Q&A for How to Set Up a Buffet

It can depend on the number of guests. For instance, serving different foods at each buffet table can be a really nice touch. However, if you're hosting a really big party, you might put the same foods on each table so your guests get a similar experience.

The fruit should be placed at the end of the table with the cold dishes, though you can serve it with dessert if you wish. Bread can be served at the end of the table, or alongside the main dishes and appetizers.

Put the utensils in the middle of the napkin. Either roll the napkin until it is tight around the utensils, or simply fold the edges around the utensils and tuck them in. You can tie it with a ribbon.

Put desserts at the end of the buffet or on a separate table than the rest of the food. Dessert will likely be the last option chosen by diners, so it makes sense to place them at the end.

At the beginning of the food line, if serving cold entrees; salad should be with those. If steamed vegetables, they should be with the main course.

This is your choice. You can serve the rice alongside the main dish, or before it.

You don't always have to have salad plates, but it is a smart idea. Placing salad plates on the buffet will give guests an opportunity to eat their salad, then go back for more food on a separate plate.

The meat should be first, right after the plates.

This depends on the type of food served in the area, and the availability of food in the school. A salad is a common and healthy choice to start out with.

Most sandwiches are presented on a tray with toothpicks in them to make them easier to pick up/eat.

Always put your proteins first--poultry, fish, other meat--then vegetables, then your fruit. Setup usually goes hot --> cold.

Proteins, followed by vegetables, then starches such as rice and potatoes. The rest, like salads and desserts, goes at the end of the buffet table. (Sometimes the salad and desserts are on a separate table altogether.)

You shouldn't put the food out for very long before serving time. The safety rule with buffets is that food cannot be out for longer than 2 hours to prevent foodborne illnesses.

It isn't essential but do remember that tablecloths make an ordinary table more appealing and pretty, as well as disguising any faults or ugliness of benches that may be used in place of tables. One exception may be for drinks tables, where perhaps a cheap plastic tablecloth from the dollar store would be your best bet, to stop having wet cloth from spills. However, if you like the table tops you're using and you think the overall look is better without tablecloths, there is no rule saying you have to use them on all or any of the surfaces.