Korean Catering NYC: What It Costs and How to Order
Korean Catering NYC: What It Costs and How to Order
Korean catering NYC buyers ask the same question first, and almost nobody answers it on a website: what does it actually cost? Sopo Korean Eats caters from 463 7th Ave, New York, NY 10018, near Herald Square. Individually packed plates are around $20 each. A party platter that serves ten is about $220. A la carte trays start at roughly $25.
Those are rounded figures for the food, so you can size an order before you talk to anyone. Exact prices for every item sit on the live catering menu, where they stay current, and the total updates as you build. Delivery, tax and tip are added at checkout the way they are anywhere else. And you can order for the same day, with delivery windows starting about ninety minutes out.
This guide covers roughly what each format costs, which one fits your headcount, how to feed a room with different diets out of one order, and what to have ready when you place it.
What Korean catering NYC prices look like, plate by plate
The simplest way to order is individually packed signature plates, one per person. Each plate is a protein with its own set of sides and a sauce, packed to travel, and you add a base of white rice, purple rice or our SOPO Greens mix.
Most signature plates land a little under $20, with the Seoul Steak Plate the one that sits above it. That plate is built on seared flat iron steak with gold pumpkin mash, sweet soy roasted potatoes and cucumber kimchi. The Beef Bulgogi Plate has thinly sliced marinated ribeye, garlic broccoli, roasted potatoes and cucumber kimchi. The Spicy Pork Plate comes with kale namul, roasted potatoes and garlic broccoli. The Smoked Chicken Plate has a soy-dipped egg, roasted potatoes and cucumber kimchi. The Crispy Tofu Plate, the most affordable of them, comes with kimchi salad, gold pumpkin mash and garlic broccoli.
Two more plates exist specifically for mixed groups. The Gluten Free Plate pairs smoked chicken and crispy tofu with gold pumpkin mash and napa cabbage kimchi. The Vegan Plate is crispy tofu with garlic broccoli, kale namul and cucumber kimchi. Both are ordered from the same menu as everything else, the same way our guide to building a Korean plate describes the everyday version.
The arithmetic is easy from there. One plate is one person, so twenty people lands somewhere around $350 to $400 on food, depending on which proteins the room picks. Forty people is roughly double that. That is the number most office managers are trying to estimate when they open a catering page and find no prices on it at all.
Platters and trays, and when each one fits
The SOPO Party Platter is about $220 and serves ten, which works out to roughly $22 a head. You choose one base, one protein, two sides and one sauce, and the platter can come with a tray of kimchi salad at no charge. This is the family-style format, where the room builds their own plates at the table and goes back for seconds.
The Kimbap Party Pack is around $145 for ten rolls with a sauce, and serves eight to ten people. Kimbap is rolled in house and cut into rounds, which makes it the easiest thing on the menu for a standing meeting or an afternoon session where people are picking rather than sitting down to a full lunch.
Going fully a la carte usually works out better per person on a large order, because you are buying components rather than assembled plates. Protein comes as half trays serving ten, from about $55 for smoked chicken up to around $95 for Seoul steak. Bases are roughly $25 a half tray, also serving ten, in white rice, purple rice or SOPO Greens. Most sides are about $50 a tray serving ten, including garlic broccoli, sweet soy roasted potatoes, kale namul, cucumber kimchi, kimchi salad, soy-dipped egg and napa cabbage kimchi. Gold pumpkin mash and the saucy dumplings run a little higher.
Put that together for a group of ten and a base tray, a protein tray and two side trays comes to around $200, in the same range as the platter but with more control over what goes in it. For thirty or forty people the a la carte route usually wins, because you can weight the order toward the less expensive proteins and still give everyone a full plate.
Drinks are ordered individually and run a few dollars each, including Korean iced corn tea, Korean pear drink, Chilsung cider, Coke, Coke Zero, sparkling water and bottled water.
Feeding a mixed-diet team out of one order
This is where most office catering falls apart, with a separate sad order placed for whoever cannot eat the main dish. We have written separately about planning a team lunch with mixed diets. Sopo handles it inside the same order. The Vegan Plate and the Gluten Free Plate sit on the menu next to everything else, and crispy tofu is a standard protein rather than a substitution. Heat is chosen per plate too, since the four house sauces run from Perilla Princess, built on the Korean herb, through Ssam Aioli and Sweet Heat to Fire Sauce for people who want it direct.
Every item on the catering menu carries its allergen list, so you can check soy, gluten, sesame, egg, dairy, fish and shellfish before ordering rather than at the table.
What is actually on the plate
Vegetables carry a large share of every plate, since the sides are things like kale namul, garlic broccoli, cucumber kimchi and kimchi salad. Proteins are marinated and cooked in house, kimchi is fermented in house, and food is prepped fresh the same day.
Every plate is built around a protein rather than around the rice, so how much it carries depends on which protein the person picks. For an office ordering lunch before an afternoon of work rather than a heavy sit-down meal, that balance is usually what matters. Every catering item lists its allergens.
Same-day catering, and when to order further ahead
The online catering menu takes same-day orders. Open it and the earliest delivery window is about ninety minutes out, which means a meeting that appeared on your calendar this morning can still have lunch on the table this afternoon. Most catering in this city cannot do that, and it is the single most practical reason to keep Sopo on your list.
Ordering further ahead still helps, for two reasons. A large order takes more prep, so the more notice the kitchen has on a forty or sixty person job, the more of the menu stays open to you. And booking early is what secures the exact delivery window you want rather than whichever one is left by the time you get there. Midtown lunch runs on a narrow band and the good slots go first.
So the rule is simple. Recurring team lunches and anything with a hard start time, put in a day or two ahead. A room full of people and two hours notice, open the menu anyway.
How to order, and what to have ready
Orders go through the online catering menu, where you pick delivery or pickup, choose a date and a delivery window, and build the order item by item with prices shown as you go. Have four things ready and it takes a few minutes: your headcount, the delivery window you want, the full address with a floor or suite number, and any dietary needs in the group.
For a meeting with a hard start, book the drop for about fifteen minutes before you want people eating. That gives you time to set out trays and get the room ready without the food sitting around.
Delivery across Midtown
Sopo delivers catering across Midtown from the 7th Avenue kitchen, which puts most offices between Penn Station and Bryant Park within a very short trip. The 34th Street Partnership district and the blocks around Herald Square are effectively next door, and Times Square offices are a short ride north.
Pickup is available too, and for a smaller order it is often the fastest route, since someone can walk over and carry it back. For a handful of people rather than a full team, Korean lunch delivery in Midtown is the simpler option, and our Midtown office catering guide goes deeper on sizing an order to the room.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does Korean catering NYC cost per person?
Individually packed plates are around $20 each, so twenty people lands somewhere around $350 to $400 on food. The SOPO Party Platter is about $220 and serves ten, roughly $22 a head. Going a la carte with trays usually comes in lower per person on larger orders. Exact prices are on the online catering menu and the total updates as you build. Delivery, tax and tip are added at checkout.
How do I order Korean food for office catering near Times Square?
Order through the Sopo catering menu online, choose delivery, and pick the date and delivery window you want. Sopo caters from 463 7th Ave near Herald Square, so Times Square offices are a short ride north. Have your headcount, floor or suite number and any dietary needs ready. Same-day orders work, with delivery windows starting about ninety minutes out.
Is there office lunch catering near 7th Avenue that does build-your-own bowls?
Yes. Sopo is on 7th Avenue at 463 7th Ave and the whole menu is built around a plate you assemble: a base of white rice, purple rice or SOPO Greens, a protein, sides and a house sauce. Some people call it a Korean rice bowl. For catering you can order it as individually packed plates at around $20 each, or as a platter serving ten at about $220 where the room builds their own at the table.
What is the best Korean food catering in Midtown Manhattan?
That depends on what your group needs, so the useful test is whether a caterer tells you what it costs up front, tells you how fast it can actually deliver, carries allergen information on every item, and has vegan and gluten-free options on the same menu as everything else rather than as a special request. Sopo does all four, takes same-day orders, and caters across Midtown from 463 7th Ave near Herald Square.
Is Sopo a Korean Chipotle?
The comparison is fair on format, and it is the whole point of fast casual Korean. You build a plate from a base, a protein, sides and a sauce, made to order, and it moves quickly. The food is Korean: proteins marinated and cooked in house, kimchi fermented in house, and sides like kale namul and garlic broccoli that change the plate rather than fill it out.
How many people does a Korean catering platter serve?
The SOPO Party Platter serves ten. The Kimbap Party Pack is ten rolls and serves eight to ten. A la carte protein half trays, base half trays and side trays each serve ten, so scaling an order is a matter of counting trays.
Do you cater for vegan and gluten-free guests?
Yes, and from the same menu. The Vegan Plate and the Gluten Free Plate are named menu items priced in line with the rest of the plates, crispy tofu is a standard protein, and every item lists its allergens. No separate order is needed.
How far ahead do I need to place a Korean catering order?
You can order the same day. The online catering menu shows delivery windows starting about ninety minutes out. Ordering a day or two ahead is still worth doing for large groups and for locking in a specific delivery time, but there is no minimum notice period standing between your team and lunch today.
Stay Connected with Sopo Korean Eats
Our Midtown location: 463 7th Ave, New York, NY 10018 (near Herald Square)
Catering: See corporate catering options
Instagram: @eatsopo (follow us for seasonal menus and events)
Order from Sopo and build your own Korean plate.
