menu halal · zabiha-sourced.

Questions

Before you ask

How much does birthday party catering cost in Los Angeles?
Birthday party catering in Los Angeles typically runs $25–$45 per guest for taco bars, buffets and grazing tables. Carthage's halal menus start around $34 per guest, sized to your headcount with an itemized proposal — no fixed-package markup.
What food is popular for a birthday party?
Halal taco bars, BBQ spreads, grazing/mezze tables and buffet stations are the most popular birthday setups — shareable, casual and easy to scale. Add a dessert display or cake service to finish. We size everything to your guest count.
Is the food halal?
Yes — every menu is halal, with meats zabiha-sourced by default, and vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free options are labeled throughout, so every guest is covered without a separate menu.
Do you deliver across LA and Orange County?
Yes — we deliver, set up and can staff birthday parties across Los Angeles and Orange County. Delivery and setup are quoted to your location; drop-off and full-service are both available.

Dietary

Dietary needs?

Every birthdays menu is labeled per dish and built around the guest list — here's how we handle the requests we hear most.

Working out a budget first? See what catering costs in Los Angeles across every service style.

A candlelit table raised in a toast

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