Choose Your Menu
Pick trays from the menu below or ask for a custom selection, and tell us how many guests you are feeding. We suggest quantities, for example 180 to 220 g of protein per adult at dinner.
Service Styles
Catering Pick-Up in Medellín
Medellin Elite Catering prepares order-ahead catering that you collect from our Medellín kitchen at a time you book. It is the simplest way to put a proper spread on the table for a family lunch, a watch party or a weekend at a rented finca, with no van to wait for and no staff to host.
Pick-up appeals to hosts with a car and a flexible schedule: residents in Laureles and Belén who live close to the kitchen, expats stocking up before guests arrive, and groups heading out of town who want food for the first night. You choose the trays, we pack them for the drive, and you serve them at home.
Every collected order comes from the kitchen that has cooked for Medellín events since 2019. The packing, labels and reheating notes are the same ones our own drivers use, so the food tastes as it should when it reaches your table.
- Itemized quotes available
- Bilingual English and Spanish coordinators
Plan your event
Our Catering Pick-Up Service
Catering pick-up lets you order trays and platters in advance and collect them ready to serve, which gives you full control of timing. You still get our full menu, our packaging and printed serving notes.
Pick-up suits groups of 6 to 60 who are eating at home, at a salón social or at a finca. Orders need 48 hours' notice, the same as our delivered catering.
Some hosts combine both styles: they collect cold platters on Friday and book a staffed buffet catering service for the main party on Saturday. Others use pick-up for a casual night and catering delivery when they are too busy to drive.
How Pick-Up Works
Ordering for collection takes four steps, and most hosts finish the planning in one email exchange. You receive a written confirmation with the time, the address and the final order before we start cooking.
Book a Pick-Up Slot
Slots run every 30 minutes, Monday to Saturday, from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., inside our business hours. For a Sunday meal, most hosts collect on Saturday afternoon and keep the food in the fridge overnight.
Receive Your Confirmation
Once you pay the order by bank transfer or card payment link, we send the kitchen address, a map pin and parking instructions. The pick-up address in Medellín is shared only with confirmed orders.
Collect and Serve
Arrive within your slot and a team member checks the order with you and loads it into your car. Hot food is packed to stay above 60 °C for about an hour, so drive straight home and serve it soon after arriving.
Transporting and Reheating
Place the boxes flat on the floor of the trunk or the back seat, never on a car seat that slopes, and keep them away from sunshine through the windows. Hot food and cold food travel in separate boxes, and the cold box should go into the fridge first when you get home.
If you collect hot food for a meal more than an hour later, chill it and reheat it rather than holding it warm. Cover trays loosely with foil and reheat at 160 to 170 °C in the oven for 20 to 35 minutes, until the center of the tray reaches at least 74 °C on a thermometer.
Rice dishes need a splash of water before reheating, and fried items such as empanadas or patacones are best uncovered for the final 5 minutes so they crisp again. Reheat food only once, and refrigerate leftovers below 5 °C within an hour.
Pick-Up Menu
The pick-up menu is built from dishes that travel well and reheat without losing texture. Trays are sized per guest unless the table shows otherwise.
| Item | Sized for |
|---|---|
| Breakfast tray: mini arepas, scrambled eggs with hogao, fruit, pandebono | Per guest |
| Sandwich platter with salad | Per guest |
| Hot buffet trays: two mains, rice, salad | Per guest |
| Bandeja paisa family tray | 6 guests |
| Empanadas with ají | One dozen |
| Natilla and buñuelos dessert box | 10 guests |
Hot mains include chicken in coconut sauce, pork loin in pineapple glaze, beef in hogao and vegetable lasagna. Our finger food catering range also works well for pick-up, especially for drinks parties.
During December the natilla and buñuelos box is our most collected order, for novenas de aguinaldos between 16 and 24 December. Book those slots at least a week ahead, as December is our busiest season.
Who Chooses Pick-Up
Pick-up makes most sense when you live close to the kitchen or are already driving across the city. Hosts in Laureles and Belén often collect on the way home, and our catering in Laureles page covers deliveries there too if your plans change.
It is also the practical choice for fincas in Guatapé, La Ceja or Santa Fe de Antioquia, where we do not offer drop-off. Collect cold and chilled trays, keep them in a cooler with ice for the drive, and reheat them at the finca following the times above.
Questions and answers
Pick-Up FAQs
Where do I collect my order?
You collect from our production kitchen in Medellín, and we send the exact pick-up address with your order confirmation. The same message includes parking instructions and a map pin. A team member brings the order out to your car, so you only need a few minutes at the door.
Reserve your date
Order Ahead for Pick-Up
Choose your trays, guest count and preferred pick-up slot in the quote form, and we will confirm the order with an itemized quote within 24 hours. Special requests can go straight to info@medellincatering.com.
- Itemized quotes available
- Menus, staff, tableware, setup and cleanup in one quote
- Food-handler certified team and labeled allergens on every tray
- Monday to Saturday
- 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
- Sunday
- Closed (events still run)