Breakfast Catering in Chicago: How to Plan It Right

The easiest breakfast catering in Chicago is a bagel spread: plan on one bagel or one breakfast sandwich per person, add coffee and a hot pan or two if the meeting runs long, and schedule delivery for 15 minutes before people walk in. Gotham Bagels does breakfast catering for Chicago offices from four shops (Gold Coast, Lakeview, South Loop and the Magnificent Mile), and you can order online and schedule it up to 60 days ahead. No phone tag required.

Here’s how to get the details right, from headcount to the last schmear.

How much breakfast should I order per person?

Start with the simple rule our catering team uses: one bagel or one sandwich per person. From there, the platter math is easy, because every platter tells you how many it serves.

Your group	A spread that works
9 people	One Sandwich Platter or one Bagel and Cream Cheese Platter
13 people	One bagel and deli platter (each comes with a NY Dozen®, 13 bagels)
18 people	Two wrapped platters, plus a Box of Coffee or two
25 people	Two bagel and deli platters, half pans of scrambled eggs and bacon, coffee

If you’re building it yourself, we suggest three 8 oz containers of cream cheese per dozen bagels, and at least half a pound of lox per half dozen. Our how much should I order guide turns your headcount into platters so you don’t have to do the math on a Sunday night.

What should a catered office breakfast include?

Think in three parts: something to eat with one hand, something hot, and coffee.

Grab-and-go. The Sandwich Platter is nine classic Gotham sandwiches, wrapped and sliced in half (18 halves), with three sandwich types of your choice. The Bagel and Cream Cheese Platter works the same way: you pick three bagel and cream cheese combos and we make three of each. Both serve 9, and because everything is wrapped and halved, people can grab one between agenda items without a line forming at the table.

Build your own. For a breakfast where people linger, our bagel and deli platters come with a NY Dozen® and the fixings. The Riverside Park brings a pound of lox, two 8 oz spreads, arugula, heirloom tomato, cucumber, red onion, capers and our pickles. Each serves 13.

Something hot. Half pans of scrambled eggs and bacon each serve 12. Set them next to a bagel platter and you’ve turned a meeting snack into an actual breakfast.

Coffee. A Box of Coffee serves 10 and comes with cups, sugars, creamers and stirrers. Coffee in our Chicago shops is from Passion House Coffee Roasters, roasted right here in Chicago. One box per ten people is a good start; for an all-morning session, add another for the second half.

How far ahead do I need to order breakfast catering?

In Chicago (and at our Lake Geneva shop), online ordering opens when the store opens and you can schedule catering up to 60 days in advance. Smaller orders can often be scheduled for the same day. For 30 people or more, order at least a day ahead so we can bake for you, and for 75 and up, tell our catering team the date, headcount and place as early as you can.

You don’t need to call or email to order. Do it online, choose pickup or delivery at checkout, and you’re done. If you have specific requirements, our catering specialists are happy to help.

Do you deliver breakfast catering in Chicago?

Yes. We deliver up to about four miles from each participating shop, and together our Gold Coast, Magnificent Mile, South Loop and Lakeview shops cover downtown and many surrounding neighborhoods. Enter your office address at checkout to confirm you’re in range.

Picking up instead? Every shop handles carryout, and the Gold Coast shop has loading zones out front and across the street for quick pickups. If your meeting starts before the sun is fully up, the Magnificent Mile shop opens at 6:30 am.

How do I keep a breakfast spread safe and fresh?

A breakfast spread has more perishables than people think: cream cheese, lox, deli salads, eggs. A few habits keep it safe:

• Watch the two-hour clock. The FDA’s 2-hour rule says to discard perishables left at room temperature for more than two hours unless you’re keeping them hot or cold. Purdue Extension cuts that to one hour when it’s 90°F or hotter, which matters for a summer patio breakfast.
• Keep cold food cold. The same FDA guidance says to keep cold foods at 40°F or below, and to set plates on ice if they’ll be out longer than two hours. Leave backup cream cheese in the office fridge until the first tub runs low.
• Swap, don’t top off. Replace a nearly empty dish with a fresh one rather than adding new food on top of old.
• Time the delivery. Schedule it for shortly before people arrive, not an hour early.

What about allergies and dietary needs?

Ask your group ahead of time. U.S. law recognizes nine major food allergens: milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans and sesame. A bagel spread touches several of them, so label the platters and keep the lox and egg dishes apart from the plain bagels.

Here’s what we can and can’t do. Most of our bagel flavors are vegan; the exceptions are egg, egg everything, honey whole wheat, honey whole wheat everything and asiago. We don’t make gluten-free bagels. And everything is made in kitchens that also handle milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, sesame and soy, so we can’t guarantee any item is allergen-free. Tell us about specific needs and we’ll help you build around them.

One more for the coffee drinkers: the FDA cites 400 milligrams of caffeine a day, about two to three 12-ounce cups of coffee, as an amount not generally linked to negative effects for most adults. A long session doesn’t need a fourth box. It might need a pitcher of water.

Can I set up a recurring office breakfast?

Yes. A weekly team breakfast or the first Monday of the month is one of the things we do best. Tell us the headcount, day and time and our catering team sets it up. You can also repeat a previous order or tweak it with a new headcount. Details are on our office catering page, and tax-exempt orders go through the same team once we have your documentation.

Ready to feed the room?

Hand-rolled, kettle-boiled bagels baked fresh every day, wrapped sandwiches, hot pans and Chicago-roasted coffee, delivered to your office. See what to order for 10, 25 or 50 on our Chicago breakfast catering page, browse every platter on the Chicago catering page, check the Chicago & Lake Geneva menu for sandwich ideas, and schedule your order online. Your 8 am meeting just got a lot more popular.